Trying to learn all the major and minor chords? This short article breaks down what you need to know to play the Bb minor chord.

Chords can be a whirlwind of numbers, letters, and sounds. It’s easy to get lost and confused, especially when just beginning on the piano. 

Luckily for you, music theory is full of easy tools to help you figure out and understand chords. We’ve collected all the essential information, including clear and easy tables, to help you play Bb/A# minor. 

Chords and inversions.

The definition of a chord is to play two or more notes simultaneously. When you play three notes at the same time, you’re playing a triad. 

A triad generally will be major or minor. You build a major chord using the major scale’s first, third, and fifth notes. It comprises two intervals, a major third and then a minor third.

Minor chords have the same two intervals in reverse – a minor third and then a major third. You build them from the major scale’s first, third, and fifth notes, but the third is flat (lower by a semitone).

An inversion is when you play these notes in a different order. Triads can appear in three positions:

Root position: 1, 3, 5.

First inversion: 3, 5, 1.

Second inversion: 5, 1, 3. 

Building a Bb minor chord. 

To make a Bb minor chord, we begin with the Bb major scale.

Then make a Bb major chord, using the first, third, and fifth degrees of the scale: 

To make it minor, flatten the third degree of the scale (which is the second note of the chord):

First inversion – Bb minor.

The first inversion is when you play the chord like this:

3, 5, 1.

Here is Bb minor in first inversion:

Second inversion – Bb minor.

The second inversion is when you play the chord in the following order:

5, 1, 3.

This is Bbm in second inversion:

Bb’s long lost sister: A# 

Did you know Bb is also called A#? It’s all about the context. This system comes from a rule that you cannot have the same letter appear twice in a scale or chord. 

In the case of A#, this causes a confusing lettering situation. The letters C, F, and G all have a ‘double sharp’ symbol (which looks like x). This is because all of these notes are already sharp on an A major scale. So when A becomes A#, they all raise up by another semitone. 

All of the above Bb tables are here below, with the new lettering of A#. Remember that they still sound exactly the same as each other. 

A# major scale:

G# major chord:

G# minor chord:

G# minor first inversion:

G# minor second inversion:

You can find a fast and effective rundown on our blog to Quickly Learn Piano Notes and Chords.

Popular songs with Bb/A# minor.

Do you want to figure out some popular songs that use the Ab/G# minor chord? Check out these:

• Burn – Ellie Goulding
• Midnight in Manhattan – Peter White
• Sleeping with Ghosts – Placebo
• I See Fire – Ed Sheeran

Here we go!

There is no time like the present for learning chords. They give you a major step-up in your musical journey and get you through every minor challenge! Start to play Bb/A# minor, and make sure you download the Simply Piano app–it’s an interactive, fun, and easy guide to learning chords. 

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Want to play diatonic chords? You’ll need to master the major scale. This article explores all possibilities for making diatonic harmony.

The word diatonic means “strictly within a key.” Diatonic harmony is all about using only the notes of a particular scale to create chords. This is one of those situations where limiting your options can open up creative freedom. In other words, if you restrict yourself to seven notes, your inspiration can blow wide open!

But diatonic chords are about more than just knowing which notes to use. Each degree of the scale has a specific harmonic function because of its relationship to the “one chord,” otherwise known as the root or tonic.  This article looks at diatonic harmony in the major scale. 

The major scale. 

The major scale is a series of seven notes with specific distances between them. The degrees of the scale are from one to seven. You can apply their intervallic pattern of tones and semitones to create a major scale starting on any note. This is the formula, with examples in A, E, and F major:

If you’re a little rusty, you can Quickly Learn Piano Notes and Chords for a speedy review.

The tonic = Imaj7.

The tonic is the scale’s root note and how it gets its name. For example, in A major, it would be A. This is sort of the axis on which all the other notes turn. The note feels like arriving home in the context of a song or melody. 

If you’re playing an utterly diatonic song, you should be able to identify this chord quite easily. If the song has key modulations, the feeling of arriving home keeps changing like some nomadic ex-pat. When you build diatonic chords on the tonic, you have a major triad or a major 7 chord.

The supertonic = iim7.

This is the second degree of the major scale. It is known as the supertonic because of its proximity to the tonic. Its sound is recognizable because it leads intuitively to the five chord. This creates the famous chord progression of ii–V–I. 

The supertonic is always minor or minor 7 in its diatonic context. In the key of A, it’s Bm7. 

The mediant = iiim7.

The mediant is the third degree of the major scale. In Latin, this word means ‘middle,’ and it has this name because it is the middle note of the major tonic triad. 

For example, this note is C# in the key of A. If you build a chord on the mediant, it will also be minor or minor 7. It is closely related to the tonic and the dominant, as it shares two notes. 

Check it out:

The subdominant = IVmaj7.

Don’t get too excited. There is nothing kinky about this. It’s just another name for the fourth degree of the major scale. 

The subdominant gets its name because it has a gravitational pull towards the tonic, just not quite as strong as the dominant’s. Another reason is that it is a fifth below the tonic, making it a long-lost dominant cousin. 

A prevalent progression is IV–V–I. The transition from the four to the five creates a gradually increasing tension, which resolves when it arrives home at the tonic. 

The dominant = V7.

