What are your favorite, most vivid memories of Christmas? Is it the family gathering together?, Is it the reading of the nativity? Is it the caroling, or the food, or possibly the difficulty of going to sleep on Christmas eve? It could be any of the other many activities involved with Christmas. For many, it is the time spent around the kitchen table, or in the living room, listening to stories, jokes, eating and singing Christmas songs. For a well-rounded Christmas experience, its important to do a variety of things, but one of my favorites is singing Christmas carols and songs.

Most Christmas singalongs that I have been to were mostly spontaneous, with a piano or guitar and lots of people making requests. It usually went well as long as the pianist or guitarist knew how to play the songs. More often than not, though, someone has tried to start Christmas singing, and for one reason or another, it never really got off the ground.

Well, I have a piece of advice to help you get it off the ground.

The most important thing is to choose the right songs. That means, songs that everyone knows. Most likely, that will be songs you learned as a child. It could be songs you learned from your parents or at school. It could also be songs you learned in Sunday school. I like to stick to the traditional Christmas songs.

Traditional Christmas songs like ‘Silent Night’, ‘Away in a Manger’ or ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ are excellent. Those are some of the soft, quiet traditional Christmas songs. Some of the more lively ones include ‘Deck the Halls’, ‘Up on the Housetop’ and ‘Jingle Bells’.

Some other favorites are:

• Twelve Days of Christmas song; Just about everyone knows this song. Its easy to sing and just fun for everyone. We like to gradually pick up speed as we get closer to the end.

• Over the River and Through the Woods; OK, so this isn’t really a Christmas song; its a Thanksgiving song, but I thought I would include it anyway because it is a holiday song, and could still be sung at Christmas time.

• O Christmas Tree

• Joy to the World

• The First Noel

Of course, the list doesn’t end there.

One of my favorites is ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’. It makes me think about the true spirit of Christmas. The lyrics are by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It also has a beautiful melody.

Another favorite is ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’. Its a traditional spiritual; its uplifting; and its fun. I have heard it done in several different styles, all of them good.

In case you don’t have a piano player, you can always use a guitar. It has been my experience that many of the Christmas songs guitar chords are in flat keys. That means the guitarist has to play bar chords, which are difficult for beginning and even some intermediate guitarists. Try to find music that centers around the keys of C, G, D, A and E.

I hope this helps you have a good Christmas singalong. It will hopefully be a fun, memorable experience.

Roger Turner is a campfire and Christmas song enthusiast. For more great resources on Christmas Music visit. He is also the editor of The Great American Christmas Songbook. You can find over 40 Christmas songs, including the ones in this article in The Great American Christmas Songbook.