Review: Easy Piano Lead Sheets and Chord Charts: Christmas Edition
Comprehensive and well formatted, this book makes a creative Christmas accessible to all
With more than 50 Christmas carols and songs presented in both lead sheet and chord chart format, this book is a great introduction to contemporary playing.
It’s self-published by Olivia Ellis and Davis Dorrough, using Amazon’s Kindle Desktop Publishing service. The formatting of self-published music can be a bit hit-and-miss, but this book really bucks that trend: it’s excellent.
It begins with a great two page introduction into how to play from lead sheets and chord charts. This is really concise, clear and well-presented.
The 50 carols — actually it’s 51! — includes all the classics that you would expect, plus a couple that were new to me. I’ve put the full list at the bottom of the post, if you want to check it out.
They’re presented in C, G or F major (or their relative minors). The formatting of the music is well spaced, there’s plenty of useful information including fingerings, and full lyrics are given.
The authors have taken real care to make these carols accessible, so overall I would estimate that the difficulty level ranges from UK Initial-Grade up to Grade 2.
More than just lead sheets and chord charts
At the end of the book are several appendices:
Chord Warmups in major and minor keys
Left Hand Accompaniment Patterns in 3/4 and 4/4
Two-Hand Accompaniment Patterns in 3/4 and 4/4
Order of Chord Difficulty
Easiest Lead Sheet List
The Chord Warmups are given in C major and A minor, and include Roman numerals, but there’s no equivalent page for the other keys used in the book, so students will have to transpose themselves.
Students will also have to transpose the two Accompaniment Pattern appendices, which are given in C major using chords I-IV-V-I.
Order of Chord Difficulty organises the pieces according to the difficulty of the chords involved. This is a really useful guide for students who are learning to play two-handed accompaniments, but less relevant if students want to play the melody. The Easiest Lead Sheet List is a selection of the nine easiest lead sheets, taking into account the difficulty of playing the melody.
Availability
Unlike the other two Christmas lead sheet books I’ll be reviewing over the next couple of days, this is not downloadable and not available on a studio license but it is available to buy as a physical book via Amazon for $19.99 (which as I write converts to £15.83).
Conclusion
This book will appeal to you if you:
want a book that contains a vast range of carols
dislike studio licences and prefer your students to buy their own music
want your students to be familiar with playing from chord charts
Full list of carols
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
Angels We Have Heard on High
Auld Lang Syne
Away in a Manger
Away in a Manger (Cradle Song)
Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Coventry Carol
Deck the Halls
Ding Dong! Merrily on High!
For Unto Us a Child Is Born
Gesù Bambino
Go, Tell It on the Mountain
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Good Christian Men, Rejoice
Good King Wenceslas
Hallelujah Chorus
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Here We Come A-Caroling
How Great Our Joy
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
I Saw Three Ships
In the Bleak Midwinter
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Jingle Bells
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
Joy to the World
Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
O Christmas Tree
O Come, All Ye Faithful
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O Holy Night (Simplified Version)
O Holy Night
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Once in Royal David's City
Pat-A-Pan
Silent Night
Still, Still, Still
The Birthday of a King
The First Noël
The Holly and the Ivy
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Toyland
Trepak
Ukrainian Bell Carol
Up on the Housetop
We Three Kings
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
What Child Is This?
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night