Christmas Tunes

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  1. JeanM
    JeanM
    This is my first video posting in the SOTW social group. I’ve really enjoyed this group since the very beginning and even though I don’t have the musical ability or the A/V equipment of other posters, I wanted to contribute. I have a more obscure tune to share. This is a Christmas carol written in Canada in the 1600’s by a Jesuit priest who wrote this for the Huron Indians. Here are some of the words:

    'Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled
    That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead;
    Before their light the stars grew dim and wondering hunters heard the hymn,
    Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

    I especially like how this sounds on a lower voiced instrument and I’m playing this on my Weber custom Gallatin mandola.
  2. ChrisStewart
    ChrisStewart
    Cool song, thanks JeanM

    Well I haven't worked up any Christmas instrumentals but here is my band playing Beautiful Star of Bethlehem at a community center a week or two ago.

  3. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Very nice Jean. I've always liked that one. My Mom had it on a Christmas record that she played every year. I halfway worked it out on cittern last year. I'll have to revisit it.
  4. OldSausage
    OldSausage
    That is a pretty tune Jean, and it sounds great on your mandola. Nice video from Chris, too, good harmonies there.
  5. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Very nice Jean, I love the sound of your mandola and what a wonderful tune to boot.
  6. Manfred Hacker
    Manfred Hacker
    OS, thanks so much for making the effort of putting together and sending this Christmas gift.
    Merry Christmas
  7. dj coffey
    dj coffey
    Hey, I think I know that tune! Nicely done.

    Way to go Jean! Get out there in front of that camera!
  8. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    I learned this one yesterday. It's from a cassette of instrumental Christmas carols that I listen to every year. I picked it out by ear but here are the abc notes. They are pretty close to the version I learned.

    X: 5
    T:Good Christian Men Rejoice
    % Nottingham Music Database
    S:Trad
    M:6/8
    K:F
    F|"F"F2F A2B|"F"c2d "C7"c2c|"F"F2F A2B|"F"c2d "C7"c3|"F"c2d c2B|
    "F"A2G "Dm"F3|"F"F3 "F/a"F3|"Bb"G2G "C7"A2G|"Bb"F2"c"G "F"A3|"F"c2d c2B|\
    "F"A2G "Dm"F2F|
    "Bb"G2G "C7"A2G|"Bb"F2"c"G "F"A3|"Dm"D2D "A7"E2E|"Dm"F3 "C7"c3|"F"A2A "C7"G2G|\
    "F"F3 -F2:|

  9. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Great tune, and such a beautiful sounding instrument.... cittern, isn't it?
  10. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Yep.
  11. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Cosy, clean and woody like a cottage floor on a Christmas morning, littered with gifts, just before the kids are let in. Good one Keith!

    I wonder but this tune reminds me of Frere Jacques every time I hear it.

    P.s. I just remembered why this is so familiar to me: it is a German 15th century carol called In Dulci Jubilo (sung in a mixture of Latin and German); we used to sing that in the choir at school, and there is even a version by Mike Oldfield.
  12. dj coffey
    dj coffey
    Keith, what tuning are you using on your instrument?

    This is a really great thread. I've added many of the Youtube versions to my favorites so that I can use them for inspiration (and practice) next year!.
  13. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Bertram, you do write the most imaginative comments. Thanks.

    DJ, it's tuned GDAda. I didn't really look at the notes I posted but I believe I'm actually playing in a different key.
  14. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Keith, the ABC you posted was for the key of F, which I hardly EVER play in... what key do you think you are playing in?
  15. SteveJ
    SteveJ
    Keith is playing it in the key of C#. He seems to be tuned down a 1/2 step so he is using the fingerings for the key of D.

    X: 1
    T:Good Christian Men Rejoice
    % Nottingham Music Database
    S:Trad
    M:6/8
    K:Dmaj
    D|"D"D2D F2G|"D"A2B "A7"A2A|"D"D2D F2G|"D"A2B "A7"A3|"D"A2B A2G|
    "D"F2E "Bm"D3|"D"D3 "D/f#"D3|"G"E2E "A7"F2E|"G"D2"a"E "D"F3|"D"A2B A2G|\
    "D"F2E "Bm"D2D|
    "G"E2E "A7"F2E|"G"D2"a"E "D"F3|"Bm"B,2B, "F#7"C2C|"Bm"D3 "A7"A3|"D"F2F "A7"E2E|\
    "D"D3 -D2
  16. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Oops! I didn't realize I wasn't in standard pitch. My one year old son got a hold of my tuner and has hidden it somewhere so I've been tuning by ear.. I intended to be playing in Dmajor.
  17. dj coffey
    dj coffey
    Mystery solved! Thanks for getting to the bottom of it Barbara, Steve and Keith.

