Easy Christmas Songs for Clawhammer Banjo — Videos & TABs
Welcome to Festive Frailing—a growing collection of Christmas songs to learn and enjoy on clawhammer banjo. Choose a favourite below, follow along with the video tutorial, and pick up the matching TAB if you’d like a helping hand as you practise. From simple arrangements to tunes with a little more challenge, there’s plenty here to bring some festive cheer to your playing.
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EPISODE 1 - Away In A Manger
Let’s take a trip down memory lane with this Christmas favourite—sitting cross-legged in the school hall, belting out Away in a Manger at the top of our lungs. Or, worse still, standing on stage with tinsel wrapped around your head, next to Mary holding a Cabbage Patch doll pretending it’s baby Jesus. Bring those memories back with a little festive nostalgia, this time playing it on your clawhammer banjo.
Away In A Manger — CLAWHAMMER BANJO TAB PDF
Bring the gentle, lilting melody of Away In A Manger to your banjo with two progressive arrangements. This clawhammer banjo tab pairs an approachable SIMPLY SONGS version with a fuller Standard TAB, giving beginners a clear starting point and developing players more musical detail to explore. Follow the larger melody notation and lyrics first, then add chord brushes, fifth-string rhythm, hammer-ons and pull-offs while keeping the tune’s recognisable melody and flowing three-beat feel.
Arrangement details
Style: Clawhammer banjo
Tuning: Open G — gDGBD
Key: G major
Time signature: 3/4
SIMPLY SONGS difficulty: Beginner
Standard TAB difficulty: Beginner to intermediate
SIMPLY SONGS techniques: Single-note melody with open strings and fretted notes
Standard TAB techniques: Chord brushes, fifth-string thumb notes, hammer-ons and pull-offs
Chords: G and C
Lyrics: Included beneath both arrangements, with additional verses on a separate page
Digital format: Digital PDF download; four pages across the two arrangements and accompanying lyrics
Building your arrangement
Start by following the opening “A-way in a man-ger” melody and keeping a steady count of three beats per bar. The SIMPLY SONGS version lets you concentrate on finding the melody notes, with the green C sections highlighting the harmony before the return to G. In the Standard TAB, retain that same melody and pulse while adding chord brushes and fifth-string notes. Work carefully through the marked hammer-ons and pull-offs so these extra notes flow smoothly without interrupting the tune.
Two arrangements included
Start with the SIMPLY SONGS version—a clear, approachable and easy-to-read banjo tab with larger notation and a simplified arrangement. It is designed for beginners, visual learners and players who find traditional banjo tablature difficult to read.
When ready for an extra challenge, progress to the Standard TAB, which provides a more complete clawhammer banjo arrangement with additional notes, techniques and musical detail.
Together, the two versions provide a clear path from understanding and playing the essential tune to developing a richer arrangement.
Your digital download includes:
One easy-to-read SIMPLY SONGS banjo tab
One complete Standard clawhammer banjo tab
Both arrangements supplied as a digital PDF download
Banjo tabs suitable for beginner to intermediate players
Your PDF download will be emailed automatically after purchase. Please double-check that your email address is spelled correctly before completing your order.
EPISODE 2 - Twelve Days Of Christmas
Here’s one to get your synapses firing—The Twelve Days of Christmas is a proper test of memory and endurance! You might breeze through a partridge in a pear tree, but can you keep your clawhammer banjo rolling through all twelve days without losing count, missing a gift or sending the drummers drumming into the wrong verse? Take it one day at a time, then see if you can make it all the way through—your Christmas dinner guests can keep score.
12 Days Of Christmas — CLAWHAMMER BANJO TAB PDF
Bring a familiar festive favourite to your banjo with this progressive 12 Days Of Christmas clawhammer banjo tab. Its cumulative melody, repeated phrases and movement between 4/4 and 3/4 give the tune an enjoyable rhythmic character. The approachable SIMPLY SONGS arrangement gives beginners a clear starting point, while the more detailed Standard TAB introduces additional clawhammer techniques. Together, the two versions let you build the tune gradually without having to begin with the most demanding arrangement.
