How to Play Merry Christmas, Darling






There's a cool song I like to play that's moderately slow in C.
Merry Christmas, Darling was written by Richard Carpenter and the lyrics by Hank Pooler in 1970. It has a Rubato feel in 4/4 time. Later on, Richard's sister recorded the song with her great vocals that I especially like. You can read more, here.



Here I am playing this popular song on my Motif ES8 on a Chorus Dyno voice setting. You'll find the first arrangement taken from some sheet music I have and the latter charts I found online.


The Carpenters Album



1. Merry Christmas Darling


Dm7                      Em       Am7
     Greeting cards have all been sent


Dm7                G7      C          
     The Christmas rush is through


Am            Am(maj7) Am7      Am6  
But I still have one wish to make


  Dm7              G
A special one for you


Cmaj7                    Dm/C
       Merry Christmas, darling


Cmaj7                       Gm7   C7
        We're apart, that's true

               F        G/F
              But I can dream

        Em       Am
      And in my dreams

Dm            Em      Dm/F G7
I'm Christmas  ing with you

Cmaj              Dm7/F
      Holidays are joyful

Cmaj                          Gm  
      There's always something new


    F      G/F        Em       Am
But every  day's       a holi day

D7/F#             Fm  Bb7
When I'm near to you

    Eb           F/Eb
The lights on my tree

Dm7                   Gm
     I wish you could see

Cm7            F7    Bb
     I wish it every da-A-A-A-ay
                            ( ahh ahh



         Gm          Gm(maj7)
    The  logs on the fire
ahh     ahh

Gm7              G7    
Fill me with de sire

C              F      Em   Dm7
    To see you and to say

G     Cmaj7           Dm/C
That I wish you Merry Christmas

                 
(Merry christmas darling)

Cmaj7               Gm7         C7+7
Happy New Year to-o-o-o
                  ( ahh   ahh      ahh

     F        G/F
I've just one wish 

        Em7       Am7     
On this Christmas Eve
                     
  Em7               Am7
( On this Christmas eve)

  Dm7     G7        Bb7         
I wish I were with you

          
( Ahh ahh ahh



                  
      Dm         Dm(maj7)
               The logs on the fire

Dm7          D7       D7/C
Fill me with desire

G/B             Am7    Bm7  Am7
     To see you and to say

Am7/D   Gmaj9          Am7/G
That  I wish you Merry Christmas

                  Gmaj9
( Merry Christmas Darling )

               Dm9          Fmaj7/G  Db7+11  Cmaj7
Happy New Year to-o-o-o-o-o                  I’ve
                        (ahh   ahhh  ahhh 

 F        G/F
just one wish 

        Em7
On this Christmas Eve

  Em7               Am7
( On this Christmas eve )

       Dm7   G7      C Bb7
I wish I    were with you


Dm7                G7  G   C
     I wish I were with   you
                         (merry Christmas merry Christmas)


      Dm7               Fm7               Cmaj7
Merry Christmas,  merry Christmas         darling



Chord Breakdown

L.H. / R.H.

Dm7 = DC/F
Em = EGB/B
Am7 = AG/CE
Dm7 = DFA/C
G7 = GF/BG
C = C/CE
Am = AE/C
Am(maj7) = AG#/C
Am7 = AG/E
Am6 = AF#/C
Dm7 = DFA/C
G = GDG/B

Cmaj7 = CGB/G
Dm/C = CFA/D
Cmaj7 = CGB/E
Gm7 = GF/BbD
C7 = CE/C
F = FCF/AC
G/F = FDF/GB
Em = EGB/E
Am = AEA/C
Dm = DFA/C
Em = EGB/E
Dm/F = FA/D
G7 = GF/C

Cmaj = CGB/G
F = CFA
Cmaj7 = CGB/E
Gm = GF/BbD
F = FCF/AC
G/F = FDF/GB
Em = EGB/G
Am = AEA/C
D7/F# = F#A/C
Fm = FAb/CD
Bb7 = BbAb/Bb

Eb = EbGBb *
F/Eb = EbAC/A
Dm7 = DAC/F
Gm = GDG/BbG
Cm7 = CG/Bb
F7 = FEb/AF
Bb = BbFBb/D
Gm = GD/Bb
Gm(maj7) = F#D/Bb
Gm7 = FD/GD
G7 = GB/DF
C = CG/E
F = FA/D
Em = EB/EG
Dm7 = DC/
G = GB/G

