Saturday, December 23, 2017

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Ukulele Tutorial

The earlier Christmas songs we’ve provided ukulele lessons on were mostly joyful and lively tunes.  This time we bring you a ukulele tutorial for  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a mellow and poignant Christmas song.

Read more, view the video tutorial and get a downloadable lead sheet here

Friday, December 15, 2017

Silver Bells Ukulele Tutorial

Silver Bells is one more easy ukulele song for Christmas that you can learn. The song uses the following chords: G, G7, C, Am, D7 and A7. It also has a fairly simple strumming pattern. You can use all down strums for the verses and a little variation of down-down-up-down for the chorus. You can view more of the chords, strums and song in the video ukulele tutorial.

BELLS AND CHRISTMAS

What is it about bells that we usually associate them with Christmas? Aside from our featured easy ukulele song Silver Bells, remember one of the most famous Christmas songs is entitled Jingle Bells. There is also another song called I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day which was created from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Read more..

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Ukulele Tutorial New Version

It’s interesting to learn that the inspiration for “The Christmas Song” was initiated during a scorching summer in 1945. You’d think that a song for a winter holiday would be naturally inspired by the season itself or related ideas to it. But according to the ones who wrote the song, it just started as some scribbles on a spiral pad describing the coldness of winter as a way to cool off on one summer day. 

Bob Wells had a few lines written about winter and Christmas but was not actually intending them for a song and left them lying on his piano. Mel Tormé found these writings, added music and more lyrics to it and this meaningful and reminiscent holiday song was born. With its thoughtful lyrics and relaxed melody, it does bring good cheer and Christmas spirit to “kids from one to ninety-two.”

Go to our ukulele tutorial and start practicing. You'll soon be singing this holiday song in time for Christmas. 

Monday, December 4, 2017

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Ukulele Tutorial

If you’re looking for an additional ukulele Christmas song to add to your usual “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” list, check our “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” ukulele video tutorial. Start practicing and you’ll have it nailed in time for Christmas! Also join our poll on the video on which pop song you’d like ukulele lessons on. 

We worked on this ukulele tutorial for “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or more popularly called “The Christmas Song” because it would be a great addition to the usual Christmas songs we have like “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” or “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bells”. 

It’s interesting to learn that the inspiration for “The Christmas Song” was initiated during a scorching summer in 1945. You’d think that a song for a winter holiday would be naturally inspired by the season itself or related ideas to it. But according to the ones who wrote the song, it just started as some scribbles on a spiral pad describing the coldness of winter as a way to cool off on one summer day. 

Bob Wells had a few lines written about winter and Christmas but was not actually intending them for a song and left them lying on his piano. Mel Tormé found these writings, added music and more lyrics to it and this meaningful and reminiscent holiday song was born. With its thoughtful lyrics and relaxed melody, it does bring good cheer and Christmas spirit to “kids from one to ninety-two.”

Nat King Cole with his guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Johnny Miller first recorded the song in June 1946 but this version was not released until 1989. Their second recording in August 1946, which included a String Choir, was released in November of the same year as “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)”. Various recordings of the song had been released over the years including performances from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney and many, many others. 


Sunday, December 3, 2017

How to Determine Ukulele Strumming Speed

When you’re playing the ukulele, it’s strumming that creates the beat of the music. Strumming isn’t that easy to learn and many beginners struggle with it. Read our blog which includes a video ukulele tutorial to help level up your strumming.