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Alphabetical Index Song Title (Artist) Page: orig. | capo A ‘Soalin (Peter Paul & Mary) 42 Angels We Have Heard On High (Relient K) 34 Christmas Time Is Here (Mercy Me) 45 Deck The Halls (the Last Bison) 8 Do You Hear What I Hear? (Third Day) 46 70 Go Tell It On The Mountain (Mercy Me) 30 66 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Barenaked Ladies feat. Sarah McLaughlin) 26 64 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (John Lennon) 36 Have A Holly Jolly Christmas (Lady Antebellum) 14 58 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Sidewalk Prophets) 9 It Came Upon The Midnight Clear (Caedmon’s Call) 24 It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Fruit Bats) 20 Jingle Bells (Dolly Parton) 18 Joy To The World (Casting Crowns) 52 Little Drummer Boy (Zach Gill) 44 Mary Did You Know (Kutless) 50 O Come All Ye Faithful (Weezer) 38 68 O Come O Come Emmanuel (Matt Maher) 48 72 O Holy Night (Sufjan Stevens) 28 Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (Glee Cast) 12 Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (Bruce Springsteen) 16 60 Silent Night (The Impressions) 23 62 Silver Bells (John Denver) 6 56 We Need A Little Christmas (Sufjan Stevens) 4 We Three Kings (Tenth Avenue North) 40 We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Jerry Jeff Walker) 22 What A Glorious Night (Sidewalk Prophets) 32 What Child Is This? (Freedom Fry) 31 Up On The Housetop (Zach Gill) 10 Guide For Using This Book Song Choices The artist from whom I’ve based each song’s transcriptions follows the song title in parenthesis. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Caedmon’s Call) The renditions from artists used in this songbook transform the traditional (hymnal, liturgical) songs into folk, modern rock, pop and blues genres of popular music. Considerable effort has been made avoid overlooking any of the standards from the traditional Christmas canon in my attempt to curate interesting-to-me versions. It made the cut if it could meet the following criteria: 1) Its vibe is energetic, modern and universally appealing 2) Its arrangement is straightforward for playalong without prior familiarity 3) Popular recordings are readily accessible on streaming sites 4) Its composition features the guitar as a prominent or very supporting role or could easily be notated as such Some of these songs, like the Sufjan Stevens selections - who has developed an enormous catalogue of Christmas songs that made their way into indie stardom in the 2010’s from modest DIY recordings given to family and friends over the holidays (some of which, having little to none universal appeal due to their flamboyant approach i.e. “What Child Is This, Anyway” couldn’t make the cut) - are personal favorites of mine. Some of these songs you’ve heard on the radio too much but made the cut anyway; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s live (first performed in 1975) version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is probably or even definitely overplayed. Even still it (narrowly) won the spot in this collection over Colbie Collait’s 2004 studio recording of that song because of its iconic, classic rock timelessness and its easily playable arrangement despite Collait’s more shiney, contemporary and interesting-to-me version (which actually keeps Bruce’s iconic syncopation of the lyrics in the refrain). Some of these artists you haven’t heard of before. Some of these artists I hadn’t heard of before. Some of these artists you won’t ever hear again. Some of these versions will be played as acoustic guitar versions instead i.e. the version here of “Angels We Have Heard On High” by Christian punk rock darlings Relient K (2004 Grammy Award nominee for Best Rock Gospel Album) who join Weezer (another personal favorite artist of mine from the ‘90s) in this songbook for all the headbangers out there. Some of these songs are fancy jazz songs - like Christmas Time is Here and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (renditions from Christian rock bands Mercy Me and Sidewalk Prophets, respectfully) - and have been simplified a tiny bit for general playability. There is a playlist of the songs featured in this book on Spotify titled “We Need A Little Christmas” Aaron’s Song Introductions You will see a line of text underneath the title of every song indicating three important things: 1) time signature (indicated only for exceptions to common 4/4 time, which is assumed and not indicated as such), 2) key 3) melody description using intervals of the first chord played to aid the singer 3/4 time; KEY OF C; melody starts on root and ascends to 3, R, 2 Aaron’s Lyric & Chord Notation I’ve included (very informal and, as far as I know, invented) pitch placeholders in the form of interval numerals