So what's the best creative Christmas book?
All three books have real strengths, but each of them is best suited to a specific need.
Pros
20 Favourite Christmas Songs: How to Play Lead Sheets is:
the best place to start if you, the teacher, have never taught or played lead sheets before
a method book with excellent difficulty progression
great for students who are independent learners
a great quick-study method book for late-intermediate/advanced students who have never played lead sheets before
the most affordable studio license
highly flexible (15 carols arranged in 3 or 4 different ways)
perfect for group lessons
includes backing tracks, unlike the other books
available in the widest variety of formats (printed book, digital single license, digital studio license)
Easy Piano Lead Sheets and Chord Charts: Christmas Edition is:
the most accessible book for elementary students — all carols have been made as simple as possible
comprehensive (51 carols!)
extremely well-formatted
includes the carols in chord chart format
the most affordable physical book
Cons
Each book has minor downsides too.
20 Christmas Carols: How to Play Lead Sheets occasionally has some unconventional formatting and it is not available as a physical book, which some people might prefer.
Easy Piano Lead Sheets has the least guidance on how the carols could be arranged and is not available as a printable digital download, which some might prefer.
Wicked Keys: Christmas has the fewest carols, there are no suggestions for fingerings, and the physical book takes the longest to ship.
But fundamentally they’re all good
Regardless of those minor caveats, whichever book you choose, you can be sure you’re buying a quality guide to getting creative at Christmas. Congratulations to all the authors involved!
