When it comes to growing as a musician, performing in front of people is the best thing you can do. Just 5 minutes of playing for people will grow you in ways no amount of hours in the practice room can.
The holidays are naturally a great time to perform for our family, friends, and communities.
We are all at different places on our musical journeys with the harmonica. Wherever you are, I’m sure you can find something to challenge yourself with one of the 5 Christmas songs I’ve prepared for you:
#1Jingle Bells
For a total newbie it takes time to learn how to play nice clean single notes. If you’ve just picked up the harmonica, it’s better to work on the deep relaxed mouth position before worrying about playing single notes.
Here we’re playing 2 notes at a time so you don’t need to worry about accuracy too much. You can just focus on the important fundamentals of breathing and the deep relaxed mouth position, and have fun playing a song! Here’s the harmonica tabs in C for the easiest possible version of Jingle Bells:
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
45 45 45 45 45 45
jingle all the way
45 56 34 -34 45
Oh what fun it is to ride
-45 -45 -45 -45 -45 45 45
in a one horse o-pen sleigh, hey!
45 45 45 -34 -34 45 -34 56
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
45 45 45 45 45 45
jingle all the way
45 56 34 -34 45
Oh what fun it is to ride
-45 -45 -45 -45 -45 45 45
in a one horse o-pen sleigh
45 45 56 56 -45-34 34
You can play along with me until you feel you’ve got it, then try it with the jam track.
#2Joy to the World
We’re moving from chords to single notes, which are a bit trickier. If you haven’t learned the lip blocking technique for isolating notes, check out my single notes lesson.
One great thing about this song is the opening comes straight down the major scale:
Major Scale Tabs (descending)
7 -7 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4
So if you learn the opening to this song, you learn the major scale at the same time.
If you’d like to be able to play this song, but you’re having trouble keeping up, you might check out my Beginner to Boss course where I really break it down step by step and take you slowly through this song over the course of 2 days.
Ready to spread some joy? Here are the harmonica tabs in C for Joy to the World:
Joy to the world! the Lord is come
7 -7 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4
Let earth re-ceive her King
6 -6 -6 -7 -7 7
Let e-v-e-r-y he-ar-t
7 7-7 -6 6 6 -5 5
pre-pa-re H-im r-oo-m
7 7 -7 -6 6 6 -5 5
A-nd heaven and nat-u-re sing,
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 -5 6
An-d heav’n a-nd na-t-ure sing,
-5 5 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 5 -5
A-nd heav-en, and hea-v-en and na-ture sing.
5 -4 4 7 -6 6 -5 5 -5 5 -4 4
#3Silent Night
The only reason that Silent Night is a little bit trickier than Joy to the World is because we have to play -8 quite a bit, and in my experience teaching thousands of beginning harmonica students, I find that -2 and -8 are consistently the two holes that beginners struggle with the most.
The key success here is:
⭐ Let your jaw be relaxed and fall toward the ground
⭐ Keep the back of your tongue down, like it is when you yawn
⭐ Don’t use too much force. A nice gentle airstream does the trick
Most would agree that the timbre of Silent Night sounds sweeter, and it’s definitely easier to play on a lower key harmonica, like a G harmonica for example, or even lower. In fact, if you happen to own a Low C harmonica, you could play along with this lesson, just an octave lower.
Here are the easiest harmonica tabs in C for Silent Night:
Si-i-lent night, Ho-o -ly night
6 -6 6 5 6 -6 6 5
All is calm, All is bright
-8 -8 -7 7 7 6
Round yon Vir -gin Moth -er and Child
-6 -6 7 -7-6 6 -6 6 5
Ho-ly in-fant so tender and mild
-6 -6 7 -7 -6 6 -6 6 5
Sleep in heaven-en-ly peace
-8 -8 -9 -8 -7 7 8
Sleep in heav-en-ly peace
7 6 5 6 -5 -4 4
#4Let it Snow
Now we’re moving into some hard stuff because we have bends, some difficult skips, and some fast passages. If you are consistently playing nice clean, clear single notes, and you want to start learning how to bend, check out my lesson How to Bend Harmonica for Beginners.
The verse of this song is in the key of C, so we’re playing in 1st position, but in the bridge we move to the key of G so we’re playing in 2nd position. Because one of the last notes of the bridge can’t be played without the difficult technique of overblowing, I put in a flashy bebop lick:
6 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4 -3 -3”
-2 -2’ -2” -3” 2 -1
Even if you’re an advanced player, you’ll probably have to practice that one on it’s own a bit before playing it in the context of the song. (I know I did, after I made it up, LOL! 😂)
Also, the final lick of the tune is a nice Jazz cliché for ending a song:
1 2 -2” -2’ -2 -3” -3 4
I think we’ve all heard that a million times, and it’s a great lick for practicing those tricky -2 and -3 half-step and whole-step bends.
