We Three Kings

We three kings of Orient are

We Three Kings is a Christmas carol composed in 1857 by John Hopkins Jr. of Pennsylvania, USA. Hopkins was a trained clergyman. He wrote the carol for a pageant at the college where he worked as a music teacher.

The carol tells of the three Three Kings from Matthew’s Gospel, and the gifts they brought for the infant Jesus – gold, frankincense and myrrh. Another name for the Three Kings is the Magi. This means astrologers or wise men. It’s also where our word magic comes from. In later legend the Three Kings were named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar.

Bearing gifts we travel so far
The rhythm of We Three Kings is 3:4, or Waltz time. This has three beats to each bar, which gives the music a special sway. Ask your Harp Academy teacher to tell you about Waltz time and music that has 3 beats in the bar. Try comparing it with music with 2, 4 or even 5 beats to the bar.

Structure and Mood
The carol was originally composed for three male voices, each representing one the Three Kings. The vocalists sang of the gifts they had brought for the infant Jesus. All three voices shared the first and last verses, as well as the choruses. In this way the carol takes an AB structure, although we also hear it played in an AAB format.

The melody has a Medieval feel to it, as well as a slightly Arabic feel. It also moves between minor and major moods, with the verses being reflective and sad in nature, and the choruses being more joyful.

Field and fountain, moor and mountain
There is one extra tricky detail for harmonica players in this piece. While the verses and choruses sway from minor to major, there is also an awkward Bb semitone in the third line of each. This cannot be achieved without good use of the overblow in hole 6. This is a special technique we don’t normally investigate until later in KS2 or KS3.

In our tab, we have indicated in red the place where this overblow is required. The red tab also gives us an alternative ‘melody’ note to play, instead of the overblow. When we play this note without our backing track, it will sound slightly unusual, but together with the backing track, it should provide a perfectly good solution. Ask your Harp Academy teacher about overblow technique, use of regular bends, and use of overbends on the harmonica.

Listen, Sing, Act, Play
When we learn new songs at Harp Academy, we like to follow a simple routine. First we listen to the song. Then we sing it. Next we add actions to the words or move to the rhythm. And finally we play along on our harmonica. Listen to the track above a few more times and see if you can hum or sing along. Can you think of some actions to go with the words? Can you move to the rhythm? Great! Let’s learn to play it on our harmonica.

Following yonder star
You can click the Orange icon to view and download the Arrow Tab. In the music below, purple numbers are for 4 hole harmonicas and orange numbers are for 10 hole harmonicas. D means draw (breathe in) and B means blow (breathe out). A practise track is at the foot of this page. Let’s hear the whole piece on the harmonica first, then break everything down into easy to learn chunks.

Verse

3D    3B    2D    1D    2B    2D    2B    1D
6D    6B    5D    4D    5B    5D    5B    4D
We three Kings of    or   –  i  – ent  are

3D    3B    2D    1D    2B    2D    2B    1D
6D    6B    5D    4D    5B    5D    5B    4D
Bear-ing gifts,  we   trav – el     a  –  far

2D    2D    3B    3B        3D    3D    4B    4B    3D
5D    5D    6B    6B        6D    6D    7B    7B    6D
Field and fountain,   moor and  mou – n – tain

3B    3D    3B    2D    2B    1D   
6B    6D    6B    5D    5B    4D
Fol -low – ing   yon -der  star

Chorus

2B    3B    2D    2D    2D    1B    2D    1D    2D
5B    6B    5D    5D    5D    4B    5D    4D    5D
Oh   oh   star   of  won – der,  star   of  night

2D    2D    2D    1B    2D    1D    2D
5D    5D    5D    4B    5D    4D    5D
Star  of    roy  – al   beau – ty bright

2D    2D    3B    3D        3B    3D    3B    3D
5D    5D    6B    6D        6B    6D    6B    6D
Westward leading,      still   pro – ceeding

2D    2D    2D    1B    2D    1D    2D   
5D    5D    DB    4B    5D    4D    5D
Guide us   to    our  per – fect  light

Modes
At this stage it’s worth noting what gives our tune it’s unusual flavour. We know the melody includes a Bb, which creates mystery and connects the major and minor themes, but there’s more. If you look closely, you’ll notice that first part of the song, the verse, ends on the draw note D (1D/4D). This means we’re playing in Dorian Mode, which gives us the minor flavour. It’s a mode we’ve also encountered when playing Drunken Sailor, Scarborough Fair and Uptown Funk. You can play the Dorian scale here:

1D    2B    2D    3B    3D    4D    4B   
4D    5B    5D    6B    6D    7D    7B

Now let’s look at that second part of the song, the chorus. This also ends on a draw note, but a different one. It’s F (2D/5D). This means we’re playing in Lydian Mode, which gives us a major flavour, but an alternative major flavour to our more familiar C major scale. Lydian is a mode we’ve also encountered when playing Skye Boat Song, Au Clair de la Lune and Auld Lang Syne. You can play the Dorian scale here:

2D   3B   3D   4D   4B   1D   2B   2D
5D   6B   6D   7D   7B   8D   8B   9D   

Key Skills

• Waltz time
• Verse and chorus
• Major and Minor
• Overbends
• Dorian Mode
• Lydian Mode

Practise Track