Hi everyone,
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! 
Here is a link to a German melody (Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging) that is frequently played at Christmas. I used a low F diatonic Richter harp.
Seasons Greetings
– Slim 
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Hello @Slim, thank you for your nice game. You express the sadness of the beautiful Christmas carol and sorry, also my current mood. Best regards Astrid
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Liebe Astrid @Astrid,
Vielen herzlichen Dank für die schöne Worte. Es tut mir sehr Leid, daß Deine jetzige Stimmung betrübt ist. Hoffentlich kommen besser Gedanken bald. 
Mit freundlichen Grüssen
– Slim
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Ja, lieber @Slim, ihr helft mir dabei und bald werde ich wieder spielen. Irgendwann im nächsten Jahr. Alles braucht seine Zeit. Und dieses schöne Weihnachtslied wird auf meiner Liste stehen, dank dir.
Es ist eines der Weihnachtslieder, was für mich besonders ist, aber nur selten gespielt wird.
Das Lied stammt aus meiner Heimatregion, Thüringen, wo ich geboren wurde. Mein Geburtsort ist der gleiche wie der von Johann Sebastian Bach. 
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Hello @Slim, I thought about your post and the beautiful song this year. I had asked in my local environment who knew the song. Nobody and me he was a complete stranger!
As a small thank you, I also learned, played and recorded the song and would like to thank you very much for your numerous tips and advice.
I wish you all a nice Advent season and a Merry Christmas.
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Liebe Astrid @AstridHandbikebee63
ich fühle mich sehr geehrt. 
Vielen, vielen Dank für die schönen Worte.
Frohe Weihnachten und schöne Feiertage,
– Slim
Dear Astrid @AstridHandbikebee63
I feel very honored. Thank you very much for the kind words.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
– Slim
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I love this!
I hadn’t heard the song before, but you play it wonderfully as far as I can tell 
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Hello @HarpinBobbyMcB,
I am very happy that you like my version!
If you scroll down to @Slim’s first post, you can hear his version. I find them very inspiring!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any sheet music or tabs for “Maria durch ein Dornwald ging” on the internet. I tried to orient myself on @Slim’s version and some originals.
Since you are also learning keyboard and playing harp, I will write down my tabs of harp here. You have to find chords for the keyboard yourself. I played the song with a C harp.
Have fun! Maybe you can present it to us in a year?
Harp C:
5 -6 - 7 7 8 7 - 6 - 7
7 -8 9 -9 8 (“Kyrie eleison”)
7 - 8 8 8 8 -9 8 - 8… 7 - 8
8 - 8 7 7 7 - 8 7 - 7… - 6 -7
-6 - 7 7 8 7 - 7 - 6 (Jesus and Maria)
The original has 3 verses. The first verse is played sadly and thoughtfully. The 2nd and 3rd a bit louder and more pronounced. A very emotional song! Since you are very good at playing your harp with feeling, it would be perfect for you. You can find the German text on the internet and with translation you understand what I mean.
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Hi Astrid @AstridHandbikebee63 and everyone else interested in this melody,
Below is the score I used back in my original post (at the start of this thread). As you can see, it is in D minor, but the tabs apply for any diatonic Richter tuned harp (only the key of the melody, and the chords in the accompaniment will be different: e.g. with a C harp the melody is in A minor, with a G harp it is in E minor, etc – consult your circle of fifths for help; or, if you understand positions, your melody is being played in the 5th position, which is the relative minor of the harp’s key).
You can click the lower right corner of the picture to get it enlarged and get access to the download button.
Regards,
– Slim
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Hello @Slim,
I almost asked you about the tabs before learning the song. But I wanted to surprise you and I’m not a sloth… 
. So I obeyed, tried, obeyed and played and learned something again. On occasion, I will also play your score 
. At the moment I have to recover from a dental operation, which of course has to have priority.
Thank you for your publication. Somehow I guessed from my noted tabs that you would send them to us.
Greetings from Astrid 
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My pleasure, Astrid @AstridHandbikebee63 !! 
I wish you a speedy and complete recovery ! 
Regards,
– Slim
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I’m usually not so good at following tabs or playing songs I don’t know, but this sounds like a good challenge 
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@HarpinBobbyMcB I didn’t know that song either.
I trust you absolutely that you can remember the melody well in a short time. It’s not long or heavy. You can do that very easily. 
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I’ve been working on this song. What a pretty melody 
What harp or harps did you use?
Just one or different ones? 
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On 
…It seems to me that learning to play music is a lot like learning a language. It can be done without ever knowing the mechanics behind it.
Kids don’t know about verbs, nouns, adjectives and pronouns when they learn to talk. They simply repeat the sounds they hear. Some of us never have the need to learn more about language.
The same thing happens with music. Many people are able to mimic the sounds they hear, and play very well without ever learning about the Circle of Fifths or how to read music.
Learning about the mechanics can seem boring and get in the way of our actually making music or communicating something. At the same time, learning what is behind the sounds we make allows us to better understand what we are doing in the process.
Seeing music on a page in tabs or in sheet music just doesn’t seem to connect with me. I find it much easier to mimic the sounds I hear.
So far, virtually all the songs I’ve played are those I can hum or whistle to to some extent. For most of the songs I know only very few of the actual lyrics, but the melody seems to play in my head like an on-demand music machine.
Learning to play Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging, has been particularly interesting since I wasn’t familiar with the tune before.
It was fun to go through the tabs (I’m using Astrid’s) and learning how to play this to work past my mental block on tabs and written music. Little by little we go far.
Thanks for the challenge @AstridHandbikebee63
My rendition is likely a bit different from the original
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