My friend Linda MacFarlane and I recorded a musical Christmas greeting at PEG-TV in Rutland. We played a Jingle Bells duet, with Linda on ukulele and I on guitar.
The second segment in this video is a musical Christmas greeting from Grace Congregational Church in Rutland.
This video, along with other video greetings from the Rutland community, is played on PEG-TV channels 15, 20 and 21 during the holiday season, in between programs.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Music: George Frederic Handel
Lyrics: Isaac Watts
The opening phrase of this Christmas hymn is a descending Major scale. In other words, it is the do-re-mi scale backwards. The duration of notes in this phrase vary. But if you were to play these notes more evenly, you would easily hear this Major scale.
I have included two related posts for Joy To The World, one for guitar and one for ukulele, and both in the key of C. That means if you have a friend or family member who plays ukulele, you can play a duet of Joy To The World. One person can play the melody and the other the chords. You can repeat a second verse and switch who plays the chord and melody parts. Your duet could also be two guitars or two ukuleles.
Merry Christmas
Continue reading “Joy To The World”Music: George Frederic Handel
Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Music: George Frederic Handel
Lyrics: Isaac Watts
One of my best Christmas gifts was a guitar when I was age 13. My parents gave me a beginner nylon string classical guitar. When I was 14, I started taking guitar lessons at a local music store. Gratefully, I still continue to play guitar, as well as bass, harmonica, and more recently I started learning to play the ukulele.
Another favorite Christmas gift from my parents, two years later, was a songbook of Christmas Carols for beginner guitar. The first carol I learned to play on guitar was “Silent Night”. This carol is in 3/4 time (3-count) and is well-suited for beginner guitar players, as the tempo is slow to moderate. This song also uses only three chords (C, F, G). The G chord is sometimes played as G7.
Continue reading “Silent Night: First Christmas Carol I Learned on Guitar”Silent Night, words and music by Franz Gruber
Continue reading “Silent Night: Guitar melody, key of C”Silent Night, words and music by Franz Gruber
Continue reading “Silent Night: Ukulele melody, key of C”
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I learned a new song on prior Thanksgiving Day that I would like to share with you.
See related posts for guitar and ukulele.
While I have sung the hymn “We Gather Together” several times, I had not played the song on guitar before. About a half hour before Thanksgiving dinner, my brother asked me to say grace, or prayer before the meal. I had happened to have brought my ukulele with me (but not my guitar), and immediately thought of the hymn, “We Gather Together”.
So in addition to saying grace, I also played and sang this hymn, along with my niece who held my phone so that I could read the lyrics and chords.
Continue reading “Happy Thanksgiving: We Gather Together”
When I searched online for the lyrics and chords for this song, it was in the key of D Major. This is a very singable key, as the melody range is an octave plus one note.
This transcription of the single note melody is in first position of guitar fretboard. This melody also uses open string notes on first 4 strings (D, G, B, E), so key of D also makes it easier for beginner guitar players.
This version of song melody is in key of A Major. This may not be a singable key for everyone, but it might work for women (sopranos) and young children.
This transcription of the single note melody is mainly in first position of guitar fretboard, but it does extend to 7th fret (B note) on the first string (high E).
This A Major melody uses open string notes on first 2 strings (B, E), so that may make it easier for beginner guitar players.
Continue reading “Hymn: We Gather Together, key of A, melody, 1st pos.”