Christmas Sheet Music / Score - Download and Print


Christmas Carols, Hymns and tunes are aspects of Christmas that make it special. Even though church-going is somewhat on the wane, traditional Christmas Carol Sheet Music such as Silent Night or The Holly And The Ivy remain as popular as ever. Christmas tunes, such as Jingle Bells, are recorded in ever-different versions, some better, some best forgotten. Even though new tunes seem to appear every Christmas from an ever-increasing number of one-hit wonders, it is the traditional Christmas Carols, Christmas hymns and Christmas tunes that really manage to get us into the spirit of Christmas.

Many traditions we associate with Christmas originate in the Germanic Pagan Midwinter Solstice called Yule. The celebration of the winter solstice was a well established practice long before Northern Europe was Christianised. As a result the Christmas we celebrate today, although as a Christian Festival signifying the birth and celebration of Christ, is in fact a complex melting-pot of Christian and Pagan traditions. In the United Kingdom the Christmas tree was introduced by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Albert was born a German Royal (Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and is credited with re-invigorating the Victorian Christmas. He introduced the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle (in 1834). It is likely that the United States had adopted this practice before the UK, due to the large number of German immigrants populating the United States. By the 1860s the Christmas tree had become more commonplace in western homes, though the decorations would vary from decade to decade.

Santa Clause, one of the most iconographic images of Christmas, appears to be an amalgamation of several "gift-bringers" found in various traditions. It is most likely however, that the main inspiration came from St. Nicholas, a 4th-century Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. There are few hard facts known about this Saint, but he soon became associated with kindness and as a patron for children. St. Nicholas first became associated with Christmas during the Middle Ages. A 13th century French nun appears to have given the poor gifts on St. Nicholas day (6th of December). To this day, St. Nicholas day is still celebrated in Germany, with children receiving small gifts and the hymn Jolly old St. Nicholas reminds us of his deeds to this day.

It is one of the easiest ways to get into the Christmas spirit however to hear a brass band or children's choir singing or playing a traditional Christmas Carol such as We Wish You A Merry Christmas or The First Nowell from their sheet music.

Below we have sheet music for various instruments including piano Christmas sheet music, viloin Christmas sheet music and flute, trumpet, guitar and many more. Some of our arrangements are more traditional, but other, usually the higher levels also have some Jazz arrangements of Christmas tunes. All our arrangements (bar one or two Jazz arrangements) include lyrics, so you can gather all your family around the piano and have a good sing-along.

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