Arrangement of The First Noel

Hello dulcimer world!

This week we will be looking at a hymn that we have sung all our lives, yet many have never dreamed of playing on the dulcimer, “The First Noel”. This is by far one of my favorite Christmas/Epiphany hymns. If you’re looking for a hymn that has a great story that expands and upon the historical birth of Christ, this is it! I honestly have seen this hymn have six or more verses, but for our dulcimer purposes, we have five.

A small note, if you are wondering what “Noel” means, it comes from the French word “Noël”, which means “birthday”. This truly is a birth day to celebrate each and every year. But it’s interesting that for centuries the church did not recognize Christmas as an important holiday. Easter was and of course still is the most important Christian holiday because of Christ’s work on the cross, but I wouldn’t dare undermine the enormous miracle that occurred 2000 years ago when God came to earth in the form of a man. Fully God, yet fully man. Amazing!

I hope you all enjoy this week’s arrangement. Please check out some of the past year’s Christmas arrangements also, such as “Joy to the World”, “Let All Mortal Flesh” and “Away in a Manger”.

God bless,

-Ben