James R. Murray (1841-1905) 1887 F major 3/4 Easy 0:34 Both hands
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Away in a Manger is a cradle song, and it plays like one: a gentle melody in 3/4 that rocks down the scale and back, with no big jumps and only one black key, B-flat. This page uses the tune most Americans know, James R. Murray's Mueller, read from an 1892 songbook he edited and kept in F major as he printed it. The left hand holds one bass note per bar - F, C or B-flat - so you can give all your attention to the melody. Count three slow beats in every bar, play the short notes lightly, and press Listen once before you learn the right hand in Practice mode.
The whole tune fits in one octave, from middle C to the C above. It starts at the top, on C, and walks down the scale - C B-flat A, A G F, F E D - to middle C in bar 4. Bars 5 to 8 stay low, around middle C, then the opening comes back in bar 9. The second half ends B-flat A G, A G F, G D E, F.
One bass note per bar, held for three beats: F, C or B-flat below middle C. The left hand waits during the pick-up. In bar 15 play B-flat for two beats and C for one, under "sleep on the", then end on F.
The dotted rhythm in bars 1, 2, 5, 9, 10 and 13: the first note lasts a beat and a half, the second only half a beat. Count "1 - and 2 - and 3" and play the short note on the "and" of beat 2. In bar 13 the tune jumps up from middle C to B-flat: look at the key before you play it.
Right hand, bars 1 to 4: high C with 5, then C B-flat A is 5-4-3 and A G F is 3-2-1. Play the next F with 4, so that E D and middle C fall under 3-2-1. Bars 5 to 7, thumb on middle C: C D C is 1-2-1, C G E is 1-5-3, D C F is 2-1-4. Move the hand up for bar 8: A with 3 and the high C with 5, ready for bar 9.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: C C Bb A A G F F E D C C C D C C G E D C F A C C …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup | C | Do |
| 1 | C Bb A | Do Sib La |
| 2 | A G F | La Sol Fa |
| 3 | F E D | Fa Mi Ré |
| 4 | C C | Do Do |
| 5 | C D C | Do Ré Do |
| 6 | C G E | Do Sol Mi |
| 7 | D C F | Ré Do Fa |
| 8 | A C | La Do |
| 9 | C Bb A | Do Sib La |
| 10 | A G F | La Sol Fa |
| 11 | F E D | Fa Mi Ré |
| 12 | C C | Do Do |
| 13 | Bb A G | Sib La Sol |
| 14 | A G F | La Sol Fa |
| 15 | G D E | Sol Ré Mi |
| 16 | F | Fa |
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in F major: all the chords of the key
James Ramsey Murray (1841-1905) was an American music teacher, songwriter and editor of songbooks for Sunday schools. He printed this tune in 1887 under the title Luther's Cradle Hymn, and again in 1892 in his Little Sacred Songs for Little Singers, with a note saying that Martin Luther had written the carol for his children. The story is a legend: the words are anonymous and American, and no German original has ever been found.
In the United States the carol is sung to Murray's melody, known in hymnals as Mueller. In Britain the same words are usually sung to Cradle Song, a different tune written in 1895 by the American hymn composer William J. Kirkpatrick. If the melody on this page is not the one you know, you probably learned the carol to Kirkpatrick's tune.
This transcription: James R. Murray, "Luther's Cradle Hymn" (tune Mueller), as printed in his Little Sacred Songs for Little Singers (Cincinnati: John Church Co., 1892), p. 39, archive.org littlesacredsong00murr, page n42: the melody in F major as printed; left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
On guitar: Away in a Manger guitar chords and lyrics, with a guitar that strums along.
For kids: Away in a Manger by colors, on a rainbow piano that lights the next key and waits.
Easy Version · C major
Easy Version · F major
Easy Version · G major
Easy Version · C majorThe full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In F major: C, C B-flat A, A G F, F E D, C C (Do, Do Si♭ La, La Sol Fa, Fa Mi Ré, Do Do), then C D C, C G E, D C F, A. The second half starts the same way and ends B-flat A G, A G F, G D E, F. Every bar is in the Notes section.
Americans usually sing it to Mueller, the tune by James R. Murray on this page. In Britain it is usually sung to Cradle Song by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895). The words are the same.
No. Murray printed the carol as Luther's Cradle Hymn and the story spread, but the words are an anonymous American poem and no German original has ever been found. The music on this page is Murray's own.
Yes, it is level 2 of 5 here: one octave, one black key (B-flat), a slow 3/4 rhythm and one bass note per bar. It is a good first carol for children.