If you believe that the world is balanced between good and evil, you could say that diatonic harmony sits in a balance between the five and the one, or the dominant and the tonic. 

Nothing can resist the tension created by the dominant–it just screams to be taken home to the tonic. It is a powerful musical tool that has become so familiar to the Western ear that if you were to sing a dominant chord to any average non-musical person, they would surely be able to sing, or at least sing in the direction of resolution to the tonic. For example, in the key of A, the dominant chord is an E7 (which has a flat seven and is known accordingly as dom7).

There is an apparent reason for the dominant’s tension: the semitone movements that happen in the transition from the five to the one chord. 

The third degree of the dominant chord resolves to the one of the tonic chord (e.g., G# to A), and the flat seven of the dominant chord resolves to the third degree of the tonic chord (e.g., D to C#).

The submediant = vim7.

This is the sixth degree of the major scale. We call it the submediant because it is a third below the tonic (like the subdominant is a fifth below the tonic). This gives it a mediant-like relationship to the tonic in certain contexts. 

The submediant, or relative minor of the tonic, shares two out of three notes in the chord. Think of it as the tonic’s gloomy teenage brother. Or bitter old uncle. (Or whatever.)

The leading tone = vii(halfdim).

If you thought the dominant was tense, you might not be able to handle the leading tone. This is the seventh degree of the scale, and it’s like a dominant chord on steroids. 

Its tension is arguably stronger than the dominant’s because the root note of this chord is a semitone below the tonic (the third degree of the dominant chord), making it irresistibly close to resolution. 

It is always a half-diminished chord, which is extra dark because it has a flat third, fifth and seventh note. This is a great chord if you feel like you’ve used the five chords a few too many times. 

Don’t be a goody-two-shoes.

Understanding the inner workings of functional and diatonic harmony is super important as a foundation. But make sure you don’t become afraid of breaking the rules. 

What makes music beautiful is the moments that take you by surprise. Don’t be the chord police–stay true to your internal artist and make sure you use technical knowledge to strengthen your creativity, not quash it. 

For an interactive teacher conveniently app-sized–try out Simply Piano.

FAQs

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In this article, you will learn how to play the famous song Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel on the piano in an easy way (sheet music included).

When you hear Pachelbel’s Canon in D, you probably start looking around for the bride. This music is synonymous with weddings and is an easy classical tune to play on the piano.

However, Pachelbel’s baroque melody didn’t become a hit overnight. It took a few hundred years for it to gain popularity. 

So, how did this song become popular, and how do you play Canon in D on the piano? 

What is the Canon in D? A bit about the piece

The Canon in D Major is Johann Pachelbel’s one-hit wonder. He wrote it around 1680 in the Baroque era. It stayed buried for 100 years. 

While the piece is familiar to the ear, some details about its history may surprise you. Here are some facts to know about the Canon in D:

• The German composer, Johann Pachelbel, is the composer of this piece
• Canon in D is one movement in a two-movement piece
• It is a Baroque-era piece
• Three violins and basso continuo are the principal instruments
• It was not written as a wedding song

Let’s see how Pachelbel’s piece stands out from other classics.

Why is Canon in D so popular?

Canon in D wasn’t widely popular in Pachelbel’s day. It wasn’t even intended to be a wedding song. In the 1960s, Canon in D started making its splash into popularity. Much of this rediscovery was due to the French conductor Jean-Francois Paillard. Paillard published Canon in D in 1968, and his track inspired many other musicians to follow suit.

Now, Canon in D’s popularity ranks up there with Wagner’s Here Comes the Bride. Rumor has it that Pachelbel wrote Canon in D as a wedding gift for his student, the older brother of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach. However, the composition is not a wedding march. 

So, how did it become such a wedding hit? No one knows exactly how this trend took off. Some suggest that Canon in D has religious connections in classical circles. Some think it’s because Princess Diana and Prince Charles played a Baroque song at their wedding, and so others started choosing Baroque tunes. Or, some may just use it because it sounds poignant and is an alternative to other overused wedding marches.

Although wedding trends are currently moving more and more toward trendy pop songs, it’s safe to say that Pachelbel’s piece, Canon in D, won’t soon be forgotten.

How to play Canon in D on the piano?

Canon in D is in the key signature D major. You only have two sharps to worry about in this key signature: F# and C#. This simple key signature already makes this piece easier to learn than many famous classical pieces.

Canon in D contains both major and minor chords. These chords are diatonic, which relates to the original key signature. The chords in Canon in D are A major, B minor, F# minor, G major, D major, G major, and A major. This chord progression lasts for four measures and then repeats itself. 

Check out Piano Chords for Beginners: A Simple Guide for more tips on playing basic chords.

As you play through the piece, keep a smooth legato pace throughout. You can add depth and feeling by building volume and then minimizing it with crescendos and decrescendos. Try it hands separately first until your fingers have the notes down. Then slowly put the piece together. 

Try these Left Hand Piano Exercises to Help Your Hands Cooperate to build more strength and agility in your left hand.

The simple key signature, repetition of the chords, and steady legato pace make the Canon in D easy for beginning piano players to learn! 

We’ll answer other common questions about this Baroque piece so you know what to expect when you sit down to play.

Is Canon in D written for the piano (and what is basso continuo)?

