Once in Royal David’s City

Henry J. Gauntlett · Level 2 (Beginner) · traditional · Guitar, sheet music and tablature

A Christmas hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander (1848) set to the tune “Irby” by Henry J. Gauntlett (1849). Every year it opens the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. Arranged in G major: the tune in first position, with a thumb bass on the first beat of each bar and at each chord change.

▶ 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.
• Play the basses (strings 6, 5 and 4) with the thumb and the tune with i and m. When a bass and a melody note fall together, pluck them at the same time and let the bass ring. Practise the tune alone first.

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après l’air « Irby » de H. J. Gauntlett (1849) · Public Domain