Top 10 Easy Christmas Songs On Guitar

Tis the season to play music with your friends and family! Let’s have a look at some easy Christmas songs on guitar…

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In this free lesson you will learn…

• 10 easy Christmas songs
• A brief history of each song
• Tips for hard-to-play sections
• Why it’s important to have a songbook on hand for the holidays

Time To Learn Some Easy Christmas Songs On Guitar!

Making your friends and family happy around the holidays is as simple as learning some easy Christmas songs on guitar that everyone can sing.

• Regardless of how often you’re going to hear these songs over the course of the holiday season (and you’ll hear them a lot), it makes the experience a lot more fun if you can play along to what you’re hearing.
• We have 10 simple songs for you to learn in plenty of time for Christmas, so let’s get started!
• With a little practice, you will be ready for any office party, family gathering, or holiday open house.

Grab a glass of egg nog and let’s get down to business!

Jingle Bells

Everybody knows the words to this winter classic.

It was initially written as a Thanksgiving song, but it works as soon as the weather gets cold, and if you are lucky enough to have children, you probably already know the Batman version.

Here’s the Brian Setzer version.

Now, Brian is playing it in the key of Bb, because he has a horn section to contend with and they are built for flat keys, but we are going to play it in the key of G.

If you’d like to swing along with Brian, you can just put your capo on the third fret and do exactly this:

G G G G

C G A7 D7

G G G G

C G |A7 D7| G

NOTE: Each chord symbol stands for one measure of the chord.

The chords in between the lines are a split measure: the first two beats are an A7 and the second two are a D7.

You can just strum each chord once for the quick changes.

G Chord

C Chord

A7 Chord

D7 Chord

If you’d like to take a solo through a chorus, you can check out the tablature written below

 

Silent Night

Another easy Christmas song on guitar for you is Silent Night.

Here are the Pentatonix singing it for you.

The Pentatonix are singing it in the key of F, but we are going to play it in the key of D. If F is a better key for your voice, you can use your capo on the third fret and play this:

D D A7 D

G D G D

A7 D |D A7| D

D Chord

G Chord

A7 Chord

If you would like to play the melody to Jingle Bells, you can find it below:

 

Pro-Tip: Can’t remember all the verses to your easy Christmas songs on guitar?

Just rinse and repeat! Alternate the verse you know with the melody to make a song last longer.

Many songs can be performed this way, as their structure remains consistent throughout.

Remember that by learning the structure of a song, you understand how it works. This doesn’t just work for easy Christmas songs on guitar, it works for any song at any difficulty level.

Structure is everything in music!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

You better watch out! The next in your set of easy Christmas songs on guitar was written in 1934. Here’s a rocking version by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen.

He is singing it in C, but we are going to play it in the key of G.

You can put your capo on the fifth fret if you’d like to sing along with Bruce.

The verse goes like this, with a snappy little turnaround at the end.

G C G C

|G Em|Am D7| G G

Check out the chords below:

G Chord

C Chord

Em Chord

Am Chord

D7 Chord

The “He sees you when you’re sleeping” part goes like this:

C C C C

A7 D A7 D

C Chord

A7 Chord

D Chord

The structure of this song is A A B A, where A is “You better watch out” and B is “He sees you when you’re sleeping.”

That’s a creepy combination of lyrics out of context, but it makes the song easier to memorize.

Pro Tip: Lyrics often serve as flags in a song to tell us where we are.

If you lose track of your playing within a song, listen for the lyric that flags a certain section to you and jump back in! Remember, just keep strumming!

Blue Christmas

Everybody loves a depressing Christmas song if it’s sung by Elvis!

Elvis sings it in the key of E here, but you can play it in the key of D.

Most of the two sections are repetitive, as are most easy Christmas songs on guitar. This makes them a lot easier to memorize.

If you’d like to sing with Elvis, you can put your capo on the second fret and play this sequence of chords:

D D A7 A7

A7 A7 D D

Am D7 G G

E7 E7 A7 A7

 

D D A7 A7

A7 A7 D D

Am D7 G E7

A7 A7 D D

D Chord

A7 Chord

Am Chord

D7 Chord

G Chord

E7 Chord

“Blue Christmas” was initially written in 1948 and recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1950, and then by Billy Eckstine in 1950.

It really caught on however, when Elvis recorded it in 1957 for his Christmas album, Elvis’s Christmas Album.

He performed it continually until his final tour in 1977, and it continues to be a holiday classic.