Jingle Bells - Early Intermediate Version

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 skip 2 down so 1 can make it to C. ♫oh!♫ Lots of little tricky fingering things. Pause the video and work on ♫what fun♫ all the way up to ♫oh!♫ Pause the work on that section, then press play to go on. Now I want to say these fingerings are really important. It may seem like ah it doesn't matter what finger you use, but it does. It helps your hand to always be in the right position for the notes that are coming. So it's like preparing for the future when you use a good fingering. Now, let's go back and check out what the left hand is doing here. Left hand is going to be adding some fun little chords underneath. So we're going to start with a 2 and 4 on C and E. ♫Dashing through the snow♫ You'll notice on 'snow' there's a rest. 1 2 3 So that staccato, followed by the half note will give it a little bit of flare and fun. ♫Dashing through the snow♫ ♫In a one-horse open sleigh,♫ And then the chord changes to a C and F. ♫O'er the fields we go,♫ Chord changes again, ♫Laughing all the way♫ Okay, so pause the video and work on just these chords by themselves. And then add in the right hand. Pause the video to work on that, then press play to go on. Now let's look at this next section. The left hand is still doing the same idea. 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, Now here's a new chord we haven't seen yet. B F G, ♫ride and sing a sleighing song♫ and notice that staccato here makes that chord staccato. ♫ride and sing a sleighing song tonight, oh!♫ And notice my left hand had to drop way down finger 1 on G, and that gets us ready for this next jazzy part when we get to the chorus. Okay, so make sure you follow that fingering. That 1 will be very important to get your hand in position for what's coming next. Again a good fingering prepares you for the future. So, pause the video and work on measures nine through sixteen. Work on the left hand chords alone at first, and then if you want you can try it hands together, and then press play to go on. All right, now the part we've all been waiting for: the chorus! Told you this was gonna be a jazzy version, and here's where the jazz busts out. Okay, so let's check out the right hand part. We have a C and E. 1 2 3 4, 1 2-& 3 4 Notice those eighth notes. That's part of what makes it sound jazzy. ♫Jingle bells, jingle bells,♫ Now you try. It's a little bit of syncopation there to make it sound extra jazzy. Then in measure nineteen, ♫Jingle all the way♫ Now you try. Good, now let's look at what the left hand is doing. This is what's called a boogie pattern. It's a tradition in piano that goes back decades, okay. You know, boogie has lots of different patterns. This is one boogie pattern where you go C, E-flat, E, G. Sometimes these are called blues notes. That's the C blues scale. So we're using some blues notes to make this sound extra cool and interesting. So try this out. 5 on low C, 3 on E-flat, 2 on E natural. Finger 1 on G. And that makes a cool boogie pattern. In fact if you ever want to just mess around, you know, you can play that in your left hand and just you know use the C blues scale to make a cool sounding song. Okay, this is a boogie pattern. It's been around a long time. Okay, so try that out a few times and just get comfortable with that. and the right hand added in sounds like this: ♫Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way♫ Okay, pause the video and work on that first line left hand alone, right hand alone. If you want to cha ...