The Joy to the World chords are the three main chords of the key: D, G and A7 on guitar, or C, F and G7 on piano and ukulele. Below are the chords with the words for all four verses, the piano notes for the tune, the song in every common key, and where the tune really came from, since it's not quite the Handel piece it's often credited to.
The guitar chart is in D, the key hymnals commonly print it in, where all three chords are open shapes. The piano and ukulele versions are in C, where the tune is all white keys and starts with the C major scale walking down from the top: C B A G F E D C.
The short version
Guitar in D: D, G, A7. Piano and ukulele in C: C, F, G7. The tune is in 2/4 and spans exactly one octave, from the key note up to the key note above, and it opens with that octave as a descending scale. For a group, D or C works.
What chords are in Joy to the World?
Joy to the World uses three chords: the 1, 4 and 5 chords of its key. In D that's D, G and A7; in C it's C, F and G7. The 5 chord comes under "Lord is," "ceive her," the second "And heaven and nature sing" and the last "nature"; the 4 chord under "earth" and the last "and."
The middle of the song, "Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing," sits on the home chord for two whole lines. Then the second "And heaven and nature sing" moves to A7, and the last line comes home through G and A7: "and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing."
| Number | Guitar (key of D) | Piano and ukulele (key of C) | Piano notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | C | C, E, G |
| 4 | G | F | F, A, C |
| 5 (as a 7th) | A7 | G7 | G, B, D, F |
Find the chord in the guitar column and play the one beside it on piano or ukulele. Every chart on this page works this way.
Joy to the World lyrics and chords
These are Isaac Watts's words as they're sung today, with the Joy to the World chords in D. Each chord sits on the syllable where it changes and rings until the next one. All four verses use the same chords, and each repeats its last line.
Verse 1 (2/4, key of D)
[D]Joy to the world, the [A7]Lord is [D]come!
Let [G]earth re[A7]ceive her [D]King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And [A7]heaven and nature sing,
And [D]heaven, and heaven, [G]and [A7]nature [D]sing.
Verses 2 to 4
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
Sing each verse's last line twice more, as in verse 1, doubling words the last time: "Repeat, repeat the sounding joy," "Far as, far as, the curse is found," "And wonders, wonders, of His love." Piano and ukulele: C for D, F for G, G7 for A7.
How do you play Joy to the World on guitar?
The Joy to the World guitar chords in D are D (xx0232), G (320003) and A7 (x02020), counting strings from the low E. It's in 2/4, two quick beats to the bar, so strum down on each beat, or alternate a bass note and a strum to keep it moving.
The long stretch of D in the middle is where to settle into a pattern: thumb on the open D string on beat 1, then the top three strings on beat 2. The changes come close together at the start and end of the verse, where most chords last a single bar, and the G before "nature" gets only half a beat, so practice "the Lord is come" (D, A7, D) and "and nature sing" (G, A7, D) until they're automatic.
A7 is an easy shape from D: it uses the open A, G and high E strings, with two fingers on the second fret of the D and B strings. To play in E with the same shapes, put a capo on the second fret; the guitar capo chart has every fret.
What are the piano notes for Joy to the World?
The Joy to the World piano notes in C are all white keys. The tune starts on the C above middle C and walks straight down the C major scale to middle C: C B A G F E D C, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come." Play C, F and G7 in the left hand.
Joy to the World: piano notes (right hand, key of C)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come: C B A G F E D C
Let earth receive her King: G A A B B C
Let every heart prepare Him room: C C B A G G F E C C B A G G F E
And heaven and nature sing: E E E E E F G
And heaven and nature sing: F E D D D D E F
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing: E D C C A G F E F E D C
The first line is the C major scale from top to bottom, and the second climbs back up from G to C. In "Let every heart prepare Him room" the same eight notes (C C B A G G F E) come twice. The last line has the tune's one big jump: "heaven" leaps a full octave, from middle C up to the C above it. Mason's own 1839 printing jumps a sixth there, from E; the octave is the common modern form. Some syllables carry two or three notes, so a line can have more notes than syllables.
For the left hand, play C under most of the song, G7 under "Lord is," "ceive her," the second "And heaven and nature sing" and the last "nature," and F under "earth" and the last "and." G7 is G, B, D and F; play it as B, F and G to keep your hand close to the C chord.
What are the ukulele chords for Joy to the World?
The Joy to the World ukulele chords in C are C (0003), F (2010) and G7 (0212), where the numbers are frets on the G, C, E and A strings in that order. C takes one finger, F two and G7 three.
The ukulele can share the piano chart in C. Strum down on each beat, since 2/4 moves quickly, and add an up-strum between beats once the changes are easy. To play along with a guitar in D, use D (2220), G (0232) and A7 (0100). The lullabies on guitar and piano post has more songs on the same three chords.
