Rough night.

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Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas holidays but I just hate playing and singing holiday songs. Anyone else think that they are just all goofy and hard to play?
 
I love playing Brittni Paiva's version of The Christmas Song, (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).
 
There's a simple solution to this dilemma. Don't learn any Christmas songs in the first place.

I only know and play one Christmas song. Feliz Navidad.
 
There's a simple solution to this dilemma. Don't learn any Christmas songs in the first place.

I only know and play one Christmas song. Feliz Navidad.

If it were only that easy. It seems that there is no way for me to avoid them in the next couple of months. I will try though.
 
If it were only that easy. It seems that there is no way for me to avoid them in the next couple of months. I will try though.

Well if I have to turn down work then I turn down work and I have turned down paying gigs from people who wanted me to play Christmas parties.
At the risk of straying into a religious discussion here I just cant play/sing Christmas carols anymore even though I did grow up singing them at home as well as when in a Youth Choir.
 
"Blue Christmas" is the only Xmas song I do.

John Colter
 
Well some of the old standards can be tedious at times, but I welcome the season as an opportunity to bring out all those holiday spoof songs. Among the ones I have brought to jams include:

Rusty Chevrolet
It's the Most Fattening Time of the Year
The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen
The Twelve Pains of Christmas
We Wish You Weren't Living With Us
I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

I was going to post the chord sheets to all of these, but the files are all over 20 kb and the system won't let me.
 
Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas holidays but I just hate playing and singing holiday songs. Anyone else think that they are just all goofy and hard to play?

Daniel Ward just sent a "21 holiday songs from around the world" to the printers. Might be a refreshing take on Holiday songs.
 
Quite a diverse array of viewpoints in this thread, and I'm enjoying reading it! I really like a lot of the Christmas and Holiday tunes, but my problem is, they're only "in season" for about a month (roughly, November 25 to December 25), and I always seem to have to re-learn them every year; so by the time I get them down really well, the season is over! I feel kinda bad saying this, but it's almost like it's "too much trouble" to go through that every year. Gosh, I feel like an old crank. Oh well, maybe the answer is to say, alright, here comes the Holiday season, and accordingly I am going to learn 3 Christmas/Holiday songs really well and be prepared to incorporate them into whatever outings I may do during the season. Maybe a little will go a long way... Now, for the question that's really on my mind: Mr. Link, why did you entitle this particular thread "Rough Night"? Not trying to be smart here, just kinda wondering if I'm missing something... :D
 
Well some of the old standards can be tedious at times, but I welcome the season as an opportunity to bring out all those holiday spoof songs. Among the ones I have brought to jams include:

Rusty Chevrolet
It's the Most Fattening Time of the Year
The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen
The Twelve Pains of Christmas
We Wish You Weren't Living With Us
I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

I was going to post the chord sheets to all of these, but the files are all over 20 kb and the system won't let me.

Is there a site where I can find these? I play "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," but the others are unknown to me. From the titles, I think they should be interesting and worth a look.
 
One way to combat the Christmas Songs blahs, I think, is to engage the audience and have them sing along. Even if you have to feed them the words.

Interspersed with performing some new, unusual or comical songs. It almost always entertains the crowd, and new and funny songs actually causes people to stop and listen. And participate.
 
. Now, for the question that's really on my mind: Mr. Link, why did you entitle this particular thread "Rough Night"? Not trying to be smart here, just kinda wondering if I'm missing something... :D

Because last night I was one of several musicians and groups scattered about a winter festival and I struggled with the holiday songs all evening. Because no one wanted to listen to me whine here at home I was hoping I would get a little love from my like minded friends here. That's all.
 
Is there a site where I can find these? I play "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," but the others are unknown to me. From the titles, I think they should be interesting and worth a look.

Let's see if posting a few of them this way works.
 

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Is there a site where I can find these? I play "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," but the others are unknown to me. From the titles, I think they should be interesting and worth a look.

And the last two.
 

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Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas holidays but I just hate playing and singing holiday songs. Anyone else think that they are just all goofy and hard to play?

Unsure why I keep getting duplicate posts. I refreshed the page and it reposted. Sigh.
 
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Three great songs that I enjoy:
Are You From a Dysfunctional Family (no place like home for the holidays)
Lots and Lots and Lots of Latkas
All I want for Christmas is Another Ukulele
 
I'm not Christian, but I had to sing Christmas songs in school choirs most of my life. So I'm not too enamored of them, either.

However, I've learned several holiday songs, because my partner and I always have a gig during one of the local "Victorian Strolls", and it is expected. But I've also found that when children come in to listen to us, there are very few "holiday" songs I need to do.

I always keep a copy of the US alphabet (Zee, not Zed) with me, and if a child is 5 or younger, I'll sing the alphabet song inside out and backward - that usually draws out even the shyest kid, and starts the giggle machine.

We also do a version of the God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Good King Wenceslas (Bare Naked Ladies), Jingle Bells (which is NOT a Holiday song!), and my favorite, "Big Dead Bird", by Lou & Peter Berryman.

-Kurt​
 
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My group of 50 or so plays 2 or 3 holiday shows every year and I enjoy playing all the Christmas songs for the audiences, including Hippopotamus, and even Hanukah in Santa Monica. I have a long play list on my iPhone that I only listen to the day after Thanksgiving up to the end of Xmas day.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 11 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 35)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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