Many classical composers, like Beethoven, wrote pieces for just the piano or harpsichord. However, in the baroque period, string quartets were a big deal. So, is Canon in D originally a piano piece, or did modern musicians adapt it for the piano?

The original Canon in D composition notes that this piece is for three violins and basso continuo. The Italian term basso continuo does not refer to a stringed bass instrument. 

A basso continuo usually includes a stringed instrument with deep notes, such as a cello or bassoon. These instruments work in tandem with a harpsichord, lute, or organ. 

The piano is the updated version of a harpsichord. So, yes, Canon in D was written for the piano in combination with strings.

What is a canon?

The complete title of the piece we know as Canon in D is Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo. Canon in D is only the first half of a piece, and the second movement is a jig. 

A canon in musical terminology is a counterpoint melody. Essentially this is just a round like, “Are you sleeping, Brother John?” One musical phrase begins the tune, and then another instrument echos it. You can hear the repetition and overlap of the violin section in Canon in D. The melody line layers and builds to create an emotional piece.

What are the elements of Baroque music?

We’ve all heard, “If it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it.” But what should you do when a piece is Baroque?

Baroque music usually includes some of the following characteristics:

• Smooth melody lines with ornamentation
• A fast, upbeat movement
• A homophonic melody line layered with polyphonic textures
• Expressive contrasts in tempo and volume 
• An echo effect 
• A basso continuo section

Canon in D showcases many musical techniques from the Baroque period, including the smooth melody, echoing musical lines, crescendos and decrescendos, and alternating loud and soft dynamics. As you play this Canon in D, these techniques allow you to create an expressive musical piece for the audience.  

Ready to play?

It’s safe to say that Canon in D is one our ears quickly recognize. Now that you know more about this piece’s origin and structure, you can add musical depth as you play it on the piano. 

Download a free copy of the sheet music to start playing Canon in D today. 

Johann Pachelbel will be proud that his musical masterpiece is not forgotten.

FAQs.

The post How to Play Canon In D on The Piano  appeared first on Learn to Play an Instrument with step-by-step lessons | Simply Blog.

In this short article, we share the history of this Christmas classic, Jingle Bells, and guide you through playing it on the piano.

Christmas songs are kind of like the greatest hits of all time. They never make it to the pop charts. But think are simple enough for everybody to connect to and meaningful enough to last for generations. Jingle Bells is exactly that. If you’re a beginner at piano, this Christmas hit is a great place to start refining your piano skills. Keep reading to learn a bit about the history of Jingle Bells and to play it on piano. 

The history of Jingle Bells.

In case you grew up in a cave, Jingle Bells is possibly the best-known and most popular Christmas song of all time. You may not know that it was written by an American composer named James Lord Pierpont (1822 to 1893). Jingle Bells was the most successful composition of his career. When the song was published in 1857, he had titled it “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” Funny enough, Pierpont was in Savannah, Georgia – a place with very little snow. 

Hey likely wrote the song while dreaming of his former northern home in Massachusetts. There’s no mention of anything Christmasy in the song, which was initially a Thanksgiving tune. But the song was just too catchy, festive, and wintery not to become a Christmas hit.

Is Jingle Bells an easy song for beginners?

To this day, Jingle Bells is still sung by Christmas carol choirs and taught to children from a very young age.  It has become one of the staple songs for beginners to learn on an instrument because of its simplicity and sequential pattern. Are you ready to learn it on piano?

How to play Jingle Bells on the piano.

Jingle Bells is an accessible piece of music because it’s diatonic. That means that all the notes are within one key or scale. The most straightforward key for beginners is C major, which only uses the piano’s white keys. You will need all the notes of the C major scale, C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. 

Jingle Bells: Part A

This is the opening and lesser-known section of the song. 

As you can see, there is a pattern here repeating itself. The first phrase starts on C and ends on C. The second phrase begins on C and ends on D. The third phrase starts on D and ends on E, and the fourth has a slightly different shape. 

The first three phases comprise what we call a sequence in music. It is when a melodic phrase is repeated with the same contour but on slightly different pitches. Sequences are excellent for beginners at piano because they usually involve the same hand movements for each phrase. 

If you’re ready to dive deep, check out this blog post, Piano Chords for Beginners.

Jingle Bells: Part B

This is the Jingle Bells that everybody knows and loves! 

There are so many things about this melody that make it catchy and loveable. The most notable feature is how almost every note repeats three times before moving on to the next. This is perfect for beginners still learning to put their fingers on the keys, moving from one key to the next. 

For a beginner, playing three consecutive notes on the same key is easy yet feels rewarding to play. 

The biggest interval in this song is a perfect fourth. The lowest note of this section is an E, and the highest is a C, making the whole range of this melody a minor 6th. 

Another key moment of this melody is the line, 

“on a one-horse open sleigh, hey!”

Take a look at bar 24 of the sheet music above. You can see a small triangle above the note C. This triangle is an accent – when it appears, it tells you to emphasize the note. 

Another important thing to mention is what happens in bars 19 and 27. As you can see, there are two eighth notes and then a dotted eighth note with a sixteenth note. This gives it a sort of skipping and playful feeling, and it’s probably a more accurate representation of the melody. 

In many places, however, this part of the melody is written with four eighth notes as a simplification for beginners. 

