We Wish You a Merry Christmas — Free Lead Sheet PDF (Eb, Bb, Concert)

Traditional (English) · Traditional · 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas

An English West Country Wassailing Song

We Wish You a Merry Christmas grew out of the English West Country wassailing tradition, in which groups of carollers would travel door to door singing in exchange for food and drink — the song's demand for “figgy pudding” and refusal to leave until it is served is a direct reference to that old custom.

The tune and words circulated orally for generations before being documented, and no individual composer has ever been credited.

If you are also building a Christmas set, Carol of the Bells is another free carol on this site worth pairing it with.

The Tune & Chords

A Short, Cheerful Loop

This is one of the shortest and simplest tunes on this page — a compact, cheerful phrase that repeats itself, built for the practical purpose of being sung quickly on a doorstep rather than performed at length, which makes it a natural choice for a brief, high-energy instrumental interlude.

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

Using This Lead Sheet

The Classic Sign-Off

Given its wassailing origins as a doorstep song, this tune works nicely as a short, cheerful sign-off at the very end of a gig or carol round — brief, familiar, and instantly understood by any audience as “time to wrap up.”

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 What Child Is This.