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Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song Chords

DATA-DRIVENWhich Chord Comes Next?Learn the most likely chord transitions on guitar and start playing songs with confidence.
ChordsC, Dm7, Em7, F, Gm7, E7, Am, Fm, B7, G7, A7, Cm7, Am7, D7, G
Strumming↓-↓↑-↑↓↑

Before you play, tune your guitar and use the tools below to set up your view and flow.

CChestnutsDm7roastingonanEm7openFfire
CJackFrostGm7nippingatyourFnoseE7
AmYuletideFmcarolsbeingCsungbyaB7choir
AndEm7folksdressedFmuplike G7Eskimos
EverybodyCknowsaDm7turkeyandsomeEm7mistletoe
CHelptoGm7maketheseasonFbright.
AmTinyFmtotswiththeirCeyesall B7aglow
WillEm7finditA7hardtoDm7sleepG7tonight
TheyknowthatGm7Santa’sonhisCway
He’sloadedGm7lotsoftoysandCgoodiesonhisGm7sleigh.
AndeveryCm7mother’schildisgonnaFmspyGm7
ToseeifAm7reindeerreallyknowD7howtoGfly.
AndCsoI’mDm7offeringthisEm7simpleDm7phrase
ToCkidsfromGm7oneto FninetytwoE7
Am7Althoughit’sbeenFmsaidmanyCtimesmanyB7ways
Em7MerryAm7ChristmasG7toCyou.
AndCsoI’mDm7offeringthisEm7simpleDm7phrase
ToCkidsfromGm7oneto FninetytwoE7
Am7Althoughit’sbeenFmsaidmanyCtimesmanyB7ways
Em7MerryAm7ChristmasG7toCyou.
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookDiscover the most-used three-chord combinations in songs and build real command on guitar.
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?Master guitar today with the most repeated high-impact chord transitions.
ArtistNat King Cole
AlbumSingle
GenresChristmas, Jazz, Pop
Year1948
KeyC
DifficultyAdvanced

How to play The Christmas Song on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song on guitar requires 15 chords and 29 core chord transitions. You can find the full step-by-step guide below. Before you start, tune your instrument. The song uses the ↓-↓↑-↑↓↑ pattern; practice it muted first, or simplify to downstrokes while you learn the changes.

The Christmas Song uses these transitions most often: C → Gm7 (7), G7 → C (5), and B7 → Em7 (4). These transitions may feel a little challenging at first, but with steady practice you can play this song quickly.When you are ready, begin with C - Dm7 chord transition.

1. C → Dm7 chord transition

Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram
Guitar Dm7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-1 Barre at fret 1.Guitar Dm7 chord diagram

Here's how to move from C to Dm7:

  1. While playing C, lift your ring finger from A string fret 3.
  2. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  3. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

C to Dm7

2. Dm7 → Em7 chord transition

Guitar Dm7 chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-1-1 Barre at fret 1.Guitar Dm7 chord diagram
Guitar Em7 chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-0-0-0-0Guitar Em7 chord diagram

To move from Dm7 to Em7:

  1. While playing Dm7, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from G string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

Dm7 to Em7

3. Em7 → F chord transition

Guitar Em7 chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-0-0-0-0Guitar Em7 chord diagram
Guitar F chord diagram Fingering: 1-3-3-2-1-1 Barre at fret 1.Guitar F chord diagram

Here's how to move from Em7 to F:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  2. Place index finger on E string fret 1.
  3. Place ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

Em7 to F

4. F → C chord transition

Guitar F chord diagram Fingering: 1-3-3-2-1-1 Barre at fret 1.Guitar F chord diagram
Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram

Here's how to move from F to C:

  1. While playing F, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on B string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to D string fret 2.
  4. Keep ring finger on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

F to C

5. C → Gm7 chord transition

Here's how to move from C to Gm7:

  1. While playing C, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger from A string fret 3 to D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 7 times.

