Christmas Songs on the Guitar

Whether you love heartwarming ballads like Doug Stone’s “A Christmas Card” or upbeat sing-alongs such as “Jingle Bell Rock”, you’ll find something for every holiday gathering right here.

When you’re ready for even more seasonal favorites, don’t miss our companion page — Easy Christmas Songs for the Guitar — featuring 36 additional Christmas guitar lessons and preview videos.

A Christmas Card is from Doug's 1992 album called The First Christmas.

The song was never released as a single.

All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan was a studio album from Kenny Chesney back in 2003.

This song was written by Paul Overstreet but not released as a single here by Kenny.

All Wrapped Up In Christmas was not written by Tracy Lawrence but was released as a single and became the title of his Christmas album when it hit the shelves in 2007.

This particular song peaked at #57 in Jan 2008.

An Angel Like You is the first track on the 1992 album from Doug Stone entitled The First Christmas.

This song was never a single release.

Another Rock & Roll Christmas was a monster of a song on UK radio from the mid 80s to the mid 90s from Gary Glitter. The single peaked at #7 in the UK.

This track can be found on the album Boys Will Be Boys from 1984.

Away In A Manger was a Christmas Carol fir published back in the late 19th century (1800s) and recorded by many artists over the years.

Anne Murray put out her Christmas album entitled Anne Murray's Christmas Album in 2008 where this track can be found.

Blue Christmas was first recorded back in 1948 by Doyle O'Dell. It was recorded by Elvis in 1957 and appeared on his Elvis's Christmas Album released in 1957. But for some odd reason it was not released as a single until 1964 and again in 1965. In the UK the song hit #11 on the charts and hit #1 in the US.

Camouflage And Christmas Lights was Carrington's first top 40 hit reaching #31 in 2009 when the song was released from the album Make It Christmas.

Rodney Carrington never released any higher charting songs since then.

Christmas Baby Please Come Home was a single way back in 1963 as a pop song but did not find much commercial success for Darlene Love. It started to chart in 2018.

Artists who have covered the song include Maria Carey, Michael Buble and U2. Dion recorded his version in 1993 for his album Rock N' Roll Christmas.

Christmas Cookies is from George's album entitled A Country Christmas 1999. In 2002 Christmas Cookies was released and peaked at #33 on the country charts.

This song is still played during the holidays at Christmas on country radio at least as I heard this past 2021 holiday season several times on the radio.

Christmas Day 1915 hails from Daniel O'Donnell's 2010 album O' Holy Night - The Christmas Album.

The song was never released as a single.

Christmas Eve is a Gwen Stefani song that she recorded for her 2017 album You Make It Feel Like Christmas. At the same time then fiance Blake Shelton released his cover of the song.

His version can be found on the album Now That's What I Call Country Christmas 2019 version.

Christmas In Dixie was released by the country group Alabama in 1982. The song was part of a compilation album at the time called A Country Christmas. Drummer Mark Herndon received writing credits on just two Alabama songs, and this was one of them. The trio updated an unplugged version in 2017 for a third Christmas album. The single peaked at #35.

Christmas In Heaven can be found on the 2012 album Christmas With Scotty McCreery.

This song was never a single release.

Christmas In Killarney was written back in 1950 but has been recorded by many artists through the years including The Irish Rovers, who included the song on their Songs Of Christmas album in 1999.

They never released a single of the song.

Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You was a B-side release from Billy Squier to his A-side single My Kinda Lover. The song hit the airwaves in 1981.

Squier did a live video performance of the song for MTV. The song appears on a compilation album of rockers called A Rock And Roll Christmas. 

Christmas Time In Arkansas Again is from Ned Perme, who was a weatherman in Mobile Alabama at KATV. He retired from that position after 40 years on TV.

To my knowledge the song has never appeared on an album.

Colorado Christmas was written by artist Steve Goodman and picked up and recorded by the Dirt Band for their 1997 album entitled The Christmas Album.

Alison Krauss sings backup vocal on this track.

Father Christmas was released by The Kinks as a single back in 1977 but did not appear on any of their albums.

The single failed to chart.

Frosty The Snowman was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1950 and later that same year recorded by Jimmy Durante. Both artists had a #7 hit on the pop charts with the song.

His TV version of the song for the famous Frosty The Snowman Christmas show was recorded years later in 1969 when the show first appeared on CBS Dec 7th, 1969.

Hangin Round The Mistletoe appears on Brooks & Dunn’s first Christmas-album, It Won’t Be Christmas Without You (2002). The track was one of four songs from that holiday release that received airplay and charted on the US country charts.

