Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Frank Sinatra

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Wobbling tick-tockRight hand Soft chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 wobbling tick-tock (broken chord 8-7) and the right hand soft chords.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas accompaniment in letter notes

The G7 – C – Am – Dm loop with wobbling tick-tock in the left hand and soft chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
G7
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG3 F3 G3 F3
Bar 2
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC4 B3 C4 B3
Bar 3
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5
LA3 G3 A3 G3
Bar 4
Dm
RA4+D5+F5 F4 A4 D5 F5 A5 D6 F6 A6
LD3 C3 D3 C3
Bar 5
G7
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG3 F3 G3 F3
Bar 6
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC4 B3 C4 B3
Bar 7
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5
LA3 G3 A3 G3
Bar 8
Dm
RA4+D5+F5 A4+D5+F5 A4+D5+F5
LD3 C3 D3 C3

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 G7 – C – Am – Dm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas?

The loop is G7 – C – Am – Dm (V7 – I – vi – ii) in C major, and the song ends on C – Dm – C.

What key is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas in?

C major, at about 88 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas?

Wobbling tick-tock: broken chord 8-7, 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.