The Jingle Bells chords can be as few as three, but the fuller version uses five. On guitar in G they're G, C, D7, Am and A7. On piano and ukulele in C they're C, F, G7, Dm and D7. Below are the chords over the words for the verse and chorus, the piano notes for the tune, the same chords in every common key, and why that one A7 in the chorus makes such a difference.
The verse and the chorus use different chords. The verse leans on the 2 minor chord (Am in G) on its way to D7. The chorus swaps that for A7, a major chord on the same root that pushes harder toward D7 under "one-horse open sleigh, hey!"
The short version
Guitar in G: G, C, D7 and Am for the verse, plus A7 in the chorus. Piano and ukulele in C: C, F, G7, Dm, plus D7 in the chorus. The tune spans a ninth, from the 5 of the key, a fourth below the key note, up to the sixth note above it, so for a mixed group try F or G.
What chords are in Jingle Bells?
In G, Jingle Bells uses G, C, D7 and Am in the verse, and G, C, A7 and D7 in the chorus. In C, those become C, F, G7 and Dm for the verse, and C, F, D7 and G7 for the chorus. With just the three main chords (G, C and D7) the song still works, but the chorus loses its lift.
The home chord carries most of both sections. In the verse, C arrives on "sleigh," Am on "O'er the fields we," and D7 on "go, laughing all the," before "way" lands home on G. In the chorus, the first four bars ("Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way") stay on G the whole time, which is why it's the easiest place to start.
| Number | Guitar (key of G) | Piano and ukulele (key of C) | Piano notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G | C | C, E, G |
| 4 | C | F | F, A, C |
| 5 (as a 7th) | D7 | G7 | G, B, D, F |
| 2 minor (verse) | Am | Dm | D, F, A |
| 2 major, as a 7th (chorus) | A7 | D7 | D, F♯, A, C |
Find the chord in the guitar column and play the one beside it on piano or ukulele. Every chart on this page works this way.
Jingle Bells lyrics and chords
These are James Lord Pierpont's words as they're sung today, with the Jingle Bells chords in G. Each chord sits on the syllable where it changes and rings until the next one. The verse and chorus each run sixteen bars, and all four verses use the same verse chords.
Verse 1 (key of G)
[G]Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open [C]sleigh,
[Am]O'er the fields we [D7]go, laughing all the [G]way.
Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits [C]bright,
What [Am]fun it is to [G]ride and sing a [D7]sleighing song to[G]night!
Chorus
[G]Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
[C]Oh, what fun it [G]is to ride in a [A7]one-horse open [D7]sleigh, hey!
[G]Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
[C]Oh, what fun it [G]is to ride in a [D7]one-horse open [G]sleigh!
Piano and ukulele: C for G, F for C, G7 for D7, Dm for Am, D7 for A7.
The other three verses use the verse chords above, with the chorus after each one:
Verses 2 to 4
A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride,
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright was seated by my side.
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot,
He got into a drifted bank, and then we got upsot.
A day or two ago, the story I must tell,
I went out on the snow, and on my back I fell.
A gent was riding by in a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie, but quickly drove away.
Now the ground is white, go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight and sing this sleighing song.
Just get a bobtailed bay, two forty as his speed,
Hitch him to an open sleigh, and snap! you'll take the lead.
"Upsot" is an old form of "upset," kept so it rhymes with "lot." "Two forty" is a mile in two minutes and forty seconds at a trot, a good speed for a horse at the time.
Why does the Jingle Bells chorus use A7?
A7 is the 5 chord of D, the song's own 5 chord, so it leads into D7 the way D7 leads into G. Under "one-horse open sleigh, hey!" the chords step A7, D7, G, each one resolving to the next. That's called a secondary dominant, and it's what gives the end of the chorus its push.
In the verse, the 2 chord is Am, a minor chord that belongs to the key of G. In the chorus it turns major, and the C note in Am becomes C sharp in A7, a note from outside the key that pulls up a half step to D. Play the chorus once with Am there and once with A7, and you'll hear the A7 pull harder into D7.
The second time through, the chorus skips A7 and goes straight to D7, because that line has to end the song on G, not set up another "hey!" If A7 feels like too much of a stretch on guitar, play D7 in both places and the song still holds together. The secondary dominants post has more songs that use the same move.
How do you play Jingle Bells on guitar?
