If you enjoy playing Christmas songs or hymns on the piano, you may want to learn how to play "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." The music in hymnbooks may look intimidating for less-experienced pianists, but carols such as this one are easily simplified and can be played without any chords at all.http://pianoandsynth.com/mastering-christmas-carols-on-the-piano-and-keyboard-an-introduction

This classic hymn was first written by Charles Wesley, the brother of the founder of Methodism, in 1739.http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/decemberweb-only/150-52.0.html The song first appeared as a poem in Hymns and Sacred Poems with the opening line, "Hark, how the welkin (heaven) rings." George Whitfield, a student of Wesley, changed the line to "Hark! The herald angel sings" in 1753. Felix Mendelssohn composed the tune to the song in 1840, and the lyrics were changed two more times throughout that century.http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9353

The bass line of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" contains only notes, not chords. The song is played in the key of G, which has a scale of {G A B C D E F# G}. Remember to play F# instead of F. The two notes you will play the most often are G with your left pinkie and D with your left thumb.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4 Begin on G and play the notes as follows:

• G D
• G D
• B C D G

• G D
• G D
• B C# D
• G A D

• D (hold)
• C D D
• D (hold)
• C D D

• C (hold) A A♭ A
• F# G D D G
• C (hold) A A♭ A
• F# G D D G

When you play the C within the last four lines of the song, shift your left hand so your left pinkie plays C and your thumb stretches up to play the following A. Your index finger of that hand will play the A♭. End the song with your left thumb on G.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4

If you are already familiar with the lyrics that match the melody of the song, it may help to refer to them as you learn to play "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." The song's melody is relatively simple because there are three different lines that repeat. Begin with your right pinkie on D.

• D G G F# G B B A (Hark! the herald angels sing)
• D D D C B A B (Glory to the newborn king)
• D G G F# G B B A (Peace on earth and mercy mild)
• D A A F# F# E D (God and sinners reconciled)

• D D D G C B B A (Joyful all ye nations rise)
• D D D G C B B A (Join the triumph of the skies)

• E E E D C B C (With the angelic host proclaim)
• A B C D G G A B (Christ is born in Bethlehem)
• E E E D C B C (Hark! the herald angels sing)
• A B C D G G A G (Glory to the newborn king)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/decemberweb-only/150-52.0.html

For the finger placement of the fourth line of the song ("God and sinners reconciled"), begin with your right pinkie on D and then jump to A with your ring finger. This will allow the three remaining fingers to play the descending {F# F# E D} notes with ease.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4

Once you are comfortable playing the left hand and right hand sections of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" separately, begin practicing the melody and bass lines together. The first notes of each hand (G with your left pinkie and D with your right thumb) will begin playing at the same time.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4 Match the bass line with the lyrical melody as follows:

• G (Hark) D (herald)
• G (angels) D (sing)
• B (glory) C (to) D (newborn) G (king)

• G (Peace) D (earth)
• G (mercy) D (mild)
• B (God) C# (and) D (sinners)
• G (re-) A (-con-) D (-ciled)

• D (Joyful...)
• C (na-) D (-tions) D (rise)
• D (Join...)
• C (of) D (the) D (skies)

• C (With...)
• A (host) A♭ (pro-) A (-claim)
• F# (Christ) G (born) D (Beth-) D (-le-) G (-hem)
• C (Hark...)
• A (an-) A♭ (-gels) A (sing)
• F# (Glory) G (to) D (new-) D (-born) G (king)

Notice that words with more than one syllable may be broken down into parts if there is a bass note played for each syllable (for example, "Beth- le - hem"). For multisyllabic words that are not broken down (such as "herald" in the first line), play the bass note on the first syllable ("her-") and hold it throughout the rest of the word or rest of the line until a new note is supposed to be played.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbr21IvhcW4