If you feel up to the challenge, here is the Jingle Bells sheet music. But also feel free to practice it with four or even eighth notes. It will still sound cheerful and festive. 

Tis’ the season!

There’s no time like the present to be merry. And there’s no better way to be merry than to play music! If you’re setting out on your piano journey, Jingle Bells is a great place to start. 

For more sheet music and a fast, efficient way to learn it, try out the Simply Piano app. 

FAQs.

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Are guitar and piano chords the same? Is it possible to convert guitar chords into piano chords? Get the low down on everything you need to know in this article.

Guitar and piano are an eclectic pair. There are lots of things they have in common, but also lots of different qualities. 

They are both chordal instruments, making them ideal for accompanying vocals. This means that guitarists and pianists are both usually harmony leads and use various combinations of notes to create fancy chords. 

And yet, the layout of the instruments is different. This, of course, requires different techniques for playing. 

In this article, we dive into the similarities and differences between chords on the guitar and piano.

Are guitar and piano the same chords the same?

Playing chords on the guitar is a lot about learning, memorizing, and practicing hand shapes, which you use and adapt to make all sorts of chords. This is because the fretboard has the notes stacked in columns and rows.

As the guitarists develop, they can start to crack open the shapes and play variations. 

The piano player may use shapes in the beginning stages but quickly becomes more freestyle. The piano keys are in one long row, with all the notes in front of you. This makes it easier to break out of the patterns and explore different note combinations. 

For example, some weird, dissonant jazz chords would be almost impossible to recreate on the guitar. On the other hand, you can configure nearly every guitar chord on the piano. 

The downside to this range of freedom is that pianists tend to overcomplicate things. There is casual magic strumming on a guitar that the piano cannot replicate!

Do guitar and piano chords sound the same?

You could say that guitar and piano share a grandfather. Or maybe a great-grandfather. Either way, they both descend from the string family. In both instruments, the strings create the resonance of pitch. 

One major difference is that guitar players directly interact with the strings. They press them down on the fretboard to choose the pitches, then pluck and strum away on the other end. 

Piano players have to go through two more messengers — the key and the hammer. You press the key, which makes the hammer bend, and hit the string, which produces the sound. 

These technical differences in function create unique sounds for each instrument. Both have a range of gentleness and power. 

The sound of a guitarist plucking strings has a vulnerability that a piano player can never achieve because the piano’s inherent precision – the hammer – always hits each note on the head. 

True, the guitarist can strum like crazy on the strings, but the piano has strength and resonance, especially in the low-end pitch that the guitar wasn’t built to produce. 

For this reason, the guitar and the piano tend to float towards different genres. 

The piano is prominent in the more refined arts like classical music and jazz. On the other hand, the guitar is very much the heart and soul of folk and country music. 

There are endless exceptions to these rules. Some of the most successful musicians of the last centuries were those who found creative ways to innovate and re-contextualize the use of both instruments.  

How to convert guitar chords to piano chords.

If you’re learning guitar, your teacher or online learning app has probably taught you a series of hand shapes. For example, the same shape is used to play a D major chord and an E major chord; Em uses the same shape as Asus2. 

If you want to figure out these chords on piano, you should play them first on guitar. Pluck each string individually, and see if you can match it up with the keys on the piano, one note at a time. You’ll notice that a guitar chord often has more than one of the same note.

The truth is, you wouldn’t necessarily play E minor like this on the piano. Because of the piano’s very clear layout, you technically could recreate this exact chord, but it would have a different feeling. If you want to play E minor on piano, you’re better off playing a regular triad in one of its inversions:

Root position: E G B

1st inversion: G B E

2nd inversion: B E G

If you want to fancy it up a little and make it sound like a true piano chord, try adding some jazz-style extensions, like the 7th, 9th, 11th – or all three! We’ve labeled each note with its degree in the E minor scale.

If you want to read more about Piano Chords for Beginners, check out this article by JoyTunes.

How to read piano notes.

Music for piano is written on a staff. A staff is a stack of five horizontal lines. Each line and each space between them represent a different note. It looks like this:

[insert image of an empty staff]

Before the notes appear on the staff, there are three symbols that you should be familiar with: the clef, the key signature, and the time signature. 

Clefs

The clef is a symbol that appears at the beginning of the staff, on the left side. The placement of the notes depends on the clef. There are two main types of clefs: treble and bass.

The treble clef is also called the G clef because the center of the symbol is placed on the second line from the bottom, which is the note G above middle C. 

The bass clef is called the F clef because its symbol has two dots on either side of the second line from the top, which is the note F below middle C. 

The idea is that the clefs allow the piano player to read music in different piano registers. The bass clef is usually for the lower left-hand part, while the treble tends to appear on the upper staff for the right-hand part. 

Key signature

After the clef appears, the key signature. This tells you how many sharps and flats to play in the music. For example, in the key of G, a sharp symbol is written on the F line. Any time an F appears in the music, you should play it as an F#. 

Time signature

After the key signature, there’s the time signature. It comprises two numbers. For example, 4/4:

The upper number says how many beats per bar. The lower number says the type of beat. For example, 4/4 means four quarter notes, 6/8 means six eighth notes, and so on. 

