O Holy Night sheet music (easy)

How to play O Holy Night (Easy)

Adam's great Christmas song, slow and grand, building to "Fall on your knees" and the high E5 of "O night divine".

Where your hands go

Right hand: the song starts on E4 and climbs, with the top note E5 in bars 35 and 45. Start with your thumb on C4.

Left hand: one low note a bar, held for the whole bar. Little finger on the lowest notes.

It is in C major and 6/8: count two slow beats a bar, each split into three.

The tricky bars

Bars 1–2

"O holy night": E4, E4, E4, then in bar 2 a long G4 held for five eighths, and one more G4 for "the".

Bars 14–16

The F♯4 in bar 14, then a jump up to D5 and down to G4 and A4. Bar 16 is B4, C5, B4.

Bars 27–30

"Fall on your knees": C5 tied from bar 27 into bar 28, then B4, A4, and B4 held through bars 29 and 30. Keep counting through the long notes.

Bar 32

D5, A4, G♯4, A4. The G♯ is the black key just above G.

Bars 35–37

The high point: E5, then D5 and G4, landing on C5 for "divine". Lean into it and let it sing.

Your practice plan

1. Count bars 1 to 4 out loud, "ONE two three FOUR five six", while you play the right hand.
2. Right hand alone, the verse, bars 1 to 26.
3. Right hand alone, the refrain, bars 27 to 49.
4. Hands together, a line at a time, slowly.
5. Play it through with Listen on, then turn the Speed up a touch.

Watch out for

• Restriking tied notes, such as G4 in bar 2 and C5 in bars 27 and 28.
• Hurrying the rests. The eighth rests in bars like 5, 6 and 18 are part of the music.
• Playing G instead of G♯ in bar 32.

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.