Home › Music › Christmas Music › Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas Comes Tomorrow)
Christmas piano sheet music · Absolute beginner
Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas Comes Tomorrow)
Free Christmas piano music for absolute beginners: 12 bars, right hand only. Put your thumb on middle C and one finger on each key; the number above each note is the finger, the letter under it is the key. Press Play to hear how it goes, press Slower to follow along, and print it for the music stand.
Where your hand goes
Find middle C: the white key just to the left of the two black keys nearest the middle of the piano. Put your right thumb on it and rest one finger on each white key going up, so your fingers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 sit on C, D, E, F and G. When you see an A, stretch your little finger up one key from G.
This piece uses 6 notes: C, D, E, F, G, A. In the music, the number above each note tells you the finger and the letter under it tells you the key.
About this arrangement
If you know Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, you already know this tune: in Germany it is a Christmas song, sung here in the original German. Put your thumb on middle C and one finger on each white key up to G; in the second bar finger 5 stretches up to A and back. Count four in every bar: crotchets (filled-in notes) one count, minims two. The words mean: “But you know what we wish for, you know our hearts. Children, Father and Mum, even Grandpa, all of us are here, waiting for you and longing for you to come.”
Practice tip: The stretch to A is the only new thing. Practise just “G, G, A, A, G” a few times: lift finger 5 from G, put it on A, and bring it back, keeping your thumb on C so the hand stays where it is.
The words
Doch du weißt ja unsern Wunsch, kennst ja unsre Herzen. Kinder, Vater und Mama, auch sogar der Großpapa, alle, alle sind wir da, warten dein mit Schmerzen.
A short history
The German words were written in 1835 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, the poet who also wrote the words of Germany’s national anthem. “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann” means “Father Christmas comes tomorrow”. In the first verse a child lists the presents he hopes for, among them a drum, a pipe, a flag and a whole toy army. The words printed here are his gentler third verse, in which the whole family waits for Father Christmas.
The poem was first published with another tune, but it became famous sung to the French melody “Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman”, printed in Paris in 1761. That is the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and the alphabet song, and Mozart wrote twelve piano variations on it.
Quick facts
- Tune
- French folk song (Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman), printed 1761
- Words
- August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 1835 (German)
- Level
- Absolute beginner (five keys, every note labelled)
- Key
- C position (right thumb on middle C)
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Length
- 12 bars
- Tempo
- Steadily, crotchet = 100
- Hands
- Right hand only: thumb on middle C, one finger for each key; the finger number is above every note and the letter name under it
- Copyright
- Public domain tune and words; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal, church and classroom use
Questions and answers
What level is this arrangement of Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas Comes Tomorrow)?
Is Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas Comes Tomorrow) out of copyright?
Any tips for a first go?
Can I print it?
← More absolute beginner Christmas pieces · All 24 Christmas pieces
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.