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Key: C Verse 1: C F C O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, C G C It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth. C F C C7 Long lay the world in sin and error pining, E7 B7 Em 'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
C G Am7 C G Am7 C Oh holy night F Am7 The stars are brightly shining F G C It is the night of our dear Savior's birth C
- O Holy Night: Backstory
- Why I Chose This Piece
- O Holy Night Basics
- O Holy Night: 1358 Chords
- Chord Markings/Lead Sheet
- Conclusion
First off, let’s start with the backstory of O Holy Night. A French man named Adolphe Adam composed the tune in 1847. He used the words from a poem called “Midnight, Christians” by Placide Cappeau. Later, in 1855, John Sullivan Dwight created a singing version based on Cappeau’s text. This version has since been translated into English, into the ve...
There are a couple reasons I wanted to use this piece for today’s tutorial. Firstly, it’s just a beautiful tune and I really enjoy it. Secondly, I think it’s a good early-intermediate introduction to playing 1358 chords, which is a really common accompaniment pattern. Don’t worry, we’ll go into depth on that shortly if you have no idea what I’m tal...
Key signature
When we do tutorials on this channel, we always begin with the basics. What key/scale is this piece in? What’s the format? The mood, tempo, anything else? So let’s start with the key – no sharps or flats in the key signature. So what scale has no sharps or flats? If you guessed C major, you’d be correct.
Song form
Scanning through this piece, I can see three distinct sections. The first section begins with the words “O Holy Night” and lasts right up until where we transition to E minor. The second section is short and transitional – we alternate from G chord to C chord, and the right hand plays a straight forward melody. Then there’s a big dynamic build-up (marked by the crescendo) as we hit the big A minor chord – this is where the piece gets some drama, and thus is our third section. The reason I lik...
Rhythm
As for other details, you can see that the tempo is fairly slow – barely above clock speed. But keep in mind we have to play three 8thbeats at a speed of 65 BPM, so it’s not as slow as it might appear on the surface. Our time signature is 6/8, which means there are six 8th beats in every bar. 6/8 time has a really nice rocking, lullaby feel to it. It’s important that we maintain that gentle rocking flow by keeping our left hand 8thnotes very steady. Counting this piece is actually quite simpl...
So let’s get into the 1358 chords. Not every single broken chord in this piece is 1358, but many of them are. These numbers refer to the distance between notes. For example, the first chord is comprised of four notes: C E G C If you were to count these notes out on the keyboard, you can see that C is note #1, E is note #3, G is note #5, and the hig...
Major chords
The left hand part is all written out for you to read, but you could play this piece simply by following the chord markings as well. So let’s take a moment to talk about how to read those. Any time you see a single letter, like “C” or “G”, it means you’re just playing a basic ol’ C or G major chord. If you see something that says F/C, it means that you’ll play an F chord, except the note “C” is going to be the lowest note you play. It’s an F chord that starts on C. Using the beginning as an e...
7 chords and minor chords
Another type of chord you’ll come across is the 7 chord. We have a C7, B7, and later on a G7. A C7, for example, would be a regular C chord, 135, with a lowered 7thnote added to it (in this case, a Bb). 7 chords are great for adding a bit of tension. And finally, the minor chords. Minor chords are simply marked by a lower-case m, and are virtually identical to major notes except that the middle note is lowered, creating a darker, more somber sound.
Chords that don’t fit with “1358”
Any time you have a chord marked “F/C”, or “G/C” or any of those, our 1358 pattern is going to be broken. The chord retains the same shape (goes up an octave, and then back down), but the inner notes change to reflect the chord in question. For example, F/C is: The number pattern for that would be: So just keep your eyes open to those changes. I like to use these chord inversions sometimes because they not only help avoid flying around the keyboard, but can also create some harmonic interest....
I hope you enjoyed today’s Christmas tutorial! I love this time of year and getting into Christmas music. If you’d like to check out some of our other Christmas tutorials, be sure to click the link. And if you missed it at the beginning of the post, here is the PDF of the sheet music for O Holy Night. Enjoy! xo, Allysia
O Holy Night with chords. Lyrics and guitar chords to the christmas carol O Holy Night. Music and lyrics: Adolphe Adam. English lyrics by John Sullivan Dwight. Chord analysis to O Holy Night in the key of C for guitar and piano. Note! You can use a guitar capo to transponse the song to another key. Guitar chords and lyrics to O Holy Night.
A free piano arrangement of O Holy Night, designed for beginner and intermediate pianists. This O Holy Night sheet music uses basic chords and is a great way to learn a Christmas song to play for family and friends this year!
Key: C . 4/4 time Am Em F Am G (x2) Verse 1: C F C O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, C G C F G
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