Let's here your holiday guitar stories and traditions!
Only on one occasion was I almost involved, being pushed along by someone with more experience than myself, in a short Christmas playing. He selected the two easiest songs, got me copies of the sheet made and then he went into a deep and dark depression, rarely heard from to this day. Maybe a time or two a quarter at best. Oh well. I had less than one year under the belt and we were talking about this for the following weekend. Didn't happen. Not supposed to be much swearing during these songs. Who knew?
Anyhow, my wife isn't bubbly with the spirit having lost some family over the past 10 years. on top of losing a neighbor to a drunk driver on Chrsitmas Eve. Plus, her sister who, who influences here greatly, is a big scrooge. Our man child is 16 going on 17 and isn't into the standard christmas song set anymore. My only opportunity for playing some songs for others was last Friday and I was quite unprepared to do so, just thinking of it that day. So, for preperations for next year's biker riding club Christmas party, I want to be prepared. Once work is done for the year and she gets to hang at home and eat my cheese cake, she gets much better. The kid in her comes out too, and we'll watch movies, play Wii
I can get "Granma Got Run Over......" decent enough every year with about 30 minutes of practice. I think I can learn some easy arpeggio style songs, like "Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas" and that on about king Wensoloius (whatever the name is) in decent enough time, like a couple hour sessions each. For a party of 40-ish riding club folks ranging from sterotypes seen on movies to mild-mannered software geeks who all somehow get along, how many? Maybe a few the first year? When do you start learning them so that it's second nature to you by the first weekend in December? Start at Halloween maybe? My wife would hurt me.
What do you folks do? Every bring your accoustic to a smaller party and get encouraged to strum a song or two? Do you stand up and announce that you're the entertainment. Give it up! Let's hear from yooze.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I guess it depends on how hard the tunes are, and how much you work on them.
For my students who want to do some solo carols, I start teaching them around Halloween. That's enough time for the average student to learn 2-3 songs (or more) or do their own arrangements of one or more. But yesterday I heard an 18 piece a cappella group do a 45 minute set of carols, and I asked their director when they started - they got music in May, learned their individual parts over the summer, and started weekly 2-hour group rehearsals in August.
For the average student who hasn't expressed any interest, I have them start sight reading carols as part of the lesson during the last 3 weeks - when I start decorating the school, they start playing the music :)
I think like most stuff, you'll get out what you put in. That vocal group does a TON of gigs - anywhere from 1 to 5 every single day between Thanksgiving and New Years, mostly corporate parties.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
a few years ago while noodling on guitar I came upon a few notes from a traditional Christmas song. I went , "hey". so I searched for all the other notes and ended up being able to play a seasonal song. I also had fun learning it as it helped demystify further the fretboard.
here it is:
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=6026392&q=hi&newref=1
I have played some solos and sung some solos of Christmas songs. But I find that most people really like to join in on singing carols. So I have the words and chords for about 15 carols and am ready to go any time. Well, maybe not in July.
Renee
Well then. I think I'll start next year around Halloween.....through head phones in a seperate room from wifey or else this will happen.
"What the <beep>? Why are you playing Christmas songs right after <beep-beep> halloween?"
"Because I need to learn a few songs for Christmas gatherings."
"Can't you at least <beep> wait until after <beep> Thanksgiving? Better yet, how about waiting until December?"
She's not a bad person. She hates having the holiday forced on her too early, like with TV ads and store displays. :D
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Every year I start thinking about it right about....now. Then I procrastinate and next thing I know, it's New Year's Eve and I think "next year, I'm going to learn some Christmas songs."
Actually, I play a good bit of Christmas music around "para-Christmas," June 25. (Look at the conventions for naming substituted benzene compounds. June 25 is opposite Christmas on the calendar.)
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
That was nice, dogbite. I was doing a similar style last night on two the of the songs. Perhaps a few more times and I'll have on of them up to speed.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
You've got a couple of weeks to come up with a version of "Auld Lang Syne."
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
We got our final Christmas Eve set list two nights ago and went over the arrangements once. We will have one band practice next week before the Christmas Eve service. Nine songs in all, three are new this year, three we've done before as a team, three are me solo acoustic. For those last three, I will use the Guitar Noise lessons for two of them!!! "Silent Night," David Hodge's fingerstyle lesson, I'll play while my 7 y.o. daughter sings. Then I'll play Doug Sparling's arrangement of "Sussex Carol" as the exit song. I did have a couple weeks advance warning on the acoustic stuff, so I've been working on them already. But honestly, we never get them down as good as we could if we had more time. :(
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
I start when Mitch starts posting on Guitar Noise again. :mrgreen:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I usually learn or or two new ones every year; they start playing Xmas songs around Dec 1st over here, on oldies stations on the radio and on VH1 and a couple of other music channels. This year I learned Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Xmas Every Day" and the Pogues & Kirsty McColl's "Fairytale of New York City," though I haven't managed to convert the piano intro to guitar, at least not to my satisfaction.
Once I've learned a song, it doesn't take too much practise to bring it up to scratch the next year, and I've now got a repertoire of about a dozen songs - all good singalong stuff. Merry Xmas Everybody, Run Rudolph Run, Frosty The Snowman, So This Is Xmas, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (a la Springsteen) - none of those is too difficult for anyone who's got a few chords under their belt, they're all mostly open chords.
The one I keep meaning to learn every year and never seem to get round to is Greg Lake's "I Believe In Father Xmas" - maybe next year?
And the one I should be playing right now? Maybe "Let It Snow" - although there's already a few inches on the ground, so perhaps I'll leave that one alone. Don't want to tempt fate!!!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I start when Mitch starts posting on Guitar Noise again. :mrgreen:
Who? :lol:
I mean, Ho Ho Ho!
It's that time, TR! :note2:
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
The nice thing about holiday music is that it's pretty static and standard stuff. Once you learn a tune, just toss it in your song book and pull it out every now and then as something to work on while practicing or noodling around. One year you'll play one or two songs, the next year 3 or 4, and pretty soon you have an arsenal of standards you can whip out each year.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
