Learning to play Christmas songs on guitar is a fantastic way to get into the festive spirit, and “Jingle Bells” is one of the most recognizable and joyful tunes you can learn. This lesson is designed specifically for complete beginners who are just starting their guitar journey. We’ll break down “Jingle Bells” using guitar tabs, making it incredibly easy to pick up, even if you’ve never played before. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can learn this classic Christmas song and impress your friends and family!
Why Start with Simple Songs?
When you’re first learning guitar, it’s tempting to jump straight into complex chords and fast songs. However, starting with simple melodies like “Jingle Bells,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” offers several key advantages:
- Build Finger Strength and Dexterity: Playing single notes helps develop the strength and coordination in your fretting hand fingers, which is essential for playing chords later on.
- Understand Guitar Tabs: These simple songs are perfect for learning how to read guitar tabs (tablature), the easiest way to learn songs without needing to read traditional music notation.
- Develop Good Technique from the Start: Focusing on playing one note at a time allows you to concentrate on making each note sound clear and perfect, building good habits early on.
- Avoid Frustration and Stay Motivated: Learning simple songs quickly gives you a sense of accomplishment and keeps you motivated to continue learning. Trying to tackle complex songs too early can be discouraging.
- Ear Training: Playing familiar melodies like “Jingle Bells” helps you train your ear to recognize notes and melodies on the guitar.
Understanding Guitar Tabs
Guitar tabs are a simplified way to read music for guitar. Instead of using traditional musical notation with notes on a staff, tabs use numbers to represent frets on the guitar strings.
- The Lines: The six horizontal lines in a tab represent the six strings of your guitar. The bottom line is the thickest string (low E), and the top line is the thinnest string (high e).
- The Numbers: The numbers on the lines tell you which fret to press down on that string. “0” means you play the open string (without pressing any fret). “1” means press the first fret, “2” means the second fret, and so on.
- Reading Tabs: You read tabs from left to right, just like reading words on a page. Each number represents a note to be played.
Don’t worry if this seems a bit confusing at first. As we go through the tabs for “Jingle Bells” and other songs, it will become much clearer!
Finger Positions for These Songs
For these beginner songs, we’ll use a simple and consistent finger positioning guide. This will help you develop good habits and finger memory. We’ll assign a specific finger to each fret in the first four frets:
- 1st Fret: Always played by the first finger (index finger).
- 2nd Fret: Always played by the second finger (middle finger).
- 3rd Fret: Always played by the third finger (ring finger).
- 4th Fret: Always played by the fourth finger (pinky finger).
This is a guideline to help beginners. For now, focus on getting the notes to sound right and use these finger suggestions as a starting point. Later, you’ll learn more about choosing the best fingers for different situations.
Let’s Learn “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
Before we get to “Jingle Bells,” let’s start with an even simpler song, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” This will help you get comfortable with reading tabs and using the finger positions we just discussed. Take your time and focus on playing each note clearly.
e|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-----------------|-----------------|
G|-------0---2-----|-------0---2-----|
D|---2-------------|---2-------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|
e|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-----------------|-----------------|
G|-------0---3---2-|-------0---------|
D|---2-------------|---2-------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|Remember the finger positions: 2nd fret (D string) is played with your second finger, and 2nd fret (G string) is also played with your second finger, 3rd fret (G string) is played with your third finger. Start slowly, playing just the first four notes and stopping at the vertical line (bar line). Repeat those four notes a few times to memorize them. Then move to the next section and do the same. Once you’ve practiced each section, try playing the whole song slowly.
Mary had a little lamb Guitar TAB
Alt text: Guitar tab for the children’s song Mary Had a Little Lamb, showing single notes on the G and D strings, ideal for beginner guitar practice.
For “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” you’ll primarily use your second and third fingers. Make sure you’re using the correct fingers for each fret.
Next Up: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
Now let’s move on to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” This song is also very simple and uses the same finger positions as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Practice it in the same way, one section at a time.
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-------0---0-----|-------7---7-----|-------9---9-----|-------7---------|
G|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-----7-------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-------5---5-----|-------4---4-----|-------2---2-----|-------0---------|
G|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|Again, take it slowly, practice each section separately, and then put it all together. Focus on playing the notes cleanly and clearly.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Guitar TAB
Alt text: Easy guitar tab for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, demonstrating beginner-friendly single-note melody playing on the B and G strings.
