New! Christmas Favorites

Today I am introducing Christmas Favorites, a new kind of Christmas book.

All my music comes with a studio license, so a single teacher can make unlimited copies for years of playing.

Christmas Favorites is a collection of five well-known Christmas songs arranged for beginners playing five-finger patterns, with colorful, original art. Four of the songs are in middle C position, one is in “near middle C” position, and there are no eighth notes. The student part contains the melody so the accompaniments are optional.  Each song includes fingering and expression marks. The book also includes a colorful cover, a certificate, a song check-off list, and a table of contents. 

But that is only part of the book! The holidays are a perfect time to encourage families and friends to make music together, so I included parts for the entire family. There are chords to encourage Dad or Mom to play along on a ukulele, guitar, or autoharp. Use the chord names as the bass or play the chord name on bells. Show students how to improvise with chord charts. Have one student play the chords while another plays the melody. To keep the book less cluttered for beginners, the chords are above the accompaniment, but to use as a lead sheet, write the chords above the lyrics. Play duets at group lessons or Christmas parties, add rhythm instruments! You are limited only by your imagination.

The optional accompaniment parts were carefully written so that a sibling who has had a few years of piano can play along, so give older students the book to play along with a friend or family member. They range in level from late elementary to early intermediate. Maybe grandma, or an uncle can play the simple melody and your student can play the accompaniments. Let’s get families and friends making music together!

Parents and siblings often have trouble reading two hands on one staff as in method books at this level. However, the accompaniments in Christmas Favorites are written on the treble and bass staves (with fingering) to make it easier for parents and older students to play along.

Songs include:

• Jingle Bells
• Jolly Old St. Nicholas
• Good King Wenceslas
• Up on the Housetop
• We Three Kings of Orient Are

I hope that when December rolls around, you will send me photos or videos of families and friends making music together!