Arrangement details
Style: Festive song arranged for clawhammer banjo
Tuning: Open G — gDGBD
Key: G major
Time signature: Changes between 4/4 and 3/4
SIMPLY SONGS difficulty: Beginner
Standard TAB difficulty: Beginner to intermediate
SIMPLY SONGS techniques: Single-note melody and strumming
Standard TAB techniques: Fifth-string use, drop thumb, hammer-ons, pull-off and chordal brush/strum
Chords: G, C, D and D7
Lyrics included: Yes
Digital format: Digital PDF download
Page count: 3 PDF pages across both arrangements
Learning guidance
Begin with the SIMPLY SONGS version by following the words and listening carefully to where the music changes between four beats and three beats. Much of the descending list uses a repeated melodic pattern, while the closing line introduces movement through G, C, D and D7 before finishing with strummed chords. The Standard TAB develops the same recognisable melody with denser clawhammer rhythm, fifth-string notes, drop thumb, hammer-ons and a pull-off. Build the repeated sections first, then add the more detailed closing passage.
Two arrangements included
Start with the SIMPLY SONGS version—a clear, approachable and easy-to-read banjo tab with larger notation and a simplified arrangement. It is designed for beginners, visual learners and players who find traditional banjo tablature difficult to read.
When ready for an extra challenge, progress to the Standard TAB, which provides a more complete clawhammer banjo arrangement with additional notes, techniques and musical detail.
Together, the two versions provide a clear path from understanding and playing the essential tune to developing a richer arrangement.
Your digital download includes:
One easy-to-read SIMPLY SONGS banjo tab
One complete Standard clawhammer banjo tab
Both arrangements supplied as a digital PDF download
Banjo tabs suitable for beginner-to-intermediate players
Your PDF download will be emailed automatically after purchase. Please double-check that your email address is spelled correctly before completing your order.
EPISODE 3 - Silent Night
After all those leaping lords and noisy drummers, let’s give everyone a moment’s peace with Silent Night. This is the one for when the Christmas dinner plates are cleared, the lights are low and even the dog has finally stopped begging for turkey. Let your clawhammer banjo do the singing, take your time, and enjoy a little Christmas calm.
Silent Night — CLAWHAMMER BANJO TAB PDF
Bring the gentle, flowing character of this much-loved seasonal melody to your banjo with this Silent Night clawhammer banjo tab. The two progressive arrangements allow newer players to begin with a clear, spacious version of the essential tune before moving on to a fuller clawhammer arrangement. The approachable SIMPLY SONGS tab makes the melody and chord movement easy to follow, while the Standard TAB offers developing players additional rhythm, technique and musical detail.
Arrangement details
Style: Clawhammer banjo
Tuning: Open G — gDGBD
Key: G major
Time signature: 3/4
Chords: G, C, D and D7
SIMPLY SONGS difficulty: Confident Beginner
Standard TAB difficulty: Advanced (With syncopated skip notes)
SIMPLY SONGS techniques: Clear single-note melody with upper-neck movement and a barred D position at the 7th fret
Standard TAB techniques: Pull-offs, drop thumb, chord brushes, a slide and upper-neck fretting
Lyrics included: Yes
Digital format: Four PDF pages across both arrangements
Learning guidance
Begin by following the spacious SIMPLY SONGS melody and feeling the steady three-beat pulse as the harmony moves through G, C, D and D7. Give particular attention to the higher frets used during the phrases leading into “heavenly peace”. The Standard TAB develops the same recognisable melody with fuller rhythmic accompaniment, pull-offs, drop-thumb notes, chord brushes and a slide. Build these details into the tune gradually while keeping the calm 3/4 rhythm even and unhurried.
Two arrangements included
Start with the SIMPLY SONGS version—a clear, approachable and easy-to-read banjo tab with larger notation and a simplified arrangement. It is designed for beginners, visual learners and players who find traditional banjo tablature difficult to read.
When ready for an extra challenge, progress to the Standard TAB, which provides a more complete clawhammer banjo arrangement with additional notes, techniques and musical detail.
Together, the two versions provide a clear path from understanding and playing the essential tune to developing a richer arrangement.
Your digital download includes:
One easy-to-read SIMPLY SONGS banjo tab
One complete Standard clawhammer banjo tab
Both arrangements supplied as a digital PDF download
Banjo tabs suitable for beginner-to-intermediate players
Your PDF download will be emailed automatically after purchase. Please double-check that your email address is spelled correctly before completing your order.
EPISODE 4 - Jingle Bells
If you want to be the banjo hero around the Christmas table, Jingle Bells is a fine place to start. It’s the sort of tune that gets everyone joining in, including the uncle who insists he can’t sing but somehow makes the most noise. Grab your clawhammer banjo, get that rhythm rolling, and see who makes it to “hey!” first.