Note rhythms

Now that all the signatures are out, we can get to the nitty gritty stuff! So what does a note look like? Each note has two components to its appearance – the stem and the head. Both of these communicate the rhythm of the note – how long it should be held. The notes are then divided into bars according to the time signature. Bars are vertical lines that cross the horizontal lines of the staff. 

Here is a guide to help you understand notes’ rhythmic values and recognize them when you see them in sheet music. 

A note with no stem and no filling is the longest. It’s worth four beats. It’s called a whole note.

A note with a stem but no filling is worth two beats and is called a half note. 

A note with a filling and a stem is worth one beat. It’s called a quarter note.

A note with a filling, a stem, and a tail is called an eighth note. It’s worth half a beat.

A note with a filling, a stem, and two tails is called a sixteenth note, worth a quarter of a beat. 

How to read guitar fretboards.

Notation for guitar fretboards is often called guitar tabs. 

Fretboard notation looks exactly like the fretboard itself (if you hold the guitar in front of you with the neck up). 

It is a grid with seven vertical lines representing the five strings. It has anywhere between five and twelve horizontal lines, depending on the musical range of the music you’re reading. 

Like on the piano staff, the notes appear as small black dots. The piano staff has notes on both lines and spaces, but the guitar fretboard only places notes on the lines where the fingers press the strings. Like this:

Each box of the grid represents another semitone. The pitch becomes higher as you play further towards the guitar’s body. 

As you probably know, guitarists have two separate actions (with two different hands) for playing their instrument. The left hand presses down on the fretboard, which chooses the pitches, while the right hand strums or picks the string to produce the sound. 

Guitar tabs don’t communicate the rhythm that the guitar should play – just the chords and notes. For this, the person who writes the tab usually includes the time signature and the feel at the top of the tab. For example, “4/4, Funky strumming pattern”; or “ 6/8, Folky picking pattern”. 

Apples and oranges.

Some would say that you can’t compare piano and guitar. They’re such different creatures. Indeed, knowing one doesn’t make you an expert at the other. But there is a lot of overlap. If you’ve already got one instrument down comfortably, don’t be afraid to use your knowledge and experience with one to learn about the other. Before you know it you’ll be doing a Jacob Collier cover show where you play everything on your own! 

Another overlap with these two instruments is that the Simply Piano app teaches guitar and piano. Try it today. 

FAQs.

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Want to play the music of a tale as old as time? In this short article, we will teach you fun and easy ways to play the Beauty and the Beast theme on piano.

There is nothing that humans find more moving than when love wins against all odds. The story of a passionate and forbidden love between beauty and beast truly is a tale as old as time. And the music from the Disney animated feature film has impressed this story upon the hearts and memories of generations. 

Keep reading to learn an accessible version of the main musical theme from Beauty and the Beast. We’ll tell you the song’s history, teach you the chords, and show you the sheet music. You’ll be playing songs as old as rhyme by the time you’re done. 

The history of the Beauty and the Beast theme song.

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote the musical score for the Beauty and the Beast feature film. The film premiered in 1991 and is a Disney classic until this day. 

The Beauty and the Beast main theme song was initially recorded by Angela Lansbury, whose voice plays the role of Mrs. Potts in the film. 

This song was in the film’s opening credits and then reprises in a scene where the Beauty and the Beast dance together in the ballroom. 

Later in ‘91, a pop version of the song was recorded as a duet by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, gaining major popularity. Both versions of the song received Grammy and Golden Globe awards, which majorly contributed to Celine Dion’s successful career as a performing and recording artist. The American Film Institute ranked the song number 62 in their list of the greatest songs in American film history. 

Are you ready to start playing the Beauty and the Beast main theme?

What are the chords of this song?

If you’re a beginner at the piano, the Beauty and Beast theme is a great place to start. It only has four chords! You can play this song at all levels. We’ve decided to give you two variations on the chords.

Beauty and the Beast sheet music. 

As you can see, the chords written in the sheet music are the beginner’s versions of the chords. This is an excellent place to start, no matter what kind of player you are. If you’re feeling comfortable and familiar with these chords and want to add some flavor and color, try playing the intermediate variations on the chords. 

The sheet music suggests playing the chords in the left hand and melody in the right hand. This is a great way to learn the song, but if you are an advanced player, try rearranging it. 

One option is to play broken chords in the left hand rather than block chords. 

Check out our article on Piano Scales for Beginners to get insight into what notes you can use to create broken chords in the key of F major. 

Once you’ve got broken chords happening, try adding a harmony line to the melody in the right hand, as Riyandi Kusuma does in this piano cover. You should use major and minor 6th intervals and a perfect 4th. For example, if the notes of the opening line are A, C, E, F, and G, then the harmony line would be C, E, G, A, and D. This brings out the richness and beauty of the melody. 

Alternatively, you could also try a more symbiotic approach with the left and right hands. See if you can make the right and left hands to work together within a small range of keys. Try to play the chords and melody in a sort of overlapping dance, like in this cover (don’t be startled by some of his chord changes, jazz musicians like to get messy).

Is this an easy song for beginners?

Many musicians agree that the best songs of all time sound beautiful no matter who is playing them. That’s the magic of the Beauty and the Beast main theme – it can be played at a beginner level or as a super advanced jazz reharmonization, but its essence will always shine through. If you’re a beginner at the piano, this song has many versions (like the one in the sheet music), which will be friendly and accessible for you. 

