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by M. Ryan Taylor (Author)
34 beautiful Christmas songs that sound great with just two chords each! Now with ukulele tablature in campanella-style melodic solos!
These songs have been hand-picked for greatness from over a hundred possible selections (and those found amid hundreds and hundreds more). There are no 'filler' songs here; each stands on it's own for solo or group singing. Many are lesser-known carols, but every one is a gem.
So, whether you're a soloist, in a small group, or the leader of large community, you'll find some great songs to add to your Christmas caroling repertoire.
CONTENTS:- Apple Tree Wassail
- As Joseph Was A-Walking
- Behold that Star
- Carol of the Bagpipers, The
- Cherry Tree Carol, The
- Child of God
- Christ Child's Lullaby, The
- Christ Was Born on Christmas Day
- Christmas Eve is Here
- Cold is the Morning
- Come Running You Shepherds
- God Bless All
- Hail the Blest Morn! (Star in the East)
- Hear Them Bells
- Hey, Ho, Nobody Home
- Huron Indian Carol
- I Saw Three Ships
- I Saw Three Ships (alternate)
- Il Est Ne (He is Born)
- Mary Had a Baby
- O Christmas Tree
- O Leave Your Sheep
- O Little Town of Bethlehem (Forest Green)
- Patapan
- Quickly Now, O Shepherds
- Rise Up Shepherd and Follow
- Sleep of the Infant Jesus, The
- Still, Still, Still
- Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
- Truth from Above, The
- Wassail! Wassail all Over the Town!
- Welsh Carol
- What Shall We Give?
- Wondrous Love
About the Author: M Ryan Taylor of UkulelePlay.com, picked up the ukulele after hearing Jake Shimabukuro play "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube. Since then he has taught hundreds of other students to play the ukulele as well and become an ukulele festival organizer. He holds bachelor of music in vocal performance and a master of music in composition, and maintains that the ukulele is the natural choice for self-accompaniment; light, portable, fits in a suitcase, and is a whole lot of fun.
COOL THINGS TO DO WITH THIS MUSIC- Play the solos by themselves. The great thing about campanella-style playing is that even though you're only playing the melody, it sounds as if you're accompanying yourself.
- Get together with a friend. One of you can play the melody, while the other strums or fingerpicks on the chords.
- Use the instrumentals as an introduction before doing vocal renditions by yourself, with a friend or in a larger group.
One might consider this book a second, expanded edition of my first book, The Two-Chord Christmas Songbook, only without the chord diagrams at the top of each page and added companella-style tablature. I have retained chord indications, melody line and lyrics for those interested in alternating strumming and singing with pure instrumental playing. For the most part I have retained the keys from the original edition, except where the melody went below the range of the ukulele, in which case I transposed it upward. I also included a second section, beginning on page 29, that just has the tablature solos in large, easy-to-read print.
DIFFICULTYThe melodic tablature solos seek to follow the companella style, an almost magical technique made possible by the ukuleles native re-entrant tuning that simulates the effect of playing a harp or set of bells (campanella means 'little bells'). The solos range from very easy to moderate in difficulty. I have endeavored to keep the solos as easy as possible in this style, but melodies that have a wider range do tend to be a little bit more difficult. Keys also effect the difficulty level.
ENJOY! & MERRY CHRISTMAS!
M. Ryan Taylor
UkulelePlay.com
