In 1816, Austrian Catholic priest Joseph Mohr penned the original German lyrics to “Stille Nacht.” However, it wasn’t until 1818 that Mohr enlisted Austrian composer Franz Xaver Gruber to compose the now familiar Christmas melody. The carol was later translated into English in 1859 by John Freeman Young, an American Episcopal priest. A few jazz piano recordings of “Silent Night” to check out include those by Ellis Marsalis, Oscar Peterson, Cyrus Chestnut.

🌟 Learn to play Silent Night in the following styles:

• Silent Night – Jazz Ballad (Int)
• Silent Night – Rhumba (Int, Adv)

#5: “Jingle Bells”

“Jingle Bells” is festive holiday favorite by American composer James Lord Pierpont in 1850. However, when the tune was first published in 1857, the original title was “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” Today, there are over 1850 cover versions of “Jingle Bells.” For straight ahead swing versions of “Jingle Bells,” check out recordings by Dave McKenna and Beegie Adair. Or, for a rambunctious ragtime interpretation of “Jingle Bells,” check out Jonny May’s festive recording.

🌟 Learn to play Jingle Bells in the following styles:

• Jingle Bells – Swing (Int)
• Jingle Bells – Ragtime (Adv)

#4: “White Christmas”

“White Christmas” was written by American composer Irving Berlin in 1942 for the film Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Crosby’s recording of “White Christmas” charted at #1 for three consecutive Decembers from 1942–1944 and also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943. Moreover, Crosby’s “White Christmas” holds the Guinness World Record for the best-selling physical single of all time with an estimated 50 million units sold worldwide. That’s 50,000,000 reasons to add this timeless holiday classic to your piano repertoire for Christmas. For inspiration, check out jazz piano recordings of “White Christmas” by Oscar Peterson, Beegie Adair and Eddie Higgins.

#3: “Winter Wonderland”

“Winter Wonderland” is fun and festive holiday song written in 1934 by American composer Felix Bernard and American lyricist Dick Smith. The first recording of “Winter Wonderland” was also in 1934 by Richard Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Orchestra with Joey Nash on vocals. Jazz piano students will enjoy recordings of “Winter Wonderland” by Dave Brubeck, David Hazeltine, Ben Paterson and Jonny May.

🌟 Learn to play Winter Wonderland Jazz Piano (Beg/Int)

#2: “O Christmas Tree”

The beautiful holiday carol “O Christmas Tree” (aka “O Tannenbaum”) was written in 1824 by German composer Ernst Anschütz, who arranged the tune based on a 16th-century German folk song. Since 1965, “O Tannenbaum” has been widely recognized as a Christmas jazz standard thanks to the memorable recording by Vince Guaraldi from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

🌟 Learn to play O Christmas Tree (Int, Adv)

#1: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 musical film Meet Me in St. Louis. In the film, the song was debuted by Judy Garland as Esther Smith. At present, there are over 2200 covers of the tune by various artists. Jazz piano students will appreciate recordings of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Ellis Marsalis, David Hazeltine, Ben Paterson and Tamir Hendelman with the Jeff Hamilton Trio.

🌟 Learn to play Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas–Cocktail Jazz (Int/Adv)

Essential Jazz Piano Techniques for Christmas Songs

Christmas songs are a great way for piano students of all levels to explore essential jazz piano skills. No matter what your current playing level is, you can start learning and applying professional jazz piano techniques this holiday season!

In this section, we’ll help you identify essential jazz piano skills that are appropriate for your current playing level. Then, you can start learning Jonny’s Top 10 Christmas Songs for Piano…or any holiday song.

Beginner Jazz Piano Skills for Christmas Songs

Chord shells: these 2-or-3-note voicings are easy enough for beginners to learn, yet professional jazz pianists use them too. Chord shells equip pianists with a minimalistic approach for effectively implying a tune’s harmony with maximum efficiency. If you typically play root 7th chords in the left hand, then this technique will be a game-changer for you!

Legato pedaling: a technique in which a pianist applies the sustain pedal (aka “the damper pedal”) immediately after a chord is played, but before the keys are released. The pedal is held down until the next chord is played, enabling the pianist to achieve a smooth, connected sound as they change chords. Legato pedaling is also called “delayed pedaling.” This is a must-have technique for students of all levels when playing Christmas songs in the jazz ballad style on piano.

Parent scales: a harmonic framework that allows jazz musicians to improvise with just one scale over multiple chords from a common key.

Intermediate Jazz Piano Skills for Christmas Songs

Chord extensions: additional color notes that jazz pianists add to 7th chords to provide more complex harmonic sounds.

Chord alterations: tension notes added to chords that result in rich and complex jazz harmonies. There are four potential alterations to choose from: the♭9, ♯9, ♯11 and ♭13. In simple terms, a chord alteration is a chord extension with an accidental. Alterations are most common on dominant chords.

Rootless voicings: a stylized chord sound popularized in the mid-to-late 1950s by jazz pianists like Bill Evans, Red Garland and Wynton Kelly. If you are an intermediate piano student, then rootless voicings will help you include beautiful harmonic colors in your left hand for a truly professional sound.

Chord substitution: when an anticipated chord is replaced with an unexpected or transformed chord. The substitute chord usually shares one or more notes in common with the original chord. More advanced chord substitutions may replace a single chord with two or more chords.

Advanced Jazz Piano Skills for Christmas Songs

Block chords / Locked hands: a voicing technique in which a pianist uses both hands to accomplish a unique 5-note harmonization of the melody. Specifically, this technique arranges the melody in octaves with 3 notes in between. Usually, the right hand plays the top 4 notes while the left hand plays the bottom note.

Drop 2 voicings: 4-note open position voicings in which the outer notes are a primarily spaced a 10th interval apart. To construct the specific drop 2 spacing, start with a 4-note closed position voicing and then drop the 2nd note from the top down an octave. Jazz pianists frequently use drop-two voicings when playing chord melodies and comping.

Quartal voicings: a contemporary jazz voicing approach that uses stacks of two or more 4th intervals. Jazz pianists play quartal voicings in one hand with three notes or in two hands with four, five or even six notes. Ideally, quartal voicings seek to maximize perfect 4th intervals, although some common quartal voicings included tritones or 3rd intervals as well.

Inner voice movement: an advanced arranging technique, especially on ballads, in which a pianist introduces countermelodies for the purpose of embellishment or personal expression.

Passing chords & reharmonization: a harmonic approach in which a jazz pianist adds or alters the standard chords of an familiar melody resulting in rich personal expression.

Conclusion

We hope you have enjoyed today’s Quick Tip on The Top 10 Christmas Songs for Piano. Hopefully, you have picked out which of these classic holiday songs you’d like to learn this year!

Was there a Christmas song that you love that didn’t make the top ten list? Then be sure to check out our COMPLETE HOLIDAY CATALOGUE of piano lessons on Christmas songs.

You can also use the following links to browse our Christmas & holiday piano music by playing level:

• Beginner Christmas Songs for Piano
• Intermediate Christmas Songs for Piano
• Advanced Christmas Songs for Piano

Or, to take the next step in your jazz piano journey, be sure to check out our jazz piano learning tracks: