An old favorite, and not especially hard. There are NO BARRE CHORDS! It does contain an F, which some beginners may find difficult. The only unusual chord is CaddG, which is played exactly like a regular C chord, but with the G note added in the third space on the first string with the little finger. Using this instead of a regular C allows the sound to rise with the melody of the song. You can just use the regular C if you are accompanying singing, but if you're playing it as a guitar solo, you'll want to carry the melody on the first string.
The tempo of the song is the only really weird part. In the hymnal, it keeps changing back and forth between 4/4 and 3/4. I have as usual recast this in eighth notes, as 8/8 and 6/8, which makes the counting easier. But it's still not easy, as the rhythm is sprung, and would need sixteenth notes to come out right. That's OK; sixteenth notes are no harder to play than quarter notes or eighth notes, but if I had to write them out, and count up to sixteen every measure, it would double the number of pages needed, and would not make the song any clearer to those who already know it. Which is most likely anyone who would be reading this blog anyway.
As a possibly interesting aside, I first tabbed this song while living in a housing tract built on land that was once a cattle ranch owned by William Clayton, the author of the lyrics. Sister Clayton, his great, great grand-daughter, still lived there, as a 90-year-old spinster. She didn't get out much, but I was asked to take the Sacrament to her a few times before she died. They played this song at her funeral.
Public domain, of course.
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