I’m very happy to tell you that I’ve found 5 Christmas songs you can play that don’t require any bends, and on the first 3 you don’t even have to be able to isolate notes!
You can check out my full video lesson on it here:
Angels We Have Heard High (Gloria)
This song is such a beautiful melody, and if you know it well and love it, and today is your first day on the harmonica, I think this is gonna be a really fun and rewarding challenge, a great example of how special the harmonica is, and why it’s truly the people’s instrument.
Angels we have heard on high
45 45 45 56 56 -45 45
Sweetly singing o’er the plain
45 -34 45 56 45 -34 34
And the mountains in reply
45 45 45 56 56 -45 45
Echoing their joyous strains
45 -34 45 56 45 -34 34
Glo- o - o - o - o - o
56 -56 56 -45 45 -45
O - o - o - o - o
56 -45 45 -34 45
O - o - o - o - o - ri - a
-45 45 -34 34 -34 -12 -12
In ex cel sis de - o
34 -34 45 -45 45 -34
56 –56 56 -45 45 -45
56 -45 45 -34 45
-45 45 -34 34 -34 -12 -12
34 -34 45 -45 45 -34 34
Blue Christmas
For Elvis’ classic “Blue Christmas” we’re still gonna learn a version that doesn’t require any single notes.
This one is just a bit trickier than Angels We Have Heard on High because there’s some big jumps. But you can do it!
23 34 -34 45 45 -34 34 -23 -34
-12 -34 45 -45 -45 45 -34 34 45
45 -45 56 -45 45 56
-45 45 -34 -45 56 -56
-12 -12 -23 34 -34 45 45 45 -34 34
Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
Arguably the funniest Christmas song of all time. Again, suitable for you even if today is your first day playing the harmonica!
45 45 45 45 45 45 -34 34 56 45
45 45 45 56 -45 45 -34 45 -45
-56 -56 -56 -56 -56 -56 56 -45 56 45
45 -34 -34 45 -45 45 -34 34 -23 34
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
We are now into the songs for beginners who can isolate single notes.
The great thing about this song is we are doing a lot sliding on the harmonica.
The harmonica is tuned to play chords, and when we play the notes of a chord one at a time, it’s called an arpeggio. This melody starts with arpeggio going straight up blows on holes 4,5,6 and 7.
4 5 6 7 6 -5 5 -4 4 -4
4 5 6 7 6
5 6 7 8 -8 7 -7 -6 6 -5 5
4 5 6 7 6 -5 5 -4 4 -4
4 5 6 7 6
5 6 7 8 -9 8 -8 7 -7 -8 8
8 8 -6 7
-8 8 -8 7 -7 -6 -7 7
The First Noel
Like the song Joy to the World, the First Noel is also a great example of how knowing the major scale can help us to contextualize and recognize the patterns within melodies, which also then makes it easier for us to memorize songs.
Here’s the C Major Scale
Going Up: 4 -4 5 -5 6 -6 -7 7
and Coming Down: 7 -7 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4
If you can see how this song fits within that scale, it may help you to memorize it more quickly.
5 -4 4 -4 5 -5 6
-6 -7 7 -7 -6 6 -6 -7
7 -7 -6 6 -6 -7 7 6 -5 5 (REPEAT)
5 -4 4 -4 5 -5 6
7 -7 -6 -6 6
7 -7 -6 6 -6 -7 7 6 -5 5
5 -4 4 -4 5 -5 6
7 -7 -6 -7 7 -8 8
7 -7 -6 6 -6 -7 7 6 -5 5
