Like I said yesterday, the chain of events that resulted in yesterday’s holiday video extravaganza all started innocently enough with a little request for a clawhammer arrangement of “Carol of the Bells”.
With that now out of my system (much to my future teenage daughter’s embarrassment), it’s time to get back to the business of Tune of the Week.
As is the case with several of the holiday classics, this tune offers us an opportunity to play out of G minor tuning. All that’s required to get there from standard G is just to tune the 2nd string down a half step to B flat. And it gives us a chance to get some reps in playing in 3/4 time signature.
I’ve made some slight modifications to the structure of the song in order to make it a bit more suitable as a solo banjo arrangement.
Carol of the Bells
gDGBbD tuning, Brainjo level 3
Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.
For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.
View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Very nice!! Thanks!!
Your vid was pretty cool, but I like the single better, Thanks!
Happy Holidays!
AJ
Thanks, AJ!
You bet, Linda!
Takk for besøket i bloggen min 🙂 Veldig kjekt Ã¥ sjÃ¥ at “fremmede” òg finn veien inn 😉 Ja, dei firkant-tøflene er eit mysterium *ler* Men sÃ¥ enkelt nÃ¥r ein har knekt koden 😉 God pÃ¥ske til deg òg.
Very nice tune. Will definitely learn it for next year.
Thanks for the beautiful song. I closed my eyes as I listened and could see
snowflakes flying through a winter sky.
Snow scenes from “The Snowman”.
Thanks, Sandy – you’re most welcome!
Josh ,do you have a slow version of this busy christmas song.(you play well)
Great arrangement. So would this be considered played in the key of Bflat?
Thanks, Dave! It would be considered the key of G Minor.