Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a classic Christmas song that was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934. The song has been recorded by many artists, such as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Bruce Springsteen, and Mariah Carey. In this article, we will show you how to play the song on guitar using three different versions of chords.

Basic Chords

The first version of chords is the simplest one, using only basic open chords in the key of G. You will need to know how to play G, C, Em, Am, D, D7, G7, and A7 chords. The strumming pattern is a simple down-up-down-up rhythm. Here is the chord progression for the song:

   G
You better watch out
    C
You better not cry
    G
You better not pout
    C
I'm telling you why
G      Em         Am7   D7  G
Santa Claus is coming to town
 
     G
He's making a list,
     C
And checking it twice;
G                    C
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice.
G      Em         Am7   D7  G
Santa Claus is coming to town
 
   G7                   C
He sees you when you're sleeping
   G7                 C
He knows when you're awake
   A7                   D
He knows if you've been bad or good
      A7                 D
So be good for goodness sake
 
    G
You better watch out
    C
You better not cry
    G
You better not pout
    C
I'm telling you why
G      Em         Am7   D7  G
Santa Claus is coming to town
 
G      Em         Am7   D7  G
Santa Claus is coming to town

Capo Chords

The second version of chords is a bit more advanced, using a capo on the third fret to change the key to Bb. This way, you can play the song with easier chords, such as F, Bb, Dm, Gm, C, C7, F7, and Eb7. The strumming pattern is the same as the first version. Here is the chord progression for the song with a capo on the third fret:

| F | Bb | F | Bb | | F | Dm | Gm | C7 | F | | F7 | Bb | F7 | Bb | | Eb7 | C | Eb7 | C | | F | Bb | F | Bb | | F | Dm | Gm | C7 | F |

Jazz Chords

The third version of chords is the most challenging one, using jazz chords to add some flavor to the song. You will need to know how to play Gmaj7, Cmaj7, Em7, Am7, D9, D13, G13, A9, A13, and Db9 chords. The strumming pattern is a swing rhythm with accents on the second and fourth beats. Here is the chord progression for the song with jazz chords:

| Gmaj7 | Cmaj7 | Gmaj7 | Cmaj7 | | Gmaj7 | Em7 Am7 D9 D13 | | G13 Db9 Cmaj7 Db9 Cmaj7 | | A9 A13 D9 A13 D9 | | Gmaj7 Db9 Cmaj7 Db9 Cmaj7 | | Gmaj7 Em7 Am7 D9 |

Conclusion

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a fun and festive song that you can play on guitar with different levels of difficulty. Whether you choose to play with basic chords, capo chords, or jazz chords, you can enjoy singing along to this Christmas classic. Happy holidays!