Cmaj7 = CGB/B
Dm/C = CFA/D
Cmaj7 = CGB/E
Gm7 = G/FA
C+7 = CBb/EG#C
F = FCF/AC
G/F = FDF/GB
Em7 = EBE/DG
Am7 = AEA/C **  (2nd time to coda)
Dm7 = DFA/C
G7 = GF/BE
C = CEG/C
Bb7 = BbAb (back to*)

Coda

Dm7 = DFA/C
G7 = GF/BE
Em7(b5) = EG/BbEG
A7 = AG/C#
Dm7 = DFA/CFA
G7 = GF/BE
C = CGC/C
Dm7 = DA/FAE
Fm7 = FC/FAbEb
Cmaj7 = CG/EGD


2. Merry Christmas Darling


Am7                      Bm7      Em7
     Greeting cards have all been sent


Am7                D7      G          G  D/F#  Em
     The Christmas rush is through


            Em(maj7) Em7           Em6  
But I still have one wish to make


  Am7              D    Em   D
A special one for you


Gmaj9                   Am7/G
       Merry Christmas, darling


Gmaj9                       Dm9   Fmaj7/G
        We're apart, that's true

Db9+11  Cmaj7            D/C
              But I can dream

Bm7             Em7
      And in my dreams

Am7            Bm7 Cmaj7     D7sus4 D7
I'm Christmas  ing with you

Gmaj9              Am7/G
      Holidays are joyful

Gmaj9                          Dm9  
      There's always something new


    Cmaj7  D/C    Bm7         Em7  D6
But every  day's       a holi day

A/C#             Cm6  F7
When I'm near to you

    Bb           C/Bb
The lights on my tree

Am7                   Dm7
     I wish you could see

Gm7            C7    F
     I wish it every da-A-A-A-ay
                            ( ahh ahh



C/E      Dm          Dm(maj7)
    The  logs on the fire
ahh     ahh

Dm7              D7    D7/C 
Fill me with de sire

G/B            Am7    Bm7   Am7
    To see you and to say

Am7/D  Gmaj9          Am7/G
That I wish you Merry Christmas

                 Gmaj9
(Merry christmas darling)

               Dm9       Fmaj7/G   Db7+11
Happy New Year to-o-o-o
                  ( ahh   ahh      ahh

     Cmaj7    D/C
I've just one wish 

        Bm7         
On this Christmas Eve
                     
  Em7               Am7
( On this Christmas eve)

         Am7/D     G         
I wish I were with you

          G/D
( Ahh ahh ahh


|Bb/F   C/Bb    |Am7     Dm7   |Gm7   C     |

                  
|F        C/E|      Dm         Dm(maj7)
               The logs on the fire

Dm7          D7       D7/C
Fill me with desire

G/B             Am7    Bm7  Am7
     To see you and to say

Am7/D   Gmaj9          Am7/G
That  I wish you Merry Christmas

                  Gmaj9
( Merry Christmas Darling )

               Dm9          Fmaj7/G  Db7+11  Cmaj7
Happy New Year to-o-o-o-o-o                  I’ve
                        (ahh   ahhh  ahhh 

         D/C
just one wish 

        Bm7
On this Christmas Eve

  Em7               Am7
( On this Christmas eve )

       D7   D7/C      Bm7-5   E7+5  E7
I wish I    were with you


Am7                Am7/D  G
     I wish I were with   you
                         (merry Christmas merry Christmas)


      Am9               Cm7       Cm7/F   Gmaj9
Merry Christmas,  merry Christmas         darling
Tabs from ultimate-guitar.com


3. Merry Christmas, Darling


Merry Christmas Darling [Dmaj7 Em7]
We're apart that's true [Dmaj7 Em7 A7]
But I can dream and in my dreams, [G F#m D Bm]
I'm Christmas-ing with you. [Em F#m G A7]

Holidays are joyful [Dmaj7 Em7]
There's always something new [Dmaj7 Em7 A7]
But every day's A holiday [G Fm D Bm]
When I'm near to you [E7 A7]

The lights on my tree I wish you could see [Em7 A7 F#m Bm]
I wish it every day [G A D]
The logs on the fire fill me with desire [Bm Bm+7 Bm7 Bm6]
To see you and to say [Em F#m G A]

That I wish you a merry Christmas [Dmaj7 Em7]
Happy New Year, too [Dmaj7 Em7 A7]
I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve [G A7 F#m Bm]
I wish I were with you [G A7 F#m B7]
I wish I were with you [Em A7 D]

A wonderful resource to help your playing along, ChristmasKeys1

Have a wonderful Christmas season!



