Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) sheet music (easy)

How to play Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) (Easy)

Four notes that ring over and over like bells. This is Leontovych's Shchedryk tune, the one the famous carol is built on, set for two easy hands.

Where your hands go

Right hand: the bell figure is C5, B4, C5, A4. Thumb on A4, fingers 2 and 3 on B4 and C5.

Left hand: one note a bar, held for all three beats, walking down A3, G3, F3, E3 under the bells.

It is in A minor and 3/4, with F♯ and G♯ only in the run up in bars 13 and 15.

The tricky bars

Bars 5–8

The bells move up to E5, D5, E5, C5. Same rhythm, new notes: slide your hand up so your thumb sits on C5.

Bars 9–11

Three repeated notes then two steps down, starting from A5, then E5, then D5. Use fingers 3, 2, 1 on each set of repeats so the hand stays loose.

Bars 13–14

The run up: E4, F♯4, G♯4, A4, B4, C5 in eighth notes, then D5, E5, D5, C5. Cross your thumb under after G♯4.

Bar 21

The last bar is a single A4, held for three beats. Let it ring.

Your practice plan

1. Right hand alone, bars 1 to 4, until the bell figure plays itself.
2. Left hand alone: A3, G3, F3, E3, counting three beats on each.
3. Hands together, bars 1 to 8.
4. Right hand alone, the run in bars 13 to 16, slowly.
5. Play it all with Listen on, keeping the bells light and even.

Watch out for

• Playing the eighth notes B4, C5 unevenly. They are two equal halves of beat 2.
• Forgetting the sharps in the run: F♯4 and G♯4 in bars 13 and 15.
• Letting go of the left-hand note before the bar ends.

Power-up: press Loop, tap the first and last of the tricky bars, and they repeat until they feel easy. Hands in Options lets you practise one hand at a time. New to the notation? Start with how to read keyboard staff, then how to practise piano.