Learn to Play Jingle Bells on the Piano in Five Minutes

As a piano teacher, adults often tell me they wished they had learned how to play the piano as a child. Their desire to play the piano is often increased during the holiday season when they dream about being able to play Christmas Carols. In this article, I will teach you how to play a basic version of Jingle Bells for beginners in five minutes or less!

The first step is to learn your finger numbers. For this song, we will only be using your right hand. Put your right hand out in front of you. Your thumb is finger number 1. Your pointer finger is finger number 2. Your middle finger is finger number 3. Your ring finger is finger number 4, and your pinky finger is number 5. You may want to write the numbers on your hand if you have difficulty remembering the finger numbers.

For the rhythm, hold each note for one beat. In music this is called a quarter note. If there is a dash after the note, you will hold it for an extra beat so that it equals two beats. These types of notes are called half notes. If it has three dashes after the note, then you will hold it for a total of four beats, which is called a whole note.

Next, you need to locate the correct key to place your hand on. Look at your piano or keyboard and notice that the black keys are in groups of 2’s and 3’s. Find the grouping of 2 black keys closest to the middle of the piano. Most pianos will have the brand name of the piano printed above this grouping of two. Now find the white key to the left of that grouping of 2 black keys. This key is called middle C. Make sure you aren’t on the key closest to the grouping of 3, or in the middle of the grouping of 2. Instead, you should be on the key just a half step below the left black key in that grouping of 2 black keys.

Put your thumb (finger number 1) of your right hand on middle C. Place your other four fingers on the keys adjacent to middle C. Now you are ready to practice playing Jingle Bells. All set? Let’s begin.

Jingle Bells

3 3 3 – 3 3 3 – 3 5 1 2 3 – – – 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 – 5 – 3 3 3 – 3 3 3 – 3 5 1 2 3 – – – 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 5 5 4 2 1 – – –

If you would like to sing along, here are the words as written by J. Pierpont:

Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh! Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!

Happy Holidays!