Right-hand pattern · Old-time stride
Sleigh bells
A high note and two quick chords in a short bar, jingling along. Musicians call it note + chords on beats 1, 1&, 2& (2/4).
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Sleigh bells goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Syncopated chords: Chords that land between the beats: that pop push. In 4/4 it is played twice a bar.
Songs with Sleigh bells
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Sleigh bells, from verse to chorus.
More pushing chords
All patternsQuestions about Sleigh bells
What is Sleigh bells on piano?
A high note and two quick chords in a short bar, jingling along. Musicians call it note + chords on beats 1, 1&, 2& (2/4), one of the syncopated chords patterns: chords that land between the beats: that pop push.
How do I play note + chords · 1 · 1& · 2& (2/4) with the right hand?
Over C major it is C5 (5), then E4 (1) + G4 (2), then E4 (1) + G4 (2), then C5 (5), then E4 (1) + G4 (2), then E4 (1) + G4 (2); the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Sleigh bells?
It is heard in 80 songs of the library, as the main groove of 16 songs, such as On My Own, There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame, Do-Re-Mi, The Sweetest Sounds.
Is Sleigh bells easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 2/4, usually around 105 beats a minute.