This simplified Silent Night piano sheet music is 24 bars in A major, in 3/4. The melody starts E F♯ E on "Silent night" and the left hand plays one or two notes a bar, A, E or D. The lyrics fit one syllable to a note, and the melody's first two phrases are identical.

| Bars | Lyrics | Right hand |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Silent night | E F♯ E, C♯ |
| 3 to 4 | holy night | E F♯ E, C♯ |
| 5 to 6 | all is calm | B B, G♯ |
| 7 to 8 | all is bright | A A, E |

Fewer notes means nowhere to hide. The piece is about tone and timing, and there is no hard passage to distract from either.


## Keeping the melody singing

The right hand's notes are long: a dotted quarter and an eighth on "Silent", a quarter on "night", then a half note C♯ held into the next bar. Bars 3 and 4 are bars 1 and 2 again, note for note.

| Bars | Words | Right hand |
|---|---|---|
| 9 to 12 | Round yon virgin, mother and child | F♯ F♯, A G♯ F♯, E F♯ E, C♯ |
| 13 to 16 | Holy infant, so tender and mild | the same four bars again |
| 17 to 20 | Sleep in heavenly peace | B B, D B G♯, A, C♯ |
| 21 to 24 | Sleep in heavenly peace | A E C♯, E D B, A |

Every note has to be placed on purpose, since nothing else is happening to cover a careless one. Play close to the keys and let each half note fade instead of stopping. Bar 18 is the one leap, up to D and back down through B to G♯.


## A left hand that stays behind the tune

The left hand is A held for two beats in bars 1 to 4, E in bars 5 and 6, A again in 7 and 8, then D in bars 9 and 10. One note at a time, changing with the chord.

Play the left hand alone first. It is 24 bars of half notes and takes five minutes to learn. Then add the right hand and keep the left at the same volume it had alone. The melody is in front; the left hand is behind it.


## Rhythm that breathes

Three beats a bar, and the first beat of bars 2, 4, 6 and 8 is a half note that lasts two of them. Count "1 2 3" and hold the half note for "1 2" before the next phrase starts on 3.

The tune was written for singers, who breathe at the end of each two-bar phrase. Breathe there too, in over beat 3, out on the next beat 1. That keeps the tempo from creeping up, which is the one thing that spoils this carol.


## Pedal, sparingly

Change the pedal once a bar, where the left hand changes note: down on beat 1, up just before the next beat 1. Not on every melody note.

If E and F♯ in bar 1 blur together, the pedal came up too late. Release it earlier. A dry, clean bar is better than a warm, smudged one.


## Reading the three sharps

The key signature is three sharps, F♯ C♯ G♯, and the melody uses all of them in the first ten bars: F♯ in bar 1, C♯ in bar 2, G♯ in bar 6. Read the signature once, then read by shape. Bar 1 steps up and back, E F♯ E. Bar 2 drops to C♯. Bars 3 and 4 are the same two bars again, and so are bars 13 to 16 after bars 9 to 12.

Of the 24 bars, only 12 are new material. Playing the sheet music online lets you slow one of those phrases down and repeat it on its own, bars 5 to 8 for instance, where B and G♯ arrive for the first time.


## Shaping a simple line

Bar 5, "all is calm", is the high point of the first eight bars: two Bs, the highest notes so far. Grow towards them from bar 3 and come down again through the G♯ in bar 6.

Then play all 24 bars once very softly and once slightly louder. The gap between the two is the amount of control you have, and it is more than an easy piece usually lets you hear.


## Keeping practice calm

Ten minutes covers this piece. Bars 1 to 4, right hand alone, until the C♯ fades the way you want. Then bars 1 to 4 with the left hand's A under it. Then bars 5 to 8, where the left hand moves to E. Then the whole 24 bars once through, without stopping for anything.

Chordzy plays straight from the sheet music, in the browser or in the app, and checks each note as you go. Click the sheet music to start; no account is needed.


## When it clicks

When it clicks, the three-in-a-bar stops needing to be counted, the left hand sits behind the tune, and you are listening to the C♯ fade instead of watching for the next bar.

Click the sheet music and let Chordzy check the notes while you look after the sound.