The Twelve Days of Christmas — Free Lead Sheet PDF (Eb, Bb, Concert)

Traditional, arr. Frederic Austin (1909) · 1780 · Traditional Christmas carol · Melody & chords only

Not sure which to pick? Our interactive saxophone transposition chart can help. PDFs open in a new tab — right-click (or long-press on mobile) and choose “Save as” to download.

About The Twelve Days of Christmas

A Cumulative English Counting Carol

The Twelve Days of Christmas is a cumulative counting song first published in England in 1780, in the children's book Mirth Without Mischief, though it likely circulated orally before that as a memory-and-forfeits game rather than a carol in the modern sense.

The tune most widely sung today, including its famous exaggerated pause before “five golden rings,” was arranged by the English composer Frederic Austin in 1909, who is also credited with adding that dramatic musical flourish.

If you are also building a Christmas set, Angels We Have Heard on High is another free carol on this site worth pairing it with.

The Tune & Chords

A Cumulative Structure Built for Fun

As a cumulative song, each verse adds another line on top of all the previous ones, which naturally builds energy and (usually) a fair amount of audience laughter as the list gets longer and harder to remember — a genuinely fun tune to arrange with a different instrumental voice taking each new “gift” line.

One simplified concert-pitch harmonisation — traditional carols were passed down as melodies, so chord choices vary between arrangers and songbooks.

Using This Lead Sheet

A Fun, Audience-Interactive Closer

This tune's cumulative, list-building structure makes it a natural audience-participation number at a party or corporate gig — invite the room to sing the growing list back, or hand each new “gift” line to a different player in the band for a bit of playful call-and-response.

If you would like one-to-one guidance building a Christmas set or working on your reading and improvisation more generally, saxophone lessons in person in South East London or online are available. You can also browse the full Christmas lead sheet index for more free carols, including Up on the Housetop.