Away in a Manger: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard

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How to play Away in a Manger on the piano or keyboard. Note that this is the English version of the melody. Here is a well-known alternative tune for Away in a Manger.

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Introduction

Like Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger is in 3/4 (Waltz) time.

It’s written here in F major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.

Main Melody

With the exception of the last couple of notes, which are swapped, almost exactly the same melody is repeated twice in each verse. However, the accompaniment chords do vary very slightly.

Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:

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Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).

Those notes are:

- – C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D | Bb G A | Bb Bb C |
A A F A | G D F | E C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D |
Bb G A | B B C | A A F A | G D E | F -

Single Note Bass Line

Here’s how to add a single bass note to each bar to add a little harmony. In fact, it only uses three different notes — C, F and G.

Continued below...

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Listen to the MIDI file

Chords Only

If you simply want to play appropriate chords so you can sing or have another instrument playing the melody, here are very simple ones. Note that in bar 8 the chord is a G major in first inversion (this is significant because it requires you to play a B natural not a B flat). It doesn’t sound bad if you play a G minor chord here, but I prefer this version. [Find out more about major and minor chords here]

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Listen to MIDI file

Melody and Accompaniment

The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody note as the highest, plus two bass notes an octave apart in the left hand.

Note that the lowest one or two notes in each right hand bar are held for the duration (three beats) while the melody notes are played. This can either be done by physically holding the notes down (if comfortable), using the sustain pedal, or a combination. See what sounds the best — generally sustaining a whole bar when there are only a few melody notes in each will still give a pleasing sound without fear of notes running too much into one another.

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Listen to MIDI file

I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Away in a Manger.

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Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard