Easy Christmas Piano Songs by Level: What a Beginner Can Play This December

Short answer: The easiest Christmas songs for a first-time beginner are carols that stay in one hand position and repeat a lot, like the chorus of Jingle Bells, Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Up on the Housetop. Early beginners can add Silent Night, Away in a Manger and Deck the Halls. With short practice on most days, a carol at the right level is realistic in about four weeks for most beginners.

This guide is for two kinds of readers: parents of kids in their first year or two of lessons, and adults who would like to play one carol for the family this year. The songs are sorted by what you can play now, not by how famous they are. You'll also find a four-week plan, a two-week fallback, and what to do when a song turns out to be too hard.

Find your level in 30 seconds

Go by skills, not months. Kids and adults move at different speeds, and a returning adult may be further along than they think.

If you're between two rows, choose the lower one. A carol that feels a little easy in November usually sounds lovely by December. One that feels hard in November often still feels hard on the day.

First-time beginner songs

At this stage, a right-hand melody played steadily is a complete performance. You don't need a left hand yet. If a parent, sibling or teacher can play a simple part underneath, the carol suddenly sounds full and festive.

• Jingle Bells (chorus only). The chorus is the part everyone knows, and it is built from a handful of neighboring notes and a lot of repetition, so the fingers learn one pattern and use it again and again. Leave the verse for next year: it moves around more. Tricky spot: keeping the repeated notes even instead of rushing them.
• Jolly Old St. Nicholas. It moves mostly by step, one key to the next, inside one hand position, and the phrases repeat. Tricky spot: counting the longer notes at the ends of phrases instead of cutting them short.
• Up on the Housetop. Another carol that stays mostly in one position, with a bouncy, repeated chorus that kids enjoy. Tricky spot: the rhythm is a bit livelier than the other two, so clap it before playing it.
• Deck the Halls (opening only). The first line is a simple walk down five neighboring keys, which is exactly what new players practice in their first weeks. Playing just the opening phrase, or the opening and its repeat, is a perfectly good holiday piece. Tricky spot: the long-short rhythm on the very first notes.
• Silent Night (melody only, slowly). It's slow and gentle, which gives a beginner time to think. Tricky spot: the swaying long-short rhythm. Count it out loud, and keep it slow.
• I Saw Three Ships (optional). A short, cheerful traditional English carol with a lilting rhythm. It's a nice second song once the first one is secure.

Tip for parents: many beginner Christmas books include a duet part for a parent or teacher. If nobody at home plays, ask the teacher to record the duet part, or play the melody alone. That's still a real performance.

Early beginner songs

Now you can add a left hand, but keep it simple. In most easy arrangements at this level, the left hand holds one note or one chord per bar while the right hand plays the melody.

• Silent Night (with a simple left hand). The left hand changes slowly, which makes it a good first hands-together carol. Tricky spot: the swaying rhythm again. Count it aloud with the left hand before adding the right.
• Away in a Manger. A slow, gentle lullaby, and every verse uses the same music, so one page covers the whole carol. Tricky spot: holding the long notes for their full value while the other hand moves.
• O Christmas Tree. Short, steady and built from small repeated groups of notes. Tricky spot: the little pickup note before the first full bar. Count yourself in.
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Short, bouncy and fun to finish with. Tricky spot: the melody climbs and reaches a little further than the others, so the hand may need to stretch or shift.
• Deck the Halls (whole song). Once the opening is comfortable, the rest repeats a lot. Tricky spot: the middle section, which moves up instead of walking down.
• Good King Wenceslas. A steady, march-like tune that's easy to keep in time. Tricky spot: the second half climbs higher than the opening, so learn that part on its own first.
• Angels We Have Heard on High. The verse is friendly, but the chorus has a long, flowing run of quick notes. Tricky spot: that run needs slow, chunked practice, a few notes at a time, before it joins the rest.

Tip: practice hands separately first. When each hand can play its part steadily on its own, put them together much slower than either hand played alone.

Late beginner and early intermediate songs

At this level you can play hands together with the I, IV and V chords and move your hands around the keyboard. That opens up most of the classic carols.

• The First Noel. A flowing tune whose phrases repeat over slow-moving chords. Tricky spot: keeping the long, repeated phrases from sounding the same every time. Play one louder and one softer.
• Joy to the World. It opens with a full scale walking down, so if you've practiced scales, you already know the first line. Tricky spot: the faster, busier middle section.
• We Three Kings. In a minor key, which gives it a darker, dramatic sound, and it sways in a three-beat rhythm. Tricky spot: the change to the brighter chorus.
• God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen. Also minor, and fun to play with energy. Tricky spot: keeping the steady quick notes even.
• O Come All Ye Faithful. A broad, steady tune with a big build to the last line. Tricky spot: the repeated build-up at the end, which needs a hand shift and good counting.
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Bright and stately. Tricky spot: the fuller chords in many arrangements, which take practice to land together.
• What Child Is This? A beautiful minor-key carol set to an old English tune. Tricky spot: the three-beat lilt and some accidentals (sharps or flats outside the key).
• The Twelve Days of Christmas. The music repeats a lot, but the song is long, and each verse adds another line. Tricky spot: stamina and counting, not the notes themselves.
• Carol of the Bells. Popular with older kids and teens. The short repeated pattern looks simple, but playing it evenly at speed is hard. Choose it only if you're comfortable with repeated patterns at a quick tempo, or pick an easy arrangement and play it slower.

Tip: the I, IV and V chords come back again and again in carols. Learn them well in one key, and you'll recognize them in several songs from the same book.

