A Little Christmas Music

O Little Town Of Bethlehem is one of my favourite Christmas songs. A deceptively simple tune which lends itself to so many variations in chord accompaniment.

A few weeks ago I pulled my nylon string guitar out of storage and this tune was one of the first things I played on it. It’s many years since I’ve played (or recorded) a nylon strung and despite being down with a migraine for the last two days, it was fun to get this guitar into the studio and try out this delightful tune.

For Guitarists

Here’s the transcription of this arrangement ([download id=”12″]) for you to play. I’ve written out the melody for you to follow and both the notation and tab for the arrangement.

Most of the chords are fairly straightforward, once you get used to them. Although there is a big jump in bar 5, from the Cmin6 to D7 that deserves some attention and a rather tasty Bb/Ab chord in bar 9 that might take a little practice. And, for the final low F, the choice is yours to play with your thumb, or tap it with the right hand.

Of course, by all means, make this your own and try some different chord voices as you feel inspired.