It’s that season again—can’t you tell by the porch-sized, light-up Santas at Costco? Yes, Christmas time’s a comin’!
If you want to join in the holiday fun with your ukulele in hand, now’s the time to start getting a bead on those familiar Christmas tunes you’ll be singing around the tree. While there are some great “for purchase” resources with holiday tunes arranged for ukulele, a few years’ back I pulled together a listing of websites from around the world featuring oodles of traditional and contemporary Christmas and holiday songsheets.
Some of those sources have disappeared and some have been added so I’ve updated the list. Browse through what you see below and get a start on your holiday playing today. Most are for songs with chords and lyrics only, some include fingerpicking (which really sounds lovely, especially “Carol of the Bells”).
Consider them an early stocking stuffer sent your way with my best wishes! (And, if you know of any sources for Christmas tunes, add yours in the “comments” box below.)
- An Ukulele Christmas Songbook provided by Ray at UKUke with ukulele chord shapes.
- Tablature (aka some “fingerpicking”) by the folks who make Akulele Ukuleles. Scroll down to see “Silent Night,” Away in a Manger,”Carol of the Bells,” “Nutrcracker March” and “Ode to Joy.”
- John King was renowned for his approach to ukulele—he delighted in playing this humble little instrument as if it were as worthy of depth and interest as any of the more “classical” stringed instruments. His ukulele arrangements of classic music and Hawaiian tunes were legendary. Here you can find tablature arrangements of “What Child is This” and “Carol of the Bells,” just in time for the holiday season.
- Not specific to ukuleles, but a variety of Christmas songs with chord names provided by BettyLou. Just play the named chord shape you know for your ukulele.
- Ukulele tablature by Dominator, a good friend who is well-known in the world of ukuleles for his tablature and inspired playing style—and now he’s making ukulele, too! His tablature at this link includes “Christmas Island.”
- A collection of classic Christmas songs, arranged for ukulele by Ron, who describes himself as an “old strummer”–but his arrangements are fresh and fun.
- The Christmas ukulele arrangements in this 34-page PDF book by Jerry Dallal just sound really good to me–and are simple to play and sing. I especially like “In Excelsis Deo.”
- Jump over to Ukulele Boogaloo for some fun holiday ukulele arrangements—from “Christmas in Killarney” to “Santa Baby” and “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
- Ukulele entertainer extraordinaire Ralph Shaw worked with the Vancouver Ukulele Circle to compile a collection titled, ” The Vancouver Ukulele Circle Winter Holiday Songbook.” You’ll find 29 songs, from classic to contemporary in this great PDF.
- Just one Christmas song at this link, but it’s in full tablature and arranged beautifully for the ukulele. Get “The Christmas Song” (aka“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”).
- EZFolk has tablature for “Greensleeves” as well as “Away in a Manger” (for baritone ukulele players, even!).
- Alan, at formerly at 4th Peg, enjoys Christmas tunes—and it shows in his collection of holiday songs arranged especially for ukulele; some even feature jazzy arrangements of Vince Guaraldi songs, including “O Tannenbaum” and “Christmas Time is Here.” (Note that Alan no longer hosts 4th Peg, the songbook is now kindly hosted on the web by Ukes4Fun in the United Kingdom; thanks, folks!)
- Dr. Uke shares his ukulele “practice” with the four-string world and his collection of songs includes many holiday and Christmas tunes. there are even a few Christmas medleys here. Take at least two, and call me in the morning!
- If you’re “of a certain age,” you probably have been entranced with the varied songs listed on Richard G’s Uke Songs page—so many of the tunes are the ones I remember hearing as I was negotiating those years between toddlerhood and college graduation. Richard G has made it easy to find the 23 holiday songs on his site by typing in “Christmas” in the search bar. Do just that and you’ll discover such gems as “All I Want for Christmas is You,” John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison” and traditional classics. What’s especially nice about Richard’s songs is that they’re typically based on the popular recorded versions you hear so they sound “familiar” as soon as you begin strumming them.
- Wilfried Welti is a Swiss ukulele player with a real bent toward adapting classical music for our four-stringed instrument. He’s put together a PDF, Weihnachten mit der Ukulele, which includes many traditional Christmas melodies featuring just what you need to play them in “fingerpicking” style. Yes, the text is in German, but music is the universal language and the tablature is the same no matter what country you’re from. Go to Wilfried’s Vimeo site to watch and listen to videos he’s made of many of the songs.
- JBoyShine spent a lot of time putting last year putting together several Christmas song arrangements for solo ukulele. As of now, the many selections include “Deck the Halls,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Little Drummer Boy” and lots more. Go here for solo ukulele Christmas tabs.
- Curt Sheller is offering up a delightful arrangement of “Feliz Navidad” for solo ukulele. It’s written here as a song for ukuleles tuned in low G but Curt explains you can play it on high G instruments by, “not playing string four when there is a melody on string two and/or three.”