This tune is an excerpt from Steve Kaufman's A Smokey Mountain Christmas for Guitar (MB95308BCD).

The First Nowell (Noël)—Both the verse and the chorus of this ancient hymn are traditional. Sir John Strainer, the English composer and organist, harmonized this version for present day singers. The words of all folk songs varied with the singer. The ones given here are the best known but they do not follow the gospel account: the shepards did not see the star. Neither the words or the tune of this carol can be later than the 17^th century.

Pointers and Tips—The only difficult areas in this piece are the double stop hammer-ons found in measures 3, 5, 21 and 25. Use the 1st and 2nd finger to hammer on. Hit the 2nd and 3rd string open and hammer down on these strings.

Click to hear The First Noël