Fingerpicking Christmas – Solo Guitar Songbook | 20 Classic Carols in Notes and Tablature | Includes Silent Night, Jingle Bells, The First Noel and More | Hal Leonard Sheet Music

I agree with other reviewers who have said that the arrangements in this book are easy, and are more for the beginner than the intermediate finger-picking guitarist. They do sound nice, though, so I gave the book 5 stars. These songs are very accessible for someone who has just a little experience with finger picking. It's a very good book for someone who is just getting going, or who has developed a bit of skill with finger-picking.Here is what I mean when I say the songs are fairly easy. You almost never pluck more than 2 strings at a time. The underlying chords are all open chords (except for a few F chords, but you don't have to be able to play an F chord to play these arrangements). No barring is required. You pretty much just finger the underlying open chord and play that chord arpeggiated while playing the melody with your 3rd or 4th finger. The vast majority of the playing is done in the first 3 frets so there isn't much hand movement up and down the neck, although in a couple of songs you do go up to the 7th or 8th fret on the first string (so you play a high B or C on that string a couple of times). There are no exotic chords and no strange or challenging fingerings.If you are more experienced and are looking for a challenge, or arrangements with more sophisticated harmonies, then this book probably isn't for you. Having said that, the book is cheap, so you aren't risking much by picking it up. And I can think of a couple of reasons why an intermediate to advanced guitarist might want this book. First, if you get asked to play some songs at a family Christmas gathering (or something like that), you could probably just grab this book and sight read everything in it. (Because, let's face it--how much time are you really going to spend practicing Christmas songs?) The result would be a nice performance, because even though the harmonies are simple, they do sound nice.The other reason why an intermediate or better guitarist might want this book is that it would serve as a starting point for making your own arrangements. You could take the notes in these songs and add 1 or 2 others to the chords to get sus, add, or slash chords, or you could change some of the chords to major 7th or minor 7th (or any other jazz chords that sound good to you) to get richer, more interesting harmonies (and more challenging pieces to play).So the bottom line is that I have really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for some fairly easy but still nice sounding arrangements of traditional Christmas songs. I will probably spice them up a bit at some point, but in the mean time, I have enjoyed playing the songs in this book as they are written.

I'm really enthused about this book, containing 20 traditional, favorite Christmas carols. It gives clear tabs for each song, in most all cases staying at or below the third fret, so it's appropriate even for beginners. The songs are all the traditional ones 100+ years old. If you want one for more contemporary songs like "Rudolph," "Silver Bells," "Here Comes Santa Claus," then get the companion book, FINGERPICKING YULETIDE, with 16 songs. Apparently written by the same author, its songs a little more often have notes above the 3rd fret, but still most of the renditions are quite simple. It's equally excellent. The lyrics are included in both books.The great thing about using these books is that everyone knows these songs, so you instantly get auditory feedback if you make a mistake. So they're excellent instructional tools.There is no text in either of these books, except for one introductory page.I only wish Hal Leonard had identified the author. He/she did a fine job and deserves credit.

I've been playing guitar for about 50 years, but taking fingerpicking lessons only about 50 days. The songs we learn in our class are more difficult and challenging than anything in this book. But that doesn't mean this is a walk in the park, either. I bought this so that I'd have some extra practicing material over the summer, and I'm quite happy with it!I chose this particular book because it's at the right level for where I am currently, and the song selection had a lot of my Christmas Favorites though (notably missing is "Mary , Did You Know?) I like the transcriptions in this book. You get the melody notes along with some well-placed harmony notes, and a few 'fill' notes and drones to keep the rhythm going smoothly. I'm not yet at the point of adding my own embellishments, but the arrangements do leave enough room to do so and I can envision doing that in the near future.I recommend this for those who are fairly new to fingerpicking.

This book has become a "go to" for me when entertaining family/friends or in other casual settings during the Christmas season. The arrangements are easy to play but sound remarkably good for being simple (and I don't have to spend much time prepping). Anyone above a beginner stage should be able to work these out pretty quickly.The collection is weighted in favor of the more "sacred" side of the Christmas music spectrum, which I love (rather than the "ho-ho-ho" stuff)--though it would be nice to have another volume with similar arrangements that includes more of the jovial/non-sacred favorites. A great addition to a guitar player's Christmas library!

gift

I am a beginner guitar player. I've been playing for 5 months or so steadily self taught. This book was great for me to practice. I started with Angels We Have Heard on High. It took me a a while to learn it completely but it's a good way to enjoy playing the guitar as a beginner. If you're an intermediate player I imagine you can look at this and pick it up quickly to have fun during the holidays. For a beginner I won't be learning a lot of the songs only a few. I recommend it for both types honestly. It's cheap to buy and a lot of good songs. For the beginner make sure you know the fundamentals of fingerstyle before jumping in.

These 20 arrangements are perfect for someone who's played fingerstyle enough to have basic technique happening, who plays (as s/he should) with a metronome, and practices the same material daily until s/he has it sounding like music. These tunes, played with precise timing and played in tune will please listeners, guaranteed.For more advanced players, these make good sight-reading pieces, and can serve as jumping-off points for your own more-intricate arrangements. Good book, no CD, none needed, imo.

Christmas gift, the person is very happy.

As promised

Das perfekte Fingerpicking- Buch für Freunde der englischsprachigen Weihnachtslieder.Wobei man manche der Songs durchaus auch in Deutschland mit deutschem Text singt. Und die Melodie bleibt ja die gleiche.Wie zum Beispiel:Go, Tell it on the Mountain - Komm, sagt es allen weiterO Come, All Ye Faithfull - Oh kommt, oh ihr GläubigenSilent Night - Stille NachtSämtliche Songs kommen mit Noten für Melodiestimme und Bass, TABs, Akkorden und Text. Und zumindest die ersten drei Strophen stehen direkt drunter, so dass man prima mitsingen kann während man spielt.Eine tolle Bereicherung für mein Repertoire an Weihnachtsliedern.

Arrangiamenti con armonia e melodia !di bellissime canzoni natalizie!

A good, numerous selection of carols/Christmas songs written in fairly easy guitar-friendly keys, mostly C or G, maybe a couple in A. I'd say I'm an intermediate guitarist and I found I was able to almost sight-read my way through the book. I think if you want to memorise some of the arrangements, they're great for beginners, but I found the simple arrangements and repetitive keys/chords a bit uninspiring after a while, and bought a more challenging jazz arrangement book which is now keeping me busy.