Once in Royal David’s City

Henry J. Gauntlett · Level 2 (Beginner) · traditional · Piano

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. An easy arrangement in F major: the right hand plays the tune, the left hand alternates a bass note and a two-note chord (“oom-pah”).

▶ 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.
• Learn the tune alone by singing it, then the left hand alone: spot the chord changes before putting hands together in Wait mode, then at a reduced tempo.

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