Joy to the World chords in every key
Joy to the World works in any major key with the same three chords. Its lowest note is the key note and its highest is the key note an octave above, so pick the key whose key note suits the bottom of your voice, and read the chords across.
| Key | 1, 4, 5 chords | Lowest and highest note (middle C is C4) | Guitar shapes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | A, D, E7 | A3 up to A4 | Open |
| B flat | B♭, E♭, F7 | B♭3 up to B♭4 | A shapes capo 1 |
| C | C, F, G7 | C4 up to C5 | Open (F is a barre), or A shapes capo 3 |
| D | D, G, A7 | D4 up to D5 | Open |
| E flat | E♭, A♭, B♭7 | E♭4 up to E♭5 | D shapes capo 1 |
| E | E, A, B7 | E4 up to E5 | Open, or D shapes capo 2 |
The high note is an octave above the low one. Men singing the tune sing it an octave lower than written.
In Nashville numbers, line 1 is 1, 5, 1; line 2 is 4, 5, 1; lines 3 and 4 stay on 1; line 5 is 5; and line 6 is 1, 4, 5, 1, with the 5 played as a seventh chord. The Nashville Number System post explains how to read a chart like this.
What key should a group sing Joy to the World in?
D is a good place to start: the tune runs from the D above middle C up to the D an octave higher, D4 to D5. C (C4 to C5) is a little lower and easier on deep voices; E flat is a half step higher if the room has more high voices.
The range is exactly an octave, and both ends come right away: "Joy" is the top note and "come" the bottom, both in the first line. So the first line is a complete test of the key. If "Joy" strains, drop the key; if "come" disappears, raise it.
The same octave comes back in the last line, where "heaven" jumps from the bottom note to the top. If you're leading and want to check your own range first, the free vocal range test finds your lowest and highest notes and suggests keys that fit, with guitar capo frets.
Who wrote Joy to the World?
Isaac Watts, an English minister and hymn writer, wrote the words, published in 1719 under the title "The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom," as a Christian reading of Psalm 98. The tune most often sung with it, called "Antioch," comes from Lowell Mason's arrangements, published from 1836, with the version closest to today's from 1848.
According to Wikipedia's history of the hymn, Watts's words appeared in The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, a book of psalm paraphrases. Watts probably didn't mean them as a Christmas song (his Independent church didn't keep Christmas): the psalm, and his paraphrase, celebrate the Lord coming to judge and rule the earth, as the Hymnology Archive explains.
Mason credited the tune to Handel, and it does share notes with Messiah: its first four notes match the chorus "Lift up your heads," and a later line echoes "Comfort ye." But Wikipedia notes that tunes closely resembling it were in print by 1832, under the title "Comfort," four years before Mason's first version. The tune has never been found among Handel's works, and Handel scholars put the likeness down to chance. It is the most-published Christmas hymn in North American hymnals: as of 2009, the Dictionary of North American Hymnology counted it in 1,387, more than any other Christmas hymn. The words and tune are in the public domain.
How do you put Joy to the World into Song Cage?
Song Cage shows a song as chords over the words, like a printed chord sheet, and moves the whole song to a new key in one step. Type the words into a song in Sheet view, put the three chords on, set the meter to 2/4, then pick a key from the key chip and choose Move song.
Move song is how the guitar chart in D and the piano chart in C stay in step: the chords move together and land on the same words. View > Nashville Numbers shows the song as 1, 4 and 5 in any key, and clicking a chord shows its guitar shape or piano keys, with a capo if you set one. The changing keys chapter covers Move song and Relabel.
To hear the words on the tune, add the melody by singing it in and using Detect melody, or by entering the notes, and the Singer voice sings each syllable on its note. It sounds like an 80s talking computer played off an old cassette, rough but clear enough to hear how the words sit. The opening scale is also a lesson in melody writing, and how to write a melody looks at it. For more carols, see Silent Night chords, Jingle Bells chords, O Holy Night chords, Away in a Manger chords, O Come All Ye Faithful chords and Hark the Herald Angels Sing chords.
Play Joy to the World in your key
Put the chords over the words in Song Cage, move the song between the guitar's D and the piano's C, and see every chord as a guitar shape or as piano keys.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the chords for Joy to the World?
Three: the 1, 4 and 5 chords of the key. On guitar in D that's D, G and A7; on piano or ukulele in C it's C, F and G7. Most of the song sits on the home chord, with the 5 chord under "Lord is," "ceive her," the second "And heaven and nature sing" and the last "nature."
What are the piano notes for Joy to the World?
In C, the first line is the C major scale going down: C B A G F E D C, starting on the C above middle C. The second line is G A A B B C. Every note in the tune is a white key.
Did Handel write Joy to the World?
Not directly. Lowell Mason published the tune, "Antioch," from 1836 and credited it to Handel. Its opening matches the chorus "Lift up your heads" from Messiah, but similar tunes were in print by 1832, and the tune has never been found among Handel's works. Isaac Watts wrote the words in 1719.
Is Joy to the World a Christmas song?
It's sung as one, but Isaac Watts wrote it as a paraphrase of Psalm 98, which celebrates the Lord coming to rule the earth; the words never mention the manger or Bethlehem. It has been the most-published Christmas hymn in North American hymnals.
Is Joy to the World in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts published the words in 1719, and Lowell Mason's arrangement of the tune dates from 1836 to 1848. Modern arrangements and recordings can still be under copyright.
What time signature is Joy to the World in?
Hymnals usually print Mason's tune in 2/4, two beats to the bar, which is why it feels brisk. Count "one, two" with "Joy" on beat 1.
