https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/the-first-noel-mandolin-beginner
Let this one take you back. We’ll learn a simple, yet elegant, chord-melody solo for “The First Noel” then discuss how to beef it up wanted.
Discuss the Mandolin lesson: The First Noel
Love it!
Very good sounding “beginner” plus arrangement. Going to have a handful ready for Christmas 2019. When done clean this would be a respectful performance piece on its own.
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I like this…maybe I can learn this one! 
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Good luck!
Welcome to the forum Justin!
In the video I say “split chord” but I’m talking about the chords that look like this " F/A " or “F over A” on the tab sheet, not the (F G7). My bad.
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Hi James I am not a mandolin player but the way I treat split chords on the banjo is generally moving one or two fingers to make the voice change. Looking at the TAB the first part of measure is F and the second half is A. So as it’s a 3/4 tune three beat in the bar you’ll play the down beat F then the A chord - chuck chuck. I see @Simone responding so I suggest you follow her advice she is way more knowledgeable than me.
I’d also encourage you to watch @BanjoBen video he always breaks down the split chords and explains what he is doing and why he does it that way.
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Yeah, I misspoke in the video. I kept saying split chord. I understand the split chords. It’s when Ben says " F over A" voicing is what I’m trying to understand. So on the tab sheet when it shows (F G7) I understand what that is. It’s when it shows " F/A " that I am inquiring about.
It was late when I made the video and just flubbed it. I was getting some late night practice in after a long medic class. And my brain was potato 
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@Just_James
Sometime it means split measures meaning the measure has more than 1 chord to be played in its duration. But… (there’s always a But haha) in this case, I think it’s meaning chords over a specific note. I just tried it this way & it sounded pretty.
So here’s some chords I came up with for this if I can write them correcrly… 
1st line:
Starts @ measure 3: (O = open string played, X = not played)
C: O23O, G/B: OO23, F/A: 23OX, C/G: O35O (Or can use 5578)
Explaining what I did:
I think the G/B is telling us to use a G chord voicing that includes a B note in it and OO23 covers that because the 2 on A string is a B note. This thinking continues with F/A using 23OO because the 2 on the G string is an A note. Same with C/G using O35O because the 5 on the D string is a G note.
2nd line, starts measure 7:
F: 53OX, C/E: 5578,
F: 530X (split measure) then G7 I used 45XX which is only a partial chord (and I’m notorious for using those…
) (but you could use 43XX instead for G7) then back to the C: O23O.
I think that covers the chord overs listed in this song. And I’m sure there’s even more variations that would work too.
Hopefully this helps and wasn’t too confusing…
Hopefully I’m on the right track here and not telling bad info.
Folks plz correct me if this is not right!
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@Simone Wow! That is exactly what I was needing! Thank u so much for taking the time to type all that out. I’m sure there is a bunch of theory and fancy words and math behind all that, but what u put on there definitely helps me wrap my head around it better. Thanks again!
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@Just_James
I’m actually not great in either theory or math lol, and looking back my writing skills are questionable as well 
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Glad that helped some!
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No I was right you did a much better job of explaining this than I ever could. I just know when to recognise talent when I sees it.
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