'Jingle Bell Rock' Chords

Learn This Christmas Song on Guitar

bobby helms
Bobby Helms. GAB Archive | Getty Images
By
Dan Cross
Dan Cross
Dan Cross is a professional guitarist and former private instructor who has experience teaching and playing various styles of music.
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Updated on 05/24/19

"Jingle Bell Rock" is a modern Christmas song written by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe for American country music singer Bobby Helms. When Helms released the song in the fall of 1957 (listen on YouTube), it quickly became popular, reaching as high as #11 in early 1958 on the Cashbox Top 60 pop charts, partially through frequent airplay on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." The song has since been recorded by thousands of artists.

Learn to Play 'Jingle Bell Rock'

Chords: "Jingle Bell Rock" Guitar Chords on Songsterr.com

Lyrics: "Jingle Bell Rock" Lyrics on Google Play

Video: YouTube: "Jingle Bell Rock" Lesson - Thomas Gilbert from Mahalo.com shows you how to play "Jingle Bell Rock" in this video lesson. Gilbert includes the famous double-stop opening riff.

Performance Tips

Consider this song to be significantly trickier than most other Christmas songs. Although, the strumming is simple - it's a constant eighth-note down-up-down-up pattern - the trick is getting the feel right. This song is "swung" - in very non-technical terms, it has a sort of "lilt" to it. Try picturing the song in your head as you strum it.

The famous intro to this Christmas song uses "double stops" (a fancy way of saying "playing two notes at once"), and will be good practice for guitarists wanting to move beyond playing simple single-note melodies on their instrument. Take the time to memorize the intro, then play it very slowly and evenly, paying careful attention to your level of accuracy. Within a few minutes, you should have this intro nailed.

The chords for Jingle Bell Rock are trickier - there are a few seventh chords, a barre chord, and even an augmented chord. Beginners should feel free to give it a shot, but unless you can play barre chords, you're going to have trouble with "Jingle Bell Rock."

 

Popular Recordings of 'Jingle Bell Rock'

This song is a rite of passage for any popular music artist with an interest in recording holiday music. Below are just a sampling of the artists who have recorded "Jingle Bell Rock". Links to recordings have been included where appropriate.