When the holiday season comes around, sharing Christmas songs is one of the best ways to connect with family and friends. And luckily, many of the most popular Christmas songs are actually incredibly easy to play on electric or acoustic guitar. Here are our top easy Christmas guitar songs.
The Top Easy Christmas Guitar Songs
1. Feliz Navidad
You don’t have to be a Spanish speaker to enjoy this hit Christmas song. It was recorded by Jose Feliciano and released in 1970. And it’s more than just a popular Christmas song — this one is likely the first hit song to be recorded in both Spanish and English.
As is the case with many popular songs, you can find endless versions of this song out there. But this website shows you chords to the easy version.
The song is originally in the key of G. You’ll need G, B minor, A7, D, and Dsus4. If you aren’t familiar with Dsus4, you just add your pinky finger to the high E string on the third fret while playing an open D chord. Still, if you’re somewhat new to guitar, it can help to have a visual. This video lesson will guide you through how to play this massive hit on guitar.
2. Silent Night
Chances are good that you already know the lyrics and melody to “Silent Night,” all the way to the calming “sleep in heavenly peace” at the end. Luckily, this is an especially easy Christmas song to play. As this tutorial illustrates, this song is also in the key of G. It also includes a helpful chord chart for each chord — you just need C, G, and D.
If you’re looking for some easy Christmas songs to play around the Christmas tree, this is a great one to start with. If you want to take on an extra challenge, this video lesson will show you how to play the “Silent Night” fingerstyle. If you’re a newer player, it’s a good idea to master strumming first — that way, you’ll be comfortable with the chord changes before you switch to fingerpicking.
3. Good King Wenceslas
“Good King Wenceslas” may not be the most famous Christmas song around, but it’s a good one. It was written about an actual ruler in England in the 900s.
This video (below – left) offers a great fingerstyle lesson. And if you’re not quite ready for that, this site shows you the guitar chords you’ll need — it’s just G, Em, C, and Cadd9.
Bing Crosby performed a version of this song that was essentially a mash-up with “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” It was part of his Christmas album, Bing Crosby Sings Christmas Songs. You can listen to it in this video (above – right). (This version just includes “Good King Wenceslas” and not “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”)
4. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
The origins of this Christmas song aren’t completely clear, but it has been around since the 1500s. It has been covered by countless artists — this video (below – left) lets you hear the recorded version by Enya.
This video (above – right) from Fender Play shows you an easy version with a capo at the third fret. You’ll need C, F, D7, G, G7, E7, and Am for the main progression. Fender Play recommends this version for advanced beginners. If you aren’t quite there, this site shows you an easier version where you just need the guitar chords C, F, D, G, E7, Am, and Em.
5. Jingle Bells
“Jingle Bells,” (not to be confused with “Silver Bells”) the lovable song about sleigh bells, has been around since the 1800s, but most people don’t know that it was originally written for a Thanksgiving program.
It was popular enough to be performed again on Christmas. And since then, it’s been best-known as a Christmas song. Even the newest guitar students will likely be able to play this one. This video tutorial is especially helpful. You’ll need G, C, D, and A7. If you’re looking for one of the most famous Christmas guitar songs to start out with, try “Jingle Bells!”
6. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
This Christmas song is sung in churches and by carolers each year at Christmas time. And though the original version was written in the 1700s, the song was revisited over the centuries until it became the carol we know today. Nat King Cole has an especially famous version you can listen to here (below – left).
This site shows you a relatively easy guitar version — you’ll only need G, D, C, Em, A7, E7, D7, and Am. And once you get the chord changes down, it might be worthwhile to start practicing playing guitar and singing at the same time (above – right).
7. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Any brief history of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” will tell you that it was written for the movie Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland. This clip from the movie lets you hear it in all its simple beauty. As this set of guitar chords shows, this song doesn’t have the easiest chords on the list. So if you’re very new to guitar, you might want to try another first.
8. White Christmas
The Christmas song “White Christmas” was written for a musical that was later turned into the movie Holiday Inn. The song was so well-received that the movie ultimately won an Academy Award for the song. Since then, it’s also been covered by plenty of famous artists including Dean Martin. You can check out the famous Dean Martin version in this video. Some guitar versions of “White Christmas” are more challenging than others. But this Blake Shelton version is fairly easy
You just need C, Dm, G7, F, C7, Fm, and Am. If you’re very new, it might be tough, but it’s a worthwhile effort!
9. Winter Wonderland
“Winter Wonderland” started out as a poem written in 1934 by a man being treated for tuberculosis. And today, it’s one of the best Christmas songs (and one of the most famous ones). It’s been covered by hundreds of artists — this video (below – left) lets you hear the Burl Ives.