in superscript. This is an identification of the pitch to be sung in the melody at the point of the notated chord. It will be a useful reference for pitch matching if you are able to identify intervals in your chord voicings. By placing the indicated interval as the top note in your chord you will be able to hear or bring forward that particular pitch when necessary. This can easily be ignored during more casual playing but is indicated nonetheless maybe just for myself: 1, R or 8 = root note 3 = some kind of third (no delineation between major and minor) b7 = flat/minor seventh 7 = major seventh 1 v8 3 1 1 E E F F D /F#... G ... Look now! For glad and golden hours come swi-ftly on the wing Aaron’s Formatting Chords are placed above syllables that align to the significant (‘1’ and ‘3’) beats in the measure. Every downbeat is accounted for and most often the chords align to beat ‘one’. Ellipsis following a chord or lyric indicate an elongation (wherein certain cases the writing of additional chords or syllables would render the line less readable). Hyphens in between chords have the opposite affect: they shorten a chord’s length from previously established values. Hyphens in between lyric syllables represent an extension of that syllable, musical term for which is an “appoggiatura”. Because of your familiarity with most standard Christmas songs it will be unnecessary to think about the considerations described in the above sections as you perform them. If you care to use these tools I think they are useful designs for further study or more detailed reference but they are purely auxiliary. Standard Clef Notation I’ve included sections of instrumental passages based on the particulars of the artist’s rendition using standard clef notation on both treble and tablature clefs to make it possible to share your performance with other instruments that do not read music on TAB clef. The guitar, of course, can read on both and it would be good practice to work through playing the notes from the treble clef if you’re unfamiliar with it. There are rare occasions, like the example shown here, that two voices (parts) are given and share the same clef in which case one instrument plays the top notes while another plays the bottom. In these cases please know that it is not my design for one guitar to play both parts. Chords are given in addition to the lead parts for accompaniment roles and can be played on their own as a substitution during these instrumental sections. Additional Capo Variations The chord shapes used in some songs were adjusted for greater playability with the use of a capo and included separately in the back. When applicable, the song’s capo-adjusted page number is referred to in the Table of Contents and also on the song’s main listing in the upper right hand corner. None of the interval pitch placeholder numerals will be affected nor will the starting melody identification listed below the song titles. The key of the song remains the same and you will still be able to play along to the original recording. In the case where standard treble and tablature clef are shown please understand that notes on the treble clef remain unaltered with the use of a capo while fret marks on the tab clef; the position of the notes on the guitar fretboard are new. I kept them as close to open position as I could to avoid disorientation when finding high fret numbers. The actual chord name is shown in parenthesis for non-capo’d instruments while the new chord shapes for the capo’d instrument is shown as normal. Cheers, Glad Tidings & Merry Christmas! Play these songs with a glad spirit. Play these songs for the simple fun of it. Keep the book handy during the holidays. I think of the messages here as a celebration of togetherness and a universal Love from the Bible’s depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ, who was pretty awesome by all accounts. Maybe the glad tidings these songs provoke will extend, thrive, and grow stronger throughout the year. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you and yours. Cheers, Aaron We Need A Little Christmas (Sufjan Stevens) KEY OF G melody starts on 3rd and ascends 5, R, 3, INTRO (in 2) ||: G | G :|| VERSE 3 G G G Dm E7 Haul out the holly; put up the tree before my spirit falls again 1 A m Am Am D Fill up the stocking; I may be rushing things, but deck the halls Bm E7 again now... CHORUS 5 A m D G C For we need a little Christmas - Right this very minute Am D G C Candles in the window, carols at the spinet yes we Am D G C need a little Christmas right this very minute A7 D It hasn't snowed a single flurry - Santa dear we're in a hurry VERSE 3 G G G Climb down the chimney; turn on the brightest string of 1 Dm E7 A m Am lights I've ever seen; slice up the fruitcake, it's time we Am D Bm E7 hung some tinsel on that evergreen bough..