Category: MTMS Blog Posts

This one is my gift to all of you. :-) The song was originally by sung Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louie”. Whenever I sing a Christmas set list, I close with this song, featuring simple solo vocals and acoustic guitar.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
From now on, our troubles will be far away

Here we are, as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bow
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Enjoy.

This is a simple arrangement of Rudolph played on a lead guitar, an acoustic guitar, and some quiet percussion, featuring a head-nodding accent on beats 2 and 4. But the best part of the song is the extra verse at the end, where the reindeer actually apologize to poor Rudy.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas eve
Santa came to say:
“Rudolph with your nose so bright
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
“Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
you’ll go down in history.”

Well Rudolph he didn’t go for that
He said “I see through your silly games”
How could you look me in the face
When only yesterday you called me names?

Well all of the other reindeers, man,
well they sure did feel ashamed,
“Rudolph you know we’re sorry,
we’re truly gonna try to change.”

Enjoy:

Chick rock! This three-sister band is awesome to watch at a live concert, because they rotate instruments and all play everything with equal proficiency. They use a lot of synthesizer to create the orchestral sound in addition to the drums, driving rock guitar, bass, and amazing vocal harmonies. I love how the piece alternates from calm to crazy and back to calm, such as the riffs at 1:34, 1:55, etc. They’re queens of incredible harmonies, like the floating descant at 2:00 and the rich alto at 2:37.

O Holy Night

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born,

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born,
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Enjoy:

The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah is one of the most well-known and beloved orchestral pieces among fans of classical music. If you ever have the opportunity to see a live performance of the Messiah, know that it’s traditional for the audience to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus. The entire work is equally suited to Christmas and Easter.

It’s also one of the most fun pieces a choir can sing, because of how the melody passes from part to part, and how everyone gets equal moments to shine, even the altos! {e:delight} Not to mention how uplifting and inspirational the piece is.

Some traditionalists dislike the Soulful Celebration arrangement of this piece because “you can’t mess with perfection” and blah blah blah. Yes, the original sounds like angels singing. But you can’t tell me that the additions of trumpets, organ, drums, guitar, bass, and a hand-clappin’ gospel choir featuring syncopated rhythms adds nothing to the piece. I my opinion, it breaths new life into an old classic. I’ve included the original below for comparison. In the original, notice the rustling sound of the audience standing as they recognize the introduction to the piece.

Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!
The kingdom of this world is become
The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ
And He shall reign for ever and ever!
King of Kings, for ever and ever
And Lord of Lords, Hallelujah Hallelujah

For comparison, here is the original Hallelujah Chorus by G. F. Handel:

What would a 12 Days celebration be without “12 Days” by Straight No Chaser? This men’s a capella group features witty twists on classic songs, bad choreography, amazing harmonies and gorgeous vocal tone. Watch for cameos of the following songs:

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
“Deck the Halls”
“The Boar’s Head Carol”
“Carol of the Bells”
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
“I Have a Little Dreidel”,
…and “Africa” by Toto!

Here’s a snippet of the hilarious “Africa” lyrics:
Nine ladies dancing, they were dancing for me
Eight maids-a-milking, they were milking just for me
I had Christmas down in Africa…

Enjoy!