Up on the Housetop — Free Lead Sheet PDF (Eb, Bb, Concert)

Benjamin Hanby · 1864 · Traditional Christmas carol · Melody & chords only

Not sure which to pick? Our interactive saxophone transposition chart can help. PDFs open in a new tab — right-click (or long-press on mobile) and choose “Save as” to download.

About Up on the Housetop

Benjamin Hanby's 1864 Santa Song

Up on the Housetop was written by the American composer and minister Benjamin Hanby in 1864, making it one of the earliest secular American songs specifically about Santa Claus rather than the religious meaning of Christmas, alongside Jingle Bells.

Hanby, who also wrote the popular song Darling Nelly Gray, published Up on the Housetop through his father's music company.

If you are also building a Christmas set, Auld Lang Syne is another free carol on this site worth pairing it with.

The Tune & Chords

A Bouncy, Syncopated Tune

The melody's playful, syncopated rhythm and repeated “ho, ho, ho” hook give it real rhythmic bounce compared to the more stately hymn-style carols on this page — a natural fit for a swung or shuffled feel, and an easy tune for a horn section to punctuate with the “ho ho ho” figure between vocal or melody lines.

One simplified concert-pitch harmonisation — traditional carols were passed down as melodies, so chord choices vary between arrangers and songbooks.

Using This Lead Sheet

A Fun, Light-Hearted Number

This tune's playful character suits a family-friendly party or background-music gig well, and its syncopated rhythm gives a rhythm section something more interesting to lock into than a straight quarter-note carol feel.

If you would like one-to-one guidance building a Christmas set or working on your reading and improvisation more generally, saxophone lessons in person in South East London or online are available. You can also browse the full Christmas lead sheet index for more free carols, including We Three Kings.