The Jingle Bells guitar chords are five open chords in the key of G: G (320003), C (x32010), D7 (xx0212), Am (x02210) and A7 (x02020), counting strings from the low E. It's a brisk 2/4 or 4/4, so strum down on every beat, or alternate a bass note and a strum to get the trotting feel.
From Am, A7 is a small move: lift the finger off the G string so the open G adds the seventh, and slide the B-string finger from the first fret to the second, which turns Am's C into C sharp. The quick change is A7 to D7, at the end of the chorus's second line, so practice those two back and forth before playing along.
A bass-strum pattern suits the song's trot: pick the chord's root on beats 1 and 3 and strum on 2 and 4. For G that's the low E string's third fret, for C the A string's third fret, and for D7 and A7 the open D and A strings. To play higher with the same shapes, capo 2 gives A and capo 3 gives B flat; the guitar capo chart has every fret.
What are the piano notes for Jingle Bells?
The Jingle Bells piano notes in the key of C are all white keys, and the chorus starts E E E, E E E, E G C D E. The verse starts on the G below middle C, and the chorus on the E above middle C. The highest note is the A above middle C, on "sleigh-" in "a sleighing song tonight."
Jingle Bells: piano notes (right hand, key of C)
Dashing through the snow: G E D C G
In a one-horse open sleigh: G G G E D C A
O'er the fields we go: A F E D B
Laughing all the way: G G F D E
Bells on bobtail ring: G E D C G
Making spirits bright: G E D C A
What fun it is to ride and sing: A A F E D G G G
A sleighing song tonight: G A G F D C
Chorus. Jingle bells, jingle bells: E E E, E E E
Jingle all the way: E G C D E
Oh, what fun it is to ride: F F F F F E E
In a one-horse open sleigh, hey: E E E D D E D G
(repeat the first three lines, then) In a one-horse open sleigh: E E G G F D C
The chorus is the better place to start on piano: its first line, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way," uses only E, G, C and D, and "jingle bells" is the same note six times. For the left hand, play one chord per bar from the chart in C: C, F, G7 and Dm in the verse, and D7 under "one-horse open" in the chorus. D7 on piano is D, F sharp, A and C, and that F sharp is the only black key in the left hand.
What are the ukulele chords for Jingle Bells?
The Jingle Bells ukulele chords in the key of C are C (0003), F (2010), G7 (0212), Dm (2210) and D7 (2020), where the numbers are frets on the G, C, E and A strings in that order. Dm is for the verse and D7 for the chorus.
The ukulele sits in the same key as the piano chart, so the two can play together from the C chords. Strum down on every beat for the verse and add up-strums in the chorus for more drive. To match a guitar playing in G, use G (0232), C (0003), D7 (2223), Am (2000) and A7 (0100), the same chord names as the guitar chart.
Jingle Bells chords in every key
Jingle Bells works in any major key with the same five chords, the 1, 4, 5 and the minor and major 2 of that key. The tune's lowest note is the 5 of the key, a fourth below the key note (the first note of "Dashing"), and its highest is the sixth note above the key note, a ninth from bottom to top.
| Key | Verse chords | Chorus 2 chord | Lowest and highest note (middle C is C4) | Guitar shapes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C, F, G7, Dm | D7 | G3 up to A4 | Open (F is a barre), or G shapes capo 5 |
| D | D, G, A7, Em | E7 | A3 up to B4 | Open |
| E | E, A, B7, F♯m | F♯7 | B3 up to C♯5 | D shapes capo 2 |
| F | F, B♭, C7, Gm | G7 | C4 up to D5 | D shapes capo 3 |
| G | G, C, D7, Am | A7 | D4 up to E5 | Open |
| A | A, D, E7, Bm | B7 | E4 up to F♯5 | G shapes capo 2 |
| B flat | B♭, E♭, F7, Cm | C7 | F4 up to G5 | G shapes capo 3 |
The high note is a ninth above the low one. Men singing the tune sing it an octave lower than written.
In Nashville numbers, the verse is 1, 1, 1, 4, 2-, 5, 5, 1, then 1, 1, 1, 4, 2-, 1, 5, 1, and the chorus is 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1, 2, 5, then 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1, 5, 1. A plain 2 is the major chord (played here as A7), and 2- is the minor one (Am). The Nashville Number System post explains how to read a chart like this.
