In this
piano lesson we will learn to
play piano Christmas music. We
will use piano tab notation so
you don't need to read piano
sheet music.
Jingle
Bells is one of the most
popular secular Christmas
songs in the world. The most
played part of the song is the
refrain which we will
concentrate on in this piano
lesson.
Jingle
bells, jingle bells Jingle all
the way! O what fun it is to
ride In a one-horse open
sleigh
In this
piano lesson you will learn to
play Jingle Bells without the
use of piano sheet music.
After this learn to play piano
tutorial you will be able to
play the melody with both
hands!
Instead
of piano sheet music we will
use piano tab notation which
will tell you where to place
your fingers as you play the
melody.
The
first thing we will do is to
locate the note C.
Tip!
When you practice your music,
do it SLOW! If you practice at
too fast a pace you may be
practicing musical
mistakes!
You will
find the note C on many places
on the piano. It is the white
key to the left of two black
keys.
Now it's
time to locate the middle C.
It is the C right in the
middle of the keyboard. On an
ordinary upright piano it is
near the keyhole.
In our
piano lesson we will number
the keys. The middle C in our
piano tab notation is called
1.
What
does 1 mean?
When you
see the number 1 you are to
press down the middle C once.
The white key to the right of
C is called 2, the next 3 and
so on.
Tip!
Learning music is similar to
learnig typing; only with
emotion.
Let's
play some piano tab
notes:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7
Now you
have played a C-major scale
with the actual notes C D E F
G A B.
Let's
proceed in our piano lesson
and play the first notes of
Jingle Bells!
Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells
3 3 3 3
3 3
This is
the first part of the refrain.
Easy?
I guess
that you hear that the third
and sixt note has to be a bit
longer to create the melody
Jingle Bells.
So far
we have only used the right
hand for playing the melody.
How can you use your left
hand?
Tip!
Music can really relax you
after a long, hard day.
Indulge
yourself.
Let's
make this piece a little bit
more difficult and also more
rewarding to play by using the
left hand for bass
notes.
The
notes from C to the next C is
called an octave. The keys are
grouped this way on the whole
keyboard.
You also
have these notes to the left
of the middle C. We can call
these notes the left
octave.
If you
use the notes 1-7 in the left
octave to play bass notes with
your left hand we can notate
the melody in the following
way:
3/1 3 3
3/1 3 3
The note
to the right of the slash is
the bass note. 3/1 means that
as you play the first number 3
with your right hand you
simultaneously play number 1
in the left octave with your
left hand.
I guess
you have noticed that you only
play bass notes together with
some of the melody
notes.
Let's
continue this piano lesson
with the next line:
Jingle
all the way!
3/1 5 1
2 3/1
What
fingers should you use as you
play?
You can
and maybe you already use your
index fingers on both hands to
play but it will be easier to
find your notes if you
cultivate the habit of using
all your fingers.
Tip!
Real music management agencies
will never, ever ask you for
money up front. Managers make
commission on their clients'
earnings, and experienced
managers understand that an
unknown artist doesn't have
much money.
On your
right hand you can use your
thumb to play number 1 and
your index finger to play
number 2 and so on.
The next
piano tab looks like
this:
Tip!
Expand your creativity, and
ear for
music.
O what
fun it is to ride
4/4 4 4
4 4/1 3 3
If you
want to use fingerings on your
left hand you place your
little finger above key number
1 and your thumb on number 5
and the other fingers
accordingly.
It's
time for the last piano
tab:
In a
one-horse open
sleigh
3 3 3/2
2 2 3 2/5 5
Actually
it's not the last piano tab.
Now you are supposed to play
the refrain from the beginning
and when you come to the last
line play it in the following
way:
Tip!
Want to be a better mucisian?
Learn from the
professionals.
In a
one-horse open
sleigh
3 3 5/5
5 4/5 2 1/1
I
suggest that you learn this
Christmas song by heart.
Memorize it one line at a time
and enjoy the Christmas spirit
present when you play the song
for your friends!
