Ukrainian Bell Carol

The Ukrainian Bell Carol (also called Carol of the Bells, or Hark How the Bells) is incredibly popular and beautiful.

This free sheet music will encourage your beginning piano students to make it sparkle with energy.

Ukranian Bell Carol free Christmas sheet music, with a repeated figure in the right hand and left taking the melody.  Three pages long.

Please scroll down the page for the link to the printable PDF.

A video from the Straight No Chaser Men's Group


Though it is very beautiful and flashy, it is surprisingly easy.  

This ever-popular Christmas song, though originally a choral piece, is a great favorite at my studio. All my students learn it eventually. 

Many first-year students can learn this piece (particularly older students), as long as they have the coordination to master the four-note figure which the right hand repeats over and over again. ("TAH, tee-tee Tah, TAH, tee-tee Tah.")

Ukrainian Bell Carol, page two, for easy piano

When introducing it, I always give them just the right hand motif the first week, because it is unexpectedly tricky!

A great many of them come back the next week playing four equal quarter notes (sounding like the beginning of the "Dies irae -- Day of Wrath!" not "Hark, how the bells!"), and wondering why all the spark seems to have gone out of the song.

Try this:  whether the RH  is playing the figure "c, b-c, a", (or the LH as in the very beginner versions), the execution of that tricky figure repeated over and over again is facilitated by a feeling of DROPPING the hand onto the keys on each beat 1: 

HARK how the bells, SWEET sil-ver bells, ALL seem to say, THROW cares a-way...

I have written an easier version of the Carol of the Bells more suitable for real beginners, using the Middle C notes with which they should be familiar.

Though not having the flash and sparkle of this longer version, the beauty of the music still comes through and seems to satisfy kids at the beginning level, and they work at it happily.

But a student who is past Level 1 will probably be able to play this song in just a few days, learning the essentials all in one lesson.  Just today I showed one of my Level 2 students this piece, and it was a snap for him.  

Before we even touched the piano keys, we looked through page 1 to see what was happening, then tapped the right hand ostinato rhythm on the piano fall board while I pointed at the left hand melody notes, tapping them with the left hand and singing the melody.

The same version, but with "helper notes" (letters in some of the keys) can be found at my page "Note-Naming Worksheets."

Hark How the Bells for Elementary Piano students, page 3

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

A harder, fancier version, is found in FJH's In Recital with Christmas Favorites Book 3. That Gm arrangement incorporates more themes from Ukrainian Bell Carol than my simple version above, and is quite beautiful.

(In the FJH book there are 13 carols in all, including a -- THANKFULLY-- shortened version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "Up on the Housetop," an unusually pretty arrangement of "O Christmas Tree," an easy but sweet "I Saw Three Ships," a mysterious "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," and duet arrangements of "Pat-a-Pan" and "Good King Wenceslaus".)

And there is a challenging but beautiful and mesmerizing arrangement of the Carol of the Bells in this George Winston book!

One of my students played it in recital last Christmas, and she and we all enjoyed it very much.

Hark How the Bells is easily learned by rote; I'm not saying not to have them read the notes!

But your kids will be able to PLAY this piece long before they can READ it easily, and long before they meet treble C,D and E in their Faber Piano Adventure books, not to mention f# and g#, which the song uses on page 2.


The piano music link:



Download the Ukrainian Bell Carol free Christmas sheet music


Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church?  Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!

SingTheBibleStory.com clickable logo link

Recent Articles

  1. Braveheart: Soundtrack Music for Intermediate Piano

    Braveheart soundtrack sheet music
    Braveheart soundtrack music is among the most expressive & beautiful film music ever. Discover an exciting new piano arrangement , for you or your students!

    Read More

  2. Lullaby All Through the Night: Piano & Lead Sheets, & Guitar Tabs!

    Lullaby All Through the Night
    Lullaby "All Through the Night" is a lovely song with fresh-sounding harmonies. Almost unknown are some of the extra lyrics - 4 verses in all. Very sing-able!

    Read More

  3. Canoe Song Chords & Lyrics: Guitar Tablature to a Great Canada Song

    Canoe Song chords
    Canoe Song chords are easy - just the same Dm chord works beautifully with the guitar tabs melody. Download it here for free.

    Read More

  4. Simple Piano Sheet Music "Canoe Song", an EASY round from Canada

    Canoe Song with 6 notes
    This simple piano sheet music, Canoe Song, is high energy and singable. Just right for piano students beginning to tuck fingers under in scales!

    Read More

  5. White Coral Bells: a Singing Round & Easy Piano Solo

    White Coral Bells lead sheet
    White Coral Bells is a pretty round that many will remember from school days. Get it here as a round, or a piano solo, or a lead sheet!

    Read More

Songs Old & Songs New

All the first-year material I give my beginner students. 

Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!

The Story of Esther - a Bible opera!

Queen Esther in the Bible

This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This",  available as a digital downloadtells the riveting story of the time when  Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a  brave young queen risked her life to save her people.

A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!

This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.


Just the Black Keys, a piano song book for young beginners.

Just the Black Keys

This book is available as a digital download  from this site.  Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.

It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!

This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.

And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!"  They will be spending more time at the piano.

The Adventures of Tonsta, Volume 1, is a book about a young boy travelling over mountains and fjords from village to village, encountering trolls and helping folk in distress.

The Adventures of Tonsta

A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls. 

The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.  

With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.

Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!

Available at Amazon

35 Christmas Songs & Carols music book for piano

MusicGardenStudios:
This is an absolutely wonderful site!

As a voice and piano teacher looking for enrichment material for beginners, I have found your collections to be comprehensive and purposeful. It is clear that you are a wonderful musician and educator. Thank you!

Five Star Christmas Duets for piano music book

Audrey: 
I just wanted to tell you that I have found your website EXTREMELY helpful!  

I have a young group of children that I have started a youth choir with and I was searching for music ideas and I came across your  website. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Christmas Easy Christmas Duets for piano by Dan Coates music book

Shanette, US:
I just purchased O Holy Night to use as a duet for Christmas Eve Mass.  

Thank you so much for this simple, easy to read version as my vocalists are not professional and this music won't be quite so intimidating as other arrangements I have. Your expertise is much appreciated!!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas music book Celtic Woman a Christmas Celebration

Comments

Do you have a funny story about this music, or does it remind you of something you'd like to share with other readers? Do you have a question? I'd love to hear it!

Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Can I Print This? 
Is it okay to print this? Dana: Yes, I have put this sheet music here for people to use, so you are free to print it out.

George Winston's Version of Carol of the Bells - Can I Get It from You? 
Could you email me the George Winston version of the song? Dana: No, I can't. That would be copyright theft. You see, G. Winston arranged …

Click here to write your own.

Sign up for "Take Note!" to see what's new every month.


About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.