Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
American Christmas song, as Franklin Square Song Collection No. 1 printed it (1881), melody and alto over a single bass line
No speed is printed on this score, so Clefsight plays it at quarter note = 120: the middle of the speeds usually taken for Lively. Its length counts from that.
Plays on a MIDI keyboard in Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer, or Chrome on an Android phone or tablet, or on the keys on screen without one.
Versions
Each easier version only leaves notes out and adds none, so every note in it is the piece's own. Print any of them free.
- As written144 notes
- Melody and a simpler left hand96 notes
- Melody and left-hand roots64 notes
- Right-hand melody48 notes
The easy version, the melody and a simpler left hand at level 2, engraved on its own page.
To practise it on paper: a practice chart for this piece, a week of steps from each hand alone to full tempo, with their speeds.
What it asks of you
- Treble clef from B3 to C5, with ledger lines
- Bass clef from A2 to E3
- Key signature: 3 sharps (A major or F♯ minor)
- Rhythm: quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes
- Intervals: 6ths, 5ths, 4ths, 2nds (steps), 3rds played together in one hand
- Hands playing together, moving the hand to a new position
What stands between you and this piece
Clefsight compares the notes of this piece with what you already read.
Score typed for Clefsight from Harper & Brothers, New York, 1881, ed. J. P. McCaskey (scan on the Internet Archive), checked note for note, shared under CC0 1.0; the composition is a traditional tune. This is an arrangement, and the source doesn’t name its arranger. The composition’s rights don’t cover an arrangement: this one rests on its source’s licence (CC0 1.0). Credits