Mastering Christmas Songs on the Piano and Keyboard: An Introduction

With Christmas just around the corner, you may want to begin brushing up on your Christmas carols and Christmas songs.

In this ongoing series, I’ll take a look at some of the more popular songs, and show you ways of learning and playing them quickly and simply no matter what your proficiency (having said that, if you are already a virtuoso on the piano, you may be better off buying the sheet music and practising the full arrangements yourself.)

Christmas songs often seem complicated, and because they’re only called for during a short period of time in the year, they’re not always polished.

Often the song can be vastly simplified and still sound good – certainly good enough for a sing-song around the piano. Often it’s enough to be able to pitch the tune or play a basic bass and accompaniment to keep singers in tune.

• All Through the Night
• Frosty the Snowman
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
• Jingle Bells
• Let It Snow
• O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• We Wish You A Merry Christmas
• White Christmas
• Winter Wonderland

Jingle Bells: Mastering Christmas Songs on the Piano and Keyboard

Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions

A very popular Christmas song is “Jingle Bells“. Here’s how to play a simple arrangement of it.

Jingle Bells: Introduction

Here, Jingle Bells is written and played in the key of C Major, and has a 4/4 time signature.

Jingle Bells: Main Melody

This well-known Christmas song is made from four distinct phrases, with the first two being very similar to one another, and the second two following each other closely.

The first eight bars feature the first phrase. The second eight bars feature almost the same phrase repeated, with the exception of the final two bars.

The next eight bars feature the second phrase. The final eight bars feature that phrase almost identically repeated until the final three bars.

The melody notes you need to play are:

E E E – | E E E – | E G C D | E – - – |
F F F F | F E E E E | E D D E | D – G – |
E E E – | E E E – | E G C D | E – - – |
F F F F | F E E E E | G G F D | C – - – |
G E D C | G – - G G | G E D C | A – - – |
A F E D | B – - – | G G F D | E – - – |
G E D C | G – - G G | G E D C | A – - – |
A F E D | G G G G G | A G F D | C – - – |

Here’s the complete melody written out:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Jingle Bells: Fingering

The first 16 bars can be played with the right hand in a single position. It’s then a small jump downwards onto the right thumb to begin playing the last 16 bars. These can be played without much stretching involved, and with the right hand thumb ‘anchoring’ around the lower G.

Jingle Bells: Single Note Bass Line

Below is a simple bass line for the song using just one note at a time. It’s a very simple whole note per bar arrangement, where you’ll always be playing either C, D, F or G.

Here’s the printed music:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Jingle Bells: Adding harmony and fullness with chords

In the final version of Jingle Bells, I’ve added two- and three-note chords to the right hand, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line has also been slightly altered to fit with the harmonies.

Noting the only sharpened note in the whole piece, in bar seven. The F sharp at the root of the chord helps create an interesting harmony.

Here’s the printed music.

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

We hope you found this guide useful. Feel free to leave comments below if you have any questions or suggestions.

Let It Snow: Mastering Christmas Songs on the Piano and Keyboard

Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions

A very popular Christmas song is “Let It Snow”. Here’s how to play a simple arrangement of it.

Introduction

Here, Let It Snow is written and played in the key of C Major, and has a 4/4 time signature.

C major makes the higher notes more comfortable to sing, but you could transpose up (or indeed down) if needed.

Main Melody

Hum through the melody and you’ll notice that this effectively has A-A-B-A phrasing. That is, the first phrase is repeated (with only one or two differences in notes/timing) then followed by a different section before returning to the first phrase again.

The melody notes you need to play are:

- – - G G | G G F E D | C G – G G | D C D C | B G – A |
A A G F E | D – - B A | G G F E E D |
C – - G | G G F E D | C G – G G | D C D C | B G – A |
A A G F E | D – - B A | G G F E E D |
C – - B C | D E D B G | D – - B D | C C B A G A |
B – - B C | D E D B G | D – - – | G F E F G A |
G – - G G | G G F E D | C G – G G | D C D C | B G – A |
A A G F E | D – - B A | G G F E E D | C – - – |

Here’s the complete melody written out:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

You may want to add some artistic license to all of the dotted eighth notes (quavers) followed by sixteenth (semiquaver) notes, depending upon how you like the phrasing to sound. I know different recording artists have done things slightly differently. Remember, the printed music is only there as a guide for you to add your own performance nuances to, and not an absolute rule.

