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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Back to Jazzy Christmas Lessons course
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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Tutorial

Welcome to this tutorial on the Christmas Ballad “Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas”. The tune follows a 32 bar form, with a 4 bar extension at the end.

In part 1 of this tutorial we will create a full solo piano arrangement incorporating big 2 handed voicings, upper structure triads, passing chords and suspended harmony.

The melody of the tune is repetitive and so we will explore ways that we can add variety by utilising the different registers of the piano. We’ll also add in some interesting chord reharmonisations to spice up the repetitive chord changes.

In Part 2, we will then explore how to create intros and endings using the 1625 and it’s variations.

Related Lessons

Understanding Sus Chords

We start the lesson by recapping the basic theory behind sus chords and then explore them in context of major and minor 251s

Intermediate23:46

Passing Chords Tutorial

Passing chords are temporary stepping stones between chords, adding variety and making your playing sound more interesting & dynamic.

Intermediate16:28

Tritone Substitution

Tritone Substitution is a useful reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression.

Intermediate15:43

Practice Tips

  • When creating arrangements for Christmas tunes, try to harmonise every note of the melody... don't be lazy by just playing the chords from the lead sheet!

  • Use dominant passing chords built from a fifth above or a half step above the target chord.

  • Incorporate all of the registers of the piano... Play some of the phrases in the lower registers and then extend to the higher registers to add interest and variety to your arrangement.

  • Listen to both instrumental and vocal versions to gain inspiration for phrasing (and rephrasing!) the melody.

Comments

2 Comments
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  1. West Lincoln says

    January 6, 2018 at 2:08 am

    Hi, Hayden

    I have a question.

    In the bridge, the tune starts with Dbmaj7 and then goes to Dbm.
    You reharmonized the Dbm with Gb13(#11).

    What is the reason for choosing Gb13(#11) ?

    In the video, you said it’s “a straigth reharm.” and played
    the secod inversion of the Upper Structure off 9th.

    So, I also like to know what the straight reharm is.

    Thank you.

    Toshihiro
    uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6827afcba526c667c83b2eaac50471fba2c3c65d79882f826518668cbc0dc66a.jpg

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    Ask questions and get instant replies from our team of teachers. Get Started With PianoGroove Pro.
  2. Tina says

    May 22, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    love it when you played the chordal stuff – Hayden .. powerful-sounding chords really!

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