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Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Chords

DATA-DRIVENWhich Chord Comes Next?Learn the most likely chord transitions on guitar and start playing songs with confidence.
ChordsC, Am, D7, G, Em, E7, A7, B7, D, Bm
Strumming↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑

Before you play, tune your guitar and use the tools below to set up your view and flow.

  • Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram
  • Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram
  • Guitar D7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-2Guitar D7 chord diagram
  • Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram
  • Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
  • Guitar E7 chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-0-1-0-0Guitar E7 chord diagram
  • Guitar A7 chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-0-2-0Guitar A7 chord diagram
  • Guitar B7 chord diagram Fingering: x-2-1-2-0-2Guitar B7 chord diagram
  • Guitar D chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-3-2Guitar D chord diagram
  • Guitar Bm chord diagram Fingering: 2-2-4-4-3-2 Barre at fret 2.Guitar Bm chord diagram

[Opening]
[C] [Am] [D7] [G]
[G]Have your[Em]self a [Am]merry little [D7]Christmas
[G]Let your [Em]heart be [Am]light, [D7]
[G]From now [Em]on your
[Am]Troubles will be [D7]out of [E7]sight. [A7][D7]

[verse 2]
[G]Have your[Em]self a [Am]merry little [D7]Christmas
[G]Make the [Em]yuletide [Am]gay, [D7]
[G]From now [Em]on your
[Am]Troubles will be [B7]miles [Em]away [G]

[verse 3]
[Em]Once again as in [D]olden days
Happy [Am]golden days [D7]of [G]yore.
[Em]Faithful friends who are [Bm]dear to us
Shall be [D]near to us once [Am]more [D7]

[Closing]
[G]Someday [Em]soon we [Am]all will be [D]together,
[G]If the [Em]fates [Am]allow, [D7]
[G]Until [Em]then we’ll [Am]have to muddle [D7]through [Em]somehow.
So [C]have yourself a [Am]merry little [D7]Christmas [G]now.

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SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookDiscover the most-used three-chord combinations in songs and build real command on guitar.
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?Master guitar today with the most repeated high-impact chord transitions.
ArtistFrank Sinatra
AlbumSingle
GenresChristmas
Year1957
KeyG

How to play Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas on guitar requires 10 chords and 17 core chord transitions. You can find the full step-by-step guide below. Before you start, tune your instrument. The song uses the ↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑ pattern; practice it muted first, or simplify to downstrokes while you learn the changes.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas uses these transitions most often: Am → D7 (11), G → Em (11), and D7 → G (10). These transitions may feel a little challenging at first, but with steady practice you can play this song quickly.When you are ready, begin with C - Am chord transition.

1. C → Am chord transition

Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram
Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram

To move from C to Am;

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Keep middle finger on D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.
C to Am

2. Am → D7 chord transition

Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram
Guitar D7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-2Guitar D7 chord diagram

To move from Am to D7;

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 2.
Am to D7

3. D7 → G chord transition

Guitar D7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-2Guitar D7 chord diagram
Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram

To move from D7 to G;

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 2 to fret 3.
D7 to G

4. G → Em chord transition

Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram
Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram

To move from G to Em;

  1. While playing G, lift your index finger from A string fret 2.
  2. Lift your middle finger from E string fret 3 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
G to Em

5. Em → Am chord transition

To move from Em to Am;

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on D string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Place index finger on B string fret 1.

6. D7 → E7 chord transition

To move from D7 to E7;

  1. While playing D7, lift your ring finger from E string fret 2.
  2. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on G string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to A string fret 2.

7. E7 → A7 chord transition

To move from E7 to A7;

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 1 and place it on D string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from A string fret 2 to B string fret 2.

8. A7 → D7 chord transition

To move from A7 to D7;

  1. Lift your index finger from D string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from B string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Place ring finger on E string fret 2.

9. Am → B7 chord transition

To move from Am to B7;

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on D string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from D string fret 2 to A string fret 2.
  3. Keep ring finger on G string fret 2.
  4. Place pinky on E string fret 2.

10. B7 → Em chord transition

To move from B7 to Em;

  1. While playing B7, first lift your index finger and pinky.
  2. Keep middle finger on A string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from G string fret 2 and place it on D string fret 2.

11. Em → D chord transition

To move from Em to D;

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to B string fret 3.
  3. Place index finger on G string fret 2.

12. D → Am chord transition

To move from D to Am;

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 2 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from B string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.

13. Em → Bm chord transition

To move from Em to Bm;

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 3.
  2. Slide your ring finger on D string from fret 2 to fret 4.
  3. Place index finger on E string fret 2.
  4. Place pinky on G string fret 4.

14. Bm → D chord transition

To move from Bm to D;

  1. While playing Bm, lift your pinky from G string fret 4.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  3. Slide your middle finger from B string fret 3 to E string fret 2.
  4. Lift your ring finger from D string fret 4 and place it on B string fret 3.

15. D → G chord transition

To move from D to G;

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Lift your ring finger from B string fret 3 and place it on E string fret 3.

16. D7 → Em chord transition

To move from D7 to Em;

  1. While playing D7, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from G string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from E string fret 2 to D string fret 2.

17. Em → C chord transition

To move from Em to C;

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on D string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to A string fret 3.
  3. Place index finger on B string fret 1.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas includes 58 chord transitions, 17 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.02% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas contains 3 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After Am, the most likely next chords across Chordier are F (26%), G (21%), and C (16%).
    • Am → D: 7%
    • Am → D7: 2%
    After G, the most likely next chords across Chordier are C (25%), D (24%), and Am (13%).
    • G → Em: 9%
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookThe 200 most popular three-chord chains from real songs. See which songs use each chain and expand your repertoire with patterns that actually matter.