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 challenge yourself today and try it hands together you can, or you can save that for later. Totally up to you. Pause to work on that line then press play to go on. Now let's look at what happens next here in measure twenty-one the left hand moves up to F. Finger 5 is on F now, and it's the same boogie pattern, but now on this F chord. So try this out. 5, 3 on A-flat, 2 on A natural, 1 on C. It just does that once, and then goes back down to the C boogie pattern. So F, A-flat, A, C, low C, E-flat, E, G. Pause the video to work on that going to that, then press play to go on. Then in measure 23 we get D with finger 4, F-sharp with finger 2, then G, F natural, so cancel that sharp. Remember, a natural cancels the sharp. The bar line actually already canceled it so this is more of a courtesy accidental. So it would be canceled anyway, but F natural, E, D. So all white keys in that measure measure. Going back to measure twenty-three we get 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4. Now you try. Now let's look at what the right hand is doing. We have ♫Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!♫ Now notice these rhythms are a little syncopated. It's not exactly the same rhythms as the, you know, "Jingle Bells" you know and love. It's more jazzy, so let's look at the counting. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& So you can put in the counts like this in your own music if that's helpful. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& Pause and practice those rhythms. Right hand part measure twenty-one and twenty-two, then press play to go on. Now let's look at how that fits in with the left hand. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& It will be very helpful to practice it very slowly like that at first. Maybe even slower: 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& Pause the video and work on a little bit of that even just measure twenty-one. Maybe is all you want to do hands together. If you want to stretch yourself, practice twenty-one and twenty-two hands together, but go very slowly at first, and try and get all those notes to line up, then press play to go on. Then we get ♫one horse open sleigh, hey!♫ Notice that this 'hey' comes right in between beat 2 and 3. It's on the & of beat 2. If we're counting subdivisions we get 1-& 2-&. See that's right on the & of 2. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& I suggest going in super slow motion when you're first learning this. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& And you'll gradually speed it up until it's: But the fastest way to get it fast is by practicing it slow, which is why sometimes I say to my students slow is fast. It's the fastest way to get fast by practicing slow. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& So pause the video and work on this measure super slow motion. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-& Put that right on the & of 2. Work on that super slow, and maybe you'll get it fast tomorrow, maybe the next day, don't worry about getting it fast today. Practice it slow and carefully on your own, then press play to go on. Okay, then we're back to the main theme. ♫Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way♫ Exactly like what we had a couple lines before, so we don't need to spend any time on that right now. Let's look at the next line. This is just like what we had in measure twenty-one. ♫Oh what fun it is to ride♫, but here's a little different, ♫in a one♫ Now we get the chord staccato in both hands right on beat 1. ♫one horse open sleigh♫ both hands play C. And then right hand comes up and plays this sixth, left hand plays a low C. ♫sleigh♫ Pause the video and just work on this last measure 'sleigh', and then press play to go on. Good, now let's back up to ♫one♫ On 'one', make sure both hands are nice and staccato. ♫one horse open sleigh♫ Pause the video and work on the last two measures now putting it all together, then press play to go on. Great! Now let's hear the whole song from the start, all the way through hands together. Great work learning "Jingle Bells" today. At Hoffman Academy our mission is to make music learning fun and available to everyone. So, if you've enjoyed learning with me please consider becoming a premium member of Hoffman Academy. Premium membership gives you access to our interactive learning games, plus you'll get unlimited access to download from our huge library of sheet music, music theory worksheets, and more. If you're already a premium member, thank you. Your membership helps us keep making more content for you and other music learners around the world to enjoy. As always, thank you for watching and learning with me, and happy practicing! Hey Scuba! I've got a Christmas joke for you! Okay, let's hear it! What does Mrs. Claus say to Santa when there are clouds in the sky? Uh... It looks like rein deer. Hahaha