Fingering

There are a number of octave stretches which, unless you have a very large hand, you’re likely to want to play from thumb to fifth (little) finger (or reverse, for descending octaves).

There are a number of passages where notes descend, not with all consecutive notes in the scale, but it should still be easy enough to finger appropriately. Where there are six notes in a downward run (see bars 2 and 3 for an example) you can play the first five notes with fingers 5,4,3,2 and 1 (thumb) before reaching over with your index finger to play the next note, then switching back to the thumb ready for the next significant interval (in this case, from bar 3 to bar 4).

In bars 18 through 20, you’ll want to ensure you switch fingers when appropriate so that you don’t “run out” of fingers later on.

Single Note Bass Line

Below is a simple bass line for the carol using just one note at a time. From bar 2 onwards, the bass line alternates between a bar of two half notes and a bar of one whole note.

Here’s the printed music:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Adding harmony and fullness with chords

In the final version of Let It Snow, I’ve added two- and three-note chords to the right hand, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line has also been slightly altered to fit with the harmonies.

Here’s the printed music.

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

We hope you found this guide useful. Feel free to leave comments below if you have any questions or suggestions.

Ding Dong Merrily On High: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard

Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions

View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.

Another popular carol in our series on mastering Christmas Carols on Piano and Keyboard is “Ding Dong Merrily On High”.

Introduction

Here, Ding Dong Merrily On High is written and played in the key of F Major, and has a 4/4 time signature.

F major makes the higher notes more comfortable to sing, but you could transpose up (or indeed down) if needed.

Main Melody

Hum through the melody and you’ll notice several things:

• The first four bars are repeated note for note in bars 5-8.
• Bars 9-13 feature the same phrasing in the melody line, but gradually descending. This is useful to remember when playing at speed.

The melody notes you need to play are:

F F G F E D | C – - C | D F F E | F – F – |
F F G F E D | C – - C | D F F E | F – F – |
C Bb A Bb C A | Bb A G A Bb G |
A G F G A F | G F E F G E |
F E D E F D | E D C C |
D F F E | F – F – |

Here’s the complete melody written out:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Fingering

The first eight bars can be played by the right hand in a fixed position, starting with the fourth (ring) finger.

Start bar 9 on the little (fifth) finger and play naturally until the end of bar 11, where you’ll finish on the thumb.

If you can smoothly play the G at the start of bar 12 by scrunching your hand up then you’ll be able to play the rest of the piece without moving again.

Alternatively, use your third (middle) or fourth (ring) finger, but bear in mind you’ll need to move your hand again later on.

Single Note Bass Line

Below is a simple bass line for the carol using just one note at a time. Most of the bass notes are minims (half notes) so you play two evenly in each bar – one on beat 1 and the other on beat 3. The exception to this is in bars 2 and 6, which feature a dotted minim (half note) and a crotchet (quarter note). This means you play the first note on beat 1 and the second note on beat 4.

Here’s the printed music:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

More elaborate bass line

This bass line varies a little from the previous example. It features more crotchets (quarter notes) to give more of a “walking” feel to the piece. Bars 2 and 6 still feature the dotted half note and quarter note, while bars 4 and 8 feature two half notes.

Here’s the printed music:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Adding harmony and fullness with chords

In the final version of Ding Dong Merrily on High, I’ve added two- and three-note chords to the right hand, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line has also been slightly altered to fit with the harmonies.

In particular, pay attention to the chord and bass note in the 3rd beat of bar 13. It’s a G major chord with a B natural in the bass. Be sure not to play the B flats as you would at any other place in the music.

Here’s the printed music.

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

We hope you found this guide useful. Feel free to leave comments below if you have any questions or suggestions.

Good King Wenceslas: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard

Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions

View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.

Another popular carol in our series on mastering Christmas Carols on Piano and Keyboard is “Good King Wenceslas”.

Introduction

Good King Wenceslas is written and played in the key of G Major, and has a 4/4 time signature.

Main Melody

Hum through the melody and you’ll notice several things:

• The first two lines are repeated note for note
• The second half of the third line is identical to the second half of the first and second lines

The melody notes you need to play are:

G G G A | G G D – | E D E F | G – G – |
G G G A | G G D – | E D E F | G – G – |
D C B A | B A G – | E D E F | G – G – |
D D E F | G G A – | D C B A | G – C – | G – - -

Here’s the complete melody written out:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Fingering

The first and second lines can be played by the right hand in a fixed position, starting with the fourth (ring) finger.

