Piano chords · Slow dance ’50s
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Eric Clapton
- A major
- 12/8
- 88 BPM
- Easy
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 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas without reading music. The left hand plays slow-dance heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8)), and the right hand sings the tune.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas accompaniment in letter notes
The A – F#m – Bm – Esus4 loop with slow-dance heartbeat in the left hand. 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 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
What are the letter notes for the Have Yourself A Merry Little 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 A – F#m – Bm – Esus4, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas?
The loop is A – F#m – Bm – Esus4 (I – vi – ii – Vsus) in A major, and the song ends on D – E – A.
What key is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas in?
A major, at about 88 beats a minute in 12/8.
What does the left hand play in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas?
Slow-dance heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas easy to play on piano?
Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.
Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.