Dec152019

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song Piano & Ukulele Chord Progression and Tab

This is the chords of The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar and Keyboard.

C Dm6 Em Am
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
C C6 C7 Fmaj E7
Jack Frost nipping on your nose,
Am Fm C B7
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
Emaj7 Bb G G7 C
And folks dressed up like Eskimos, everybody knows

C Dm6 Em Am
A turkey and some mistletoe,
C C6 C7 Fmaj7 E7
Help to make the season bright.
Am Fm C B7
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Em Am Dm6 G C
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

C7 Gm C F Am7
They know that Santa’s on his way;
Gm C F Am7
He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.
Fm Bb Eb B
And every mother’s child is going to spy,
D7 Fm6 G G7
To see if reindeer really know how to fly.
C Dm6 Em Am
And so I’m offering this simple phrase,
C C6 C7 F E7
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Am Fm C B7
Although its been said many times, many ways,
E7 Fm G Dm6 C
Merry Christmas to you

How to play The Christmas Song: key, chords and progression

The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole is centred on C major (no sharps or flats). The song uses 22 chords: C, Dm6, Em, Am, C6, C7, Fmaj, E7, Fm, B7, Emaj7 and Bb and 10 more.

Listen for C – Dm6 – Em – Am (I – ii6 – iii – vi in C major): the song comes back to it again and again. In solfa, that is doh – reh – mi – lah. Once these 4 changes are comfortable, most of the song is done.

Good to know: Dm6, Fmaj, Fm, Emaj7 and Bb are the tricky part on guitar (barre or movable shapes). Slow the change down until it is clean; on piano and ukulele they are simpler.