This Christmas classic is played often and will be quickly recognized if you play it for others. It is a great place to start with for violin beginners because it is within a D major 1-octave scale and the bow stroke – détaché – is very easy. You can start practicing it by playing the D Major scale, then try to memorize the sheet music, and finally play along with the video!

Carol of the Bells (also sometimes called Ring Christmas Bells) is a fun, lively Christmas song. As the title suggests, you want to play this to sound like bells are ringing. The bow stroke should be light and quick. Try to accent the downbeat (the first beat in a bar) a little as well to really get the sense of bells ringing. When playing the ascending scale, start by isolating it as its own practice chunk to get the intonation right. Make sure to use high second and third fingers (F# and G#) on the D string.

O Come All Ye Faithful is a gorgeous hymn and is easy to play for beginners. It does not require any fancy bowing or difficult rhythms. It’s in the G Major key signature. This Christmas tune will allow you to play with the dynamics and feel that you are making beautiful music. Because this is a hymn, you want to connect each note with a legato bow stroke. This will allow the violin to really sing out, the way that you would if you sang this yourself.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a popular 16th-century English carol. The story behind it is that wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve. It very much captures the giving and happy spirit of Christmas and even makes note of a Happy New Year. To make it sound happy, you will want to play it pretty fast. It starts on an up bow, so move the bow quickly towards the sky. The rhythms or notes of the song are not difficult but still, I recommend practicing them slowly before moving the tempo up.

Jingle Bells is without a doubt the most popular and most-sung traditional Christmas song. Ironically, it was not a song written for Christmas initially. The rhythm of the song should mimic horses that are wearing bells. You will want to use a quick bow on the “bells” part of the song so the bow speed should be: slow, slow, fast (see the sheet music snippet for the reference). This will give the song some extra fun.

Joy to the World is a traditional, happy Christmas hymn that celebrates the good in the world. After the past few years of covid, we definitely have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. I hope this year was a better year for you and that you also feel the joy of the world! The original lyrics of this tune were to glorify God. This song is one of the easier pieces because of how step-wise the notes are. When playing the opening rhythm, use a fast bow to get that zippy sound.

Angels We Have Heard on High is perfect for beginner-level violinists. When you check the sheet music, you will notice that there are lots of scales and repeated notes in the song. This is a great opportunity to practice the détaché bow stroke, which means the beginning of the note should have a clear front but each note is separated just a little. Each note should really ring to let the music ring so use the full bow.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen can be a more challenging tune. One of the defining features of it is that it is in the D minor key! It starts up bow and uses a lot of scales. Without clear lyrics that we refer to in our heads, it can be tricky to keep track of where you are. You will definitely want to use the sheet music for this song. You can even end the song with a slow down, called a ritardando.

My violin arrangement of Away in a Manger is super easy to play. I hope you will find the rhythm simple, as there are many quarter notes and the notes often go as in a scale. Try isolating the part that requires you to “jump” fingers and the string crossings so that you can really hammer out the coordination.