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"Jingle Bell Rock!"

I love this song.  Festive and a fun spin on the traditional "Jingle Bells!"  Since it's a little more up-tempo, it's a great carol for kids, and since it's older, it's familiar and fun for adults, too!

For my youngest kiddos, I do a simple add-on.

Verses/Chorus ("Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock..."): Play jingle bells.
Bridge ("What a bright time..."): Wave scarves.

Use Christmas colors or fabric for the scarves for an added holiday touch. :)

If you use the original, you can also add an easy xylophone/boomwhacker/keyboard pattern at the beginning of most stanzas:

JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL ROCK
D                    C#                   B                    F#

The most accurate version is a little trickier, but still not too hard to teach:

JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL ROCK
D                     C#                   B    C# B   F#

Have fun!  I have the most success with this when I use boomwhackers, and print color-coded lyrics, or discrete resonator bells or Orff instruments to isolate the notes, then teach the pattern by rote.  Keyboard is possible, but color-coding helps, since there are 2 black keys and the notes are a bit spread out.  Then they can hang out on D for most of the rest of the song, with the exception of the phrases just before the pattern repeats.

Happy Holidays!

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