Holiday Song in D Major / Beginner

Here is a lesson on how to play a 16th-century dance tune called Dargason. I recently learned it for the Diego’s Umbrella holiday album.

Learning chunks

Other versions on Youtube:

Further Practice

Practice the song at your own pace with this drone track.

This tune is in the key of D so we can practice it with a D drone:

Start by playing the D major scale with some fun variations. 

Full Tabs, Audio & Sheet Music

A Part:

First quarter: D2-0-0-0 2-3-A0-D3-2-1

Second quarter: D3-1-1-1 3-A0-1-0-D3

Third quarter: D2-0-0-0 A3-3-2-1-0

Fourth quarter: D3-1-1-1 E0-A3-2-1-0*

*End on D2 when you finish the tune.

“Low fiddle mix” play-along track

The fiddle is quiet in the mix. If you get lost, stop and listen. Otherwise, when you play it will feel like you are playing solo with the guitar, organ and beat.


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11 responses to “Dargason – Basic Lesson

    1. Hi Steve, great to hear you plan to join the group today. I like your suggestion, will add it to our request list.
      Often, I will write it out by hand, either right on the same sheet music (where it looks like double stops), and/or I’ll write it out on a new blank sheet music page. One can write up rough sheet music in these ways, to get the basics down. I’ll show some examples of how I do this at today’s Hootenanny and can share photos of this on Hootenanny page later on.
      I’ve used musescore and also find it can be tedious, though from utilizing the shortcuts they recommend, and continuing to practise, it can speed up 🎵 😀

    1. Hi – yes I think the last note should be D2 but only if you are done playing and not repeating. That appears to be how Jaso’n plays it in the video. I do struggle with how to “end” the song without it sounding like you are left hanging, so thanks for pointing this out! D2 sounds like a good note to end on.

  1. Hi Jason, I found the “learning success sequence and “low-fiddle” mix very very useful. And thank you so much for finding and posting the Dance Discover dancing Dargason. I love ii….makes me want to try the tune on the whistle 🙂

    Thanks again,
    linda