6. Gm7 → F chord transition

Switching from Gm7 to F:

  1. Lift your middle finger from E string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 3 to A string fret 3.
  3. Place index finger on E string fret 1.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

7. F → E7 chord transition

To move from F to E7:

  1. While playing F, first lift your ring finger and pinky.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on G string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to A string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

8. E7 → Am chord transition

Switching from E7 to Am:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 1 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from A string fret 2 to D string fret 2.
  3. Place ring finger on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

9. Am → Fm chord transition

Here's how to move from Am to Fm:

  1. While playing Am, lift your middle finger from D string fret 2.
  2. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on E string fret 1.
  3. Slide your ring finger from G string fret 2 to A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 2 times.

10. Fm → C chord transition

Switching from Fm to C:

  1. While playing Fm, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on B string fret 1.
  3. Keep ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Place middle finger on D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

11. C → B7 chord transition

To move from C to B7:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on D string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from D string fret 2 to A string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.
  4. Place pinky on E string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

12. B7 → Em7 chord transition

To move from B7 to Em7:

  1. While playing B7, first lift your index finger, ring finger, and pinky.
  2. Keep middle finger on A string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

13. Em7 → Fm chord transition

To move from Em7 to Fm:

  1. While playing Em7, lift your middle finger from A string fret 2.
  2. Place index finger on E string fret 1.
  3. Place ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

14. Fm → G7 chord transition

Switching from Fm to G7:

  1. While playing Fm, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from A string fret 3 to E string fret 1.
  4. Place middle finger on E string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

15. G7 → C chord transition

Here's how to move from G7 to C:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 5 times.

16. Em7 → A7 chord transition

Switching from Em7 to A7:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 2.
  2. Place index finger on D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse.

17. A7 → Dm7 chord transition

Switching from A7 to Dm7:

  1. Lift your index finger from D string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from B string fret 2 to G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse.

18. Dm7 → G7 chord transition

Switching from Dm7 to G7:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Place ring finger on E string fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse, played 3 times.

19. C → Cm7 chord transition

Switching from C to Cm7:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on D string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from D string fret 2 to A string fret 3.
  3. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on B string fret 4.

This transition appears in the verse.

20. Cm7 → Fm chord transition

Here's how to move from Cm7 to Fm:

  1. While playing Cm7, lift your middle finger from A string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from D string fret 1 and place it on E string fret 1.
  3. Slide your ring finger from G string fret 3 to A string fret 3.
  4. Lift your pinky from B string fret 4 and place it on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

21. Fm → Gm7 chord transition

Here's how to move from Fm to Gm7:

  1. While playing Fm, first lift your index finger and pinky.
  2. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on D string fret 3.
  3. Place middle finger on E string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

22. Gm7 → Am7 chord transition

Switching from Gm7 to Am7:

  1. While playing Gm7, lift your ring finger from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your middle finger from E string fret 3 and place it on D string fret 2.
  3. Place index finger on B string fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse.

23. Am7 → D7 chord transition

Switching from Am7 to D7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  3. Place ring finger on E string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse.

24. D7 → G chord transition

To move from D7 to G:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 2 to fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse.

25. G → G7 chord transition

To move from G to G7:

  1. Keep index finger on A string fret 2.
  2. Keep middle finger on E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 3 to fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse.

26. E7 → Am7 chord transition

Here's how to move from E7 to Am7:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 1 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from A string fret 2 to D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

27. Am7 → Fm chord transition

To move from Am7 to Fm:

  1. While playing Am7, lift your middle finger from D string fret 2.
  2. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on E string fret 1.
  3. Place ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

28. Em7 → Am7 chord transition

To move from Em7 to Am7:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on D string fret 2.
  2. Place index finger on B string fret 1.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

29. Am7 → Dm7 chord transition

To move from Am7 to Dm7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

The Christmas Song chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in The Christmas Song.

  • The Christmas Song includes 77 chord transitions, 29 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.02% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • The Christmas Song contains 1 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how The Christmas Song connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After C, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (35%), F (16%), and D (11%).
    • C → B7: 0%
    • C → Dm7: 0%
    After Dm7, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G7 (46%), G (13%), and C (11%).
    • Dm7 → G7: 46%
    • Dm7 → C: 11%
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookThe 200 most popular three-chord chains from real songs. See which songs use each chain and expand your repertoire with patterns that actually matter.