    Keith, I've faved your video so that next Christmas when I work on tunes I can copy - er, be inspired - by your rendition!
  18. KeithMcIsaac
    KeithMcIsaac
    Ha, ha. I'm glad you liked it. I do think I played it a bit faster than I should have.
  19. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    It's the wrong season, but maybe this one can sneak through as a lent tune...

    This is "Drive The Cold Winter Away", which appeared in the first edition of the Playford collection in 1651. However, I learned it as the title track of the wonderful 1975 acoustic Christmas album of the same name by Horslips -- by far their most traditional-sounding album and a long-time favourite of mine.

    The tune is very simple but really very pretty. This was the very first track I recorded in my binge session on Sunday afternoon, and as the tune is quite short it might have benefited from being repeated.



    Most ABC's I found on the web are in 6/8 or 6/4 and really quite different from how I (and Horslips) play it, but the one below is the version I play. It also comes with words and the alternative title "In Praise Of Christmas".

    X: 1
    T:To Drive the Cold Winter Away
    Z:transcribed by Tom Keays - htkeays@syr.edu
    M:4/4
    L:1/8
    F:http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/ab...ngs/carols.abc 2010-03-30 23:12:31 UT
    K:Em
    E | G2 F<E B3 e | d2 c<B g3 G |
    w:All hail to the days that mer- it more praise, Than
    A3 B c2 d<c | (B4 B3) E |
    w:all the months of the year,_ And
    G2 F<E B3 e | d2 c<B g3 G |
    w:wel- come the nights that dou- ble de- lights, As
    A3 B c2 d<c | (B4 B3) e |
    w:well for the poor as the peer! Good
    d2 c<B d3 e | c2 B<A c3 d |
    w:for- tune at- tend each mer- ry man's friend, That
    B2 A<G F3 E | g4 g3 e |
    w:doth but the best that he may, For-
    d2 c<B d3 e | c2 B<A c3 d |
    w:get- ting old wrongs with ca- rols and songs, To
    B2 A<G F2 E<F | (E4 E3) |]
    w:drive the cold win- ter a- way._

    Martin
  20. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
  21. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    So now, you not only get to suffer through my mandolin playing but my home movies as well. This is the song Christmas is Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat, played on a 1914 Gibson A-3. It's one of my kids favorite tunes and when they heard me recording it, they begged to have their turn with the microphoen too.

  22. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    And here's a medly with two of my favorite carrols: Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, and Bring a Torch Janette Isabella. Both this set and the tune above are played in GDGD tuning.

  23. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Here's the last song. I recorded this earlier, but put a video with it while I was making the other two. It's "Do You Hear What I Hear" in GDGD tuning.

  24. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Marcelyn, nice playing and movie making and cute kids too. I'm really liking your GDGD playing.

    Here's my version of Drive The Cold winter Away:

  25. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    David,

    That's a lovely recording of Drive The Cold Winter Away -- reminds me a lot of the Horslips arrangement in which I first came across the tune. The combination of mandolin with concertina works very nicely, and somehow has a properly Christmassy feel to it.

    We somehow seem to have both Christmas threads active at the same time, with a number of post in both in the last few days. Eddie's "Drive The Cold Winter Away" is in the other thread, as is an Italian Christmas tune I posted yesterday.

    Martin
  26. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    I know what I want for Christmas, and it's a mandonator! But I wonder how it would fair coming down the chiminey.

    That was a really fun medly, David. I could even hear the mandonator immitating sleigh bells at one point. I've been playing Deck the Halls a little too, and think it sounds especially good in GDGD.
  27. Martin Whitehead
    Martin Whitehead
    Marcelyn, what a charming family video and lovely background music! That's terrific.
  28. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Beautiful, David. That arrangement is just perfect.
  29. Eddie Sheehy
    Here's a Christmas Medley of Melodies... on a Dio Dinos Bouzouki tuned GGDDAADD. Of course after I finished I remembered all the ones I wanted to include...still...

  30. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    The Spirit of Christmas Future visited last night. He showed me a CD by Eddie entitled "Bouzouki by the Fireside."
  31. weirtk
    weirtk
    Good stuff Eddie, tis the season and all that, well very nearly...
  32. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Epic medley and very nicely played, Eddie! (That sure looks like a traditional Greek bouzouki...)
  33. Eddie Sheehy
    Thank's guys. It's a flat-back (Irish) Bouzouki custom-made by a Greek Bouzouki maker. he also makes instruments for Alec Finn of De Danann. It's probably closer in sound to the original hybrid instruments that Moynahan and Lunny played in the early 70's.
  34. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I've just recorded the Fairport Convention song "Now Be Thankful" on mandolin (my Ajr) and tenor guitar (Ozark tenor, tuned GDAE), and as it is now widely sung as a Christmas carol -- and has lyrics to match -- I thought it would be a good match in this thread as well as my earlier Fairport thread. Apologies if you see this twice; it's the same recording in both threads.

