192 – How to Plan Christmas Music

You’re listening to episode 192 of the Piano Pantry Podcast. I’m Amy Chaplin, a piano teacher going through the daily grind of running a music studio just like you. Around here we’re all about considering how we can integrate practical and sustainable rhythms into our teacher lives so we can enjoy a career that doesn’t turn into burnout.

Today we’re talking about a topic you might think is too early to talk about but I can assure you it’s not – planning Christmas music. In fact, it’s *quite* practical to get going on planning Christmas music because – and I know this from personal experience – if you wait until too late then you either get caught waiting on music in the mail or having students cram to get pieces ready before any holiday performances you may have.

It’s just safer and keeps you saner to get started sooner than you think. The two things always throw me for a loop that’s easy to forget about is that week off for fall break and Thanksgiving as well. If you happen to take those off, what feels like a 8-10 weeks prior to a holiday performance can quickly turn into only 4-6 with those breaks occurring in that period so keep that in mind.

Here’s a process for how to plan Christmas music. It’s a process I’ve used for as long as I can remember and it is a trusty, consistent studio rhythm.

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Honestly, I’ve already covered the first step in the intro and that’s to **plan sooner than you think you need to.** Part of this process is deciding whether or not you’re hosting any kind of holiday recital because that can make a big difference to timeline. Now, if you’re *not* hosting a holiday performance in your studio and you run lessons all the way through the third week of December right before Christmas then, well, you’re probably OK not getting students started on Christmas music until late October or early November. You’ve got time. But if, like me though, you have a holiday performance in early December, then it’s time to start planning.

The next step is certainly optional and that is to put a **bug in the ear of your intermediate level students** to see if they have any special requests. I personally find its best to keep requests to just one or two. I find that for most students the process of having one nice arrangement that’s at level and will be a little challenging for them is enough. Any other Christmas music we do is either below level easy reading or singalong style or lead sheets where they can create their own arrangements. Sometimes we’ll do an ensemble piece like a duet or trio.

My preference is to only open the opportunity for specific requests to students at the late elementary level or higher level – I actually think it’s best to avoid asking beginners in their first or second year about Christmas music. Why? Well, because it’s actually not easy and while you can get books with easy arrangements, I would rather keep them moving along with other things in those early days. If they inquire about Christmas music I’ll pull out one or two easy pieces but I don’t necessarily *offer* in the first and sometimes even second year.

Also, keep in mind easy arrangements often **simplified notation** so if you do use a book I think it’s healthy to point out to the student where rhythms have been rotationally simplified. I’ll usually just sketch on the page the rhythm notated in the way they actually hear it. For example, Jingle Bells is one that is often simplified – the end of the first phrase. Most books will remove the dotted quarter eighth rhythm and just use two quarters and a half. Students can tell the difference too – they may not recognize that they’re playing it different than is written on the page but I like to make that connection for them.

Now, on occasion I will have a kid who doesn’t care to play Christmas music. Personally I’ve never run into that being a religious thing – but I *have* had students who just don’t really like holiday music. Fine by me! If we have a performance planned they’re participating in, I’ll just find a piece that has a wintery or festive theme. Sometimes they’ll request a theme song from a movie in which case Musicnotes.com comes in handy.

So, plan sooner than you think and take requests from students to whatever point or level you want. If you want to ask all your students for a request – go for it – I just find it’s best to wait. And timing wise, again, do this sooner rather than later – it will take 2-3 weeks from the time you ask them until you get an answer – you’ll have to remind them two or 3 times in lessons. Sometimes I have students – once we’re full into Christmas season – request another song and I generally tell them it’s too late. – depending on the timing. I’ll either make a note for next year or we’ll work from a chord chart or lead sheet or arrangement they can easily learn in a week or two.

The next thing to do is to take **inventory** of what you already have as well as materials students may have in their possession from the previous year that might still be useable.

I pull out all my **hard copy books from my file draws** and lay them out on the floor of the studio – organized roughly into categories and levels like solo sheets or ensemble music, or whatnot. This just puts at the forefront of my mind what I already have as I start the planning process.

Next, I look through my **repertoire list** on each students lesson details page in Notion where I keep track of every book I give students. I list the book, the month and year they started work in that book and then I also record when we complete it. For Christmas music, I will often make a note that a particular book will likely still be useful to that student the following year as well which can be nice.

It doesn’t mean the student didn’t make progress in that year but simply that they may find the material slightly easier the following year and be able to play more pieces from it and sometimes books have so much music that a student couldn’t possibly play that much in one year – which is honestly one of the reasons why I *don’t* buy a lot of actual repertoire books anymore. I tend to lean into individual solo sheets.

In fact, now that I have published my own Christmas book, it is the *one* book that I now can use with all of my students no matter their level. What do we as creators do? Basically if we see a need for something and can’t find what we would like to use, we create it ourselves and that is what I did.