Save for next year: O Holy Night is the carol many people dream of playing. Its wide range and big leaps make it a poor first-December goal for most beginners. Pick something from the lists above this year and put O Holy Night on next year's list.

Want to play for the family this year? A teacher can choose an arrangement at your level, fix the tricky bars and help you get ready to play for family or a recital. Tell us your age, level and whether you'd like online or in-person lessons, and we'll pass your request to teachers who may fit. It's free for students, and you pay the teacher directly. Teachers set their own schedules, so ask about December availability and whether they hold a holiday recital.

For adult beginners

How to learn a holiday song in about four weeks

This plan assumes short practice on most days. For how long that should be, use our guide on how long to practice piano every day: about 15 to 20 minutes for kids aged 4 to 7, about 30 minutes for ages 8 to 12, and about 20 to 30 minutes for adult beginners. Five or six focused days a week beat one long weekend session. Count back four weeks from the day you want to play, and add a spare week if you can.

Week 1: choose well and learn the right hand.

• Pick a song one level below the hardest you think you could manage.
• Listen to it a few times so the tune is in your ear.
• Mark the hard bars with a pencil before you start.
• Learn the right hand in short chunks of a line or two, not the whole song at once.

Week 2: left hand, then hands together slowly.

• Learn the left hand alone. It's usually simpler, but it needs its own practice.
• Put the hands together very slowly, one chunk at a time.
• If the left hand starts to fall apart when the right hand joins, slow down further.

Week 3: connect the chunks.

• Join the chunks into longer sections.
• Use a metronome at a slow, comfortable tempo and nudge it up a little only when a section is clean. Our guide to practicing piano with a metronome explains how.
• Each day, fix only the two or three hardest bars. Don't keep playing the parts you already know.

Week 4: perform it.

• Play from the start to the end without stopping. If you slip, keep going.
• Practice the first line extra, so you start confidently.
• Play it for one person, then for a few, then for the family.

Short on time? The two-week version. Play the melody only, or just the chorus, or turn it into a duet where a parent or teacher plays the harder part. A short carol played well is better than a long one that falls apart.

For parents, our guide to making the most out of piano practice for kids helps with the daily routine. For step-by-step song-learning tips, see 16 tips to master any piano song you want. A short warm-up first, like the ones in our warm-up piano exercises for beginners, gets the fingers ready. If reading the notes is what slows you down, these tips for remembering piano notes can help.

Getting ready for the family performance

Plenty of learners play a piece well alone and then stumble the first time relatives are listening. That's normal: performing is a separate skill, and it gets easier with practice.

• Practice performing, not just playing. Play it for one person first, or record yourself on a phone. Recording creates a little of the same pressure.
• Try the real instrument. If you'll play on a different piano or keyboard, try it ahead of time. Keys, touch and the bench height can all feel different.
• Decide now what to do after a slip. Keep going and pick up at the next bar. Practice that on purpose: stop for nothing during your run-throughs.
• Start slowly. Nerves often make people play faster. Take a breath and choose a calm tempo before you begin.
• Celebrate finishing. When people clap, say thank you, not sorry.

When the song is too hard

If it's two weeks before the big day and the song still falls apart, make it smaller instead of practicing longer:

• Play the melody only. Drop the left hand completely.
• Play only the chorus. It's the part everyone recognizes.
• Swap to a duet. Let a parent, sibling or teacher play the harder part.
• Move down a book level. The same carol in an easier arrangement often sounds just as good.
• Pick a slower carol. Silent Night or Away in a Manger give you more time to think than a quick, bouncy carol.

A teacher can also simplify an arrangement to your level, so you keep the carol you love and lose the bars that don't fit your hands yet.

Picking a Christmas book that fits

Most Christmas books are graded like method books: Primer, Level 1, Level 2 and so on. Match the Christmas book to the level of the method book you're using now, not to your age. If you have a teacher, ask which level fits before you buy. For families, books with duet parts are a good choice, because someone else can join in. If you're not sure how method-book levels compare, see our method book comparison for beginners.

A note on copyright

The melodies and traditional words of the carols on this page are old enough to be in the public domain in Canada and the US, so anyone can play them. Exceptions and limits: the familiar English words of Carol of the Bells (1936) are still under copyright even though the melody isn't; any specific published arrangement is still protected; and modern holiday songs such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman are copyrighted. Easy licensed arrangements of some popular holiday songs do exist in published books. The safest choice is a licensed book at your level, or an arrangement from your teacher, rather than a random free download.

Giving lessons or a holiday book as a gift

A holiday book at the right level makes a nice present to unwrap, and it pairs well with a first set of lessons. Our guide on how to gift piano lessons walks you through setting up lessons as a holiday present.

No instrument at home yet? Our store doesn't sell pianos or keyboards, but our guide on how to choose a digital piano or keyboard explains what a beginner needs.

After the holidays: looking for something to play in January? Try our easy piano songs for beginners.

Ready to play this December?

The best Christmas song for a beginner is one carol, chosen for your level, practiced a little on most days, and played for someone you love. Pick it this week, mark the hard bars, and start with the right hand.

Want help getting there? Tell us what you're looking for (age, level, online or in person, and the song you'd like to play), and we'll pass your request to teachers who may fit. It's free for students, and you pay the teacher directly.

Piano teacher? If you enjoy helping students prepare holiday pieces, list your studio on The Best Piano Teachers.

What's your family's favorite carol to play (or the one you're learning this year)? Tell us in the comments.

Know a parent whose kid wants to play something at the family dinner? Send them this list.