Hava Nagila

Traditionnel (mélodie hassidique) · Level 3 (Late beginner) · traditional · Guitar, sheet music and tablature

A Jewish celebration song: a Hasidic melody from Ukraine, notated and adapted by Abraham Zvi Idelsohn in Jerusalem in 1918. “Let us rejoice”. The E mode with G sharp (the “freygish” scale), then a refrain that speeds up. Arranged in A minor: the tune with a thumb bass on every strong beat, in first position.

▶ 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.
• Thumb for all the basses, i-m for the tune; prepare each chord shape before the downbeat. Work in four-bar phrases, then play it through at a reduced tempo.

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après la mélodie traditionnelle (Idelsohn, 1918) · Public Domain