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Christmas piano songs with letters

Traditional Christmas carols for easy piano, each with the letter under every note, chord symbols and a MIDI file to hear it. All public domain, no lyrics, free to print for lessons and family singalongs.

Which carol first?

Jingle Bells is the usual first choice: the chorus is three repeated notes and a small hop, and it is the one song every guest can sing along to. Joy to the World opens with a plain scale going down, so it is the fastest to learn if you already know your C major scale. Silent Night and O Holy Night are slow and forgiving — good for a quiet evening. Deck the Halls, The First Noel and We Wish You a Merry Christmas have a wider range and a few black keys; leave them for the second week.

Practising for the day

Start in early December, one carol a week, and play each one slowly with the MIDI file before you try it at tempo. The chord symbols above every bar let a second person join in on guitar or with left-hand chords, which is the easiest way to make a beginner's melody sound full. All of these tunes are centuries old and in the public domain; the arrangements are ours and free to print for a lesson, a school concert or a living room.

All carols

• Jingle Bells — James Lord Pierpont, G major, 4/4
• Silent Night — Franz Xaver Gruber, C major, 6/8
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas — Traditional (West Country, England), G major, 3/4
• Deck the Halls — Traditional (Welsh melody “Nos Galan”), C major, 4/4
• Joy to the World — Lowell Mason (adapted from themes attributed to Handel), C major, 4/4
• The First Noel — Traditional (English), C major, 4/4
• O Holy Night — Adolphe Adam, C major, 4/4
• The Twelve Days of Christmas — Traditional (English), F major, 4/4
• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen — Traditional (English), E minor, 4/4
• O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — Traditional (German), F major, 3/4
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Felix Mendelssohn, G major, 4/4