Learn to Play the Christmas Classic “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”
Excerpted from Christmas Songs for Beginning Ukulele.
Video by Diane Nalini | Arranged by Peter Penhallow
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge hears someone singing this song, picks up a ruler, and threatens to hit the stranger if he does not stop immediately. Most listeners are much more appreciative of this traditional carol, thought to go back as far as the 16th century.
Christmas Songs for Beginning Ukulele is a collection of favorite carols, arranged for ukulele. Here you’ll find everything you need to learn to play “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” including lyrics, chords, notation, and TAB. This is just one of 15 songs in the complete guide (available exclusively in the Ukulele Store.)
The meter is 4/4, also known as common time. Judging by the not-so-happy sound, you can probably guess that it’s in a minor key. This song is by far my personal favorite. It asks for almost a military feel, to be played boldly as no one has before. The accompaniment pattern uses a single strum per measure, over four beats. Then, in the fourth bar, the B7 chord is treated with two strums.
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With a little practice, you should soon be entertaining your friends and loved ones with this holiday favorite! Plus, the kinds of chords, chord progressions, rhythms, and melodies used in the songs featured in Christmas Songs for Beginning Ukulele are fundamental to countless styles of music – even if you only return to this repertoire during the holiday season, learning these tunes is well worth your time.
