Jingle Bells Sheet Music
Easy Piano Music for Beginners
Jingle Bells sheet music is one of those need-to-know pieces for beginner piano players.This free sheet has so many things going for it, both for the student, and from the perspective of the teacher!
Here is Jingle Bells, as I give it to my beginner piano players. Looking for Jingle Bells GUITAR music? Go here! Or perhaps a fancier version of this song, Jingle Bells for intermediate piano? Go here!
Please scroll down the page for the free links to the downloadable PDFs.
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
This cute & singable little Christmas tune is a favorite of young kids:
Why is this such a great song for beginners?
First of all, Jingle Bells is such a familiar tune, that even when it is not the Christmas season, little kids are often very excited to learn it.
Because of its familiarity, they will memorize it quickly, and then, if you wish, you can start adding other activities.
Like Mary Had a Little Lamb, this is a good song to use as a foundation for learning or polishing new skills.
Here is an even easier way to read Jingle Bells. These Alphanotes are like music note drawings:
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
So what makes Jingle Bells sheet music so versatile?
- This easy piano music uses all 5 fingers of the right hand,
- stays in one "position",
- can be improved by the addition of left-hand chords, and, like Mary Had a Little Lamb,
- is easy to transpose!
This Christmas song is the perfect tool for working on pentascale positions (5-note major scales) and the three main chords.
Here it is with chord symbols:
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
But there's no left hand part!
I want my students to learn early on how to read chord symbols, so they can play lead sheets.
Each "C" over the melody line means "play a C chord here". That will remain the chord of choice, typically sounded on each first beat of a measure, until a different chord symbol, such as "F" or "G", shows up.
See below how I actually have my students play Jingle Bells sheet music, with open chords (open fifths):
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Why not just START with a lead sheet?
I like my beginning readers to USUALLY use music that shows the grand staff, as that is how they are learning to locate Middle C - it is "in the middle between the two staffs." Indian Dance and Lavender's Blue are exceptions, but they are unfamiliar melodies, and I have different goals with these songs.
And because they are beginning readers when I give them this music, I want as few distractions on the music as possible.
I suggest you give it to your piano students without the chord symbols initially, or else make a point of asking them "What does this letter C mean here? And this letter F? And this G?" A lot of them will jump to the conclusion that the letter is telling them the name of the note below, even if they know better.
Depending on their familiarity with chords, you might be better off with a plain sheet. Or, start in the very first week asking THEM to play the chords for YOUR right-hand melody.
The very easiest way to add Left Hand
The first week or so, if they already have the experience of putting LH chords to a RH melody, you might suggest that they use just a C chord the whole song, with no chord change, as in Indian Dance.
Also, suggest to them that the song will sound prettier if they play it up high on the piano, so that it does sound "more like bells" - more Christmas-y.
Then add the secondary chords
After a week or so like this, you can start adding in the "G pinch" chord (the G7 made with the f & g, using the 2 &1 fingers of the left hand) and the "little F" chord (f & a, again with the 2 & 1 fingers of the left hand).
The G pinch chord is easy, especially after playing Mary Had a Little Lamb, but beginners have a hard time with the Little F chord, because it necessitates the stretch of the thumb.
And they always want to move finger 3 onto the F, despite the fact that it is already sitting right there on the F note!
Sometimes, after a struggle, I just let young pianists substitute the G7 chord for the F chords, and we come back to the F chord later.
If you are looking for more challenging versions (and prettier!) of Jingle Bells, please go to my other piano Jingle Bells music page.
Download links for Jingle Bells:
Download Jingle Bells sheet music for beginner piano students with plain notes and no chord symbols
Download Christmas piano music with letters in all the note-heads
Download free kids Christmas sheet music with chord symbols and also left hand written out
Have fun with this well-loved Christmas music!
More 5-finger songs at Music-for-Music-Teachers:
Cat Came Back (easiest version) - with fun-to-sing lyrics, many verses!
Erie Canal - Part I has only 5 notes, but is a satisfying introduction to this song
God is So Good - a sweet melody with sweet words
Jingle Bells - every child knows this one
Mary Had a Little Lamb - a song with many uses!
Ode to Joy, the famous tune by Beethoven
Pizza Please (Hot Cross Buns) - 3 notes, arranged for each hand
Sharks (3 notes, for left hand) - this is like the Jaws theme song
Snake Charmer - with fun lyrics and a mysterious minor melody
Tarantelle - the spider dance, with silly lyrics about tarantulas
When the Saints Go Marching In - with several arrangements!
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Comments
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About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
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