It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas–and it’s time to gather ideas for teaching piano during Christmas break! 

I realize not all piano teachers teach during Christmas break, but if you do, you’re going to need some quick and easy piano teaching ideas to keep students entertained while they’re counting down the days for Christmas.

Because sometimes as piano teachers, we can really identify with “Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!”

This blog post is packed with ideas to help you have a jolly time in piano lessons this Christmas season.

At a glance, I’ll be sharing tons of ideas to hopefully get you started with having a blast this Christmas season:

• 5 free Christmas Carols chord charts
• Theme ideas for Christmas break piano lessons
• Christmas music crafts & activities

Free download: 5 Christmas Carols chord chart for teaching piano during Christmas break

This free Christmas Carols chord chart download provides a great filler for piano lessons during Christmas break.

Especially those lessons where your student has polished up recital pieces and needs something quick, seasonal, and fun to work on.

Included in this free download are five Christmas carols with chords and lyrics:

• Away in a Manger chord chart
• Deck the Halls chord chart
• Joy to the World chord chart
• Jingle Bells chord chart
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas chord chart

In addition to the lyrics and chords (all in the Key of C), you’ll find a “starting note” so you and your student know what pitch to start singing or playing on.

Download free 5 Christmas Carol Chord Charts here

There are several ways you can use these Christmas Carol chord charts for any level piano student.

Here are a few ideas in video, then I’ll share even more ideas below.

1) Single notes

For your very beginning piano students, they can sing along while they plunk down single notes instead of chords.

If you have preschoolers who aren’t solid with their note names yet, place small sticky notes on the piano keys they should play.

Sing with them and have a jolly time together!

2) Chords

Depending on the level of your student, there are many ways you can play the chords with these Christmas Carol chord charts.

• Give the student two notes from the chord to play (either the root and third or the root and fifth)
• Have student play full triad in right hand and single note in left hand
• Have student play full triad in right hand and octave in left hand
• Have student play inversions in right hand and octaves in left hand
• Encourage the student to experiment with different patterns (broken chords, different rhythm patterns, etc.)

3) Chords & Melody

For your students who have a good ear and can pick out the melody, have them play the chords in their left hand and pick out the melody in their right hand.

If the student is really confident in their melody and chords, then encourage them to play around with multiple left hand patterns to make an arrangement.

Theme ideas for teaching piano during Christmas break

Even if you have just one week of teaching piano during Christmas break, consider doing a special themed piano lesson week!

If you choose a Christmas theme, there are so many things you can do with it!

• Dress up like the character that week
• Pick music that uses the theme word
• Compose original songs using the theme (we like Melody Payne’s Christmas Composing Guided Music Composition Activity And Worksheets For Piano)
• Listen to your week’s theme music in various styles (for example, if you pick “Snowmen,” listen to “Frosty the Snowman” in jazz, classical, and choir)

Here are some Christmas themes you can consider:

• Wise men
• Nativity
• Reindeer
• Ornaments
• Christmas trees
• Carols
• Snow
• Snowmen
• Lights
• Santa Claus
• Stockings
• Cookies
• Gifts

In addition to fun Christmas themes, you can use this time to review theory concepts by having a “theory theme” each week.

Pick a theory concept and plan all of your week’s activities and review around it–adding a special Christmas touch.

For example, you can

• Review chords with Christmas song play-alongs (or our 5 Free Christmas Carols Chord Sheet)
• Find intervals in Christmas music
• Transpose “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to multiple keys
• Draw “triad snowmen” on whiteboards
• Discuss which Christmas songs are in major or minor tonalities
• Review key signatures by identifying the keys of Christmas carols
• Review rhythms by clapping & counting popular Christmas tunes
• Identify “high” and “low” sounds with Christmas Carols 
• Practice major scales with “Joy to the World,” “The First Noel,” and “Away in a Manger”
• Discuss and assign dynamics to each Christmas carol (if you want a non-holiday dynamic review, get our free Dynamic Den here–you can even use the dynamic cards to place a lion for each Christmas carol)
  

Christmas crafts for teaching piano during Christmas break

If your students are extra wiggly and can’t seem to focus on music and learning, use this time to broaden their artistic horizons in other ways.

Set some fun Christmas music in the background (you can decide whether you want it to be pop, carols, choirs, orchestras, or other) and pull out some easy craft projects.

Create a Studio Christmas Tree

Here’s a quick and easy idea from piano teacher Leslie Gehring Raich: create a construction paper Christmas tree on your piano studio wall. Have each piano student decorate an ornament and decide where to put it on the Christmas tree.

Easy Christmas Music Crafts

Print some free vintage Christmas sheet music and use it for various easy Christmas music crafts.

Give your students some cookie cutters so they can trace out Christmas shapes and cut our musical Christmas designs. 

Once they have their Christmas shapes, there are many ways you can use these little cutouts.

• Paste to folded cardstock or construction paper to create music Christmas cards
• Punch holes in the top of each Christmas shape and string together several shapes for a musical Christmas garland
• Paste to cardstock rectangles to create bookmarks
• Cut circles of various sizes and paste on construction paper to create musical snowmen

You can either use these musical Christmas crafts to “deck the halls” of your piano studio (the students will love seeing how the decorations grow each week as everyone adds their touches) or send the crafts home with the students.

Christmas coloring contest

Host a Christmas coloring contest. Either find some “color-by-music” pages or, if you don’t feel like you need a musical theme, find free coloring pages online.

Hang them up in your studio wall and have parents vote on their favorites.

What do you do in teaching piano during Christmas break?

I can’t wait to hear all the fun things you do for Christmas piano lessons!

Comment and share your best season’s ideas!

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Need more inspiring posts this season?

• 50 IDEAS TO HAVE THE BEST CHRISTMAS PIANO RECITAL EVER IN 2022
• 8 TEACHING IDEAS WHEN YOUR PIANO STUDENT IS STUCK
• 3 STEPS TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN PIANO LESSONS

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