Each bar on the third and fourth lines can be played as a smooth group but you will need to move the right hand or at least stretch in order to play all the notes.

Single Note Bass Line

Below is a simple bass line for the carol using just one note at a time. It’s written so that it follows the melody to some degree.

Here’s the printed music:

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

Adding harmony and fullness with chords

In the third version of Good King Wenceslas, I’ve added two- and three-note chords to the right hand, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line is, in the main, a single note per bar.

(Download this as a PDF file)

And here’s what it sounds like:

Listen

We hope you found this guide useful. Feel free to leave comments below if you have any questions or suggestions.

Reason 6 101 “quick start” guide for Mac

With the release of Reason 6 comes the inevitable tutorial guides.

If you’re on a Mac you can grab a free copy of the “Reason 6 101 Quick Start Gude” from MacProVideo.com.

Reason expert Hollin Jones covers many aspects of the latest upgrade to Propellerhead Software’s Reason software.

The table of contents is as follows:

1. Introduction
2. The Rack
3. Blocks
4. MIDI Tricks
5. Regroove
6. MIDI Editing
7. Sampling
8. Creating a Bass Synth
9. Creating a Beat
10. Audio Recording and Comping
11. Automation
12. Mixing
13. Exporting

You can download it from the Mac App Store.

How To Play The USA’s National Anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner) on Piano and Keyboard

Feeling patriotic? Have an event where it would be good to play the United States’ National Anthem? Here are some simple piano/keyboard arrangements for The Star-Spangled Banner.

Introduction

The Star-Spangled Banner is written here in B-flat major. This is the key I’ve most often heard it played in. It means you have two flats to contend with. B flat and E flat.

It’s written in 3/4 time. That means there are three quarter notes to each bar. For interest’s sake, the British national anthem (God Save The Queen) is also written in 3/4 time.

Melody Line

Here’s the music score.

Here’s a PDF file you can download.

You can listen to what it sounds like with this MIDI or WAV audio files.

The melody is fairly easy to play. You probably already know how the timing of the notes goes, so the dotted eighth note (quaver) followed by sixteenth note (semiquaver) found in bars 1, 3 and 9 shouldn’t phase you. Similarly, the dotted quarter notes (crotchets) followed by eighth notes (quavers) in 6, 15, 23 and 25.

The first ascending notes (in bar 2) are in fact five successive notes of a B-flat major arpeggio. B-flat, D, F, B-flat and D.

Note the E natural in bars 4 and 17.

You know from the anthem that the first part of the melody repeats. This is marked in the music by way of repeat marks and 1st/2nd time bars.

When you see notation like this, it means that you play everything from the start up until (and including) the bar marked overhead with “1.” The repeat mark (looks like a colon (:) means to go back to the last repeat marks. You can see that’s at the start of bar 2.

Play everything through again, but when you get to the “1st” bar, skip it and jump to the “2nd” time bar. Play that bar and then keep going. This is a form of shorthand and saves printing out repeated passages of music again.

Simple Bass Line

Here, a simple one note bass line has been added.

Here’s the music score.

Here’s a PDF file you can download.

You can listen to what it sounds like with these MIDI or WAV audio files.

Right Hand Chords

If you’re playing to accompany singing, it’s useful not to play the melody line itself but to fill out the accompaniment with chords. These can be played in the right hand, while the left hand plays the bass line.

Here’s the music score.

Here’s a PDF file you can download.

You can listen to what it sounds like with these MIDI or WAV audio files.

I hope that helps you when it comes to playing The Star-Spangled Banner.

How to teach young children to play music keyboard using coloured stickers

Our guide on how to label and write notes on the piano keyboard is great for older children and adults who don’t yet wish to learn traditional musical notation, but it may still be too complicated for much younger children.

Introduction

If you are keen to teach your toddler or young child — now happily sitting in front of their new keyboard — some simple tunes, read on.

This guide offers a basic way to label a portion of the keyboard (one octave – that’s eight white notes) and then encourage your child to play simple tunes by recognising and matching colours.