To see an easy-to-follow tutorial, check out this video lesson (above – right) from the channel Simplified Guitar. You’ll need to play G (in two different forms), C, F/C, Em, Dm, E, D/F#, Asus2, and Cadd9.
It contains 10 chords because it switches between the keys C, G, and E. This makes it a little tough to learn. But learning new chords is always a good thing when you’re new to guitar!
10. Blue Christmas
If you prefer your Christmas songs slightly sad and inspired by country music, you’ll like “Blue Christmas.” This song was first recorded in 1948 by Doye O’Dell, but the most famous version was the one recorded by Elvis Presley. You can check out the Elvis version here (below – right).
And if you want to learn to play this classic on guitar, this video tutorial (above – right) takes you through a simplified version of the guitar chords. You’ll need to use D, A7, D7, G, and E7. This tutorial also includes a strumming pattern and a play-along section.
11. Wonderful Christmastime
You probably know Paul McCartney best for his time alongside John Lennon in the Beatles. But Paul went on to have his own successful career, and part of that career included writing his own Christmas song, “Wonderful Christmastime.” You can listen to it in this video (below left). (John Lennon also recorded his own Christmas song, Happy Xmas [War is Over], with his wife Yoko Ono.)
If you’re looking for some of the easiest Christmas songs on guitar by contemporary artists, this is a great one to learn. This video lesson (above-center) takes you through strumming the song. You’ll need G, C, Am, Bm, D, Em, and F. This song does involve some quick chord changes. If you’d like to get faster at chord changes, this video lesson (above – right) can help.
12. Christmas Time
“Christmas Time” is another of the contemporary Christmas songs you can sing around the Christmas tree. It’s an original song written by Bryan Adams for his Christmas EP. If you aren’t familiar with it, you can check out the music video here (below – left).
This song includes a few more chords than some of the easier ones on the list. But this video lesson (above – right) simplifies it a bit. It also shows you all the chords you’ll need and takes you through a suggested strum pattern.
13. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
This classic hit was written by Johnny Marks, but Gene Autry is the artist who made the song famous. You can check out this version in this video (below – left). The song was inspired by a book published in 1939. And thanks to the success of the song, a movie of the same name was released in 1964, and it’s now a Christmas classic.
Luckily, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is one of the easier Christmas songs to play on guitar. This video (above-center) shows you the guitar tabs for the melody, while this one (above right) shows you tabs and chords.
14. O Holy Night
Next on our list is this haunting hymn. Though it’s one of the more religious-themed Christmas songs, it’s still been popular through the years — plenty of famous artists have covered it. One notable rendition is sung by Mariah Carey — you can check out her music video (below – left) for the song here.
This one is also a relatively easy song to play — this video lesson (above – right) for guitar goes over it in the key of G. You’ll need G, D, C, F#7, Bm, Em, and Am.
15. Holly Jolly Christmas
You might remember that songwriter Johnny Marks was responsible for writing the instant hit “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Marks certainly had a knack for writing catchy tunes — he also penned “Holly Jolly Christmas.” This song is also connected to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” — it was written for the film to be sung by Sam the Snowman, who was voiced by Burl Ives. This video (below – left) shows you a clip from the movie where Sam and other characters sing the song.
This song is an especially fun one to sing with family and friends at Christmas. And luckily, it’s not too hard to play. This video tutorial (above-center) takes you through a version with simple chords. And if you master these, it also takes you through some embellishments that can make the song more interesting.
It does have quite a few chords, but most are relatively easy to play. “Holly Jolly Christmas” is in the key of C, and you’ll need C, Cmaj7, G7, F, Fmaj7, Em, D7, Dm, and Am. It’s inspired by the Michael Buble version — you can see a live version of the song in this video (above – right).
16. Last Christmas
Though this song mentions Christmas, it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the holiday. Despite that fact, it’s managed to be one of the most popular songs each holiday season. The song was written by the band Wham!, made up of Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael.
If you’re a new player, you’re in luck — “Last Christmas” is only made up of four chords. This video tutorial keeps the capo on the third fret. With the capo here, you’ll need to play C, Am, Dm, and G. The song just repeats the chords in the same order, making this a good song to practice your chord changes with.
Want to Learn More?
Whether you’re an experienced guitar player who just came here to quickly learn a couple of Christmas guitar songs before Christmas Day or a beginner trying out your first sew songs, you could probably benefit from some additional guidance. After all, a structured learning program can help any guitarist, regardless of experience, improve. Whether you just want to go through the occasional song tutorial or want to overhaul your whole technique, one of the many online courses out there is sure to help.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to be an experienced guitarist to enjoy playing some easy songs for Christmas. Hopefully, this list has enough to get you started. What do you think? Are there any of the most popular Christmas carols that we should have included? Let us know in the comments, and please don’t forget to like and share if you found it useful!
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