    I've played the music as it appears in the Fairport Songbook Vol. 1, doubling up on melody and rhythm track on both mandolin and tenor guitar, i.e. a total of four tracks, recorded with Audacity.

    As it's an audio-only recording, I've added some paintings matching the mood and the words -- it's a very romantic song, so it has to be a romantic painter and Caspar David Friedrich sprang to mind.

    Now Be Thankful (Richard Thompson & Dave Swarbrick)

    When the stone is grown too cold to kneel
    In crystal waters I'll be bound
    Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel

    Now be thankful for good things below
    Now be thankful to your maker
    For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know

    When the fire is grown too fierce to breathe
    In burning irons I'll be bound
    Fierce as fire weary to the sounds upon the wheel

    Now be thankful for good things below
    Now be thankful to your maker
    For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know

    When the stone is grown too cold to kneel
    In crystal waters I'll be bound
    Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel

    Now be thankful for good things below
    Now be thankful to your maker
    For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know



    Martin
  35. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    That's a really nice performance of a beautiful melody, Martin. Has a wintry feel to it.

    Here's my multitracked version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" with some New Mexico scenes around my place and, of course, some pix of mandolins. It's done with 2 mandolins, mandola, and mandocello. Hope you enjoy it.



    Soprano and alto voices: Gilchrist Model 5 mandolin
    Tenor: Collings MT2 mandola
    Bass: 1921 Gibson K-1 mandocello

    There's a free download of it you if want at http://hillbillychambermusic.bandcamp.com
    Feel free to share it with anyone who might like it, on FaceBook, etc. Thanks!!
  36. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Nicely done Martin!

    Don, you're a regular one man mandolin orchestra! Thanks for sharing.
  37. Grommet
    Grommet
    Don that was a beautiful arrangement, and masterfully played. Thanks for posting!

    Scott
  38. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Martin, some of those pictures seemed surprisingly familiar to me , having been a CDF expert in my younger years. I am not sure the title painting was what he directly associated with Christmas, though...

    Don, with that band you can busk at any wintry windblown gaslit corner and move Ebenezer Scrooge to tears, leaving the Salvation Army in the dust.
  39. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Bertram,

    The paintings weren't necessarily intended to be associated with Christmas, although Friedrich clearly intended some to invoke sacred themes, and the sunlit windows in "Huttens Grab" evoke lit candles. I selected them because I like them and thought they match the mood of the tune, and sequenced them to broadly match the lyrics of the three verses of the song (first and third of which are identical): the images displayed during the first verse are bleak, wintry and cold ("When the stone is grown too cold to kneel"), those in the second introduce unsettling sunlight (always from below the horizon, and glowing like embers) and a rise in temperature ("When the fire is grown too fierce to breathe") and those in the third are meant to sum up the song as a whole and the thanksgiving sentiments in the chorus ("Now be thankful for good things below / Now be thankful to your maker") by evoking places of worship/sacred places. This being Friedrich, and a German romantic, these are of course all in ruins which also sits well with the mood of the song.

    Martin
  40. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Thanks, guys, I really appreciate your comments. Glad you enjoyed it.
  41. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Don, I really love that version. Those instruments sound incredible together.

    Only 15 days to go... Here's a fun Appalachian Christmas song. It's in GDGD tuning.

  42. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Such joy be to you too! And I do believe I'll have a little bit of that Kentucky ale... Thanks, Marcelyn. What a simply wonderful solo rendition of this tune.
  43. Eddie Sheehy
    Absolutely brilliant Marcy, made my day brighter...
  44. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Thanks so much guys. I do like that one--one of the less pushy Wassails. Carolers get downright passive-aggressive when they start asking for ale in those old tunes, but it beats singing for figgy pudding right?
  45. Mike O'Connell
    Mike O'Connell
    Another enjoyable tune, Marcelyn. Super singing with solid playing at a toe tapping tempo. Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
  46. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Fantastic, Marcelyn!
  47. TDMpicker
    TDMpicker
    Here is a little four song melody played on my recently acquired instrument.



    This is a 1915 Weymann & Sons Keystone State No 24. Weymann was a maker of high quality banjos and mandolins during the late teens and 20's. The quest was for volume in an era before amplification. This is a very well preserved example that still looks, plays and sounds great even tho it is 96 years old. The model # 24, also reflected the selling price in the year of manufacture. Thus, this instrument sold for $24 in 1915. In today's dollars that about $540.

    Weymann photos
  48. Lou Giordano
    Lou Giordano
    What a great group, lots of talent. Great songs. I was tempted to put something up but ......
  49. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Great medly, and I do love mandolin banjos. You get some great tone out of yours. It made me have to go play some Christmas songs on my little Vega. I'm glad you're enjoying your new instrument.
  50. Lou Giordano
    Lou Giordano
    Well I decided to go a head and put this up for my first. It's far from perfect, just like me

    Here you "What Child is this"

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