Traditional 1582 G major 4/4 Easy 0:38 Both hands
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Good King Wenceslas is one of the easiest carols to read: every note is a quarter, a half or a whole note, the tune moves mostly step by step, and its first line is played twice before the melody climbs. This easy version is in G major, whose one sharp, F#, turns up in only four bars, with the melody in the right hand and long bass notes on G, C and D in the left. The words tell of a king who goes out in the snow on the Feast of Stephen to help a poor man. Press Listen to hear the steady walk of the tune, then learn it line by line in Practice mode.
The melody runs from the D above middle C to the D an octave higher. For the first, second and fourth lines put the thumb on that low D: D E F# G A fall under fingers 1 to 5. Bar 9 (Brightly shone the moon) starts on the high D, and so does bar 15 (Gathering winter fuel): for those, move the hand up so the thumb is on G.
Mostly one note per bar, G below middle C. In bars 3, 7 and 11 play C for three beats and D on the fourth, under the F#. In bars 9, 14 and 15 it plays G then D, two beats each, and in bar 16 G then C, under the high C of the melody. The last bar drops to the low G.
The jump in bar 15, from the long A of "came in sight" up to the high D of "gathering": change hand position while the A is still sounding, so the thumb lands on G in time. In bar 16 "fuel" goes up from G to C before the final G; keep the C as long as the G before it.
Thumb on D: G G G A is 4-4-4-5, G G D is 4-4-1, E D E F# is 2-1-2-3, D D E F# is 1-1-2-3. Thumb on G for bars 9-10 and 15-17: D C B A is 5-4-3-2, B A G is 3-2-1, and G C G at the end is 1-4-1.
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: G G G A G G D E D E F# G G G G G A G G D E D E F# …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | G G G A | Sol Sol Sol La |
| 2 | G G D | Sol Sol Ré |
| 3 | E D E F# | Mi Ré Mi Fa# |
| 4 | G G | Sol Sol |
| 5 | G G G A | Sol Sol Sol La |
| 6 | G G D | Sol Sol Ré |
| 7 | E D E F# | Mi Ré Mi Fa# |
| 8 | G G | Sol Sol |
| 9 | D C B A | Ré Do Si La |
| 10 | B A G | Si La Sol |
| 11 | E D E F# | Mi Ré Mi Fa# |
| 12 | G G | Sol Sol |
| 13 | D D E F# | Ré Ré Mi Fa# |
| 14 | G G A | Sol Sol La |
| 15 | D C B A | Ré Do Si La |
| 16 | G C | Sol Do |
| 17 | G | Sol |
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 G major: all the chords of the key
The tune is much older than the words. It comes from Piae Cantiones, a collection of Latin songs printed in 1582, where it carries a spring carol, Tempus adest floridum, "the time of flowering is here". In 1853 the English hymn writer John Mason Neale wrote new words for it about Saint Wenceslas, and those are the words sung today.
Wenceslas was a real person: a 10th-century duke of Bohemia, honoured after his death as a saint and today the patron saint of the Czech Republic. He ruled as a duke, not a king. The carol is set on the Feast of Stephen, 26 December: the king sees a poor man gathering firewood in the snow and goes out with his page to bring him food and fuel, and the page, failing in the cold, walks in his master's footprints and finds them warm.
This transcription: Melody "Tempus adest floridum" from Piae Cantiones (1582), with John Mason Neale's words (1853), as sung today: in G major; left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version · E minor
Easy Version · G major
Easy Version, Chorus · C 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 G major: G G G A, G G D, E D E F#, G G (Sol Sol Sol La, Sol Sol Ré, Mi Ré Mi Fa#, Sol Sol). The second line repeats it, and the third starts on the high D: D C B A, B A G. Every bar is in the Notes section.
Wenceslas was a duke of Bohemia in the 10th century, venerated as a saint and now the patron saint of the Czech Republic. He ruled as a duke, not a king, and the story the carol tells comes from John Mason Neale's words of 1853, not from a historical record.
It is sung at Christmas, but it is set on the Feast of Stephen, 26 December, the day after Christmas Day. Its tune began as a spring song, Tempus adest floridum, printed in 1582.
Yes, it is level 2 of 5: only quarter, half and whole notes, one hand position for most of the tune and a move up for the two lines that start on the high D.