Jingle Bells on Piano — Letter Notes & Play Online

Notes51, 5 pitches
RangeC4–G4
Key hereC major
Tempo132 bpm · about 28 s
LevelEasy

Can a piano play Jingle Bells?

Yes — every size on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

49 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
61 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · loaded above
88 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it

Jingle Bells: piano letter notes

The large line is the key’s letter; a dot over it is the octave above middle C’s, a dot under it the octave below; the small line under it is the same note in do-re-mi. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Jingle Bells — piano letter notes (61 keys) · tonalics.com

EMiEMiEMi–EMiEMiEMi–

EMiGSolCDoDReEMi–––FFaFFaFFaFFaFFaEMiEMiEMiEMiEMiDRe

DReEMiDRe–GSol–EMiEMiEMi–

EMiEMiEMi–EMiGSolCDoDReEMi–––

FFaFFaFFaFFaFFaEMiEMiEMiEMiGSolGSolFFaDReCDo–

Jingle Bells letter notes as text

The same notes as plain text, one phrase to a line, to copy into a message or a document. A letter on its own is in the octave that starts on middle C (C4). Every note of this tune is in it. A comma marks a long note.

E E E, E E E, E G C D E
F F F F F E E E E E D D E D, G
E E E, E E E, E G C D E
F F F F F E E E E G G F D C

Jingle Bells with both hands

The right hand plays the melody exactly as above. The left hand adds three chords underneath it, each held while the tune moves over it, and it plays them without moving: the hand stays in one place an octave below middle C and at most one finger shifts by a key between chords. RH is the right hand, LH the left, and a bar line separates the bars.

RH  E E E | E E E | E G C D | E
LH  C     | C     | C       | C

RH  F F F F | F E E E E | E D D E
LH  F       | F C       | C

RH  D G | E E E | E E E | E G C D
LH  G7  | C     | C     | C

RH  E | F F F F | F E E E E | G G F D
LH  C | F       | F C       | C G7

RH  C
LH  C

CC3 – E3 – G3
FC3 – F3 – A3
G7B2 – F3 – G3

▶ Load both hands in the piano above

This left hand is an arrangement, not part of the tune: it is made by rule from the melody, giving each bar whichever of the three chords of the key holds most of its notes. Compared with the chord symbols printed in Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), it puts the same chord on 15 of the 19 bars and half bars the two share. A fuller arrangement would use more chords than three.

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

CDo×3
DRe×6
EMi×26
FFa×11
GSol×5

What to expect on a piano

It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 24 semitones unused below and 29 above.
84% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, G4 to C4, at note 9.
It is played on the white keys only.
It covers 5 neighbouring white keys, so the right hand never moves: thumb on C4, one finger to a key.

About the tune

James Lord Pierpont published it in Boston in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”; it was reissued two years later with the name everyone knows. It is a sleighing song and does not mention Christmas at all, but it has belonged to the season for well over a century.

James Lord Pierpont, published 1857 as “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Public domain. The chorus. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about Jingle Bells →

Jingle Bells on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.

More songs for the piano

All 36 piano songs · Christmas songs for piano · The online piano on its own