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Piano sheet music for kids · Carol · Level 3: Notes below middle C
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
Free beginner piano sheet music: C major, 2/4, 16 bars. Press Play to hear it on a real piano, slow it down, or hear one hand at a time; click any note to start from there; print it for the music stand.
About this arrangement
A cheerful American Christmas song from the 1870s: a child whispering a Christmas wish to Santa. It is in 2/4, two beats in each bar, and in C major. The tune starts on E and sits low, going down to the A and G below middle C in bars 5 and 6 and again in bars 13 and 14, so the hand rests a little below C position, with the thumb on the A below middle C. Many bars are four quick quavers (eighth notes) on the same note, so the job is keeping them even. The left hand plays oom-pah, a bass note and a chord, changing chord in almost every bar.
Practice tip: Say the words in rhythm before you play: “Jol-ly old Saint” is four even quavers. Start with the little finger on E and stretch the thumb down one key for each G. Lines 1 and 3 are the same music, and lines 2 and 4 differ only in the last two bars.
The words
Jolly old Saint Nicholas, lean your ear this way! Don't you tell a single soul what I'm going to say; Christmas Eve is coming soon; now, you dear old man, whisper what you'll bring to me; tell me if you can.
A short history
The words began as a poem by Emily Huntington Miller, “Lilly’s Secret”, printed in December 1865 in The Little Corporal, an American magazine for children. The music is usually credited to James Ramsey Murray, an American composer of songs and hymns for children, and was first printed in 1874 in a school music book, School Chimes. Murray also wrote “Mueller”, the tune Americans sing to Away in a Manger.
The song spread through school songbooks. Many later recordings changed the words of its last verse, in which Johnny wants a pair of skates and Susy wants a dolly.
It has sometimes been credited to Benjamin Hanby, who wrote Up on the Housetop, but the words follow Miller’s 1865 poem closely.
Quick facts
- Tune
- James Ramsey Murray, 1874
- Words
- Emily Huntington Miller, 1865
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 2/4
- Length
- 16 bars
- Tempo
- Cheerfully, crotchet = 96
- Difficulty
- Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 35 of 201)
- Type
- Carol
- Hands
- Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
- Copyright
- Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use
Questions and answers
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