It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Did you decorate your Christmas tree and hang your socks over the fireplace yet? Well done! The only thing missing is a suitable holidays setlist. With our Christmas Channel you’re setting yourself up for winning over the tough crowd of family and friends, using all the well-known Christmas hits. Enjoy!

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

If you think of Christmas what songs pop up in your mind? What are the tracks that are typical for this period, the jingles you just have to jam along with? We have a whole channel full of those for you, and below we highlight seven must-have jam alongs.

Last Christmas – Wham! 

Last Christmas ” by Wham!. If this song doesn’t ring a jingle bell you probably lived under a rock whole your life. The track portrays the perfect Christmas atmosphere. The snowball fight, the sultry voice of George Michael, and the melancholic undertone, it all just breaths holiday season.

The track is more suitable for the experienced guitarist than for the beginner. The challenge lies in the fast succession of chords. As far as the degree of difficulty of the chords themselves is concerned, it is not that bad. The song is written in A major which makes it pretty basic.

All I want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey

Can you hear yourself singing “all I want for Christmas is you, and you, and you too grandma!” – pointing out your family members one by one? Yup, this track is a must-have in every Christmas jam, that’s why we’ve included it in our X-Mas Channel especially for you.

The song is written in G major with, as main chords, the G, C, D, and Em. So it’s quite basic. Unlike Wham!, this song is perfect for the beginning musician. Maybe your niece or your grandmother want to take on the vocals. Turn this into a family jam! After all, that’s what Christmas is for, right? 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – John Legend

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a beautiful track by John Legend. The original song was written almost 75 years ago by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the musical “Meet me in St. Louis”. Diva Judy Garland sang the song for the first time in that musical.

Later, Frank Sinatra covered the song and after him many, many others. Not really surprising since the track covers the whole meaning of the season. The warm atmosphere of a cozy living room with the decorated Christmas tree, the lit fireplace, a house full of family, the fresh scent of pine; and all that in F major.

Santa Clause is Coming to Town – Justin Bieber

If John Legend can cover classic holiday songs, so can Justin Bieber. And of course, he does! “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” is a nice Christmas track and the young artist performs it in a playful way. 

Are you an advanced beginner? Then try playing this song along. It was written in Eb, but you can make it easy for yourself by tuning your guitar one semitone lower. This way you play all the chords as if your guitar is in normal tuning. Don’t be put off by chords like F#m and C#m. Instead, just start jamming.

Let it Snow – Dean Martin

Some say that the right intention affects reality. So what do you do if there’s no snow this Christmas? That’s right, you start singing and jamming at full bosom “Let it Snow ” by Dean Martin. And while doing so just look out of the window. If you rock hard enough, the snowflakes will start falling down from the sky. 

The track is written in Db which makes the chords look a bit more difficult than they really are. If you find it scary to play an Eb7, Ab or a Bb7 just because of the strange names, place a capo on your first fret and see what happens. 

Driving Home for Christmas – Chris Rea

If you’re driving in your car with Christmas, you can’t help but hear “Driving Home for Christmas at least once on the radio. And if you don’t hear it, it will pop up in your mind anyway. It is so appropriate for the time of year.

This classic is written in D major and has a few difficult-looking chords. But if you click on the button “Simplify Chords” the difficult sharp and flatten signs change into the beautiful basic triads A, E, D, and G. Try it yourself.

Jingle Bells – Michael Bublé

Ha! You thought we had forgotten the one-and-only true Christmas track “Jingle Bells “, huh? Well, you thought wrong. John Legend and Justin Bieber may have covered beautiful classics, but they really can’t compete with this Christmas song. No one can. Michael Bublé plays this track super smooth, as you would expect him to, and The Puppini Sisters ride along.

This song is just like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” written in F. The whole track is built around the chords G7, Gm7, F, Bb, C7. Don’t be put off by the seventh chords. If you look closely you can see that those chords look a lot like major barre chords in the core. Surprise your family, grab your guitar and start playing.

Happy jingle jamming!

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Teo creates content, which means he writes, a lot, about music, and all things interesting. When it comes to jamming, his weapon of choice is the bass guitar.