Traditional, tune by James R. Murray · Key of G · Public domain
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This chart is written in G. Tap any key above the chart to see the whole song in that key, with every chord already worked out. To stay in G with different chord shapes, play it capo 3 with the E shapes, or capo 5 with the D shapes, or capo 7 with the C shapes. Singing with a group? Pick the key where the highest note is comfortable for everyone, then print that page.
For most of a century Away in a Manger was sung as "Luther's Cradle Hymn," on the belief that Martin Luther had written it for his own children. He did not. The words first appeared in 1885 in a Lutheran Sunday school collection published in Philadelphia, with no author named, and nobody has ever found them in German before that. The Luther story was attached two years later by the composer James R. Murray, who printed the carol in his 1887 book Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses under the heading "composed by Martin Luther for his children," and the legend traveled with the song for decades.
Murray's own contribution was real, though: the gentle melody most Americans sing, now called Mueller, is his. In Britain the same words go to a different tune, Cradle Song, written by William J. Kirkpatrick in 1895. The third verse, "Be near me, Lord Jesus," was added in 1892, and its author is still uncertain. Words and melody are long in the public domain.
Four chords (G, C, D7, and Am) in a slow, rocking 3/4, which is exactly what a lullaby should be. Count "one-two-three" and play a bass note on one with two soft strums after it. Each line starts with a pickup word before the first chord ("A-way," "The little"), so begin singing just ahead of the strum. The only busy moment is the end of each verse, where G, Am, D7, and G pass by in two bars; give each a single gentle strum. If G sits too low for young voices, try the key of A or C above the chart.
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
Another gentle one in waltz time: Silent Night chords and lyrics
All the Christmas carol chord sheets, each one in every key.
Further reading: Away in a Manger at Hymnary.org (texts, tunes, and history)
