Carol of the Bells Violin Tutorial and Sheet Music

Carol of the Bells is a popular Christmas tune based on the Ukrainian Christmas tune “Shchedryk” written by Mykola Leontovych in 1914. “Shchedryk” was adapted into the English Christmas tune “Carol of the Bells” by Peter J. Willhousky following a performance of the original song by the Ukrainian National Chorus at Carnegie Hall on October 5, 1922.

This version of the tune is in G Major, meaning there is one sharp-F#. Towards the end of the tune, you might notice that there are two notes written on top of each other. This does not indicate octaves, instead, it allows the player to choose to play either the top or bottom octave. I am playing the bottom octave in the tutorial. Additionally, we will be using high 3s and high 4s in this tune, for the notes C# and D# respectively. Click here to access the sheet music and watch the full tutorial below.