Advent and Christmas sets from public-domain hymns, chords included
By the Seteo team
Advent begins on Sunday, November 29, 2026, and Christmas Eve falls on a Thursday. That is four Sundays and one evening to plan. Here are five sets you can use as they are, or take apart. Every hymn is in the public domain, every chart is free to print, and every chart opens in any key.
How these sets are built
The season moves. Advent waits and Christmas arrives, so the first Sundays lean on the hymns of longing, and the Christmas hymns come in as the month goes on. If your church sings Christmas hymns from the first Sunday, swap freely.
Three hymns a Sunday. Add your own opener or closing song around them. The themes follow a common Advent order of hope, peace, joy and love. Churches order these differently, so use yours if you have one.
Keys that connect. Each set moves between nearby keys, with a note on how to get from one hymn to the next.
The sets
Hope: Sunday, November 29
Em to G needs no bridge, because the two keys share every note. From G to D, add one bar of A, the V of D, after the last G.
Peace: Sunday, December 6
G is the V of C, so the last chord of the first hymn already leads into the second. From C to Em, add one bar of B7. Singing Emmanuel again ties the two Sundays together: pick up at a verse you haven’t sung yet.
Joy: Sunday, December 13
D is the V of G, so the first move needs nothing added. Hark and Angels share a key: hold the last G and go. If your church saves Joy to the World for Christmas, open with Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which is also in D.
Love: Sunday, December 20
From Em to D, add one bar of A. D is the V of G, so the last move needs nothing added.
Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24
From G to D, add one bar of A. From D to A, add one bar of E7. A is the V of D, so Joy to the World can follow Silent Night at once, or after a moment of quiet.
Check the key against your room
The default keys suit guitars and most volunteer bands, but your congregation decides. This table gives the lowest and highest melody notes in each chart’s default key. If the top note sits too high for your room, move the hymn down a step or two with the key buttons. If the lowest note drops out of reach, move it up.
| Hymn | Key | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | Em | D4 | D5 |
| Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus | G | G4 | E5 |
| Hark! the Herald Angels Sing | G | D4 | E5 |
| Joy to the World | D | D4 | D5 |
| O Come, All Ye Faithful | G | D4 | D5 |
| Silent Night | A | A3 | D5 |
| Angels We Have Heard on High | G | D4 | E5 |
| The First Noel | D | D4 | D5 |
| O Little Town of Bethlehem | G | D4 | E5 |
| What Child Is This | Em | B3 | D5 |
Set it up for the band
Guitars. Pick the key first, then the capo. A hymn in E♭ can be played with D shapes at capo 1 or C shapes at capo 3, and the chart redraws the shapes for you.
Keys and bass. Switch to Numbers and the chart stays the same in any key, so a late key change doesn’t mean a new chart. The two minor hymns, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and What Child Is This, count from the relative major, so 6 is home.
Print. Set the key and the capo, then press Print. The page prints what’s on screen, without the buttons.
Leave room. These hymns carry themselves. Try the first verse with one instrument and bring the band in on the second. In O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, keep the verses low and let the refrain open.
What public domain means here
Every hymn in these sets has its text, tune and translation published before 1931, and every named author, composer and translator died before 1956. Newer stanzas and arrangements are left out, and the chords are Seteo’s own. If you print from a hymnal or use a newer arrangement instead, check that edition’s copyright. See all the hymn charts.