Once you can play it slowly and accurately, you can gradually increase the speed. But don’t rush it too much – clarity is more important than speed at this stage.
The Christmas Classic: “Jingle Bells”
Now we’re ready for “Jingle Bells”! Learning familiar songs like this is helpful because you already know how it should sound. This makes it easier to tell if you’re playing the notes correctly. Really listen to your playing and check if it sounds like “Jingle Bells.” If something sounds off, double-check your finger positions and the tab.
Here’s the guitar tab for “Jingle Bells”:
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-------2---2-----|-------2---2-----|-------2---5-----|-------3---------|
G|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
B|-------2---2-----|-------2---------|-------2---2-----|-------2---------||
G|---0-------------|---0-----0---2---|---0-------------|---0-----0---2---||
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-------2---2-----|-------2---2-----|-------2---5-----|-------3---------|
G|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|---0-------------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
B|--1.-----2---2----|-------2---------|-----------------|-----------------||
B|--2.-----5---5----|-------5---------|-----------------|-----------------||
G|-------0----------|---0-----0-------|-----------------|-----------------||
D|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
A|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||For “Jingle Bells,” we’ll use the first finger for the 1st fret and the third finger for the 3rd fret. Start very slowly and gradually increase the speed as you become comfortable.
New Symbols in “Jingle Bells”: Repeat Signs and Endings
“Jingle Bells” introduces a couple of new musical symbols you’ll often see in guitar tabs and sheet music:
-
Repeat Sign: You’ll notice a thin line, a thick line, and two dots to the left of the lines after the eighth section of the tab. This is a repeat sign. When you see this, it means you should go back to the beginning of the song (or to the previous repeat sign if there is one) and play that section again. In the “Jingle Bells” tab, after you play up to the repeat sign, go back to the very beginning and play from there again.
-
Alternate Endings: You’ll see “1.” and “2.” with horizontal lines above them at the end of the tab. These are called alternate endings.
- 1st Ending: The “1.” tells you to play the measures under the first ending the first time through the section. In our tab, this is the section right before “1.”
- 2nd Ending: The “2.” tells you that on the repeat, instead of playing the 1st ending section, you skip it and play the 2nd ending section instead.
-
End Line: At the very end of the piece, you’ll see a thin line followed by a thick line. This double line indicates the end of the song. Don’t confuse it with the repeat sign – the repeat sign has dots.
It might sound complicated written out, but it’s easier to understand when you play it. Follow the tab and remember to repeat from the beginning when you see the repeat sign, and to play the second ending on the repeat.
Jingle Bells Guitar TAB
Alt text: Jingle Bells guitar tab for beginners, featuring repeat signs and alternate endings explained for easy Christmas song learning.
My Experience and Advice for Beginner Guitarists
When I started learning guitar, I also began with simple single-note melodies like these. Playing these tunes allowed me to really focus on each note and make sure it sounded right. Many guitar teachers start students with chords, but I believe it’s better to master single notes first. Chords require you to play multiple notes at once, which can be overwhelming and lead to frustration for beginners.
By focusing on these simple songs first, you’ll build a solid foundation. When you’re ready to learn chords, you’ll find it much easier because you’ll already have developed finger strength, coordination, and a good ear for music. My students who start this way often find learning chords surprisingly easy and enjoyable.
Video Demonstration
While tabs are great, it’s also helpful to hear how the song should sound. Search for a video demonstration of “Jingle Bells” guitar tab for beginners on YouTube. Watching and listening to someone play it will help you understand the rhythm and timing, and make sure you’re playing the notes correctly.
Conclusion
Don’t underestimate the power of simple songs! They are crucial for building a strong foundation in guitar playing. If you rush through these basics, you might develop bad habits or struggle to play notes cleanly later on. Practice “Jingle Bells,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” along with simple guitar exercises. Once you’re comfortable with these, you’ll be well-prepared to move on to more complex songs and techniques.
After you feel good about these songs, you might want to learn some real songs with chords. Check out this lesson for a step-by-step method you can use to learn any song on guitar: How to Learn a Song on Guitar Step-by-Step. This is the method I used as a beginner and still use today!
Enjoy playing “Jingle Bells” and have a happy and musical holiday season!
