Jingle Bells Piano Tutorial for Early Intermediate Players

Get the sheet music here.

Is Jingle Bells hard to play on piano?

Depending on the version that you play, “Jingle Bells” can be easy to play or can present more challenges. Here at Hoffman Academy, we have several versions that you can check out. Read on to learn more!

What key is Jingle Bells played in?

Like most music, “Jingle Bells” can be transposed to any key, but all of Hoffman Academy’s versions are in C major. 

What are the notes for Jingle Bells on piano?

To begin playing the “Jingle Bells” melody on piano, all you need is to set your right hand in the C major pentascale. To begin with the chorus, you’ll need the note E, which is played by finger 3. You play this three times while singing the words “Jingle bells”. Each sung syllable gets a note. Now repeat this again. So far you’ve played: E-E-E, E-E-E. For “jingle all the way” you’ll play: E-G-C-D-E. The fingering for this is 3-5-1-2-3 Again, each sung syllable gets its own note. To learn more about the melody check out the beginner video tutorial below!

For an easier arrangement of this song, try our early elementary version!

What are the accompaniment chords for Jingle Bells? 

The main chords that you will need for “Jingle Bells” are I IV V7, which in C major are C, F, and G7. There are other chords that show up in the different tutorials, but if you know these three chords, you won't have trouble quickly learning the others that are used. 

To play a C major chord, first find the C major pentascale with your left hand. Now, play DO, MI, and SO or C, E, and G. When you play them all at once, they are the I or C major chord!
Next, move your thumb up to A. Play DO, FA, and LA or C, F, and A. This is your IV or F major chord! 
Finally, move your thumb back to G and your pinky down to B. Play TI, FA, and SO or B, F, and G. This is your V7 or G7 chord. 
If you have any trouble reaching all of these notes, omitting one note from each chord can be really helpful. 

For the I chord, just play DO and SO.
For the IV chord, just play DO and FA.
For the V7 chord, just play FA and SO.

Are there harder arrangements of Jingle Bells for piano?

Hoffman Academy has three different versions that you can check out: an early elementary version, an elementary version, a late elementary version, and an intermediate version. Click on one of these to learn that version!

Is Jingle Bells a religious song?

Jingle Bells was not composed as a religious song. Originally, the composer James Lord Pierpont wrote it to be a fun song to sing during the winter, but over time it became known as a Christmas song.

Hello and welcome. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we'll be learning how to play my early intermediate, jazzy version of the holiday favorite "Jingle Bells." Let's come to the piano to get started. Alright, let's start with the right hand part. You'll notice finger 1 starts on this G below middle C. So if this is my middle C, right hand finger 1 is going to be down here, and then we go up a sixth. This interval is called a sixth, so we've got to do a little bit of a stretch. G up to E, step down, step down, then back to G. ♫Dashing through the snow,♫ ♫in a one horse open sleigh,♫ then figure 1 moves to A. Now you try. Good, now finger 1 is on A. You can always pause if you need more time to practice of course. Figure 1 is on A now, and we go up a sixth again. ♫O'er the♫ ♫O'er the fields we♫ Finger 1 comes up to B. Then we go up a sixth again. So lots of sixths in this piece. ♫Laughing all the way♫ So watch again: ♫O'er the fields we go,♫ finger 5 up to G, ♫Laughing all the way♫ Now pause the video and work on those first two lines, just right hand, get comfortable with that, then press play to go on. Now in measure nine we have the same pattern again. Finger 1 is back down to this G below middle C. ♫Bells on bobtails ring♫ ♫Making spirits bright♫ ♫What fun♫, now finger 4 has to come up to F. Step down, then finger 1's going to come under to D, then 4 can reach G G G G, and that gets finger 5 up here on this A. And then finger 2 stretches down to D C. So lots of little things going on here to accommodate all the notes we've got to play. ♫What fun♫ Finger 4, finger 1 on D, finger 4 comes up to G, ♫ride and sing♫, step up, step down, step down, then we've got to ...