We Three Kings — E minor

John Henry Hopkins Jr. · Level 3 (Late beginner) · traditional · Guitar, sheet music and tablature

The Magi carol written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins Jr.: verse in E minor, refrain in G major. Standard tuning, alternating thumb basses. John Fahey recorded it on The New Possibility (1968).

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Written in 3/4 (values doubled compared with the original 3/8): a bass note on every beat. In the refrain the tune climbs an octave on the 1st string; in bar 20 play the C bass at the 8th fret of the 6th string to reach the high C (8th fret, 1st string). Verse and refrain are repeated: play softer the second time.