Free Christmas Piano Music

How To Play Christmas Sheet Music

by Paul Tobey

The secret to playing Christmas sheet music is to make the melody prominent, get some rhythm happening underneath and bang out some chords to support the harmony of the song. And, while that may seem like a fairly simple concept, for most pianists it takes some practice. Here are some ideas that may help you.


First lets start with the melody. I think for some reason many musicians forget that the melody is the most important thing. Ill never forget this one time early on in my career when I got a gig with some prominent local jazz musicians. It all started out ok, but eventually we got into some tunes where I didnt know the melody very well. I was playing all kinds of way out improve and the bass player turned to me and said, "Hey man, just play the flippin melody!"

It was kind of embarrassing thats for sure. Anyway, I never forgot that and to this day I always put the melody before anything else. What does that mean? It means to get the melody right and make it the most prominent part of your playing. The next thing to go along with your melody is rhythm. Its so important that your playing has some feel to it. So often, pianists focus on getting the notes right and therefore lack the rhythm and feel of the music. If you can, play your music along with the radio or a recording. That will help you develop some feel.

Feel comes from playing with others. It comes from bassists, drummers and other instrumentalists. Even now when Im playing solo piano concerts I can hear the drums and bass in my head and that will be very evident in my left first and sometimes in the right hand as well with rhythmic chords.

And, speaking of chords, you cannot forget to add a good dose of rich chord structures to your playing. Very often Christmas sheet music has chord symbols on it and you can take your lead from those symbols.

If you dont know how to read chord symbols heres a simple rule. If you see a simple triad chord symbol such as "G". That means its a G major triad or 3-note chord. First plunk down a G then a major third above which is a "B" then a minor third above that which is a "D."

For minor chords the intervals are inverted. A minor interval first then a major interval on top of that. Then if you want to get really fancy add sevenths to your chord voicings. For example; if you see a G7 chord symbol that mean a major triad with another minor third stacked on top. In others word the chord would be in order from bottom to top; G, B, D and F.

If you see a Gmaj7 chord symbol its the same as a G7 chord except the top note is an F# instead of an F. Or, think of it as a G major triad with another major third stacked on top.

The only other chord symbol is a minor seventh chord or G-7. This would be played as a G minor triad with a minor seventh stacked on top or; G, Bb, D and F.

While this may seem like a fairly simple approach to playing chord symbols it covers at least 85% of all Christmas sheet music. There are other chord symbols which you may come across from time to time but, like I said, thats pretty much it.

So, when practicing Christmas sheet music play the melody prominently and correctly in the right hand, add some rhythmic feel to it and drop in a good helping of chords to back up the harmony of the song. Christmas sheet music will never sound the same again.

Give the gift of music with the ultimate Christmas Carol sing-a-long CD. It comes with the lyrics and the Christmas sheet music for all to enjoy.

Shop for Christmas Sheet Music:


Look inside this title
    Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook  Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. 252 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    The Teen's Musical Theatre Collection - Young Women's Edition Book/CD Pack  Compiled by Louise Lerch. Songbook and accompaniment CD for voice, piano and guitar chords. 160 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    The Big Christmas Collection For Easy Guitar  Easy guitar/vocal songbook (Simplified arrangements for guitar and voice) for guitar and voice. With leadsheet notation (melody and lyrics), guitar chord diagrams and strum and pick patterns. 120 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    The Definitive Christmas Collection - 3rd Edition  Songbook for voice, piano and guitar (chords only). 352 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas  Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. From the animated motion picture "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 80 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Irving Berlin: White Christmas  (Movie Vocal Selections) Composed by Irving Berlin. Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. 56 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Nat "King" Cole: Unforgettable  Performed by Nat "King" Cole. Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. 100 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Faith Hill: Where Are You Christmas?  (from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Performed by Faith Hill, composed by James Horner (1953-), Mariah Carey, Will Jennings. Single for voice, piano and guitar (chords only). Bb Major. 7 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Classical Guitar Christmas Collection  Guitar tablature songbook (no lyrics) for guitar. 54 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
Average customer rating:
Look inside this title
    Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Christmas Eve And Other Stories  Performed by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. 124 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing.
Average customer rating:

Featured Christmas Sites:

LightTheNight
Christmas Lighting and Outdoor Lighting Specialists - LightTheNight offers complete design, sales, and installation of premanufactured and customized commercial or residential Christmas lighting displays.
www.LightTheNight.com/

Christmas Depot
The best selection of Christmas trees, lights, garlands, ornaments, animated figures, holiday music boxes and outdoor decorations available anywhere on the Internet. Christmas Depot carries the full line of fine quality Village products and collectible Snowbabies from Department 56, the finest name in the business. They are the exclusive worldwide distributor of Holiday Tree & Trim Company's full line of premium quality, American-made artificial Christmas trees.


Other Free Christmas Piano Music Resources:


Free Sheet Music Guide
Free Sheet Music : Editor's Picks: Piano or Guitar Tabs | Original | Pop/Rock | Classical | Christian | Christmas | Home Buy...
http://www.rainmusic.com/pianomusic/free.htm

Free classical sheet music
Sheet music for instant download Piano sheet music ... selection of our digital sheet music for free. ... Beginners, Christmas, Theory,...
http://www.music-scores.com/

Free sheet music on 8notes.com
Browse our extensive collection of free christmas sheet music titles. Sheet Music Store. Sheet Music to Buy ... Policy | Free Piano Sheet Music...
http://www.8notes.com/

Free Piano Music!
FREE PIANO MUSIC! Download your free piano sheet music now! Just click and print! ... O Christmas Tree download play. Lightly Row download play...
http://www.pitt.edu/~deben/freebies.html

Free Sheet Music Downloads - Find Thousands
To find free sheet music on this music website, select Category to find by musical instrument (ex: Piano Sheet Music) or musical genre (ex:
http://www.freesheetmusic.net/


Home | Index | guitar christmas music | free christmas carols download | classical christmas music | free flute christmas sheet music | download christmas song | christmas wav song | dave matthew christmas song | christmas violin sheet music









 

 

Other sites presented by Data Synthesis · Wichita Cyberguide · LightTheNight