Levels One - Three. Christmas music is a wonderful way to learn more difficult melodies and more complicated chord changes. Students apply audiation skills, rhythm and tonal patterns, as they learn the songs. This audiation learning process transfers to other music that students hear and want to play.

Here are the steps for learning the tunes: First, sing the melody accurately. Second, learn tonal patterns and rhythm patterns that are characteristic of each melody. Third, play the melody and identify where the characteristic patterns belong in the melody. Fourth, when the melody is secure, transpose it to several keyalities to ensure solid memory of the tune..

Harmonization of the melodies is in the simplest form: a single-tone, root-harmony. Students can hear chord changes best when the bass is the root.of the chord. Identify the chord changes using Roman Numerals and their names (tonic, dominant, and so forth).

When students are secure with the melody and root-harmony, they can play both the melody and bass line in octaves, make arrangements of the accompaniment, change harmonizations, make melodic and rhythmic variations of the melody, and so forth.

Level Four and beyond. The second set of Christmas songs offers more difficult music. While learning new songs, students are encouraged to review all of the songs learned earlier so that they will maintain a permanent repertoire. Students can make arrangements and medleys of the songs they know.

If students add two Christmas carols a year to their repertoire, they will know enough music to be able to entertain, play for group singing, and play for parties during their high school years.

Patterns for each song are notated in the book and performed in the online tracks.