Print off this Jingle Bells Very Easy Piano Sheet Music at the bottom of the page for free! Then follow the step by step beginners piano lesson plan for how to play this Christmas essential in no time at all!
This is the best loved and most famous of all Christmas songs. It appeals to everyone of all ages and nothing announces the arrival of the Christmas season better than a jolly rendition!
Jingle Bells is a very easy tune to play on the piano so it’s perfect for beginners to be able to grasp quite early on. The tune is so well known and it’s repetitive pattern and small five note range makes it a perfect piece for young players with small hands.
Very young ones can just play the melody line with the right hand alone. You can add the left hand later on, when the child is ready to play both hands together. This Jingle Bells very easy piano sheet music is simplified slightly as it’s designed with beginners in mind.
If you are new to the piano, before attempting to play this, check out my First Piano Lessons eBook . It’s the kid friendly way to introduce the basic concepts of fingering, rhythm and notation. The lessons and exercises in the eBook introduce children to playing the piano in a fun, engaging way.
Have you tried our First Piano Lessons eBook?
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Jingle Bells Very Easy Piano Sheet Music & Tutorial
Right Hand Tune
Teach the right hand first and don’t attempt to add the left hand until they can play the R.H easily.
1. Sing the song together, while clapping the rhythm at the same time. Take a fairly slow tempo.
2. Play the tune to the child while they sing along, if the child can read the words, suggest they point to the words on the music as they sing.
3. Explain that the R.H plays the top line and that there are four beats in the bar. Ask the child to place their R.H in position with 1 (thumb) on middle C. Talk the child through the fingering of the first phrase, touching gently each finger in the correct order that they should play.
Take Each Phrase At A Time
4. Ask the child to play the first phrase slowly, count 4 beats in, and point at the notes as they play them. Play it twice through.
5. Add each phrase in the same way, breaking it up into small chunks makes it easier to grasp.
6. Finally see if they can manage to play the whole piece. Make sure they don’t try to go too fast and point to the notes as they play, helping them with the fingering if they get stuck. Encourage them to keep going and make very light of any mistakes. Give lots of praise and encouragement!
7. Once the R.H is mastered you can move on to the L.H but most beginners are happy to play it with one hand for a while, or as a duet with their teacher.
Left Hand Chords
8. This may be the first time that they have had a new position for the L.H, so spend a little time getting used to the C below middle C. Explain that the L.H is in the same place as the R.H but one octave lower. This is covered in my lesson Easiest Way to Learn the Notes by practising note hopping.
9. First demonstrate playing the three notes C,E & G together with fingers 5 ,3 &1 . Explain that when the notes are played together they make a chord. Then ask the child to have a go, this might take a little practise at first, explain that it is a bit tricky but will get easier. If the 3 notes at once are too difficult, then miss out the middle note E, and just play C & G with 5 & 1.
10. Point out that the chord is played on the first beat of the bar, each time on the word Jingle. Invite the child to play the L.H while you play the R.H. Once they have got the hang of the chord, the rest seems relatively easy – but don’t expect them to grasp it all in one lesson.
Take Your Time
11. Explain the left hand rhythm on the word “way” (bars 4 & 12) as “1 off! 3 off!” as this explains the crotchet (1/4 note) rests. Play the rest of the left hand phrase by phrase, with fingers 1-5-1 moving only on the first beat of the bar. Point out the clashing 2 &1 minims (1/2 notes) played both at once in bars 13 & 15 and ask if they like them – and then if it sounds good when it goes back to the friendly old C chord at the end!
12. Practise the song together as a duet, taking turns to play both left and right hands until they find it easy . The child will want to attempt to play both hands together soon enough, but it should be all their idea!
Print off the Jingle Bells Very Easy Piano Sheet Music by clicking here or on the image below.
And for the very young…..
Try this delightful Jingle Bells Musical Instrument Song Book where each cute character plays Jingle Bells on a different instrument until they all join together for a rousing rendition at the end!
For more easy Christmas sheet music for kids, check out:
Its very great, but at Jingle-Bells there wasnt a verse. I recommand this site. Five Stars.
Hi Katia, This is a very easy version of Jingle bells arranged for beginners, and the verse is a bit too difficult. I’m glad you had fun with it though!
I would love to learn the whole song not just part of it I like learning by numbers and not letters as they are easy to read Can you please please do the whole song based on the number concept. Thank-you for doing part of it so far I learned fast so please do whole song!?
Hi Noelle, I’m so glad that you have enjoyed learning to play Jingle bells. I usually only use the number method for the very first pieces, to help children connect the finger numbers with the notes on the keyboard and the page. The first part of jingle bells is too long and complex for beginners, so we start with just the well known chorus. As soon as children understand this concept, we try to reduce the use of finger numbers down to starting notes and only as an assistance to fingering, otherwise there is a risk of depending on the numbers too much and not learning to read the notes!
Thanks a lot.
Maybe you could add more Christmas songs to the website
Then it would be perfect ??
Hi Christina, I’m so pleased you have been enjoying these lovely Christmas songs! Yes, watch out for some more easy arrangements of Christmas favourites coming soon!
Thanks so much for sharing this!! We will be adding this to our lessons here at home this Christmas.
You’re very welcome – wishing you a musical Merry Christmas 🙂
Thank you so much for this. My daughter has been begging for piano lessons so for christmas we have gotten her a keyboard, and I will be working with her with your lessons to see how she goes before getting her ‘proper’ lessons. 🙂
However, I don’t read music yet, and I was wondering if you had more songs using the numbered fingers so I can follow while I learn too. haha. I’ve been hunting through your sheet music, but haven’t found any. I would love some more!! Thanks again for this great resource
Hi Alison, thanks so much – so pleased you’re finding it useful. I’m planning on adding to the First Piano Lesson series with more posts like this one seeing as it has been so popular – the best way to keep up to date is through our Facebook page. The majority of the sheet music on the site is intended for accompaniment rather than beginners, but there are a couple of games included in the First Piano Lessons series that might be a good place to start as they aren’t sheet music based. Here is one for learning fingering: http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/first-piano-lessons-fingers/ and here is one that’s good for strengthening fingers but is a good little song too! http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/first-piano-lessons-finger-strengthening/ Hope it helps! Sara
This is so helpful. I’ve used it this week.
I’ve featured it this week on the Sunday Showcase: Fun ways to learn at Christmas http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2013/12/14/christmas-learning-activities.html
Thanks so much for featuring us Rebecca – and I’m so pleased that you’ve found the lesson plan useful!
This is just great! Love introducing music to little one’s early on and it’s so great to add into lessons daily! Thank you for sharing and linking up over at the Thought Spot Weekly Blog Hop! You were chosen as one of my favorites and featured 🙂 Have a great week!
Thanks so much for featuring us on your Blog Hop, and we couldn’t agree more!
You’re very welcome! Good luck with the lessons – unfortunately I think I missed your link-up but will look out for it in future.
This is great! I just printed it off for my son. He can be a little resistant at practice time, but everything goes much better if he’s playing a song he likes!
That’s great! We hope he has fun with it 🙂
Thank you for this, although it is not for a child it is for me because my husband and I just inherited a piano and I figured I would learn to play, since I prefer things to be used rather than just looked at, and your site will make it fun to learn. Thank you.
Good luck with your piano playing! It’s never to late to start learning – in fact it’s very good for you! 🙂
Thank you I have pinned this so I wont lose it.
Thanks for pinning!