Go Tell it on the Mountain is a song adapted by John W. Work to the tune Go Tell It. In this lesson, we cover the guitar chords for this song, sheet music for the melody including tabs, and also a fingerstyle guitar arrangement. Grab your guitar and let’s get started!

How to read the guitar chord charts

To clarify how to read the chord charts in the next section, the top horizontal line represents the high E string and the bottom horizontal line represents the low E string. The vertical lines separate each fret. The numbers in the blue dots tell you which fingers to use on the fretting hand. 

For example, on the G Major chord, you use the:

• 2nd finger on the 6th string, 3rd fret
• 1st finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret
• 3rd finger on the 2nd string, 3rd fret
• 4th finger on the 1st string, 3rd fret
• Circles represent open strings
• On some other chords, X means to avoid the string
  

You can check this link for more on how to read guitar notation symbols.

Go Tell It on the Mountain chords

The basic chords for Go Tell it on the Mountain are G Major, D Major, E minor, and A Major. You can click on the chords with links to learn different ways of playing that chord.

Try the following chords one at a time until you feel comfortable switching between them. These chords will be written above the melody in the next section.

Here are some other resources on chords:

• What are the first chords you should learn on guitar?
• 6 tips to get better at switching between chords on guitar
  

Go Tell It on the Mountain – guitar tabs and chords

For the sheet music below, keep in mind that the chords and melody are meant to be played as separate parts. We’ll look at how to connect these parts later in the arrangement section of this lesson.

When playing the chords part, continue playing the same chord when switching to a measure that doesn’t show one. For example, you would play G Major for the first two measures.

You can refer to this simple guide to understanding music symbols if needed.

By the way, you can get all the PDFs of this song below.

You can also learn the finger-style arrangement after the lyrics below.

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Go Tell It on the Mountain lyrics

Chorus:
Go tell it on the mountain,
over the hills, and ev’rywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.

Verse 1:
While shepherds kept their watching 
o’er silent flocks by night, 
behold, throughout the heavens
there shone a holy light. (Chorus)

Verse 2:
The shepherds feared and trembled
when lo, above the earth
rang out the angel chorus
that hailed our Savior’s birth. (Chorus)

Verse 3:
Down in a lowly manger
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation
that blessed Christmas morn. (Chorus)

Reference: Go, Tell It on the Mountain. hymnary.org

Go Tell It on the Mountain – finger style guitar arrangement

In this section, we are essentially connecting the melody and chords together using a finger picking method of playing. Also, the numbers next to some notes on the top staff indicate which fingers to use on the fretting hand.

If needed, check out this lesson to learn how to finger pick on guitar.

If you like this style of playing, you can check out this lesson to learn how to connect a melody and chords on guitar.

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Want to learn more songs? Check out the sheet music with guitar tabs resource on this site.

Explore Songs with Guitar Tabs