Examples of Beauty and the Beast piano interpretations.

Do you want to get to know a couple more versions of the main theme of Beauty and the Beast on piano? Here are a couple that we loved:

This cover got our attention (and not just cause of the red velvet suit). The performance really enhances the drama of the song. He plays the melody in octaves high up on the keys and the bass notes of the chords in heavy low octaves in his left hand. 

We liked it because he remains true to the original song but adds his touch to the harmony. Listen carefully; you’ll notice that he replaces the C major chord with a 2-5-1, going to C minor, F dominant seven, and resolving on the fourth degree of the scale, Bb.

Wow! This is not something you hear every day. Did you notice how he plays the first few phrases of the song rubato? This means there isn’t any clear groove or time to the melody, making it sound like a cloud floating past. But then the pace picks up, and he plays all of the chords as complicated and elongated broken chords – so much so that eventually, he plays a different note on every sixteenth note! Of course, he winds it down again at the end, slowing down the tempo and simplifying the broken chords, ending the song with something simple and sweet. 

Be our guest.

If you feel like some of this information went over your head, please, be our guest! Check out our other blogs on music theory to gain knowledge and skills on various topics. And, of course, to make a real start on your piano journey, download our Simply Piano app, which offers interactive and step-by-step guidance on learning piano. 

FAQs.

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Silent Night is one of the most iconic Christmas songs in history. This article teaches you its origins and how to play it on piano.

You know you’ve written a hit when your song was translated into 300 languages and performed in almost every genre imaginable. Silent Night is a Christmas song that has swept the earth with its haunting melody and spiritual sentiments. The song carries the perfect balance of depth and simplicity, making it easy for musicians and non-musicians to connect to and enjoy. 

In this article, we let you in on the incredible story of its journey from a small town in the Austrian countryside to becoming a worldwide wonder. We also give you some easy-to-read sheet music with our tips on playing the song on the piano. 

A brief history of Silent Night.

Let us set the scene for you — an Alpine town, Mariapfarr, in the Australian countryside, 1816. The town was in a state of disaster after twelve years of the Napoleanic wars and a year without summer caused by a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. There was political and social unrest, bitter cold, famine, and disease. With nowhere else to turn, a young Austrian priest,  Joseph Mohr, writes a six-verse poem, hoping to restore the town’s faith in God’s unconditional love and benevolence. 

Joseph Mohr

Mohr was a talented violinist and guitarist but felt that this special poem required the musical touch of a friend. He became a parish of St Nicholas in the town of Oberndorf in 1817, where he collaborated with organ player Franz Xaver Gruber to compose the six verses of Silent Night. They crafted the music in a style known as “siciliana,” which is supposed to mimic the movement of water and waves in its rhythmic momentum. This was perfectly fitting for the audience of Silent Night’s debut, who were mostly fishermen working on the Salzach River in Mohr’s new hometown. 

Mohr and Gruber performed the song for the community in the church – they sang together while Mohr accompanied on guitar. 

In an age where viral videos didn’t exist, the song was destined for a long, gradual journey of dispersion and growing popularity. It first caught the people’s attention in the nearby Zillertal Valley, where two traveling families of Folk singers, the Rainers and the Strasser, decided to incorporate it into their show. 

Eventually, it found its way across Europe, winning the masses’ hearts and peaking in 1839 when the Rainers sang the song on Wall Street. On the other side of the globe, German missionaries spread Silent Night from Tibet to Alaska, where it was translated into different languages and slowly entrenched into local Christmas canons. 

More than a Christmas song

But Silent Night is more than just a Christmas song – its uplifting and magical melody became a song of hope and faith for all the world’s peoples to connect to across many cultures and religions. 

The height of Silent Night’s spiritual healing qualities was demonstrated in 1914 during the Christmas truce, where German and British soldiers on the front line of Flanders laid down their weapons and sang the song together. 

Silent Night has become an icon of the power of music – to connect us to our humanity and overcome all the different forms of conflict and hatred which divide and destroy us. 

Not to mention that it’s such a rocking tune. Everybody has wanted to cover it in every possible genre and language. Check out this prog-rock version in Polish, this death metal adaptation, and this mesmerizing acapella rendition, just to name a few! 

What are the chords of this song?

The simplest version of the song has only three chords, but here are a few extra in C:

If you need some extra assistance with chords, you should read up on Piano Chords for Beginners. 

Is this an easy song for beginners?

Silent Night is a classic song for beginners to learn. Its melody is diatonic, meaning that all the notes are strictly within a key. For example, if you play Silent Night in C major on the piano, you only have to use the white keys. If you’re just starting to learn about chords, Silent Night is fun and accessible because you can play the whole song with just three chords. 

Want to learn to play Silent Night on the piano? 

Silent Night piano sheet music. 

Here is some easy-to-read, easy-to-play sheet music for Silent Night on the piano:

Some tips for playing Silent Night on the piano.

Though Silent Night is an appropriate song for beginners at the piano, there are a few tricky things to look out for. 

