Right hand
Lines 1, 2 and 4 (bars 1-8 and 13-16) begin the same way: A, B-flat, C, A, then a long G. Put the thumb on F so that A is 3, B-flat 4 and C 5, and the line lies under the hand. Line 3 (bars 9-12) climbs higher, to D.
In the Bleak Midwinter - Piano Sheet Music (Easy Version)
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) 1906 F major 4/4 Easy 0:48 Both hands
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In the Bleak Midwinter is one of the gentlest carols there is, and Holst's tune for it is short, slow and almost entirely stepwise - a lovely piece for a beginner who wants to play something tender. It has four lines of four bars, three of them nearly the same, so there is less to learn than it seems. This easy version is in F major, the key of the 1906 hymn book where the tune first appeared, with one flat, B-flat, and a left hand that holds one note per bar for most of the way. Play it quietly and legato, let each line breathe in its rest, and learn the right hand in Practice mode before adding the bass.
How to play it
How to play In the Bleak Midwinter on the piano
Left hand
One note per bar, mostly F and C below middle C, with G in bar 3 and B-flat and D in bars 9 and 10. In bars 2, 6, 11 and 14 the left hand plays two half notes.
Tricky passages
The dotted rhythm at the start of each line, A. B-flat: the A lasts a beat and a half, the B-flat only half a beat. Count '1 - and 2' and play the B-flat on the 'and'. Each line ends with a short rest: lift the hand and breathe, as a singer would. In bar 3 the tune drops from G to the D below and comes back up to G.
Fingering
Bar 1: A B-flat C A with 3-4-5-3; bar 2: G F with 2-1. Bar 9, thumb on A: B-flat A B-flat C with 2-1-2-3, and bar 10, D D A, with 4-4-1.
Notes
In the Bleak Midwinter piano notes
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: A Bb C A G F G A G D G A Bb C A G F G A G F F Bb A …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Bb C A | La Sib Do La |
| 2 | G F | Sol Fa |
| 3 | G A G D | Sol La Sol Ré |
| 4 | G | Sol |
| 5 | A Bb C A | La Sib Do La |
| 6 | G F | Sol Fa |
| 7 | G A G F | Sol La Sol Fa |
| 8 | F | Fa |
| 9 | Bb A Bb C | Sib La Sib Do |
| 10 | D D A | Ré Ré La |
| 11 | C A G F | Do La Sol Fa |
| 12 | E | Mi |
| 13 | A Bb C A | La Sib Do La |
| 14 | G F | Sol Fa |
| 15 | G A G F | Sol La Sol Fa |
| 16 | F | Fa |
Chords
Chords in In the Bleak Midwinter
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in F major: all the chords of the key
About the piece
About In the Bleak Midwinter
Christina Rossetti, one of the best-known English poets of the Victorian age, wrote the words as a poem called A Christmas Carol. It sets the Nativity in a cold northern winter of frost and snow, and ends with a simple question: what can I give him, poor as I am?
Gustav Holst, later the composer of The Planets, wrote the tune for The English Hymnal of 1906, whose music editor was his friend Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is called Cranham, after a village in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire, the county where Holst was born. A more elaborate setting by Harold Darke is a favourite of cathedral choirs; this page uses Holst's hymn tune.
The English Hymnal notes that the metre of the poem is irregular: the music is printed for the first verse, and singers fit the other verses to it. The notes on this page are those of the first verse.
This transcription: Gustav Holst, hymn tune "Cranham": the melody of the first verse as printed in The English Hymnal (London: Oxford University Press, 1906), No. 25, p. 44, archive.org theenglishhymnal00milfuoft, page n75; left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
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In the studio
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Questions
In the Bleak Midwinter on piano: frequently asked
What are the notes of In the Bleak Midwinter on piano?
In F major: A B-flat C A, G F, G A G D, G (La Si bémol Do La, Sol Fa, Sol La Sol Ré, Sol), then the same opening ending G A G F, F. The third line starts B-flat A B-flat C, D D A. Every bar is in the Notes section.
Who wrote In the Bleak Midwinter?
The words are a poem by Christina Rossetti. The best-known hymn tune for it, Cranham, is by Gustav Holst and was published in The English Hymnal in 1906.
Is In the Bleak Midwinter easy to play on piano?
Yes, it is level 2 of 5 here: slow, mostly stepwise, with the same opening for three of its four lines. The only real hand move comes in the third line.