Below is the lesson for “Silver Bells” by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards.

Helpful Tips

A beautiful fingerstyle take on a classic Christmas song. This arrangement is perfect for the seasoned beginner, although there are a few tricky elements along the way.

The first two challenges are chord-related. There’s one chord, an altered version of G7, that requires your pinky to stretch to reach the 5th fret of the A string. If you find this difficult, check out these exercises to help increase your left-hand reach.

There’s also a double barre chord (G13) that can be quite challenging. If you need a refresher on proper barring technique, check out this lesson.

Finally, this song is played with a swung rhythmic feel. Jump into this lesson if you’d like an explanation of the difference between playing with a straight feel and a swing feel.