What key should a group sing Jingle Bells in?
For a mixed group, start in F or G. In F the tune runs from middle C up to the D an octave and a step above it (C4 to D5), and in G from D4 to E5. If the first word growls, raise the key; if "sleighing" strains, lower it.
The range is a ninth, and the low end comes first: "Dashing" starts on the lowest note of the song. The top note comes near the end of the verse, on "sleigh-" in "a sleighing song tonight," so sing the whole verse once before you commit, not just the chorus, which sits in the middle of the range.
If you're leading, find your own range first: the free vocal range test finds your lowest and highest notes and suggests the keys that fit them, with guitar capo frets.
Who wrote Jingle Bells?
James Lord Pierpont wrote it. Oliver Ditson & Co. of Boston published it in 1857 as "The One Horse Open Sleigh," copyrighted on September 16, and republished it in 1859 as "Jingle Bells; or, The One Horse Open Sleigh." The song had no connection to Christmas when it was written.
Where Pierpont wrote it is still argued over, as Wikipedia's history of the song sets out. A plaque in Medford, Massachusetts, says he wrote it there in 1850, at the Simpson Tavern. Savannah, Georgia, where he was the organist at the Unitarian church when the song was published, has its own historical marker. The researcher Kyna Hamill has argued for Boston. The song became associated with Christmas in the 1860s and 1870s.
The chorus you know isn't the one Pierpont published. The 1857 version had a different chorus melody over a descending chord pattern that bears some resemblance to Pachelbel's Canon, while the verses were close to today's. James Lord Pierpont died in 1893, and the song, words and music, is in the public domain. On December 16, 1965, the Gemini 6 astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played it from orbit on a harmonica and small bells they'd brought aboard, one of the first songs broadcast from space.
How do you put Jingle Bells into Song Cage?
Song Cage shows a song as chords over the words, like a printed chord sheet, and moves the whole song to a new key in one step. Type the words into a song in Sheet view, put the chords on, then pick the key your group sings in from the key chip and choose Move song, and every chord moves with it.
The A7 in the chorus sits in the chord palette's Secondary Dominants group, labelled V/V7 with an arrow to V (D), so you can see where it's headed before you place it. View > Nashville Numbers shows the whole song as numbers, and clicking a chord shows its guitar shape or piano keys, with a capo if you set one. The chord progressions chapter covers the palette.
To hear the words on the tune, add the melody by singing it in and using Detect melody, or by entering the notes, and the Singer voice sings each syllable on its note. It sounds like an 80s talking computer played off an old cassette, rough but clear enough to hear how the words sit. Writing your own winter song next? How to write a Christmas song covers the chords that sound like Christmas.
Play Jingle Bells in your key
Put the chords over the words in Song Cage, see why A7 leads to D7, and move the song to the key your group sings in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the chords for Jingle Bells?
In G: G, C, D7 and Am in the verse, and G, C, A7 and D7 in the chorus. In C: C, F, G7 and Dm in the verse, and C, F, D7 and G7 in the chorus. You can play the whole song with only G, C and D7 if A7 and Am are new to you.
Can you play Jingle Bells with 3 chords?
Yes. Use the 1, 4 and 5 chords (G, C and D7 in G, or C, F and G7 in C) and play D7 or G7 wherever the full chart has the 2 chord. It still fits the tune; the chorus just loses the extra push that A7 gives it.
What are the piano notes for Jingle Bells?
In C, the chorus is E E E, E E E, E G C D E, then F F F F F E E, E E E D D E D G. The verse starts G E D C G on the G below middle C. Every note is a white key.
Was Jingle Bells written for Christmas?
No. James Lord Pierpont published it in 1857 as "The One Horse Open Sleigh," a winter sleighing song with no mention of Christmas. It became associated with Christmas in the decades after.
Is Jingle Bells in the public domain?
Yes. It was published in 1857 and James Lord Pierpont died in 1893, so the words and music are public domain. Later songs built on it, like "Jingle Bell Rock," and modern arrangements can still be under copyright.
What key is Jingle Bells in?
There's no single key. This page uses G for guitar and C for piano and ukulele. Pierpont's 1857 sheet music was in A flat. For a group of adults, F or G keeps the low start and the high "sleighing" within reach.
