Christmas Time Here, Harmonic Analysis
- Dr. Bob Lawrence
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Discover . Learn . Play
🎄 December Tune Study: Christmas Time Is Here
A Jazz Piano Skills Journey
Welcome to a new month of discovery, learning, and playing at Jazz Piano Skills! December has arrived, and with it comes one of the most beloved seasonal jazz classics ever written: “Christmas Time Is Here” by the great Vince Guaraldi, first featured in the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas.
This tune is more than a holiday favorite—it is a masterclass in subtle harmony, lyrical melody, and expressive jazz phrasing. And, as always, we will use it to reinforce one key principle:
🎹 If you cannot execute essential piano skills, you cannot play tunes—any tunes.
Whether in jazz, pop, classical, or country, the truth stands firm. Skills are always the key.
🔑 Why We Study Tunes the Jazz Piano Skills Way
At Jazz Piano Skills, we never just “learn a song.” We use a song to illuminate, confront, and strengthen the skills needed to play jazz successfully.
Every tune we explore is approached through three interconnected skill “camps”:
🏕 Camp 1: Harmony
Form
Harmonic function
Voicing approaches
Block shapes
Shells
Two-handed structures
🏕 Camp 2: Melody
Learning by ear (not reading!)
Phrasing
Treatments such as ballad, bossa, and swing
🏕 Camp 3: Improvisation
Chord-scale relationships
Melodic building blocks
Rhythmic and chromatic development
This approach ensures that every tune becomes a technique lesson, a listening lesson, a theory lesson, and an improvisation workshop.
📌 The Seven Facts of Music — Your Practice Compass
To practice effectively, you must know what music is. That is why I emphasizes these timeless principles month after month:
Music is the production of sound and silence.
Sound is produced harmonically and melodically.
Harmonic shapes = chords/voicings.
Melodic shapes = scales/arpeggios.
Melodic lines move in only two directions—up or down.
We disguise lines with chromaticism (tension and color).
We make everything interesting (and enjoyable) with rhythm.
If you are practicing something and can’t plug it into one of these facts?
You're wasting time.
These truths allow us to:✔ practice meaningfully✔ understand what we’re doing✔ measure growth✔ connect skills to music.
🎁 This Month’s Focus: Christmas Time Is Here
This week begins our three-part tune study cycle:
✔ Week 1 — Harmonic Analysis
You will:
Listen to definitive recordings
Learn the tune’s AABA form
Study its chord changes and harmonic function
Play suggested voicings: block, shells, and two-handed structures
✔ Week 2 — Melodic Development
We’ll transcribe (not read!) the melody, phrase it, and play it using jazz treatments.
✔ Week 3 — Improvisation
We apply chord-scale relationships, melodic devices, arpeggio motion, and rhythmic enhancement.
This system ensures that by the end of the month, you know the tune—not just its notes.
🗣️ Listener Question of the Week
“Why do some chords come easily while others I can never remember?”
Great news: If you struggle with chords—it means you’re actually working on them.
Five powerful tips from the episode:
✔ Cycle the data
Move through chord families regularly (don’t let “grass grow under your feet”).
✔ Practice by type
12 majors one day, dominants the next, minors after that, etc.
✔ Practice by key
Run the seven diatonic chords in each key.
✔ Use fake books creatively
Treat every chord on the page as major—then dominant—then minor, etc.
✔ Paper practice
Spell chords away from the piano.See them as visual patterns (black/white keyboard imagery).
Do this long enough and—snap—your chord vocabulary becomes instinctual.
📦 Member Resources Make the Difference
Jazz Piano Skills members receive access to:
✓ Full episode content✓ Downloadable packets (illustrations, lead sheets, play-alongs)✓ Sound-based online courses✓ Weekly live masterclasses✓ Private learning community✓ Listening lists✓ Support and guidance directly from me (Dr. Lawrence :)
This month’s packets include:
Form diagram
Chord changes
Harmonic function
Ear-training progressions
Block voicings
Shell voicings
Two-handed structures
Everything you need to study Christmas Time Is Here correctly—conceptually and physically.
🎧 Don’t Skip The Listening List
Inside the community forums is this week’s curated listening playlist—multiple versions by multiple artists.
Listen widely. The more versions you consume, the richer your understanding becomes.
🎅 Ready to Begin?
December is about reflection, warmth, and musical expression. Christmas Time Is Here is the perfect canvas for all three.
No matter where you are in your jazz journey—beginner, hobbyist, or professional—you will find this month’s exploration deeply rewarding.
So:
✔ Listen to the tune✔ Grab your lead sheets✔ Study the harmony✔ Play the voicings✔ Enjoy the process
It’s time to discover, learn, and play Vince Guaraldi’s classic:
🎁 Christmas Time Is Here
🎧 Listen Now: [Jazz Piano Skills Podcast: "Christmas Time is Here” – Episode] 📝 Become a Member: JazzPianoSkills.com 📺 Subscribe on YouTube: Jazz Piano Skills
Warm Regards, Dr. Bob Lawrence
Jazz Piano Skills