Feliz Navidad - Sheet Music for recorder Jose Feliciano

"Feliz Navidad" on the recorder sounds instantly festive — and comes together faster than you might expect. These recorder parts are aimed at players with around three years of lessons. The brisk tempo and intricate legato phrasing — meaning many short, singing slurs in quick succession — demand focus, but are well within reach. As part of the playbackNOTEN series, this arrangement also works beautifully in an ensemble setting.

Sheet Music "Feliz Navidad" — Uplifting Christmas Melody for Recorder

José Feliciano wrote "Feliz Navidad" in 1970 — a Christmas song that blends Spanish and English and has been a holiday playlist staple ever since. The message is simple and warm: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. That's exactly what makes it timeless. Feliciano — a US guitarist and singer of Puerto Rican origin — created a true evergreen with this piece, one that connects generations.

On the recorder, the melody carries all the charm of the original. The key of C major requires no accidentals, making the fingering accessible and straightforward to transfer to the instrument. The melody spans a good octave and a half (E4–A5), with the upper range demanding full control of the airstream — fingering transitions into the upper register, such as the high A5, need to be secure before the tempo picks up. The tempo is brisk and driving (♩ = 151) — precisely what gives the piece its lively, festive character. The intermediate difficulty level stems primarily from the intricate legato phrasing combined with this tempo: the short slurs need to be placed with precision, without losing the overall flow.

• Range: e' to a'' (1.5 octaves)
• Ideal for: Christmas concert, school concert, home music-making

Players who consciously plan their breathing through the longer phrases — the piece includes passages of nearly four bars without a rest — will quickly notice how much more fluid everything sounds. Just before the peak notes in the upper register, it's worth actively supporting the airstream: this gives the high notes stability without letting them turn shrill. Resist the temptation to merge the short slurs into one long legato — each slur carries its own small impulse. Within the slurs, a soft tongue articulation (the classic "du" rather than a hard "tu") helps preserve the singing character; at the slur boundaries, a clean tongue release ensures that individual phrases remain clearly distinct from one another without sounding clipped. The 105-bar arrangement, complete with a repeat section, provides plenty of room to internalize this phrasing.

A short demo audio preview is available free of charge — useful for getting a feel for the tempo and character before you buy. For practice, a playback track is also available for purchase, with or without the melody, helping you experience phrasing and tempo in context. The sheet music is available for immediate download after purchase. 100% licensed — ready to perform, legally, right away.

Editorially reviewed by the notendownload.com team

All Arrangements for "Feliz Navidad"