Big chords

Notice that the third line of the melody (“All is calm” in the first verse) is much higher than the first two lines. There is a big interval jump, from an E to a higher D. This is a minor 7 interval, which can be challenging for a beginner to execute. It takes the hands a while to adjust to playing big intervals, so make sure you stretch your fingers before playing. Try to release any tension from the wrist and play with a relaxed and comfortable hand. 

The minor 7 intervals can also be difficult for beginners because it is not a very popular interval for the untrained ear. The best way to familiarise yourselves with this sound is to practice playing dominant 7 chords, like C7 and G7 (which we broke down for you before). The distance from the root note to the top note is a minor 7 interval, and the chord’s sound has an iconically minor 7 sound.  

6/8 time signature

Silent Night is in a 6/8 time signature. This is known as compound time and contains some interesting rhythmic patterns. Look at the left-hand part in the lower staff of the sheet music above – you’ll see that most of it comprise a classic 6/8 rhythmic combination: a dotted eighth note, a sixteenth note, and an eighth note. This is three eighth notes or one dotted quarter note. It’s not the easiest rhythm to play, but it becomes intuitive and groovy with some practice! If you need a reference point, just think about the song’s first line, with the words “Silent night” – this uses the same rhythmic pattern.

Check out these 10 Best Piano Exercises for Beginners to refine your piano chops!

Silent night dynamics

Another thing to pay attention to is the dynamics. There is a piano symbol on the sheet music at the beginning of the melody. The first couple of verses is soft, gentle, and haunting. However, don’t get stuck on the piano dynamics. If you’re playing all six verses of Silent Night, it’s only natural to add more drama, intensity, and volume as the song continues. Use your musical intuition and unique voice to add character and energy to the song. After all, that’s the magic of songs like Silent Night!  It is hundreds of years old but can be reborn repeatedly by every performer who injects it with their soul. 

One piece at a time

As you can see in the sheet music, there are three staffs – the top is the melody, and the bottom two are the piano accompaniment. These are lots of moving parts – how should you approach it? We advise learning the melody first, playing it slowly and carefully in your right hand. This helps the music sink into your mind and feel familiar under your fingers.

Once this feels good, try learning the chords which appear in the upper staff in your right hand. Use our chord breakdown above to help you out. Then isolate the left-hand part, and practice it until it is steady and smooth. When you can play each part comfortably and fluidly, try putting it all together, one bar at a time – with the chords in your right hand, the bass part in your left hand, and the melody in your voice. With patience and persistence, you’ll be playing this Christmas classic for your family or your whole community before you say, Santa Klaus! 

Silent nights and musical days. 

There is no better way to have a quiet, restful night of sleep than to have a joyful day of music and song. Find time every day to spend at the piano, whether it be learning worldwide classics like Silent Night, practicing your music theory, or even writing your own music. You never know what kind of musical magic could make its way out of your fingers. And even if you’re only playing other people’s creations, music is medicine for the soul – it will send you soundly to sleep when the stars come out. Sweet dreams. 

FAQs.

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From Jingle Bells to Santa Claus is Coming to Town, here is the list of the seven most famous Christmas songs to play on the piano.

Whether the Christmas bells are ringing or it’s Christmas in July, easy Christmas piano music is always in style.

These tunes are familiar, so picking them out on the piano is easy. Also, the arrangements can be as simple or complicated as you choose. You can play a straightforward melody and harmony, improvise and embellish a song, or use chords to accompany a singer.

With these Christmas songs on piano for beginners, you can enjoy the spirit of Christmas at any time of year.

1. Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells is a classic tune to start the cold winter season. It was first published as One Horse Open Sleigh by James Pierpont in 1857 and has been popular ever since.  

This song brings up some of the cozy scenes we associate with the Christmas season. Who doesn’t love a sleigh ride through a snowy open field?

In this simple arrangement, the right hand plays the melody, and the left hand plays a single bass clef note for each measure.  Christmas songs piano sheet music is often some of the easiest sheet music to read.  Have a look at the “Jingle Bells” piano sheet.

Get inspired

This Jingle Bells cover by Rousseau takes the piece up into a higher register for a bell-like sound. Add in some jazzy notes and simple chords, and this familiar piece sparkles and glows. It can inspire you with ways to embellish your own melody. 

Start playing

This tutorial shows you which notes to play on the staff and the keys. You can follow this simple tutorial and improvise the melody once you have it down pat. Jingle all the way!

2. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We Wish You A Merry Christmas is an upbeat song and a great piece to keep in your repertoire. We’ve heard carolers sing it at malls, pianists play it, and families sing a round of this song on Christmas Eve. The chorus is simple, and the words are easy to remember. You can play this song from the beginning of the Christmas season until the new year begins.

Get inspired

This medley combines two holiday favorites: We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad.  It is a lovely piece with perfect background music for a holiday dinner. Next year, this could be you regaling your friends at the piano!

Start playing

This tutorial shows you how to play the piece. You give both hands some exercises, but nothing too complicated! The main goal of this arrangement is to keep a steady melody. Start slow, and build up speed as you get the piano notes down. A metronome can also help keep you on track.

3. Last Christmas

The MTV star George Michael and his band Wham! came out with the Last Christmas in 1984. However, almost forty years later, it is nowhere near done. This popular earworm is staying relevant for new generations. For five consecutive years, from 2016 (the year of George Michael’s death) to 2020, it made it to UK’s Top 10. 