"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

144 Chords To Know


Constructing Simple Chords

Photo Credit: Free Digital Photos

Triads

The three elements of traditional music are melody, rhythm and harmony. The harmonic element in most of the music we hear and play is based upon three-note chords called triads. Because of the important role harmony plays in most music, knowledge of triads and awareness of their sounds are essential for fluent reading, good intonation and sensitive listening. Triads are written by combining various intervals, so thorough command of interval terminology is vital.

Remember that a chord is three or more tones sounding simultaneously.

It's so important to know how to play:

1. All 12 major chords.
2. All 12 minor chords.
3. All 12 augmented chords.
4. All 12 diminished chords.


That makes a total of 48 chords to learn on the piano and if you invert (turn upside down) each chord 3 times, now you have a grand total of 144 sounding chords to play. I've talked about chord inversions before and you can view the post here.


By augmented, I mean to make the chord larger and by diminished, let's make the chord smaller. Have a look at a former post, augmented-and-diminished-chords.

For example:

C Major Triad = CEG
C Minor Triad = CEbG
C Diminished Triad = CEbGb
C Augmented Triad = CEG#

sheet music of Joy To The World

music notes to a Christmas Song

                                            
                                        

http://www.8notes.com

Christmas Song: Joy To The World

The history of the song can be found, here. Maybe try playing this famous Christmas Carol in a few of the major keys for piano practice.

1. Key of C

C                 Dm   C   G7   C
Joy to the world!  The Lord is come;
     F        G        C
Let earth receive her King.
C
Let every heart prepare Him room,
     C
And heav'n and nature sing,
     G7
And heav'n and nature sing,
     C      F   C     Dm   C  G7  C  
And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing. 

2. Key of D

Joy to the world! 
[D] 
The Lord is come! 
[Em D A7 D] 
Let earth receive her King! 
[G A D] 
Let every heart prepare Him room, 
[D G D D G D] 
And heav'n and nature sing, 
[D] 
and heav'n and nature sing, 
[A A7] 
and heav'n and heav'n 
[D G D] 
and nature sing! 

3. Key of E

E                     A       E
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
   A      B          E
Let earth receive her King;
   E          E          E
Let every heart prepare Him room,
    E                  E
And Heaven and nature sing,
    B                B
And Heaven and nature sing,
   E           A         E  B     E
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.



4. Key of F

F                     Bb       F
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
   Bb      C          F
Let earth receive her King;
    F           F           F
Let every heart prepare Him room,
    F                 F
And Heaven and nature sing,
    C                 C
And Heaven and nature sing,
    F           Bb          F  C   F
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

5. Key of G

G                     C       G
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
    C     D           G
Let earth receive her King;
    G           G           G
Let every heart prepare Him room,
    G                 G
And Heaven and nature sing,
    D                 D
And Heaven and nature sing,
    G           C           G  D   G
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

6. Key of A

A                     D       A
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
    D     E           A
Let earth receive her King;
    A          A           A
Let every heart prepare Him room,
    A                 A
And Heaven and nature sing,
   E                 E
And Heaven and nature sing,
    A           D          A  E   A
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

7. Key of B

B                    E       B
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
    E     F           B
Let earth receive her King;
    B         B           B
Let every heart prepare Him room,
    B                 B
And Heaven and nature sing,
   F                F
And Heaven and nature sing,
    B           E          B  F  B
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.


Listen to Joy to The World Tracks in Bb, Db, Eb, and Gb at www.rhapsody.com


If you haven't seen this post on the chord dictionary, be sure and visit piano chords. Latinpianist provides a great study on basic chords for beginners.

Be sure and check out my article on Constructing Simple Chords.

I noticed some of you have signed up for the  GospelKeys Master Class featuring Michael Bereal. That's so cool... thanks!

Have a wonderful Christmas season!





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King
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