Sheet Music: Jingle Bells

TitleJingle Bells
Alternate titlesOne Horse Open Sleigh
Dashing Through the Snow
Vive le vent
ComposerJames Lord Pierpont (1822–1893)
InstrumentationFlute and Piano
KeyC major
RangeG4–A5
Time signature4/4
Tempo104 BPM
Performance time0:50
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (68 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (675 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (675 kB)
Date added2009-10-27
Last updated2009-10-27
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.6 (below average)
Categories
Christmas carols

Performances

See here for instructions on how to submit your own recording!

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Tune of the Day: Jingle Bells

One of the most famous winter songs

Although “Jingle Bells” has come to be practically synonymous with Christmas, James Pierpont originally wrote it in 1857 for a Thanksgiving program at the large Boston church where he taught Sunday school. He titled his song “One Horse Open Sleigh”, and made the rhythm so jaunty and the words so catchy that his 40 little Sunday schoolers learned it almost instantaneously. The children's first performance was such a success that they were asked to repeat it at Christmastime, and “Jingle Bells” became a Christmas song forever.

When Pierpont's song was originally published, it had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, and slightly different lyrics, too. It is unknown who replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version.

Dashing through the snow