Ding Dong Merrily on High

Thoinot Arbeau · Level 3 (Late beginner) · traditional · Piano

The tune is the “Branle de l’Official” published by Thoinot Arbeau in his Orchésographie (1589); George R. Woodward set Christmas words to it in 1924. The long runs imitate pealing bells. An easy arrangement in G major: the right hand plays the tune, the left hand alternates a bass note and a two-note chord (“oom-pah”).

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Work in four-bar phrases, hands separately then together. Keep the left hand softer than the tune: let the right hand sing. In the eighth-note runs, keep a regular fingering and a steady pulse, like a peal of bells.

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après le « Branle de l’Official » de Thoinot Arbeau (1589) · Public Domain