Jingle Bells

• Rangefifth
• Notes51, 5 different
• ScaleMajor, no accidentals
• Length hereabout 28 s
• Source editionG major

About Jingle Bells

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.

The chorus is the part people mean when they ask for the notes, and it is one of the easiest tunes there is: it sits inside five notes, and its first seven notes are all the same one.

Play Jingle Bells on your instrument

26 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 26 play it where the library writes it; the rest move it to another key or octave, and each page says which. Every page has the instrument itself, with the song loaded, above the notes.

• Kalimba tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Piano letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Mbira tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Handpan tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Oud notesas written · C3–G3 · fifth
• Violin notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Cello notesas written · C3–G3 · fifth
• Erhu notesas written · D4–A4 · fifth
• Dulcimer tabas written · D4–A4 · fifth
• Xylophone letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Marimba letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · F4–C5 · fifth
• Ocarina notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Harmonica tabsas written · C5–G5 · fifth
• Trumpet notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Clarinet notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Saxophone notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Flute notesas written · G4–D5 · fifth
• Recorder notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Tuba notesas written · B♭1–F2 · fifth
• Euphonium notesas written · B♭2–F3 · fifth
• Trombone notesas written · B♭2–F3 · fifth
• Accordion letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Harp letter notesas written · C4–G4 · fifth
• Lyre tabsas written · C4–G4 · fifth

Instruments that cannot play it

• Guzheng — it would need G4, which it does not have in any size or key here.

Jingle Bells letter notes

This is the chorus. Written in C major, from C4 to G4, with each note’s number in the scale under it — the form that transfers to any instrument. A dash holds a note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and each line is one phrase.

Where these notes come from

James Lord Pierpont, published 1857 as “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Public domain. The chorus.

The melody was not written down from memory. It is derived from a published transcription and compared, note for note, with independent ones:

• Followed: Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024)
• Checked against: Sudbury Ancient Fyfe & Drum Companie carol book, transcribed by John Chambers — 2 of 49 notes differ, as variants of a traditional tune do

The chorus. The fife book writes the fourth bar in even quarters; the tab follows the dotted rhythm.

More christmas songs & carols

• We Wish You a Merry Christmas19th century or earlier
• Silent NightFranz Xaver Gruber, 1818
• Deck the Halls16th century (tune)
• O Christmas Tree16th century (tune)
• Joy to the WorldLowell Mason, 1836
• Hark! The Herald Angels SingFelix Mendelssohn, 1840
• O Come, All Ye FaithfulJohn Francis Wade, c. 1743
• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen18th century or earlier
• Away in a MangerJames R. Murray, 1887
• The First Noel1823 (in print)
• Good King Wenceslas1582 (tune)
• Up on the HousetopBenjamin Hanby, 1864
• Jolly Old Saint Nicholas1874 (music in print)
• O Holy NightAdolphe Adam, 1847
• Auld Lang Syne18th century
• Carol of the BellsMykola Leontovych, 1916