William Chatterton Dix · Key of E Minor · Public domain
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This chart is written in E Minor. Tap any key above the chart to see the whole song in that key, with every chord already worked out. To stay in E Minor with different chord shapes, play it capo 2 with the Dm shapes, or capo 7 with the Am shapes. Singing with a group? Pick the key where the highest note is comfortable for everyone, then print that page.
The words were written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix, who managed a marine insurance company in Glasgow and wrote hymns on the side. That year a serious illness kept him in bed for months, and during his recovery he wrote a poem called The Manger Throne. Three of its verses became What Child Is This.
The melody is far older and was never meant for church. It is Greensleeves, an English tune registered in London in 1580 and already famous enough for Shakespeare to mention it by name. The story that Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn is charming and almost certainly false: the tune is built on an Italian chord pattern that reached England after his death. The pairing of Dix's words with Greensleeves was published in 1871, and both are in the public domain.
Five open chords and the lilt of Greensleeves. Count it in a slow three (or a rolling six) and arpeggiate rather than strum if you can: thumb on the bass note, fingers across the top strings. The verse walks Em, G, D, then settles through C to B7, and the refrain begins on a bright G for "This, this is Christ the King" before the same descent brings it home to Em. The B7 at the end of each phrase is what gives the tune its old, bittersweet pull, so let it ring for its full bar.
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
Play the melody: Greensleeves guitar tab with audio
All the Christmas carol chord sheets, each one in every key.
Further reading: What Child Is This at Hymnary.org (texts, tunes, and history)
