We Wish You a Merry Christmas
About this arrangement
A West Country carol, sung by waits going door to door - which is why the words ask for figgy pudding and will not go until they get some. The version everyone knows spread from an arrangement the Bristol organist Arthur Warrell made for his university singers and published in 1935.
The lilt matters more than the notes here. Count one-two-three with a weight on the one and the piece sounds right immediately; play it evenly and it sounds like an exercise. Learn the right hand to the end before adding the left.
Start with short loops.
Use the section list as a practice map. Start at 50% tempo, loop one section, then return to the full piece once the hand shape feels stable.
Choose Right or Left to focus on one hand. Wait for note checks the highlighted notes as you play them on the screen or a connected MIDI keyboard.
Before you practice.
01 How hard is We Wish You a Merry Christmas on piano?
It is among the easiest carols. Seventeen bars, a melody most people already know by ear, and a narrow range that keeps your hand in one place.
02 What key is it in?
This edition is in F major, which has one flat, B flat.
03 Where does the carol come from?
The English West Country. It was a song for carollers going house to house, which is why the words ask for food and drink at the door.