CJ Nesbit

English Composition 1101

Prof. Rickard

September 29, 2021

Why Carol of the Bells is the best Christmas song

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite anything is, I never answer unless I can back up

my opinion. I was once asked in my band class what my favorite Christmas song was, and I answered

Carol of the Bells. For any song to sound appeasing, it must have multiple layers with a certain key and

chords. Carol of the Bells has a great mix of all of these.

A key signature tells how many accidentals (sharps or flats) are in a song. These accidentals

appear on every note of that kind, and it would be tedious to mark them out every time that note was

played, so the key signature gives that information beforehand. Carol of the Bells is in D Minor. Minor is

a sad sounding scale mode. D just tells you what note the scale starts on. Minor keys are not uncommon

in Christmas music, but D Minor is. It’s nice sounding key to add tension during the chorus.

The next reason why it’s a well composed song is the subtle layers that add a lot. At the start of

the song, we hear the soprano pattern that most people think of when they hear the words, ‘Carol of

the Bells’. However, a few measures later, that part is accompanied by a very quiet descending bass line.

This bass line adds another layer to the song that is not normally found in other Christmas songs, or at

least not as early as it is found here. For example, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing has no accompanying

bassline whatsoever. Without a bassline, a song sounds dry and empty.

If you remember how Carol of the Bells goes, you might recall that at the chorus, it has a nice-

sounding descending melody. This melody includes a strong accent on the start of every measure,
adding identity to the chorus and strengthening the bassline. Then, directly after that, it ascends, and

the melody has several notes that sound completely out of place. That is because these notes are, in

fact, out of place. They are called accidentals, which in musical terms, is a note that is not found in the

key signature. In Carol of the Bells, it switches from D (natural) Minor to D (Melodic) Minor, which is just

fancy music terms for, “The composer decided to switch from D Minor to D Major for a small time,

decided they didn’t like it, and switched back.” For those who have played an instrument or know what

a scale is, this means that the 6th and 7th note in the Minor scale were raised by a half-step.

Carol of the Bells also uses onomatopoeia in its first verse. Onomatopoeia is very rare in songs

because it usually is hard to fit in with any song. In Carol of the Bells, however, it makes sense. “Ding

dong, ding dong, that is their song…”. Other small details that add an extra layer of uniqueness to the

carol is its chord inversions. Nearly every song you hear on the radio has chords. A chord is a

combination of notes played at one time. Chords can sound amazing if pieced together right and played

at the right time. In Carol of the Bells, it uses special, rare chords that aren’t found in many songs

nowadays. These little creative twists can be found everywhere Carol of the Bells. In contrast, other

Christmas songs like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come O Come Emmanuel use typical, normal

chords. The special chords and progressions make Carol of the Bells slightly more enjoyable to listen to,

and on top of other factors mentioned before, it makes it a very nice Christmas song.

However, it is not perfect. On multiple occasions, it has accidentals that sound completely out of

place and ruin the harmony. These parts are found in the basslines and harmony just before the chorus.

They are not backed up by the melody and thus sound completely independent. This sub-par pattern

repeats itself in the bridge, where the melody is independent of the moving bassline playing accidentals.

Another example of this harmony destruction is in the melodic ascension during the chorus. There are

random countermelodies placed intermittently. The placing is not the issue here; accents would sound
great. The issue is that the notes contradict the melodic minor key that the song just changed into.

Finally, the bridge sounds dry and is simply too repetitive. It repeats the same pattern and bassline with

no accidentals or accents.

Carol of the Bells, like any other song, has pros and cons. However, there are multiple occasions

in which it eclipses other Christmas songs of the same type. The pros that it has are unique and rare to

find in other songs, while its cons are quite normal in Christmas songs due to the nature of a Christmas

song. Due to these pros and unique elements of music theory, Carol of the Bells is the best Christmas

song.