I talked about performing at family gathering in the last blog. I indicated, since we are during Thanksgiving weekend, that Christmas songs could be a great way to make people sing and have fun.
But where would you find the music for those songs?
Actually it is fairly easy. For example, you can Google “Jingle bells lyrics”. You see? There they are, at the very top of the page. Copy/paste to a word document and you are good to go.
If you want the chords, this time Google “Jingle bells chords”. You will get a list of them. Some for piano, some for guitar. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is the key. Some are too high or too low to sing, which can be difficult for a crowd. Fortunately, different keys are proposed from the fairly easy like C, G or F, to the more difficult like Ab or B. Pick the one that fits both your vocal range and your level on the piano.
It does take a little effort to prepare some Christmas Carol, but it’s worth it. Besides the joy it can bring to a family you might learn a new chord progression, or a new chord altogether. One chord which is very “Christmasy” is a minor 7 flat 5. It’ll be written like this: m7b5, as in Dm7b5. It’s used in a lot of holiday songs. Mariah Carey “All I want for Christmas is you” has a few of those.
If you don’t know how this chord goes, I know an excellent piano teacher that can show you (Me!).
