Christmassy Music: A How To

To the great joy or annoyance of many, Christmas is a time of a very small, and oddly similar selection of Christmas tunes, with classics such as Pachelbel Canon in D or Last Christmas. In fact, most Christmas songs have all become timeless classics, the original hymns of Jingle Bells or Jolly Ol’ Saint Nicholas never forgotten, just as recent explorations reach similar popularity. What makes Christmas music sound so similar? What makes it Christmassy?

It’s not the Christmas spirit, the recognizable name Santa, or the spirit of giving that gives us this music. Rather, it’s the combination of social stigma and an excellent chord progression.

Everything started with the bane of any bass player’s existence: Pachelbel Canon. 

D, A, B, F#, G, D, G, A; these notes are repeated over and over. It’s a nuisance, but a genius nuisance, because in the key of D, these bass notes are the ones that create a plethora of impressive, and fortunately harmonious, chords, inspiring countless other artists to replicate this in their own music (or arguably, all music, but that’s a different story). 

Despite these notes constantly returning to the tonic (the first note in the scale, D), the chords produced by the canonical form are inherently different as more and more layers are added. It’s “stacking” effect means chords transform from thirds to triads (three notes stacked in thirds) to sevenths, meaning a unique chord progression can result despite the incessantly repetitive bass. 

However, that doesn’t answer the question about what makes Christmas music Christmassy, even though the nature of the canon is imperative to it. When we think Christmas, we think sleigh bells ringing, children singing, and in modern times, Netflix binging. The holidays are a time of comfort, fire places, and the assurance of tradition. A consequence of that is not only the instrumentation of Christmas music (typically bells and strings), but also the peppiness, recognizable lyrics, an odd obsession with the key of D, and despite the joy, many, many, many minor chords.

Take Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet for example, arguably the most accomplished Christmas composer and composition, and is performed incessantly after Thanksgiving. As an orchestrated piece (before the time of Christmas bells), Tchaikovsky nailed in the idea that minor chords are most effectively employed when they resolve into a major key. 

The opening harp in Waltz of the Flowers is, most simply put, interesting. It has no coherent melodic line, and its effect is more ambient than lyrical. What makes it so great to dance to? Well the next part is what makes it great — the powerful, lyrical, major, simple, and soaring baritone — but the dissonance before makes the resolution seem more hopeful and forward thinking, one of the many ideals of Christmas: looking ahead.

Just as the Nutcracker is a traditional performance, tradition is a large part of the Christmas scene, which is a contributing factor to why it’s difficult for new artists to enter, and why the oldies are so great. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is the forever iconic definition of Christmas ideals, and promptly describes the sentiments of past Christmases, particularly in the lyrics “just like the ones I used to know” before he describes the winter wonderland before him. But even his strict pursuit doesn’t stop him from what will forever be known as Christmas: sleigh bells. It doesn’t matter if your piece of music is happy, sad, upside down, turned around, or in the key of D double flat five seven and three halves. Put sleigh bells in, and you’ve got yourself a Christmas song, no questions asked. It’s like the famous SNL skit about cowbells: Christmas music is a disease, and the cure is more sleigh bells. 

Perhaps the best way to have successful Christmas music fully in the Christmassy spirit is to have a movie about it. Great Christmas classics like Home Alone or Die Hard made Christmas music a staple in the holiday home, and for good reason. Inevitably the stories told between the heroic protagonists of Kevin McCallister and John McClane (apparently having Mc in your name is a prominent feature of Christmasdome) were memorable and respectable, and it was in the movie theater that Christmas jazz became the staple cafe music for the season.

And despite how hard you might try, listening to Christmas music before the great night won’t land you a spot on Santa’s nice list, but its natural uplifting beat, reminiscent of warm times, and prospective of many great Christmases to come will certainly land Christmas as one of the greatest holidays of all time. Unless of course you celebrate Hanukkah, then Hanukkah Sameach! But regardless of the holiday, the music holds the same uplifting ideals of excitement and community.

Merry Christmas,

Eron (Mc)Ristich