Deck The Halls & Jingle Bells Easy Versions: Welcome!

 
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In this set of lessons, we are going to learn to play 2 very popular traditional Winter Carols, in the key of A.

Now, I’m calling these "Winter Carols" and not "Christmas Songs" because each of these songs is about timeless mid-winter traditions, yet not specifically about the religious Christmas holiday.

We will learn to play each of these songs in two different styles:

First, we’ll learn how to play a simple strumming version of the song that is perfect for singing along with - either by yourself, or with your friends, family, and community gatherings.

And then, we’ll also learn to play a single-note melody version of each song. The single-note melody versions work beautifully as a solo instrumental, or to be played along with a friend who is playing the accompanying chords.

I’ll be showing you these songs on my steel-string acoustic guitar, but they can also easily be played on a nylon-string classical guitar, and/or an electric guitar. The mood and sound will vary depending on what kind of guitar you use, but the techniques I show you can be used across the board.

I’ll be using a capo on the 2nd fret for both of these songs. This will allow me to use the easy chord ‘shapes’ of G, C, and D, while putting the songs in a better key for my singing voice. The effect of using the capo at the 2nd fret, and these particular chord shapes, is that it puts these 2 songs into the key of A.

You can feel free to learn these songs, and then experiment with where to put the capo to best suit your own singing voice.

So let’s get into the holiday spirit with these two traditional favorites: Deck the Halls, and Jingle Bells.

Lisa McCormick
Instructor Lisa McCormick
Styles:
Acoustic
Difficulty:
Deck The Halls Intro: ||[G]
  |[G]
  || Chorus: [G]
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, [D]
        [G]
  [D]
  [G]
Fa la la la la la la la la. [G]
'Tis the season to be jolly, [D]
        [G]
  [D]
  [G]
Fa la la la la la la la la. [D]
           [G]
Don we now our gay apparel [G]
     [C]
     [D]
Fa la la la la la la la la. [G]
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, [C]
        [G]
  [D]
  [G]
Fa la la la la la la la la ***************************************** Jingle Bells Intro: ||[G]
  |[G]
  || Verse: [G]
Dashing through the snow                    [C]
In a one-horse open sleigh                   [D]
O'er the fields we go                 [G]
Laughing all the way [G]
Bells on bobtail ring               [C]
   Making spirits bright                  [D]
           What fun it is to ride and sing                   [G]
   [D]
   A sleighing song tonight! Oh, Chorus: [G]
                             Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way. [C]
            [G]
        Oh! what fun it is to ride     [D]
In a one-horse open sleigh. [G]
                             Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way. [C]
            [G]
        Oh! what fun it is to ride     [D]
           [G]
In a one-horse open sleigh.

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