In time, if your child shows interest and progress, you could introduce a more elaborate system in order that he or she can play more advanced melodies.

Equipment

Apart from a keyboard or piano with at least one octave (that comprises of eight white notes in succession, plus five interspersed black notes) you only need one other piece of kit in order to set up: adhesive labels.

In order that you can follow the printed music we’ve prepared, you should ensure that you get a pack of stickers with at least one of the each of the following colours in:

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Dark Blue
Aqua Blue
Purple
Pink

In the UK, I find these coloured spine labels
work well, but I can’t find an equivalent link in the US Amazon store. As an alternative, you could buy ordinary white circular labels and colour them in yourself with felt-tipped pens (ensuring that the ink is suitable for the label and won’t come off when the keys are played).

Preparing the Piano or Keyboard

Firstly, you need to find the right section of the keyboard to affix the coloured stickers to.

Below is a diagram of a fairly standard five octave (61 key) keyboard instrument from Yamaha. All keyboards are laid out like this, but your model may have less or more keys.

What you’re looking for is a white note immediately to the left of a set of two black notes. Generally, you need to pick the one closest to the centre of the keyboard — this is likely to be what’s known as “Middle C”.

To help you find it, play all the “C” notes on your keyboard until you find the one that sounds the closest to the following:

Middle C [MIDI file. Most modern PCs should play this automatically when you click on it]

Once you’ve found your note, affix the red sticker either to the key (best) or on the plastic/wood/metal directly above the key.

Then, attach the orange sticker to the white key immediately to its right. Continue with yellow, green, dark blue, aqua blue, purple and pink.

You should now find a run of eight notes have coloured stickers on, and the pink sticker is also on a “C” key. See the diagram below:

Playing Melodies

Now your keyboard is set up, you can select some tunes for your child to practice playing.

We have prepared some very simple songs that only need, at most, this range of eight notes to play. The black keys are not used in this system (there’s plenty of time for that later!)

Now, all your child needs to do is to match the printed colours, working from top to bottom, left to right across the page, with the appropriately coloured key on the keyboard… then play it.

Does your child recognise the tune? Encourage him to keep practicing, and let him know that it’s OK to experiment and make mistakes, too. He’ll no doubt want to play other keys, or use both hands, and that’s absolutely fine. This is as much about encouraging exploration and learning music on his own, if not more, than simply following printed music.

The Music

Pick a link below to see printable PDF files containing some well-known songs.

Please note that, because this is a very simple system, it’s not possible to show detailed timings. Hopefully, because you’ll know the tunes, you can work out how long each individual note should last.

Very basic note lengths can be shown. Imagine each coloured circle is a single ‘beat’, and play each subsequent note at a regular interval. Blank (white) circles on the music indicate that the preceding note should be held for an additional beat.

Feel free to experiment with the timings yourself.

• London Bridge is Falling Down
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Three Blind Mice
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Expanding the System

The simple system only uses the eight white notes, but this does limit the melodies that can be played.

To introduce the black keys into a song, the system can be simply expanded so that the red, orange, green, dark blue and aqua blue can include a “+” sign within the circle on the printed music. If the player sees a + in the circle, this means to play the black key immediately to the right of the corresponding white key.

We’ll include some songs that use this more advanced method very shortly.

DIY

If you can’t find the exact coloured labels here, you’d like to use your own coloured or shaped labels, or you want to create your own melodies, then you can print out a template that will allow you to create your own music.

Once the blank sheet is printed, simply colour or otherwise mark the appropriate circles to show which keys should be played. Just ensure you are consistent with the stickers on the keyboard itself.

• Download sheet music template

What’s Next?

If your child has really taken to playing the keyboard, you might want to buy some piano books for kids so that he or she can explore further.

The most important thing is to always encourage your child to explore and learn at their own pace. Perhaps more formal music lessons would be good, but don’t force them on your child as it is possible to stifle their interest.

Most of all, enjoy the shared experience of music!

Recommended Product: How your child can read music notes – easily and quickly

How to Play Popular Traditional Children’s Songs

Would you like to be able to play some of the most famous and popular traditional children’s songs, or even teach your child to play them?

If so, take a look at our guide to playing a number of traditional children’s songs that have proved popular over the years.

We provide very basic sheet music for each song, complete with the melody line, a simple bass line accompaniment, and basic fingering recommendations.

