My First Christmas Piano Music - Emily Norris - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Emily Norris

ILLUSTRATOR: Malgorzata Detner

GENRE: Music.

PUBLICATION DATE: July 15, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A beginner’s set of holiday songs for the piano. Easy enough, but basic music knowledge is required. Recommended to those who can sight-read notes on the two clefs.

I had read this author’s earlier book, ‘My First Piano Lessons’ last year and found it very helpful as a beginner’s guide to playing on the piano. This book, the third in her Beginners series, takes the journey to the next level.

The book contains music sheets for twenty-five Christmas songs. Many of the songs are classic carols, but there are a few relatively unknown inclusions as well. The carols are fairly divided between religious carols (Come to the manger, The First Noel,…) and generic holiday songs (We Wish You a Merry Christmas, The Holly and the Ivy,…) The overall variety is quite good.

The initial hand positions and note letters have been clearly indicated at the top of each song sheet. This is quite helpful for little learners. However, do keep in mind that this isn't not a “first piano book” but a “first Christmas piano music” book. The aspiring pianist is expected to have familiarity with the clefs, musical notations and time signatures. (The book has songs in 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 timing.)

The latter songs are slightly greater in difficulty than the initial entries, as is standard in beginner music books. Most of the songs don’t have accompanying chords. (As far as I remember, Jingle Bells was the only one with chords, which have been clearly marked.)

Some songs have been shortened and the note timings slightly modified (a few quavers altered to crotchet timing) to better suit beginners. This doesn’t affect the mood of the song or the playing. But it might be a bit tricky to sing along in such cases when your head knows a tune but the music runs a teeny bit different from it.

I didn’t expect to find ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’ and ‘Angels We Have Heard On High’ in a beginners’ book. The distinct “Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria” in both those carols with the mix of quavers and crotchets could be tricky to play. But it is also good to have a challenge so that those who hit the right notes can feel happy about themselves.

(On an unrelated side note, I tried teaching my choir kids ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’ last December for an inter-parish choral festival during Advent. The very first time they heard me sing the ‘Gloria’ refrain, they opened their eyes and mouths wide in horror and immediately whined, “Missssss!!!! Pleeeassssssseeee!!! Can we sing some other carol for the performance?!??” 😂)

G-sharp the giraffe makes a reappearance, and just like in the previous book, he offers helpful tips on the trickier pages. He also presents some fun facts related to carols.

On the whole, this is quite a nice collection of Christmas piano music, covering a range of classic and newer carols in a simple manner. It will be a great option for little ones who know the basics of sight-reading and ready to plunge into song playing.

Do note that the book follows the American musical notation system such as whole note, half note, and so on. I am more used to the British notations, so I have used those in my review.

My thanks to Zeitgeist and Z Kids for providing the DRC of “My First Christmas Piano Music” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.