If you're still using Jingle Bells in your music class, you're missing out.
In case you haven't heard, the song "Jingle Bells" was written for a minstrel show. And as prevalent as the song has somehow become all over the world since it was likely first performed in 1857, it's long past time we moved on. I know how hard it can be to change old habits, so in this post I've compiled some easy ways to replace the song regardless of what you're using it for in your music lessons.
1. Fun Children's Songs About Jingle Bells
I think for most people, Jingle Bells is just a fun, easy song that feels "festive" without being directly connected to a holiday (although let's be honest, whether it was written for it or not, everyone associates the song with Christmas), and it's a fun song to break out the jingle bells with the little ones and sing with gusto! If that's what you're looking for, I'd venture to say these 2 songs are far superior: Jingle Jangle Everybody Sing by Charissa Duncanson, and Jingle All the Way by Stephanie Leavell. They're both written by music teachers for young children and they have both been huge hits with my students!
The great thing is both of these songs work great for common concepts we are often practicing in general music lessons:
Steady beat
Same and different sections/ A and B sections/ form
Opportunities for composition/ improvisation
Fast/ slow, loud/ quiet
2. Easy Beginning Instrumental Songs
"Jingle Bells" is a common song for beginning band and orchestra winter concerts or even for classroom instruments like recorder and orff ensemble, but there are so many better options out there this one should not be hard to replace. "We Will Rock You" is similar in the sense that the rhythm can be easily simplified, it has a limited range, and it's instantly recognizable so it feels legit (and you can find lots of arrangements for beginning band, beginning orchestra, recorder play-alongs, etc). "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Twinkle Twinkle" are other simple melodies that can swap in as another well-known tune.
For specifically wintery songs, it's easy to search by level on most sheet music sites and even TeachersPayTeachers to find some great pieces that fit the bill and will honestly be more appealing to upper elementary students who tend to find songs like "Jingle Bells" to be a little childish.
If you haven't checked out the sheet music available on TPT, I think you'll be surprised at how much you can get for the price, and there is a lot of great quality literature available that is developmentally appropriate for every stage of learning because there are so many written by beginning instrumental teachers! Here are just a few examples:
I've written extensively about how I am working to continue teaching students about holidays, which are an important part of cultures around the world, while avoiding students feeling excluded in the process as much as I can. Jingle Bells is commonly used in sing-alongs as a non-religious holiday song, but obviously based on its racist origins doesn't fit the bill for non-exclusionary. For a full list of songs I have been using for many years now in my sing-along including songs for Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, and Eid, with all the fun movement and other activities I include with the songs, head to this post. Another great idea that uses a simple prop (cups) with a wintery, festive, non-religious song that would be great for a sing-along is this simplified cup routine for Sleigh Ride:
I hope this helps provide some concrete suggestions for ways we can remove a problematic song from our music classrooms and programs while injecting more fun music that is engaging, perfect for the winter season, and accessible for beginners and young learners! If you want to see all of the music lessons that I teach in the month of December for every grade K-6 general music lessons, here is my full curriculum (also available in individual months and grade levels). What else is stopping you from removing the song from your music lessons and programs? If you have other ways you use this song that I can help find a replacement for, please send me an email or leave a comment and I'd be happy to help!
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