Play Something! Part I

It's the holidays, and the season is traditionally filled with all kinds of music - carols, sacred music and popular and jazz holiday tunes. If your friends and family know you play the piano, you're sure to hear, "Oh, play something for us!" Or, as happens to me almost every year, someone will hand you some music you've never played before and want you to play it while they sing along. Who wants to have to admit, "I have nothing prepared," or "Gee, that's a little advanced for me right now...." Nobody. So, how can you get prepared in the next three weeks for the inevitable? Here are some suggestions for brand new pianists as well as experienced ones.

If you're just learning to play the piano, imagine now that you are at that family Christmas dinner. It's after dinner now, and everybody's in the mood for carols. Here it comes. Someone says, "Hey, play us some Christmas carols!" Well, there are two carols that you can learn between now and then that are sure to please. They are Jingle Bells and Silent Night. No, they're not super-impressive, but that's OK. If you play them with confidence and make them flow well so that people can sing along, everybody will be happy. So, go buy an easy arrangement of these two pieces and start practicing. Remember that the important thing is that everybody can sing along. You might want to practice with a metronome. Don't worry about a few missed notes here and there. It's not important. Truly. If people are singing along, they might not even hear a small mistake.

If you don't have the music and you have a pretty good ear, here are some steps to take to play these pieces without music:

1. Sing the song out loud so you'll get an idea of how high or low the carol should be sung.

2. Pick out the melody on the piano. Play it over and over. Jingle Bells and Silent Night" are so easy, you should be able to memorize the melodies within a week if you practice every day.

3. Play the chords in the left hand and the melody in the right hand.
In the key of C, for Jingle Bells you need these chords: C major, G major, D major.
For Silent Night you need: C major, G major, F major

Here are the notes in each chord. Play them in the octave below middle C:
C major - C (the C below middle C), E, G

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