If you’d like any more help, or wish to request another song for us to cover, please leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Click on any song in the list below to jump to that part of the page, or just scroll down to see what’s on offer:

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Once I Caught a Fish Alive
• Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
• Humpty Dumpty
• London Bridge is Falling Down
• Mary, Mary Quite Contrary
• Sing a Song of Sixpence
• Three Blind Mice
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Once I Caught a Fish Alive

The little notes in bars 5 and 7 are called grace notes. These are used when a note needs to be played/sung but it’s very short indeed and should come just before the main note. In this case, it’s on the word you in ‘why did you let it go’ and the ger of finger in “which finger did it bite?”.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

6/8 (Six-eight) time simply means that there are six beats in each bar. You’ll notice two distinct halves to each bar, of three beats each. This is accentuated by the bass accompaniment.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Humpty Dumpty

Another song in 6/8 time. You might find the switch from finger 4 to thumb (1) between bars 5 and 6 a little odd to begin with – your hand might feel a bit like a crab walking up the keyboard particularly after the previous section in bar 5. Stick with this as it keeps the four-note scale from D to G in bar 6 smooth.

A similar principle applies at the end of bar 7. You need to switch from finger 5 on the C to finger 3, not 4, on the B, because otherwise you’d end up playing the lower F# in bar 8 with your thumb. As it is, you need to swing your index finger over your thumb as you move from the G to F#. If you transpose this piece into another key, you will find the sharps or flats, and hence the fingering, are different.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

London Bridge is Falling Down

The pattern of notes at the beginning of bars 1 and 3 might look complicated, but you probably already know the timing of “London Bridge” anyway, so simply play the notes with the timing you know. There’s no need to count all those quavers (eighth notes) and semiquavers (sixteenth notes). Listen to the MIDI audio file if you get stuck.

This piece of music can be played with your right hand almost in the same position the whole time. Start on your ring finger (4). Your index finger (2) plays the F#. Hit the E with your thumb (1) at the start of bar 2 and then just walk up naturally. This way you’ll be back at your fourth finger for bar 3.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

Don’t be put off by how low the music seems to look in bar 3. Work out what those notes are ahead of time so you don’t get stuck counting having to count the ledger lines. That note at the end of bar 2 is the G below middle C, and that four note ascending scale (G, A, B, C) repeats twice before hitting the F at the end of bar 3 with your little finger (5).

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Sing a Song of Sixpence

There are a few slightly longer stretches and finger changes to enable you to play this song more smoothly. In particular, the stretch from the C to lower E at the end of bar 3, and the switch from your little finger (5) to ring finger (4) at the end of bar 6. Also watch the change from your index finger (2) to ring finger (4) in the middle of bar 7.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Three Blind Mice

Don’t be put off by the 12/8 time signature. This means 12 beats in a bar. It could have been written in 6/8 with twice as many measures, but I think it looks better this way.

See how your middle finger (3) has to twist over your thumb at the start of the final bar. This is quite a common move that will feel more comfortable over time.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Note the twist of your index finger (2) over your thumb at the end of bar 2. You’ll need to do the same for the very last note.

Click to download the PDF

Click to hear the MIDI audio

^^ Back to top ^^

Hark the Herald Angels Sing: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard

Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions

View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.

As part of our mastering Christmas carols on piano and keyboard series, here’s our guide to playing Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.

Introduction

Hark the Herald Angels Sing is written here in G major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.

Main Melody

Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:

Download the PDF version

Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).

Those notes are:

D G G F# | G B B A | D D D C | B A B | D G G F# |
G B B A | D A A F# | F# E D | D D D G | C B B A |
D D D G | C B B A | E E E D | C B C | A B C D G |
G A B | E E E D | C B C | A B C D | G G A G |

Single Note Bass Line

Here’s how to add single bass notes to add some harmony. Most notes are on the 1st and 3rd beats of the bar, with a few quarter notes (crotchets) as well.

Do note the extra sharps — the C# in bar 7, and the G# in bars 14 and 18.

Download the PDF.

Listen to the MIDI file

Melody with Chords and Octave Bass

The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody as the highest note, and the same bass notes in the left hand.

This is potentially one of the hardest carols we’ve covered so far, in terms of right hand chord changes, but it’s worth sticking with it as it includes some lovely harmonies.

Download the PDF

Listen to MIDI file

I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.

Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard

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