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View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Silent Night: An Introduction
Silent Night is written and played here in the key of C Major, and has a 3/4 (waltz) time signature (as does Away in a Manger).
(See Silent Night in A Major for exactly the same tutorial in a lower key.)
Silent Night: Main Melody
Several short phrases in each verse are repeated.
The first phrase, to which the words “Silent Night” are sung, is repeated twice. The third and fourth lines have the same 4-bar melody.
Here’s the complete melody written out:
Those notes are: G A G : E : G A G : E : D D : B : C C : G : A A : C B A : G A G : E : A A : C B A : G A G : E : D D : F D B : C : E : C G E : G F D : C
And here’s what it sounds like:
Note that there are a number of places with a similar rhythm, formed by a dotted crotchet (quarter note) followed by a quaver (eighth note) and a crochet (quarter note). These take up one bar’s worth of time. Imagine that the bar is split into 6 half-beats. The first note (dotted crochet/quarter-note) takes 3 of these; the second note (quaver/eighth note) takes just 1 of these; the final crochet (quarter note) takes the remaining 2 half-beats.
Fingering
Here are some suggestions:
- Start on the 4th finger and play naturally.
- On the D in the fifth bar, start on your 5th (little) finger and run naturally
- Play the A of the 9th bar with your 3rd (middle) finger, the notes should then run naturally. This phrase repeats.
- Play the D of the 17th bar with your 3rd (middle) finger.
- You have time to move your whole hand between bar 20 and 21, to play the C with your 5th (little) finger.
Silent Night: Single Note Bass Line
Below is a simple bass line for the carol using just one note. It’s written so that you only have to play one note per bar, and in fact there are only three different notes used: C, F and G.
And here’s what it sounds like:
Silent Night: Adding Harmony And Fullness With Chords
In the third version of Silent Night, I’ve added two-note chords to the right hand, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line remains the same.
And here’s what is sounds like:
Silent Night: Alternative Versions
The final two versions of Silent Night use some alternative left-hand chord structures to give the piece a different feel. They may prove off-putting if you are accompanying singers (depending on the situation) but if you are playing the carol on its own for enjoyment or performance, you may find one or both are interesting alternatives. See how you like them!
Here’s how it sounds:
And here’s the second version:
Silent Night: Lead/Chord Sheet
Finally, here’s a very simple lead sheet for Silent Night. Notice that you only need three chords to play it: C major, F major, and G major:
Silent Night: Video Tutorials
View our lighted keys video.
Want more ideas and inspiration for playing simple versions of Silent Night? Check out our video:
Silent Night: Lyrics
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
That’s it for now. Happy playing!
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
54 thoughts on “Silent Night (C Major): Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard”
IM totally confused. But i like this website.. Can u help me? I can’t find music chords 4 anyother songs than thiss that you dont have to a)Download or b)buy
Hi,
Sorry if the article is confusing. What other songs are you looking for? I’ve only done a handful at present, which you can find on this Christmas Carol introduction post.
I’m planning on adding more songs (both Christmas and other) over the coming weeks.
dear isis you are the one that is stupid! children learning the keyboard or piano will be starting off on a keyboard that has the letters printed on them, also on some more advanced keyboards the letters are at the lower end. i had to put this because you sounded so pompus and arrogant i just had to put you right. you need to remember the type of people the website is aimed for “beginners”. plus i think this website is great as we have been looking for some free sheets with letters for my son to practice other than the ones he is bringing home from school. looking forward to seeing more.
Thanks very much for this article! 🙂 I really appreciate that you took the time and effort to put this together, and I hope you don’t let the negative comments get you down.
My piano instructor just introduced us to improvising to simple melodies last week (using this exact song! 🙂 ), but I’ve been finding it hard to wrap my head around the whole idea of identifying chords, much less improvising them. So this was just perfect for someone like me, and I thought the explanation was really helpful and clear.
tx!
sh
Very nice, like your way of simpleing the bass 😀
this is the best cite i have found all afterrnoon and i would love to hear and learn how to play more so please email me thanx 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
THIS SITE IS CRAP. GOD ITS SO BAD THEY DONT HAVE A SIMPLE SHEET OF MUSIC I CAN EASILY READ. DONT GO ON THIS SITE
This is good and very simple. As a reply to the negative comments, it’s a shame that you are unable to learn the notes for themselves. This is a ninteenth century hymn, not the Jonas Brothers or Green Day. You cannot simply memorize three chords and be able to play the ‘music’. There is melody involved.
One thing would like to see is transpositions. C is a difficult key for the female voice; A would be better.
this song doesn’t even sound write why is it so hard for you to give what i asked you website is so screwed up get it fixed quick you retart!
LOL Laura you’re such a troll, and a low quality one at that.
At least some trolls have a basic grasp of the English language.
I assume your message should read:
“This song doesn’t even sound right. Why is it so hard for you to give me what I asked you? Your website is so screwed up. Get it fixed quick you retard!”
Is that what you meant, Laura Conneely?
In that case, please tell me what it is you want to know, and I’ll help you. If, however, you’re just a troll, we’ll leave it here.