This year, I’ve decided to make “Creativity at Christmas” my theme for this year’s Christmas recital. I have a whole list of creative projects that students will be encouraged to participate in and many of these will be shared at the recital. But, as I was brainstorming for this, I was reminded about how much fun it was when my kids did their Jingle Bells Variations a few years ago.

I found that this was a great way to introduce students to the theme and variations form as well as help them take what they were learning about alberti bass, seventh chords, ostinatos, etc. and apply them to their own creation (a great way to reinforce a concept!) Here’s the video along with a link to the previous post describing how we did this. You’ll notice that the students don’t play perfectly…that wasn’t the goal here. (It’s a long video, but feel free to skip around to get the idea.)

How to Organize the Creative Jingle Bells Project

In the Composition for Kids lecture, I mentioned having a “Theme and Variations Challenge” to encourage students to compose. In my studio, we are currently having a “Theme and Variations Challenge” to the Christmas tune, Jingle Bells. I asked all of the students to come up with a variation to the Jingle Bells tune and promised them I would record each variation and post it on YouTube for them to share with friends and family.

My students were very excited about this, and I have been encouraged by how many students are participating (even ones that aren’t normally interested in composing). To make the assignment more straightforward, I am giving them specific assignments each week:

Jingle Bells Project – Week 1

1. I ask the students to practice this Jingle Bells RH or Jingle Bells RH_LH and play it for me at your lesson or to play it by ear!

2. I ask the students to circle 2 moods that they are interested in using for their variation using this Theme and Variations Challenge.

Jingle Bells Project – Week 2

1. At the lesson, I will listen to their Jingle Bells melody.

2. At the lesson, we will brainstorm about the moods they chose. For example, if a student chooses the mood “happy,” we would brainstorm about how we could make happy sounds on the piano. We explore things like: dynamics, register, tempo, modality, motives (grace notes are great for happy sounds!), etc.

3. The student will be assigned to go home and make a variation using our ideas.

Jingle Bells Project – Week 3

1. At the lesson, I will listen to their variation and ask them if they are satisfied with it or if there is is anything else they want to do with it. I might go ahead and make a few suggestions even if they say they are satisfied.

2. We will explore mood #2 that they have picked and repeat the assignment.

Jingle Bells Project – Subsequent Weeks

1. We will record their favorite variation. I have told them that their variation must be polished before I will post it on YouTube.

2. After everyone has performed and recorded their variation, I will assemble the videos into a longer streaming video and post it on YouTube and my site.

This is a fun way to talk about composing and the fact that we use a Christmas tune is extra motivating. If you choose to do something like this in your studio, let me know! I’d love to hear about it.

Great Creative Projects for Kids
Holiday Rhythm Cup Explorations – Guaranteed fun for all ages!
Jingle Bells – the instant downloadable piece that makes elementary students sound amazing!