Spanish Christmas carols: say Los peces en el río and Campana sobre campana
Two traditional villancicos sung all over Spain and Latin America every December. Each line has the original lyrics, a line-by-line translation and audio. Record yourself and the AI scores every word against a native Spanish reference.
- Original lyrics with an English translation, line by line
- The Spanish sounds that trip English speakers in each carol
- Say each line and get a score for every word
Los peces en el río
Lyrics: Traditional Spanish villancico (anonymous). Public domain. Verse 1 and refrain.
The lyrics, line by line
La Virgen se está peinando entre cortina y cortina;
The Virgin is combing her hair between one curtain and another;
los cabellos son de oro y el peine de plata fina.
her hair is gold, and the comb is fine silver.
Pero mira cómo beben los peces en el río, pero mira cómo beben por ver a Dios nacido.
But look how the fish in the river drink, look how they drink to see God born.
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber, los peces en el río por ver a Dios nacer.
They drink and drink and drink again, the fish in the river, to see God born.
Sounds to watch
- río: an r at the start of a word is trilled (several taps). Pero, oro, mira: a single r between vowels is one quick tap, like the tt in American “butter”.
- beben, vuelven, Virgen: b and v are the same sound. Between vowels (beben) the lips almost touch but do not close.
- Virgen: g before e or i is a rasp in the throat, like the ch of Scottish loch.
- cabellos: ll is the y of “yes”.
- nacido, nacer: c before e or i is “th” in most of Spain and “s” in Latin America. Both are correct Spanish.
- Vowels stay short and pure: peine is “pay-ne”, Dios is one syllable, “dyos”.
Say it, line by line
Speak the line at a calm pace, do not sing it.
La Virgen se está peinando entre cortina y cortina;
The Virgin is combing her hair between one curtain and another;
Tap to record
Campana sobre campana
Lyrics: Traditional Andalusian villancico (anonymous). Public domain. Verse 1 and refrain.
The lyrics, line by line
Campana sobre campana, y sobre campana una,
Bell upon bell, and upon the bells one more,
asómate a la ventana, verás al Niño en la cuna.
lean out of the window, you will see the Child in the cradle.
Belén, campanas de Belén, que los ángeles tocan, ¿qué nuevas me traéis?
Bethlehem, bells of Bethlehem that the angels ring, what news do you bring me?
Sounds to watch
- asómate, verás, Belén, ángeles: the written accent marks the stressed syllable. a-SÓ-ma-te, ve-RÁS, be-LÉN, ÁN-ge-les.
- Niño: ñ is the ny of canyon.
- ángeles: g before e is the throat rasp (like loch), so “AN-he-les”.
- traéis: a and é are two syllables, then ei glides: “tra-EIS”.
- campana, ventana: no aspiration on p, t, k (no puff of air), and the final a is a full “ah”, not “uh”.
Say it, line by line
Speak the line at a calm pace, do not sing it.
Campana sobre campana, y sobre campana una,
Bell upon bell, and upon the bells one more,
Tap to record
Why say a carol before you sing it
Singing hides pronunciation: vowels are held for beats and the r can be lost in the melody. Speaking the line first shows you which word is off, and the score tells you when it is fixed.
These villancicos are a compact Spanish lesson: the tapped and trilled r (pero, río), b and v as one sound, the jota (Virgen, ángeles), ñ, and short pure vowels that never turn into “uh”.
More Spanish practice
- Spanish pronunciation — the sounds of Spanish explained, with a recorder on every one.
- Spanish pronunciation test — five words, scored, with your weakest sound named.
- Money Heist Spanish — everyday Madrid phrases to say aloud, scored.
FAQ
Can I sing into the recorder?+
Say the line instead. The AI scores spoken pronunciation word by word; singing stretches vowels and moves the pitch, which it does not measure. Once the words feel easy, singing them is the easy part.
What is a villancico?+
A Spanish Christmas song. Many of the best-known, like Los peces en el río and Campana sobre campana, are traditional: nobody knows who wrote them, and the words vary a little from region to region.
Why is Noche de paz (Silent Night) not on this page?+
The Spanish words most people sing are a translation whose exact author and date we could not confirm, so this page only uses texts that are clearly public domain. The German original, Stille Nacht, is on our German carols page.
Keep your Spanish going after Christmas
The TonePerfect app listens to you speak Spanish and builds short daily drills around the sounds you miss.