Ringo Starr offers an easy-to-follow introduction to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” making this classic Christmas song suitable for beginners.
Behold the excitement and anticipation surrounding Santa’s visit with this timeless tune! All it takes are four simple chords for anyone to join in the song and bring joy and holiday spirit alive!
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Santa Claus as we know him today first appeared in the 1800s when Clement Clark Moore composed his humorous poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas. Moore depicted him as an overweight jolly man riding reindeers through the skies on sleighs pulled by them before coming down chimneys with gifts for children.
Saint Nick is also known as Kris Kringle or Pelznickel and lives at the North Pole. Each Christmas Eve he brings gifts to children by reindeer named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Donner who ride behind his sleigh and guide its progress along a red nose that lights up with LEDs to lead him through his journey.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is an iconic family Christmas classic. This story of an unlikely hero takes place during one particularly dark and foggy Christmas Eve night.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first made an appearance in a 1964 TV special and has become a part of our holiday culture ever since, becoming best friends with elf Hermey, prospector Yukon Cornelius, and other characters along his quest to be Santa’s ninth and lead reindeer. Since then, his popularity has seen merchandise produced featuring him and even appearances on postage stamps!
TV Funhouse in 2004 presented stop motion puppets of CBS network stars like Jeff Probst from Survivor, Ray Romano from Everybody Loves Raymond, and Doris Roberts from Everybody Loves Doris.
Merry Blah Blah Blah
Merry Blah Blah Blah offers a darkly humorous take on traditional Christmas themes and commercialization of the holiday season with lyrics that reference violence and revenge, hinting that our pursuit of happiness and joy at this time may lead us astray from deeper issues and values, celebrating violence instead.
Lordi’s seven-album release, Lordiversity, saw this song released to coincide with it and received widespread critical acclaim. Musically speaking, Lordi’s Lordiversity included an energetic and catchy rock track called Lordiversity.
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
The Christmas Song has long been one of the most beloved seasonal classics and serves as an excellent teaching tool. Its lyrics contain intervals and scales for music theory students to absorb.
Torme and Wells composed this timeless classic in 1946. Nat King Cole recorded it numerous times throughout his career – first on The Nat King Cole Story album and finally as part of Christmas for Kids From One to Ninety-Two.
Beginners can easily learn this song due to its straightforward structure. Although some beginners may find the Bm chord difficult, persistence will pay off and you will soon see results!
Away in a Manger
Away in a Manger has long been a Christmas staple, often featured at carol services and nativity plays. Who was responsible for its composition? Originally it was thought that Reformation leader Martin Luther wrote its lyrics and music for his children; however, later research disproved this theory.
This Christmas carol first made its debut in 1887 as published in Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses. Later published as Carols for Choirs in 1911, both versions remain popular, though its melody differs between versions.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
John Denver and the Muppets made history when they released a folk-friendly version, yet this song has been passed along from caroler to caroler for centuries, spreading holiday joy all across the globe. This may explain its effectiveness this holiday season!
This song stands out as one of few English Christmas songs which both wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, possibly due to its history when wealthy individuals would give gifts like figgy pudding to their neighbors.
The melody itself is quite irreverent and should be performed with some exuberant energy. Additionally, there are a few instances of non-diatonic harmony – chords which do not belong to A major.