It captures a festive, light-hearted moment of kissing “under the mistletoe,” fitting the season and the duo’s country-honky-tonk style rather than leaning into heavy sentimentality. The album itself was praised for sticking to their “neo-honky-tonk” roots rather than going overly synthetic or cliché for a Christmas record.

Happy Christmas was released by John Lennon  in 1972 as a protest song against the Vietnam War. The song climbed the charts in the UK and peaked at #4.

After Lennon's death in 1980, it re-surfaced on the UK charts and reached #2. It can be found as a track on his Shaved Fish compilation album released back in 1975.

Hark The Herald Angel Sing dates back to 1739 as an English Christmas Carol.

Anne Murray recorded her version for the 2001 album Anne Murray What A Wonderful Christmas.

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas was written in 1962 by Johnny Marks.

Burl Ives did his recording in 1964 for the animated TV Special Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. In 1965 the song appeared on his holiday album Have A Holly Jolly Christmas.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was written back in 1943 and first appeared in the film Meet Me In St Louis in 1944 by singer/ actress Judy Garland.

Her version peaked at #27 on Billboard that same year. he track appears on the album Meet Me In St Louis.

Here Comes Santa Claus was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1947. He was in a Christmas Parade a year earlier riding his horse and people were yelling here comes santa claus, so he wrote the lyrics and Oakley Haldeman wrote the music.

The song has been covered by many artists over these past decades. It's hard to believe when my parents were teens at Christmas, this song was not sung as it had not yet been written.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a track found on Dion's album Rock N Roll Christmas.

Zip file below contains both the lesson and chord sheet.

Id Be Jolly Too was written by Wynn Varble but there isn't any info on the song showing up on any of his three studio albums.

(Not actual album cover).

I'll Be Home For Christmas was written back in 1943 to honour soldiers overseas during WW2. Bing Crosby scored a top 10 hit with his version that same year reaching #3. In 2021, the son re-appeared again on the charts at #50.

This track appears on his 1945 compilation album Merry Christmas.

In The Bleak Midwinter was a poem written by Christina Rossetti back in the late 1800's.

I don't recall how I came to cover this particular song or which version I may have listed to for this version.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year came along in 1963. Singer Andy Williams recorded the song that same year for his Christmas album The Andy Williams Christmas Album.

The song was not released as a single but has become one of the top 10 Christmas songs down through the decades.

Jingle Bell Rock is from the album of the same name, first recorded by Bobby Helms in 1957. The song was re-recorded many times by Helms but the version you hear every holiday season is the original version.

He scored a #13 on the charts with this song.

Mamacita Donde Eats Santa Claus was recorded in 1958 when Augie Rios was just 12 years old. The song became one of the first bilingual Christmas songs to cross over into mainstream American pop culture. The track was written by George Scheck, Tomas Tirado, and Manny Rodriguez, and released on Metro Records.

It’s performed partly in Spanish and partly in English, telling the story of a little boy asking his mother where Santa Claus is — a mix of innocence, curiosity, and Latin charm that made it stand out among holiday songs of the era. The tune features a light Latin rhythm with sleigh bells, a children’s chorus, and a festive orchestral backing. It became a perennial novelty favorite on radio during the 1960s and beyond, later covered by artists such as Chingon, El Vez, and Garth Brooks (who included a version on his 1999 album Beyond the Season). 

Old Time Christmas was a recording done by Randy Travis as part of his Christmas album of the same name, released in 1989. "An Old Time Christmas" is the title track and captures Travis's traditional country style blended with the festive spirit of the holiday season.

While the song may not have been released as a single, the album contributed to Randy Travis's holiday repertoire.

The recording session reflected Travis's commitment to delivering authentic and heartfelt country Christmas music.

Santa's Coming Over To Your House was written by Kix Brooks and Don Cook.

It’s a cheerful, classic‐style country Christmas song that sets a familiar scene: a family on Christmas Eve, children’s milk and cookies, a cozy living room, and the arrival of Santa (and his gifts) at the house next door and the narrator’s.\

Although it didn’t chart as one of the leading singles from the album (unlike some other tracks), it fits the album’s overall tone of staying true to the duo’s neo-honky-tonk country roots rather than leaning heavily into pop gloss.

The First Christmas is the title track from Doug Stone's first Christmas album. The album peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

This song is a contemporary take on the Christmas story.

This Season Will Never Grow Old hails from Anne's  The Christmas Album which was hugely successful for Murray, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Christmas Albums chart and earning 2x Platinum certification in the US.

This song is an original track written by Doug Edwards and Murray.

White Christmas  , the 1942 version of the son is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales exceeding 50 million copies globally.

Crosby re-recorded the song in 1947 due to wear on the original master—this re-recorded version is the one most commonly heard today.

The song was written by Irving Berlin.