Two Mandolin Arrangements Just In Time For the Holidays
Hello, here are a few mandolin arrangements just in time for the holiday season. I have a few tunes worked out in the chordal melody style which is when you combine the chords and melody together. See the free mandolin sheet music and accompanying audio tracks below.
The chordal melody style gives the mandolin a fuller sound by providing some of the underlying harmony as opposed to only playing the melody. Just playing the melody is great if you have an accompanist but if you want to play solo mandolin then adding in the extra notes can go a long way.
All Through the Night – Mandolin Tab – Notes – Chords
Let’s start off with the traditional tune All Through the Night. I knew of this tune but never had it in my holiday repertoire until I heard a harpist play this tune at a Christmas concert. It’s a simple hymn-like tune that works well in the key of C on the mandolin.
The tune is based on an old Welsh melody call “Ard Y Nos,” likely written before c1800. There are several versions of the lyrics one by Englishman Harold Bouton and another version by T. Oliphant from 1862.
Quick Tips – Mandolin Lesson – All Through the Night
1) Scan the tune and learn the chord shapes. The C, F and G chord is frequently used so get those in your fingers.
2) Try to let the notes ring as long as possible. You want the notes to overlap and ring to give a smooth sustained sound similar to a piano sustain pedal. Notice the mandolin arrangement is written in two layers a top melody and the adding harmony notes in the sheet music below.
3) In the 3rd measure notice the extra chord notes are added to fill in gaps in the rhythm and to add harmony. Try to make the melody notes louder and the harmony notes quieter. Remember the melody is always the most important part. Just image if you went to see a band and the singers mic was turned off. All you would here is the background chords.
4) Work out a suitable fingering and stick to it. Go through slowly the first time and make note of the fingerings that work for you. I included a few of my preferred fingerings (in red) particularly at bar 11 with the descending 6ths:
All Through the Night – Mandolin Audio and Guitar Backing Tracks:
Ok, hopefully that wasn’t too difficult! Let’s go on to our second mandolin holiday arrangement with Angels We Have Heard on High.
Angels We Have Heard On High – Mandolin Sheet Music with Tablature, Notes and Chords
We will continue with another chord melody style on this arrangement. With only 4-strings on the mandolin there are often limited possibilities for adding harmony notes and fuller sounding chords. This can also be a good thing as arranging for instruments like 6-string guitar and piano really make it difficult as there are so many options.
Quick Tips – Mandolin Lesson – Angels We Have Heard On High
1) This arrangement is in the key of G so learn the most prominent chords G, D and C. There are a few alternate ways to play each chord.
2) Follow the tips above and remember the melody is king. Try to accent the melody notes and make the harmony notes quieter in the background. This is very difficult to do so I suggest playing the melody which is pretty much always the top or highest pitched note.
3) Find a suitable fingering in measure 9 and let the notes overlap where possible. This will usually require lifting your wrist higher on the strings so you don’t mute out notes below.
Angels We Have Heard On High – Mandolin Audio and Guitar Backing Tracks:
Mandolin Repertoire
Now you can add a few holiday mandolin arrangements to your repertoire. Go solo or jam them out with some friends. Leave any suggestions for more mandolin arrangements and lessons in the comments below.
Download the PDF with the two tunes in this lesson and Silent Night in chord-melody style, leadsheets (chords, notes, tab and lyrics), and a 10-page mandolin chord reference book here for $3.99 (CAN).
Three Mandolin Holiday Arrangements
Three-holiday classics arranged for mandolin in chordal melody style. Tablature, notes, chords, and chord reference. Available as a digital PDF eBook. 15 Pages.
More Free Music Lessons at Kalymi Music:
Mandolin Chords and Fretboard Poster Set
- Elegant mandolin chord and fretboard poster set.
- Two posters included – Mandolin chords and mandolin fingerboard charts.
- 2-page chord and fretboard music theory insert also included (letter size).
- Convenient size poster 12” x 18”. Side by side, the two posters are 24” x 18”.
- All posters have a gloss finished printed on 100# Digital Gloss Text.
Mandolin Blues Book
Take your blues mandolin playing to the next level with the Mandolin Blues Book. A collection of 101 blues riffs and solos ideal for all mandolinists looking to get a good grasp of jamming the blues. The book covers all the essential tools needed to play blues mandolin. Audio and video are available. 157 pages
Celtic World Collection – Mandolin
“Celtic World Collection – Mandolin” contains 46 of the most requested traditional tunes plus new original mandolin tunes with standard notation, chords and mandolin tablature. Mandolin recordings with guitar accompaniment below.
Mandolin Blank Tablature Workbook and Reference
The 4-String Blank Tablature Workbook and Reference for Mandolin includes five blank templates: blank tablature (tab) with chord diagrams, 4-string blank tab, blank tab and fingerboard chart, chord diagrams with fingerboard chart, and 4-string chord diagrams. A helpful reference with chords, scales, fingerboard charts for the mandolin also included.155pgs.
PDF ebook also available so you can print as many blank tab pages as you like. Add to cart for the PDF or buy from Amazon for the print book.
