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Thread: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

  1. #1

    Default Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Hey Everyone,

    I'm newer to the mando. This is my first holiday season with it. I was curious as to what some of your favorite Christmas tunes are to play on the mando? If you have any tabs and would be interested in sharing, I'd be very appreciative!

    Happy Turkey Day!

  2. #2
    Registered User BoxCarJoe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=14G...7sh_PBUowTvU1P

    My friend and I have been doing these duets. Mandolin & Mandola
    They are easy and sound really good.
    Hope that helps.

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  4. #3
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    There are several Tab collections (Butch Baldassari's Evergreen is a great place to start) and is available through many online retailers.

    I also love Allan Alexander's collection for mandolin.

    You can also get TablEdit and visit Mandozine and download tons for free.

    Jamie

    PS I'm about to start playing my holiday tunes myself.
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

    + Give Blood, Save a Life +

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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoogus View Post
    Hey Everyone,

    I'm newer to the mando. This is my first holiday season with it. I was curious as to what some of your favorite Christmas tunes are to play on the mando? If you have any tabs and would be interested in sharing, I'd be very appreciative!

    Happy Turkey Day!
    Good thread. I just started with the Mando about 6 weeks ago. I promised my wife I would learn a couple of Christmas tunes for the holidays. I picked up "Christmas Carols for Mandolin" from Hal Leonard. I found a couple that were within the realm of being able to learn them in a month or so and I have slogging away at them daily. Right now I am working on "Up on the Housetop" and "O' Christmas Tree"

  6. #5
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoogus View Post
    Hey Everyone,

    I'm newer to the mando. This is my first holiday season with it. I was curious as to what some of your favorite Christmas tunes are to play on the mando? If you have any tabs and would be interested in sharing, I'd be very appreciative!

    Happy Turkey Day!
    Welcome to mandolin!

    Let's see, I know of staff notation that I can instantly recommend:

    https://www.vioolschoolsillem.nl/hom...in_y_piano.pdf

    http://acollectionofchristmascarols.com/pdfs/ccc.pdf

    https://sheets-piano.ru/wp-content/u...s-Songbook.pdf

    But what about TAB (which I almost never use for mandolin - lute, steel guitar, yes)?

    I did find some...

    https://mandolintab.org/category/christmas/

    from our own forum:

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...andard-amp-Tab

    and some commercial offerings:

    https://www.alfred.com/just-for-fun-...in/p/00-35008/

    https://www.guitarandlute.com/christmas_mandolin.html

    https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Car.../dp/1423413989

    Merry Christmas

  7. #6

    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoogus View Post
    ... If you have any tabs and would be interested in sharing, I'd be very appreciative! ...
    FWIW, if you haven't already seen these, some play-along tabs I made several years ago. It's just midi sound, about as far from hi-fi as you can get, but I find this sort of thing useful for practicing when learning a tune.

    Note that these tabs are just the basic melodies, not special mandolin-specific licks or anything, so (after learning the basic tunes) you'll probably eventually want to spice them up and customize to suit.


    1. "Calypso Carol"


    (or direct link) There is also a slow-speed version.


    2. "Up on the Housetop"


    (or direct link) There is also a half-speed version.


    3. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", in two formats:

    a) Printable PDF, and
    b) tef file (requires TablEdit or free TefView app to open the file).
    The above "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" files were posted several years ago in a different thread, along with a video of me trying to actually play this tune, using my usual departures from the written notes.

    If I ever get around to it, I will make a play-along video/tab version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and will probably use the same midi backing track as the one on the video of me trying to play the tune.

    That's all I've got right now. I was thinking I had more Christmas tabs but those are all I can find at the moment.

  8. #7

    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Found another one I wrote up a while back, at the Song-a-Week group:

    God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen printable PDF mandolin tab four-part arrangement for 2 mandolins, GDAE tenor guitar or octave mandolin, and CGDA mandocello. It has tab *and* standard notation, and is based on an 1800s piano score.

    MuseScore midi playback of the above file, sounds like this:

    Last edited by Jess L.; Nov-22-2018 at 8:04am. Reason: Trying to get audio file to playback

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  10. #8

    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    I dont have any TAB for it, but O Holy Night is one of the prettiest and most powerful songs I can think of. Played on a mandolin, so it sounds effortless, with seamless tremolo entrances and exits, it is truly awesome.

  11. #9

    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Let me try again to post the audio/sound of that tab I posted in post #7 above, for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"... the little embedded audio player only seems to work for a couple of hours before it stops working again. Maybe this direct download link will be more reliable:

    god-rest-ye-merry-gentlemen-midi.mp3


    In other mandolin-related Christmasy stuff, I forgot to mention in my earlier post here, that I also have a mandolin chord-diagram video for the Alan Jackson song "Let It Be Christmas". Ok so that's not tab, but chord diagrams are (IMO) sort of like tab in that they provide a visual representation of where to put the fingers on the fretboard. The video has chord diagrams for guitar, mandolin, and ukulele. No written melody-notes though (I'm not licensed to display the written melody notes for this song), but - FWIW - it does have lyrics and a simple midi backing track.

    Direct link, or embedded below:

  12. #10
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    My 2-cent contribution . . . .

    (No refund requests, please!)


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlI-PEhx48

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    Registered User peterleyenaar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes


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    Registered User mandolin breeze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    It's gotta be the quintessential (Mando) Christmas album. I'll be queuing it up again real soon . . . it's become a Family Tradition!!!


    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by peterleyenaar View Post
    I am soooooooo glad that Roland's video was posted after mine - otherwise, I would have looked more foolish than normal . . .

    Thanks for sharing!

  17. #14
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    The "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" off of Butch Baldassari's Evergreen is my favorite Christmas tune to play. What a great arrangement! That book/CD is the best overall mando/Christmas book for me and I have a few.

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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    I think Carol of the Bells is wonderfully suited to a mandolin ensemble.

    Blessings

  19. #16
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by mandolin breeze View Post
    It's gotta be the quintessential (Mando) Christmas album. I'll be queuing it up again real soon . . . it's become a Family Tradition!!!


    Click image for larger version. 

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    After I saw your post I looked it up and my library has a copy for download. So, I will be listening to it this weekend

  20. #17
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    If not seeming to irreverent, 'Here Comes Santa Claus' is a fun tune ..

    I just wing it playing by ear.. stuffed in my head tunes..

    rather than try to read tabs, and never did get standard notation Learnin' ..
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

  21. #18
    Registered User mandolin breeze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Quote Originally Posted by DaveGinNJ View Post
    After I saw your post I looked it up and my library has a copy for download. So, I will be listening to it this weekend
    You're one lucky dawg to have such a hip library . . . enjoy, it's a fabulously beautiful and timeless album.

  22. #19

    Default Re: Favorite Mando Christmas Tunes

    Thanks everyone for all the tunes, much appreciated!!

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