Jingle Bells Guitar Chords
Key of G 4/4 120 BPM 4 chords: G C D7 A7 Easy
The 4 chords of Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells is the Christmas song children ask for first, and on guitar it is mostly G, with C and D7 for colour and one A7 in the chorus. The chorus opens with four bars of G - "jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way" - so you can get a bright, bouncy strum going before the changes come. This chord sheet has the verse and the chorus with each chord over its word, and the progression bar by bar. Keep it quick and light, like sleigh bells, and press Play along to hear the strum at full speed.
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right), numbers are fingers. Tap a chord for every other way to play it.
Jingle Bells chords and lyrics
Each chord sits over the word where it changes. Keep strumming the same chord until the next one. Song credits: James Lord Pierpont (1857).
How to strum Jingle Bells
The song is in 4/4: 4 beats in every bar. Count them aloud, and strum down on the numbers and up on the "and".
Easy
Full
Four beats per bar, quick: down, down-up, up-down-up. For children, four down strums per bar are just as good.
Tips for Jingle Bells on guitar
The chords
G, C, D7 and A7. A7 is the open A shape with the G string left open: two fingers on the D and B strings, second fret.
The tricky part
The A7 to D7 change in the second line of the chorus. Both shapes sit on the second fret: move them slowly a few times before you play the song.
Change the key
To sing higher, keep the same shapes and put a capo on fret 2, which raises the song a whole step, or on fret 4 for two whole steps. The chords on this page and the guitar above stay the same; only the pitch changes.
The story of Jingle Bells
James Lord Pierpont published the song in 1857 as One Horse Open Sleigh, for American Thanksgiving rather than Christmas; it was renamed Jingle Bells two years later. It describes the sleigh races of New England winters.
In 1965 it became the first song broadcast from space, played on a harmonica and bells by the crew of Gemini 6. Today it is sung in dozens of languages every December.
Source: James Lord Pierpont, One Horse Open Sleigh (1857), public domain; chords in G by GOONS Studio.
Frequently asked
What are the chords to Jingle Bells on guitar?
In G. Verse: G, C, D7, G, then G, C, D7, G. Chorus: four bars of G, C, G, A7, D7, then four bars of G, C, G, D7, G.
Is Jingle Bells easy on guitar?
Yes, it is level 2 of 5 here because of the A7 and the quick tempo; slow it down with the tempo control and it becomes a beginner song.
Was Jingle Bells written for Christmas?
Not originally. James Lord Pierpont published it in 1857 as a song about sleigh races, often linked to Thanksgiving; it became a Christmas song later.
Record your own Jingle Bells
The guitar on this page is free, with no account. GOONS Studio adds the rest of the band in the browser - drum machines, a bass, a sampled piano and a sequencer - to record your own version of the song, with a 7-day free trial, no card required.