![15+ Easy Christmas Piano Songs [Video Tutorials]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftakelessons.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F11%2FUntitled-designpppp.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Are you looking for some Christmas piano songs to play during the holidays? Below, piano teacher Liz T. shares 15+ Christmas piano songs for beginners…
The holidays are just around the corner. Whether you have a holiday piano recital coming up or you simply want to entertain guests, now is a great time to start learning how to play Christmas songs on the piano.
Below are 15+ popular Christmas piano songs that you can add to your repertoire. The majority of these Christmas piano songs are fairly easy to learn. However, if you get stuck, check out the video tutorials provided below.
15+ Easy Christmas Songs for Piano
1. Jingle Bells
“Jingle Bells” is one of the most well-known Christmas songs. When playing this popular Christmas piano song, think of actual jingle bells to keep your rhythm in time or try practicing the song with a metronome.
2. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
“Jolly Old St. Nicholas” is a very easy piano Christmas song to learn, as it only consists of a few notes. To make the song sound more interesting, try playing around with dynamics. For example, go from piano to forte, or mezzo forte to mezzo piano, and so on.
3. Let it Snow
In the mood for some jazz? The popular Christmas tune, “Let it Snow” is an easy jazz song that’s great for practicing held half notes in the bass as well as eighth notes in the treble clef.
4. Frosty the Snowman
“Frosty the Snowman” is the perfect holiday song for kids. Practice each phrase one at a time to really nail down the melody. Once you have mastered the melody, have a little fun singing along while you play.
5. Silent Night
“Silent Night” is a classic ballad that uses only the white keys on the piano. Since this is a legato song, it’s great for practicing using your foot and the pedal. For example, practice picking up your foot on long phrases.
6. The First Noel
“The First Noel” is a great holiday song for practicing holding notes in the bass, while the melody is in the right hand. Try practicing balancing these two out together.
7. Away in a Manger
“Away in a Manger” is an easy song to play on the piano or keyboard, as it uses eight notes, quarter notes, and half notes. While the song is simple enough to be played with just the right hand, try challenging yourself by playing the notes with just your left hand.
8. Hark the Herald, Angels Sing
This beautiful Mendelssohn Christmas carol is excellent for practicing phrasing and technique. Once you’ve mastered the simple melody, try singing along with it or add a simple instrument to the mix, such as a recorder, flute, clarinet, or trumpet.
9. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is one of the easiest Christmas piano songs to learn. That’s because it only consists of verse-chorus-verse-chorus. It’s also a great song to encourage your guests or family members to sing along.
10. Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Don’t let this jazzy piano Christmas song intimidate you. To memorize the song, learn the melody first and then add in chords with the left hand. With great syncopation practice you can nail this song down in no time.
11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Frank Sinatra truly captured this gorgeous melody in the 1940’s. This easy piano Christmas song will get you familiar with playing octaves, 7ths, and other intervals that require jumping and stretching of the fingers.
12. O Holy Night
In this beginner tutorial, you’ll first start out learning the chord structure of the song. This step is very important in this piece, as you want to make sure you have the fingering, inversions, and harmonics down before you add the melody on top!
13. Deck the Halls
Another easy piano song to memorize quickly, “Deck the Halls” starts off with a very catchy hook, and repeats it three times. This is another great song to sing along to with a group of guests or family members.
14. Do You Hear What I Hear?
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” is a fantastic song for practicing call and response. In this song, the left hand echoes the right hand during the melody and rhythmic patterns.
15. It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Really take your time learning this song, as it’s very open and rubato. Try playing it a number of ways at various tempos. You might want to even try a completely different uptempo/swing version.
16. 12 Days of Christmas
“12 Days of Christmas” might sound like a complicated song, due to it’s many verses. However, with a little practice you should be able to nail it, as there are just three main chords.
If you’re interested in learning how to play Christmas songs on the piano this holiday season, I hope this list will help you get started.
If you’re looking for some more expertise and guidance on how to play Christmas songs on the piano, you might want to consider scheduling a lesson or two with a qualified piano teacher.
Happy Holidays!
Post Author: Liz T.Liz T. teaches singing, acting, and music lessons online. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music with a B.M in Vocal performance and currently performs/teaches all styles of music including Musical Theater, Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop, R&B, and Country. Learn more about Liz here!
Suzy S.