Here’s the harmonica tabs for my rendition of Let It Snow:
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
-2” -2 6 6 -5 5 -4 4 -2
But the fire is so de light ful
-4 4 -4 4 -4’-4 4 -3’-3 -2
And since we’ve no place to go
-2 -6 -6 6 -5 5 -4-4’-4
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
-7 -6 6 6 -5 5 5 -4 4
It doesn’t show signs of stopping
-2 6 6 -5 5 -4 4 -2
And I brought some corn for pop- ping
-4 4 -4’-4 4 -4’-4 4 -3-3’ -2
The lights are turned way down low
-2 -6 -6 6 -5 5 -4 5 -4
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
-7 -6 6 6 -5 5 5 -4 4
When we fin-al-ly kiss goodnight
-3 4 -4 5 -4 -3 6 -4 -4’ -4
How I’ll hate go-ing out in the storm
-4 -4 4 4 -3 -3” -2 -3” -34(trill)
But if you’ll really hold me tight
-3 4 -4 5 -4 -3 6 -4
All the way home I’ll be warm
(Here’s where we play that flashy lick:)
6 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4 -3 -3”
-2 -2’ -2” -3” 2 -1
O the fi-re is slowly dying
-2 -2 6 6 -5 5 -4 4 -2
And my dear we’re still goodbying
-4 4 -4’-4 4 -4’-4 4 -3-3’ -2
But as long you love me so
-2 -6 -6 6 -5 5 -4 -4’-4
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
-7 -6 6 6 -5 5 5 -4 4
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
10’ -10 9 9 -9 8 8 -8 7
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
-3 -3” 3 3 -2” 2 2 -1 1
2 -2” -2’ -2 -3” -3 4
23 (trill)
#5This Christmas
For most of this song I’m playing a Lee Oskar F Melody Maker. Melody Makers are tuned to have a major tonality in 2nd position, instead of a bluesy tonality. The blow 3 and -5 are both tuned higher than regular.
For the intro of this tune I’m using a Bb harmonica in 2nd position, key of F, and I’m using octaves, also known as “splits.” I have a whole module devoted to octaves in my Beginner to Boss course.
Here are the harmonica tabs for my rendition of This Christmas by Donny Hathaway:
Intro (Bb Harmonica)
36 36 25 -13 -2
-2 14 -3 -3” -12 -12
-1 -2 -2’ 2
36 36 25 -13 -2
-2 14 -3 -3” -12 -12
-1 -2 -2’ 2
36 36 25 -13 -2
-2 14 -3 -3” -12 -12
Song (Lee Oskar F Melody Maker harmonica)
Hang all the mistle-toe
-3’-3 -3 -3 -4 -3 3 -2
I’m gonna get to know you bet – ter
-3’-3 -3 -3 -4 -3 3 -2 3-3’3 -2
This Christmas
5 -4 -3
And as we trim the tre-e
-3’-3 -3 -3 -4 -3 3 -2
How much fun it’s gonna be to-ge – ther
-3’-3 -3 -3 -3 -4 -3 3 -2 3-3’3-2
This Christmas
5 -4 -3
The fi -reside is blazing bright,
-2 -5’-5 5 5 -4 -4 -3 -3-3’-3
We’re caroling through the ni – i – ight
5 -7 -76 5 4 -6’-6 -7 6 5
And this Christmas will be
6 -6 -6’-6 -7-6 -6’-6-7-6 6
a very special Christmas
6 6 -6 6-6 -6’-6 -7 -6 6 5
for me
-5’-5 5 -6’-6 -6’-6 -6’-6 6 5
(instrumental)
6 6 5 -4 -4 -2 4 -3 3 -2 -2
Shake a hand, shake a hand
-3’-3 -4 5 -3 -3’ -2 3
Pres-ents and cards are here
-3’-3 -3’-3 -3 -4 -3 3 -2
My world is filled with cheer and you
-3 -3 -3 -4’-4 -3 3 -2 3-3’3 -2
This Christmas
5 -4 -3
And as I look a-round
-3’-3 -3 -3 -4’-4 -3 3 -2
Your eyes outshine the town, they do
-3 -3 -3 5 -3’ 3 -2 3-3’3 -2
This Christmas
5 -4 -3
The fi -reside is bla – zing bright,
-3 -5’-5 5 5 -4 -4’-4 -3 -3-3’-3
We’re caroling through the ni – i – ight
5 -7 -7 6 6 5 -6’-6 -7 6 5
And this Christmas will be
6 -6 -6’-6 -7-6 -6’-6-7-6 6
a very special Christmas
6 6 -6 6-6 -6’-6 -7 -6 6 5
for me
-5’-5 5 -6’-6 -6’-6 -6’-6 6 5
(instrumental)
6 6 5 -4 -4 -2 4 -3 3 -2 -2
Shake a hand, shake a hand
-3’-3 -4 5 -3 -3’ -2 3
(instrumental)
6 6 5 -4 -4 -2 4 -3 3 -2 -2
(Piano Solo)
-4 -4 -4 5 -4 -3’-3 3 -2 -3’-3 3 -2 3 -2
-3’-3 -4 5 -3’-3-3’ -2 3 -2 -2 3 -2
-1 2 -2 -2 3-2 -1 2 -1 2 2 -2 -4 56 -4 5 -4 -2 -3’-3
-4 5 6 -4 -6 -7 -5’ -4 5 -4 5 -3 -4 -4
-3’-3-3’ -2 3 -2 -3’ -2 -2 3 -2
-1 2 -2 -2 2 -2 -1 2 -1 2 -1 -1
Ooh The fi -reside is bla – zing bright,
6 -5’-5 5 5 -4 -4’-4 -3 -3
We’re caroling through the ni – i – ight
5 -7 -7 6 6 5 -6’-6 -7 6 5
And this Christmas will be
6 -6 -6’-6-7-6 -6’-6-7-6 6
a very special Christmas
6 6 -6 6-6 -8 -7
for me
-5’-5 5 -6’-6 -6’-6 -6’-6 6
(instrumental)
6 6 5 -4 -4 -2 4 -3 3 -2 -2
Shake a hand, shake a hand
-3’-3 -4 5 -3 -3’ -2 3
(instrumental)
6 6 5 -4 -4 -2 4 -3 3 -2 -2
And that’s 5 Christmas songs on harmonica from super-beginner to super-advanced. I hope you’ve enjoyed this and found something to challenge yourself with, and I encourage you to be brave and perform it for someone this holiday season.
Keep on playing the harmonica, and making the world a better place!
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