Not only is Hallelujah one of the most beautiful songs ever written, it also happens to be perfect for beginners on harmonica. Especially if you want to master tight, clean single notes. If you’re bored of practicing scales, Jeff buckle yourself in…
We’re gonna play it in the common key of C, on our trusty C harmonicas, in 1st position. Here’s the tabs:
Well I heard there was a secret chord
5 5 6 6 6 6 -6 -6 -6
That David played and it pleased the Lord
5 6 6 6 5 6 -6 -6 -6
But you don’t really care for music do ya
6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 6 6 -5 6 6
Well it goes like this, the fourth the fifth
5 5 6 6 6 6 -6 -6 -7
The minor fall and the major lift
6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 -8
The baffled king composing hallelujah
7 -8 -8 -8 7 8 8 8 -8 -8 7
Hallelujah
5 6 -6 -6
Hallelujah
-6 6 5 5
Hallelujah
5 6 -6 -6
Hallelu-u-u-u-jah
-6 6 5 -5 5 -4 4
You can hear me playing it like this here.
For advanced players, it’s a fun challenge to play this song in the key of C in 3rd position on a Bb country-tuned harmonica like I do here.
Interestingly, when the Canadian singer Leonard Cohen first released Hallelujah in 1984, it didn’t achieve commercial success. Rather it was John Cale’s 1991 cover that brought popularity to the song.
Cale’s cover inspired the young singer Jeff Buckley to record it in 1994, which catapulted it into the limelight. John Cale’s cover also later appeared in the movie Shrek in 2001.
Since then, many artists have covered immensely popular versions of the song.
Fun fact: Cohen spent 5 years writing this song and is reported to have had between 80 and 180 verses for it. He recounts the end of the process, sitting in a hotel room with notebook paper everywhere, banging his head on the floor.