How do you play Jingle Bells on the piano?

Jingle Bells piano notes

The Jingle Bells piano notes start E E E, E E E, E G C D E. The chorus uses five white keys, C D E F G, so it fits under one hand with your thumb on middle C. "Oh, what fun it is to ride" is F F F F F E E E E.

Play it on the virtual piano

The notes, line by line

Each line shows the letters to play, then each key with its octave: C4 is middle C. The box under a key is the computer key that plays it on the virtual piano.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
E E E E E E E G C D E
E4EE4EE4EE4EE4EE4EE4EG4TC4QD4WE4E
Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!
F F F F F E E E E E D D E D G
F4RF4RF4RF4RF4RE4EE4EE4EE4EE4ED4WD4WE4ED4WG4T
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
E E E E E E E G C D E
E4EE4EE4EE4EE4EE4EE4EG4TC4QD4WE4E
Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh
F F F F F E E E E G G F D C
F4RF4RF4RF4RF4RE4EE4EE4EE4EG4TG4TF4RD4WC4Q

How to play it

Put your right thumb on middle C, with fingers 1 to 5 on C D E F G. The whole chorus fits under your hand.
Play E E E, E E E with your third finger, then E G C D E with fingers 3 5 1 2 3.
For "oh, what fun it is to ride", play F F F F F with finger 4 and E E E E with finger 3.
The first time, the line ends E D D E D G, "one-horse open sleigh, hey!". The second time, it ends G G F D C, on your thumb.

Fingers have numbers: 1 is the thumb, 2 the index finger, 3 the middle finger, 4 the ring finger and 5 the little finger. In the virtual piano, press Listen to hear the rhythm first, and pick a slower speed while you learn.

Key facts

Level	Medium
Notes in the melody	51
Keys	5: C4 D4 E4 F4 G4
Black keys	None
Lowest and highest note	C4 – G4
First note	E4
Melody by	James Lord Pierpont, 1857

The notes in do re mi

In fixed do, C is always Do, as in Spanish, French and Italian.

Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Sol Do Re Mi
Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Re Re Mi Re Sol
Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Sol Do Re Mi
Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Mi Mi Mi Mi Sol Sol Fa Re Do

About the song

James Lord Pierpont wrote Jingle Bells. It was published in Boston in September 1857, as "The One Horse Open Sleigh".

It had no link to Christmas at first: people began to sing it at Christmas in the 1860s and 1870s. In December 1965, the astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played it in space, on a harmonica and sleigh bells.

Questions

Is Jingle Bells easy to play on the piano?

The chorus is. It uses five white keys next to each other, and your hand never moves. Count the long notes, like the last E of "jingle all the way", and it sounds right at once.

Does this include "dashing through the snow"?

No. These are the notes of the chorus, the part that everyone knows. The virtual piano teaches the same chorus.