George Michael was the first to sing this song, but he wasn’t the last. In its run as a radio hit, other music artists have come out with at least 100 covers of Last Christmas to date. Check them out on Spotify. 

Last Christmas has become an iconic song for the holidays. Can the Christmas season really kick off without the help of George Michael’s song?

Get inspired

Last Christmas has a perky keyboard tune backing up the vocals while George Michael broods through some snowy winter scenes. 

An arranger keyboard can let you layer sounds, record your progress, and listen to the playback to see how close to Wham!’s version you can get. To find a small-scale keyboard that you can take to holiday gigs, look at the best 61-key keyboards. 

This tune is so catchy it forces listeners to sing along!

Start playing

This tutorial arrangement is simple and beginner-friendly. This version downplays the rhythm so the melody line doesn’t get out of control. You can practice fingering, eighth notes, and simple chords. 

Try it out with your friends when you feel confident playing this piece. You might even make a cover of Last Christmas that is all your own!

4. All I Want for Christmas Is You

We can all hear Mariah Carey’s voice belting out All I Want for Christmas as we shop for our friends and family. This song is playful, flirty, and not too serious.

Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff wrote this song for the singer’s 1994 Christmas album. It has now become a Christmas classic that signals the beginning of the Christmas season. 

Get inspired

In this piano arrangement, you can see that two pianists got together to make this pop song a duet. One person takes the jaunty melody while the other plays back up with chords and arpeggios. 

This could be fun to try out with a friend when the holiday season rolls around.

Start playing

In this Simply Piano tutorial, you can match up the perky melody with chords in the left hand. This holiday piece has a playful air, so spice it up with a spark of fun! 

You can add flair to the piece by playing staccato in the left hand or playing the chords using an uneven, syncopated beat. Or, ask a friend to join you on the piano and see what you come up with!

5. Silent Night

The tune Silent night (or Stille Nacht) was written by Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr in a small Austrian town in the early 1800s. On the night of Christmas Eve, Joseph Mohr had a poem prepared but no music to turn it into a song. Also, the church organ was out of order. 

The church organist got called in to help and quickly wrote up the memorable tune a few hours before the service started. He played the tune first on the guitar while Mohr sang the melody. 

The theme Silent Night struck a chord with the listeners since their country had just come out of a twelve-year war. 

The tender melody made its way around the globe from that simple Christmas Eve service. It is now translated into over 300 languages, and in 2011, UNESCO declared Silent Night an intangible cultural heritage.

Get inspired

In this jazz cover of Silent Night, you can hear the piano accompanying the singer with rich harmony using chords and a lyrical harmony line. The piano also takes a solo interlude in the middle of the song to transition between verses.

Start playing

Try out these simple jazz chords if you want to start accompanying a singer or another instrument. Once your fingers know the right notes to play, you can trade some of the block chords out for broken chords. This change of rhythm can add interest to your song.

Silent Night | Jazz Chords I | Simply Piano Tutorial

6. Carol of the Bells

Before the Carol of the Bells became the haunting Christmas song we know today, it was a folk tune in Ukraine. It was written in the early 1900s by Mykola Leontovich and titled Shchedryk, a variation of the word for “bountiful.” 

The flitting notes represented a bird bringing wishes of good fortune to a household. Even still, Ukrainians sing the tune after Christmas to welcome a new year. 

The American arranger Peter Wilhousky fell in love with the tune in the 1930s and wrote English words to match the melody. We are familiar with the song as “Carol of the Bells.”

Get inspired

Most often, singers perform Carol of the Bells a capella (without any instruments), but it sounds fascinating on the piano. 

In this piece, Tommee Profitt adds scale runs to increase the energy and movement of the piece. You can finally put those daily scale exercises to use! 

The song ends with a slow, simple melody line to resemble bells fading away into the distance.

Start playing

The Carol of the Bells sounds complicated, but it centers on only four notes. You can practice the tune with simple chords in the left hand. Then once you have the notes down, you can speed up the pace. 

Add some dynamics with crescendos and decrescendos, and this piece can be a showstopper at a Christmas gathering.

7. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.” It’s either a thriller or IT’S SANTA! Get excited because this song tells us that Santa Claus is coming to town to visit the girls and boys with presents. 

This tune was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie and was first heard on the radio in 1934. Although Coots wrote over 700 popular songs and Broadway tunes, Santa Claus is Coming to Town was his biggest hit.

Famous singers from Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, to Andrea Bocelli have kept this song relevant over the years. 

Get inspired

Mariah Carey jazzes up this song in her re-mix of a Christmas classic. The piano isn’t the central instrument in this rendition. But you can hear some awesome-sounding glissandos in the background spicing up this piece.

Start playing

Santa Claus is Coming to Town is a simple melody to play. It has mostly quarter notes, some eighth notes, simple chords, and a few flats thrown in. Once you have this piece under your belt, you might even throw in a glissando.

Ready to be a rockstar?

With a few popular tunes under your belt, you can take on the holidays and show off your skills. If Christmas is still months away, you can still practice familiar tunes to improve your piano skills. When you learn to play the piano, it’s a gift that keeps giving. 

Download the Simply Piano app if you want some extra guidance as you teach yourself to play. It walks you through popular tunes step-by-step and helps you build your skillset.

FAQs.

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