Christmas By Ear by the way is on sale 20% off both the digital and newly released had-copy versions through October 1, 2026 – Visit pianopantry.com/shop to find it today. If you missed the early announcement of this sale, be sure to subscribe to my email list at pianopantry.com/subscribe

I created something that I could use for years and years that grows with the students. I tend to use the digital studio license with students in their younger years – just printing off a few pages here and there but as students get older, it’s an incredibly practical book for them to have a hard copy in their own music library. Which is – as I said – just available this year for the first time *and* in spiral-bound print.

There are 15 familiar Christmas tunes and every song includes 4 pages – a guided listening page where they can discover things like the meter, tonality, starting pitch, and harmony, a chord chart builder where they can practice transposing the chords in different keys, a chord chart, and a lead sheet – both of which include optional chords so students can keep it basic or take it further with fuller harmonies and inversions. There’s an appendix with accompaniment patterns and examples of intros and outros to help students get creative and make it their own.

This book is universally useful for all of my students no matter their age and level and it is for yours too. Again get it 20% off through October 1, 2026 – both print and digital versions.

After looking through the notes on books students might be able to use again from the previous year – I usually have between 1-3 each students that can repeat a book – send a picture to the parent and ask them to dig it out and send it with the student at their next lesson. Even if you don’t start it right away, it’s good to have it on hand for when you’re ready to hit the ground running.

So start planning early, ask students for requests first thing before you start searching for repertoire, and take inventory of what you have on hand as well as what students may be able to use from previous years.

Lastly is to start **scouring the internet for those special arrangements** and **placing orders for hard copy books** – because it can take time to get there – whether it’s just restocking your favorites to have a couple on hand or ordering specific books for students.

I would also suggest making a **physical list** of what you’re planning for each student so you can easily keep track of what you still need to research, what you have on hand that’s assigned to a student and what you need to order. I keep it simple and place post-it notes on the hard copies of music I’m planning to give to students. Once it comes in via mail, it gets labeled with a post-it and assigned to a student.

Let’s talk a little bit more on why I personally don’t buy a lot of books of with Christmas arrangements for student that much anymore.

1. They don’t practice enough to learn more than one at-level challenge piece.
2. Most kids have opinions on what Christmas songs they want to play and often times the books never seem to have the right combination of their requests.
3. As I stated earlier – Christmas melodies are difficult and I find – at least for earlier levels – I would rather have them just pick out a little portion of a Christmas tune they’re excited about by ear than giving them an entire book of reading pieces. Hence the Christmas By Ear book.

There are a lot of different ways we can work Christmas music into students repertoire. You don’t necessarily have to dedicate their whole lesson time in the Christmas season to it. Here are some segments of Christmas tunes I find work well to have students learn by ear and through rote-style teaching and playback patterns.

– Deck the Halls (first phrase)
– Hallelujah Chorus Abridged (tonic down to dominant then stays on tonic then tonic to leading tone)
– Jingle Bells – first phrase
– 046 – How to Teach Jingle Bells By Ear
– 146 – ICYMI: Versatile Christmas Music
– Jolly Old St. Nicholas download
– Joy to the World
– Great for a descending major scale – 2nd phrase is dominant to tonic

Lastly, even though this episode was about planning Christmas music for students, I thought I would highlight some books that have stood the test of time in my studio.

I have several blog posts that highlight these that are linked in the show notes at pianopantry.com/podcast/episode192, so this is just a quick hit list.

– The one song that surprises me that students request – I Saw Three Ships
– Hal Leonard Christmas Piano Solos Level 1 – horizontal book – blue
– Faber Playtime Piano Christmas Level 1
– The Joy of Christmas book 4 – Piano Safari
– Christmas Classics: Contemporary Lyrical Solos by Jennifer Eklund
– In Recital with Christmas Favorites Book 5 – Jingle Bells arrangement; Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabelle
– In Recital with Christmas Favorites Book 6 – absolute favorite in the whole in Recital with Christmas Series – with excellent arrangements of *The First Noel, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Let It Snow!, (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays, I’ll Be Home for Christmas,* and *It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.* **I never tire of these pieces!**
– Jennifer Eklund’s multi-level holiday classics – I haven’t used a lot but there are times when it comes in really handy – like having a book for a family with multiple kids in lessons

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Good luck on your Christmas planning, visit pianopantry.com/shop to get your copy of Christmas By Ear.

Also, just a reminder that the early bird deadline is just around the corner for the upcoming Notion workshop being held on Thursdays in November 5th 12, 19th from 12pm-2pm Eastern time. You can get $60 off your registration on or before October 7, 2026. In this workshop Joy Morin and I will help you get started in setting up a customized digital workspace that can flex and grow with your studio and life. It can become a hub where 90% of what you do every day can be managed from and we’ll help you skip the learning curve. No tech gurus necessary. Visit pianopantry.com/notion for details