Silent Night is one of the best-known Christmas carols in the world. Originally, it’s a German Christmas song but it has been already translated into English a long time ago and also in other languages. It has a very nice melody and you don’t even have to sing along and it already sounds very beautiful when just played on any instrument. In this lesson, we are going to learn this song on the ukulele. But before teaching you how to fingerpick the melody or how to play the song with some basic chords, we will tell you a bit more about the history of the carol and why it got so popular all over the world. We also provide you some free PDF downloads like the sheet music for your practice at the end of the lesson!
History of Silent Night
“Silent Night”, originally known as “Stille Nacht”, is one of the most popular Christmas carols in the world. The song was composed in 1818 in the small town of Oberndorf, Austria, by Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher and church organist, with lyrics written by Joseph Mohr, a young priest.
Legend has it that the church organ was broken on Christmas Eve, prompting Mohr to ask Gruber to compose a melody for a poem he had written two years earlier. The result was a simple yet hauntingly beautiful melody that could be accompanied by a guitar. Silent Night was first performed on Christmas Eve at St. Nicholas Church. From there, traveling families of folk singers played the song in their shows and made it popular outside of Austria.
The song’s peaceful and universal message of peace and hope resonated so deeply that it was translated into more than 300 languages and became a staple of Christmas celebrations around the world.
Ukulele Tabs for Silent Night
Each Christmas carol offers a range of possibilities for performance, from simple versions to more difficult arrangements. You can choose to play a song in either a low or high pitch. We’ll start with simple arrangements in a pitch that’s comfortable for most people to sing because our focus on beginners and children. First, we’ll learn how to fingerpick the melody of Silent Night.
Here are the ukulele tabs for playing Silent Night on the first three strings:
Check out the recording below in order to compare it to your playing!
Ukulele Chords for Silent Night
Fingerpicking is for sure a good way to learn how to play the melody of a song. But if you want to sing and play a Christmas carol at the same time, you will see that most ukulele players prefer to strum a song with chords. You can play the song in different keys. Let’s play the song in the key of C.
The chords that you need for Silent Night are the basic chords C, G, F and Am.
Here are the chord diagrams for the required chords:
Guitar Chords are illustrated in guitar chords diagram. They are a simplified illustration of the guitar neck and it tells you where to put which finger on which string. Learn more about how to read guitar chords!
If you already know how to play these basic ukulele chords and can change between these chords easily, then you won’t have any problems learning this traditional Christmas song quickly! Otherwise, practice the chords C, G, F and Am first individually and try to play the sequence C-G-F-Am over and over with simple down strokes until you can play it without thinking about it. Once you master that, you can be sure that you have developed a feel for the chord sequence that you need for the song.
It’s pretty important for young beginners to start new songs slowly. This means, focus on performing only a simple down strum with each chord change. This gives you enough time to change between chords without the added pressure of difficult strumming patterns. Additionally, singing along is simpler when you strum down only once per chord change. Once you’re comfortable, you can try out other strumming patterns.
Ukulele Sheet Music for Silent Night
If you’re comfortable reading sheet music, fantastic! It’s an excellent resource that provides a complete breakdown of the song’s notes, rhythms, and chords. However, for those just starting out and especially young kids, sheet music can be a bit challenging, as it requires some familiarity with music theory and reading music. That’s why ukulele tabs or chord-based lyrics are often a better fit for kids and beginners – they simplify the process and make learning more accessible.
Guitar Chords are illustrated in guitar chords diagram. They are a simplified illustration of the guitar neck and it tells you where to put which finger on which string. Learn more about how to read guitar chords!
Here is the sheet music for Silent Night:
Free Ukulele Printables for Silent Night
Feel free to download the chords, tabs, and sheet music as a free PDF for your practice sessions or ukulele lessons!
Interested in instruments other than the ukulele? You can also find a free lesson on how to play Silent Night on the guitar and piano.
