Whether you’re a seasoned pianist prepping for a carol concert, a budding enthusiast hoping to impress family and friends during the annual festive get-together, or just excited to get into the Christmas spirit – there’s no denying the enjoyment Christmas music can bring.
In fact, a whopping 93% of people polled in a recent survey revealed they actively choose to listen to Christmas music, with 55% tuning up the festive feel-good as soon as December arrives. A slightly more reserved 12% hold off until the week before the big day, whilst an uber-enthusiastic 4% admit to listening to Christmas hits all year round!
At Richard Lawson Pianos, it goes without saying that we love music, and never more so than at this time of the year.
Why? Because there’s no better place to enjoy Christmas songs than round a piano.
The digital piano squashed into the kid’s bedroom, the baby grand taking pride of place in the living room, or the upright community piano in the village hall – it doesn’t matter. A piano is the ideal instrument to gather around and enjoy the simple pleasure of festive music.
The question is, what songs should you be practising to prepare for this year’s celebrations? Here we take a look at some of the biggest Christmas crowd-pleasers of 2024.
Festive favourites
Whilst agreeing on the best Christmas song may be more likely to cause family feuds than who gets the last slice of chocolate orange, recent polls have revealed that The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York claims the festive faves top spot. This is closely followed by Wham’s Last Christmas, and of course, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You.
Other runners-up include:
- Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
- Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade
- I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
- Driving Home For Christmas – Chris Rea
- It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – Michael Bublé
- White Christmas – Bing Crosby
- Step Into Christmas – Elton John
Piano sheet music for all these and more can easily be found online, with endless videos and cheat sheets to help you master the melodies quickly.
A classical Christmas
Yet it’s not just the pop tunes that fill us with Yuletide glee.
It seems at Christmas we love more traditional music, too – with carols remaining a firm favourite.
No big surprise, perhaps, but what’s less predictable is the turn of events in classical appreciation.
Research by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra shows 74% of people aged under 25 will engage with orchestral music this Christmas, compared to just 46% of people aged 55 or over. Not only does this shake up the long-held belief that orchestral music only appeals to older generations, but it also flags December as a great time to introduce youngsters to more classical genres.
Classical music and carols guaranteed to be enjoyed by all ages – and that sound great on the piano – include:
- Jingle Bells
- Silent Night
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Away In a Manger
- Joy To the World
- O Come, All Ye Faithful
- In the Bleak Mid-Winter
- The Nutcracker – Tchaikovsky
- The Snowman – Howard Blake
Fine-tune your festive playlist
If you’re keen to share the festive feel-good this December, you can’t go wrong with any of the music highlighted here, but there are hundreds of songs to choose from – old and new, classical and pop. The fun part is finding your favourites and starting your own traditions!
Feel like you’ve left it too late to master Christmas music on the piano this year? Then you’ve got a whole 12 months to practice – we’ve got high hopes for next December!
Perhaps you could do with a piano upgrade in readiness, and like the idea of upgrading to an even bigger and better centrepiece? Let us help.
Here at Richard Lawson Pianos, we have hundreds of pianos of all makes and models, and a team of vastly experienced professionals all ready and waiting to help you find the perfect piano.
A piano we guarantee will bring you joy for many Christmases to come – whatever you choose to play!
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