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When I was 10, I began taking lessons in classical guitar. One of the first songs you learn once you have the basics down is “Greensleeves.” When you read the title of the piece and hear the simple, timeless melody (especially as a 10-year-old), you assume that the title “Greensleeves” must be a reference to some centuries-old, magical thing. You don’t know what it could possibly be, but it must be special. It MUST.
Today – nearly thirty years later – I learned that, no, it’s just a reference to green sleeves. On a dress. Literally. The title of the original piece, first published in 1580 by Richard Jones, is “”A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves.”
I know what you’re thinking – “Greene Sleves” is the woman’s name, not necessarily a reference to what she’s wearing. But no, it’s not as simple – or innocent – as that. A woman wearing green in the 16th century (or being said to wear green) was apparently a euphemism. The green came from rolling around in the grass doing…something. I won’t get into the particulars.
“Greensleeves” Playing Tips
“Greensleeves” is one of those songs that is simple to play while also sounding fairly impressive to anyone listening.
Be careful with this rhythmic pattern that appears throughout the tune:
Using rhythm syllables: TA ti TIM-ri ti
Listen to recordings of the song if you aren’t familiar with it already to get the timing down. Hitting this rhythm well is a big key to the successfully playing the song.
The chord structure for “Greensleeves” is a bit more complicated, requiring 6 different chords. Transposing the tune for ukulele moves it up to D minor, which means you’ll need to use a Bb chord, and the unfamiliar chord can be awkward for beginners.
Luckily, both appearance of Bb follow Dm, so your fingers are mostly in position already. You can leave out the barre of the first and second strings and just not play the E string if that is too challenging for you at the moment.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.
“Greensleeves” Low G Sheet Music Download
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