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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
Trying to do a fancy strum like an expert can be a bit frustrating when you’re a beginner but as the old adage goes, take it one step at a time (or in this case one beat at a time) and you’ll soon be strumming like a pro. One thing that can be difficult to determine at first is the strumming speed, particularly when you have various chord changes within the song. The strumming speed is the number of strums you can make in one beat. And the beat, of course, is the steady, underlying pulse or groove of the song.
In the following ukulele tutorial video, Jenny discusses harmonic rhythm or harmonic tempo and the effect of strumming speed to this rhythm. Sounds complex, right? So before we go further with it, it’s also helpful to remember that when we are learning a new song on the ukulele, practicing with an easy one strum per beat gives you time to get familiar with the melody and chord changes. When you’ve got the chord changes down along with singing the melody, then you can level up to more complicated strumming stuff.
Read more about harmonic rhythm and check out the video here.
Thanksgiving is a joyful family affair that's celebrated with food, stories, games and music. We remember to give thanks to the Lord for our bountiful blessings in the form of a prayer or a song.
Visit our Thanksgiving blog post featuring a ukulele tutorial for the song "Prayer of Thanksgiving" which includes a lead sheet you can download. http://ukulele.io/easy-ukulele-song-for-thanksgiving/
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Here's a ukulele tutorial for one of the oldest Thanksgiving songs, We Gather Together. Happy strumming!
https://youtu.be/y0j7eyJnIyw
Prayer of Thanksgiving, We Gather Together
The first Thanksgiving holiday in the United States (or the “New World” as it was called then) was celebrated in October 1621. It is interesting to note then that the origin of one of the famous Thanksgiving songs “Prayer of Thanksgiving,” which is also called “We Gather Together” actually precedes that first Thanksgiving season.
“Prayer of Thanksgiving” was based from the original Dutch version written by Adrianus Valerius in 1597. From its earlier Dutch folk variety, it was modified into a religious hymn in celebration of the successful revolt of the Dutch lead by the famed military leader Prince Maurice of Orange against the Spaniards. Under the Spanish King Phillip II, who is Catholic, Dutch Protestants were not allowed to gather for religious worship. The celebration and the song signified an act of defiance to this religious persecution.
In the early 17th century, the Dutch version of “Prayer of Thanksgiving” was published as part of a collection of Dutch patriotic poems and songs entitled “Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clanck.” With their move to the New World, Dutch immigrants took with them their religious hymns and patriotic songs; however, it will take centuries before this Thanksgiving song was officially translated into English.
The translation to English was done by Theodore Baker in 1894 – this English translation intended as a Thanksgiving prayer song to be harmonized by a choir. Baker was an American musical scholar who studied in Leipzig Conservatory from 1878 and later worked as an editor for Schirmer, a musical publishing company. Since 1903 when the English version now known as “We Gather Together” originally appeared in an American religious songbook, it has reached various American religious denomination including the largest one, Methodist Episcopal Church, which included the song to their hymnal in 1935.
With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, here's a video tutorial for one cheerful Thanksgiving song - Over the River and Through the Wood.
"Music in my Mother's House" is such a wonderful tribute to a mother who filled her home with love and music. We made an easy ukulele tutorial of this song that you can watch here!
https://youtu.be/JSdTgTZcY30
Here's an easy ukulele tutorial of Captain Von Trapp's sad farewell song in the Sound of Music. Enjoy!
