Piano songs · Beginner
Silent Night on piano
Silent Night is gentle, slow and lilting, and the tune moves mostly by step, so it's a lovely early piece. Here's the whole verse with both hands.
The tune in letter names, lit as it plays. Right hand in peach, left hand in lilac. Turn off "Both hands" to hear the tune alone.
About the piece
Franz Xaver Gruber composed the melody to words by Joseph Mohr, and it was first sung on Christmas Eve 1818 at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria, accompanied on guitar. It's now sung in hundreds of languages.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: F G F D F G F D; C C A B♭ B♭ F; G G B♭ A G F G F D; G G B♭ A G F G F D; C C E♭ C A B♭; D B♭ F D F E♭ C B♭. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, then slow it down with the speed slider and play with it.
How to learn it
- The lilt: it's in 6/8, counted in two big beats, each split in three. The first notes are long-short-long: "Si-i-lent".
- B♭ major: two flats, B♭ and E♭. Mark them before you start.
- Play it softly, and let the long notes ring.
- The high point is the climb in the last line ("Sleep in heavenly peace"): give it room, then let it settle.
Learning Silent Night? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
What are the first notes of Silent Night?
In B♭ major: F, G, F, D; F, G, F, D; C, C, A; B♭, B♭, F.
Is Silent Night easy on piano?
Yes: it's slow, mostly stepwise, and a good first piece in a key with flats.
More songs to play
Notes checked against the public-domain Mutopia Project edition (mutopiaproject.org). Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.