Mendelssohn / Wesley

About Mendelssohn / Wesley. Working primarily in the 1739 era, Mendelssohn / Wesley contributed to the carol repertoire that beginning acoustic guitar players still draw from today. Songs attributed to Mendelssohn / Wesley (or arranged in their style for this catalog) sit well under open chord shapes and tend to move at conversational tempos — making them ideal first material for new players.

FretMapper currently lists 5 songs under this attribution. Each one is presented in a beginner-friendly key with full chord charts, a verse and chorus progression, a recommended strumming pattern, and a step-by-step practice plan. The arrangements reflect common voicings used by acoustic players — they're not transcriptions of any one specific recording.

If this is your first song from Mendelssohn / Wesley, start with whichever piece in the list below is marked 'beginner.' Spend a week with it. Once the chord changes feel automatic, move on to one of the 'easy' or 'intermediate' arrangements — you'll find your fingers already know most of the shapes, and the new song will come together in a fraction of the time.