Piano chords · Blues & boogie
Blue Christmas: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
- F major
- 4/4
- 125 BPM
- 1948
- Medium
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany Blue Christmas without reading music. The left hand plays boogie walker (boogie-woogie line) and the right hand sleep-in chords.
The bass riff of Blue Christmas in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
Blue Christmas accompaniment in letter notes
The F7 – Eb – Dm – C7 loop with boogie walker in the left hand and sleep-in chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
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Questions about Blue Christmas
What are the letter notes for the Blue Christmas piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is F7 – Eb – Dm – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Blue Christmas?
The loop is F7 – Eb – Dm – C7 (I7 – bVII – vi – V7) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is Blue Christmas in?
F major, at about 125 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Blue Christmas?
Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Blue Christmas easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of Blue Christmas?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the bass riff of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 9 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.