Learn to Play Recorder

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

  • Keep a lilting three-beat pulse through the greeting and contrasting refrain
  • Play the refrain’s octave drop without losing the pulse

Notes Used: D4, E4, F#4, G4, A4, B4, C5, D5

Notes Used: G4, A4, B4, C5, D5, E5, F5, G5

Time Signature: 3/4 · Key: G Major

Time Signature: 3/4 · Key: C Major

Fingering Review

Full Song

Gregory Mahan’s Celtic Music Archives reading, CC BY-NC 2.0; transposed down a perfect fifth.

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We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a happy New Year.

Practice Exercises

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Performance Goal: Play the greeting and refrain without breaking the three-beat lilt, with even eighths and a clear octave drop.