Gospel Piano Path › Free chord charts › Go, Tell It on the Mountain

Free chord chart

Go, Tell It on the Mountain

African American spiritual · Verses: John Wesley Work Jr., 1907 · Public domain

Change the key and every chord below moves with it — useful when a singer needs it lower, or when the worship leader modulates and you need it now. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.

Free: the 1-5-6-4 in all 12 keys, on one large-print sheet. Get it free →

Refrain (before and after every verse)

GGo, Ctell it on Amthe Gmoun-Emtain,

Amover the D7sus4hills D7and Gev'rywhere;

Ggo, Ctell it on Amthe Gmoun-Emtain

 that GJesus D7Christ is Gborn.

Verse 1

GWhile shepherds D7kept Am6their Gwatching

Go'er Amsilent D7flocks by Gnight,

Gbehold through-D6out B7sus4the Em7heavens

Em7there Ashone a A7holy Dlight.

Verse 2

GThe shepherds D7feared Am6and Gtrembled

Gwhen Amlo! a-D7bove the Gearth

Grang out the D6an-B7sus4gel Em7chorus

Em7that Ahailed our A7Savior's Dbirth.

Verse 3

GDown in a D7low-Am6ly Gmanger

Gthe Amhumble D7Christ was Gborn,

Gand God sent D6us B7sus4sal-Em7vation

Em7that Ablessed A7Christmas Dmorn.

D7The humble  Christ was Gborn,

CAnd God Gsent us D7salvation

D7That blessed  Christmas Gmorn.

Chords in the key of G

About this hymn

Words
African American spiritual, 19th century; stanzas attributed to John W. Work Jr. (1872-1925)
Music
GO TELL IT, African American spiritual, 19th century
Meter
7.6.7.6 with refrain
In
132 hymnals
Scripture
Luke 2:1-20, Isaiah 52:7, Matthew 28:19-20

The story

This is a spiritual. It moved by voice and memory before anyone put it on paper, and no composer of the original is known. The printing history is tangled. Different sources point to 1901, 1907 and 1909, so the honest way to say it is that it was first printed in the early 1900s. Hymnary indexes it under the stanza, While shepherds kept their watching, not under the refrain everybody knows. There is also a Fisk tradition of students singing it before dawn on Christmas morning. The words work on two levels at once, the shepherds carrying news down the hill and the church carrying it now, which is part of why it has stayed alive outside hymnals as much as in them.

This is an African American spiritual, carried orally in the Black church long before it was collected and printed. John Wesley Work Jr., described as the first African American collector of spirituals, taught at Fisk University and directed the Jubilee Singers, and the stanzas we sing are attributed to him, with his son John Wesley Work III later making the arrangements that spread it widely. Be careful here: who wrote which verse is not settled, and the sources use the family's Sr., Jr., II and III labels inconsistently.

A note on the music: The melody and the old verses are free to use, but modern hymnal harmonizations of this one are under copyright, so work the chart out by ear instead of copying a printed arrangement.

Where it fits in a service

Often used on Christmas Sunday and at Christmas Eve, and it also serves as a sending song since the refrain is a commission. Choirs and youth groups pick it up easily.

Free: four chords in every key

Get the 1-5-6-4 in all 12 keys, free. It is one large-print sheet with the four chords under a lot of the songs you already know. You also get my three-chord starter guide, and one email when a new hymn goes up. It assumes you do not read music.

No cost, and unsubscribe from any email.

Take it further

All 21 in one printed book

The Hymn & Carol Chord Chart Book puts 21 hymns and carols on paper, chords over the words, with a lead sheet and the story behind each one. Full-size pages for the music stand.

See it on Amazon →

Print this hymn

The same chart as a clean one-page PDF — with large-print lyrics, a guitar chart and a Nashville number chart of the same hymn.

See the printable set →

Why these chords work

Gospel Piano Chords by Ear is the book behind these charts — how to hear the I, IV and V, and how to move between them without reading music.

About the book →

Learn it with Henry

Online lessons, by ear, from the author of the book — a camera on the keys and this hymn ready for Sunday.

About lessons →