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Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Carol of the Bells”

December 26, 2015 by Josh 11 Comments

Click here to subscribe to the tune of the week (if you’re not already a subscriber) and get a new tune every Friday, plus tabs to all the ones to date.


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

Carol of the Bells clawhammer banjo tab part 1Carol of the Bells clawhammer banjo tab part 2
Notes on the tab: 

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.

About the Author
Josh Turknett is founder and lead brain hacker at Brainjo Productions
 

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Filed Under: free banjo tabs, tune of the week

Comments

  1. Linda Beck says

    December 26, 2015 at 11:18 pm

    Very nice!! Thanks!!

    Reply
    • AJ Hocking says

      December 26, 2015 at 11:33 pm

      Your vid was pretty cool, but I like the single better, Thanks!
      Happy Holidays!
      AJ

      Reply
      • Josh says

        December 27, 2015 at 1:50 pm

        Thanks, AJ!

        Reply
    • Josh says

      December 27, 2015 at 1:50 pm

      You bet, Linda!

      Reply
      • luby's coupons says

        March 22, 2017 at 9:04 am

        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.

        Reply
  2. Dave says

    December 27, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    Very nice tune. Will definitely learn it for next year.

    Reply
  3. Sandy C. says

    December 28, 2015 at 12:02 am

    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”.

    Reply
    • Josh says

      December 29, 2015 at 6:07 pm

      Thanks, Sandy – you’re most welcome!

      Reply
  4. cal whitaker says

    December 29, 2015 at 11:44 pm

    Josh ,do you have a slow version of this busy christmas song.(you play well)

    Reply
  5. dave wallace says

    November 18, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    Great arrangement. So would this be considered played in the key of Bflat?

    Reply
    • Josh says

      November 18, 2017 at 10:51 pm

      Thanks, Dave! It would be considered the key of G Minor.

      Reply

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