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Christmas/Holiday Music for the Classical Guitar
(also fingerstyle guitar)
This page contains descriptions of publications available for sale as well as
links to freely downloadable arrangements of music for classical and/or
fingerstyle guitar players. Please send
suggestions to the WebMaster.
Sheet Music Plus has a Christmas/holiday music page with
many collections listed (but not necessarily for classical guitar.). At
the bottom of this page I show some of my preferences for some of these
collections - the Siktberg and Johnstone works below are simply excellent.
The Duarte collection is a great one for beginning guitarists. (Many of
the others shown on this page are new to me so I have not explored them - they
are listed as a convenience to visitors.) Some of the songbook collections
include lyrics (but most do not.)
After many years, the collection by Stephen Siktberg remains at the
top of my regular holiday list of arrangements. They are simply wonderful
to hear and play, and they are arranged in such a manner that they just make
sense when playing. After many, many years, (my copy is © 1993 - it
is now 2007) IMO, the Siktberg collection is still the best set of arrangements
of holiday music for classical/fingerstyle guitar (intermediate to advanced
arrangements, the edition contains both standard notation and TAB. Part of
the charm of this collection is that it includes the use of alternate tunings as
well as use of a capo. [ very happy consumer - wish he would do some
more... ]
A close second is the Johnstone holiday song collection - the
arrangements are simpler (but not necessarily easier to play...) A
chart with more comments on these collections is located at the bottom of this
page.
2011 update - For the advanced player I suggest a visit to Douglas
Niedt's web site - the music recorded on his holiday CD is available as a
printed book; the arrangements are both interesting and challenging and include
many classic tunes (i.e. Sleigh Ride) with creative arrangements that
should provide a joyful listening experience once you master them. Heavenly
Peace - beautiful performances on a wonderfully recorded CD - sound
track samples and ordering along with links to free arrangements are fond on the
page.. Mr. Niedt provides some free, easy-moderate difficulty, PDF
downloads: The
First Noel, Greensleeves,
Silent
Night, We
Three Kings, and I
Saw Three Ships.)
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Christmas
Music for Acoustic Guitar by Stephen Siktberg. For Guitar
(Classical & Fingerpicking). solos. Acoustic Guitar Series.
Christmas. Level: Intermediate. Book. Size 8.75x11.75. 120 pages.
Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (94428)
See
more info... |
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The
Holiday Gig Book Solo Settings for Classical and
Fingerstyle Guitar. by Mark Johnstone. For Guitar (Classical).
solos. Christmas. Level: Beginning-Intermediate. Book. Size
8.75x11.75. 64 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
(98674)
See
more info... |
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Liona
Boyd: A Guitar For Christmas Performed by Liona Boyd,
arranged by Liona Boyd. For acoustic
guitar. Format: instrumental solo songbook. With standard guitar
notation, fingerings and positions. Christmas and holiday. 48
pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.699070)
See
more info... |
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A
Classical Christmas Ken Sugita & Anthony Glise -
violin & classical guitar. by Ken Sugita and Anthony Glise.
For Guitar & Violin. instrumental. Christmas. Compact Disc.
Size 5.5x5. Published by Anthony Glise. (20256CD)
See
more info... |
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Christmas
Carols Just the Chords and Lyrics to Your Favorite Holiday
Songs. Easy Guitar (Simplified arrangements for guitar). Size 9x12
inches. 56 pages. Published by Cherry Lane Music. (2500631)
See
more info... |
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Fingerpicking
Christmas 20 Carols Arranged for Solo Guitar in Notes
& Tablature. Guitar Solo. With notes and tablature. Size 9x12
inches. 40 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (699599)
See
more info... |
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The
Salutation A Collection of Christmas Carols from England,
Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Italy and France. arranged by
Duck Baker. For Guitar (Fingerpicking). solos. Christmas. Level:
Intermediate. Book/CD Set. Size 8.75x11.75. 56 pages. Published by
Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (99815BCD)
See
more info... |
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Sheet Music
Holiday Link
Top Holiday Hits The Christmas season - Vince Guaraldi A Charlie Brown
Christmas - this is a perennial favorite, for solo piano.
Cool Yule (10 Jazzy Christmas Songs) - also a favorite for piano
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Cool
Yule (10 Jazzy Christmas Songs) Arranged by Steve Calderone. For
solo piano. Format piano solo book. With standard notation and chord
names. Christmas, holiday and jazz. 48 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by
Warner Brothers. (WB.AF9832)
See
more info... |
The Big Christmas Collection For Easy Guitar - one of our topselling holiday
books for guitar
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The
Big Christmas Collection For Easy Guitar For guitar and voice.
Includes easy guitar/vocal songbook (Simplified arrangements for guitar
and voice). With leadsheet notation (melody and lyrics), guitar chord
diagrams and strum and pick patterns. Christmas and holiday. 120 pages.
9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.698978)
See
more info... |
The table below contains collections for Classical or Fingerstyle guitar that
I have reviewed or recently acquired. The more stars '*' in column
#2, the more I like the collection. No entry in this column indicates that the
collection is new to me so I have not decided on it yet. Current overall
suggestions - Duarte and Johnstone for beginners, Glise and Siktberg for
intermediate to advanced players.
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Publisher |
Title |
Artist/Arranger |
Difficulty |
#Pages |
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| 1 |
*** |
Hal Leonard |
A Guitar for Christmas |
Boyd, Liona |
easy to advanced |
47 |
24 carols |
standard notation |
| 2 |
* |
Mel Bay |
Christmas Music for Guitar from the 16th
and 17th Centuries |
Kalal, James |
intermediate to advanced |
56 |
20 pieces |
standard notation |
| 3 |
* |
Mel Bay |
Season of Joy |
Foster, Rick |
advanced |
32 |
12 pieces |
standard notation |
| 4 |
** |
Mel Bay |
The Holiday Gig Book |
Johnstone, Mark |
intermediate |
62 |
89 pieces |
standard notation |
| 5 |
** |
Novello |
Carols for Guitar |
Duarte, John |
easy |
12 |
18 Carols |
standard notation |
| 6 |
*** |
Willis Music |
Classical Guitarist's Gig Book |
Glise, Anthony |
easy gig |
66 |
24 carols, 8 'wedding' pieces (guitar
solos and guitar acc. With melody instrument) |
standard notation |
| 7 |
**** |
Mel Bay |
Christmas Music for Acoustic Guitar |
Siktberg, Stephen |
intermediate to advanced |
117 |
20 pieces |
standard notation and tabulature |
| 8 |
**** |
Mel Bay |
International Carols for Acoustic Guitar |
Przybylski, Boguslaw |
easy to advanced |
61 |
33 pieces |
standard notation and tabulature |
| 9 |
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Mel Bay |
Portraits of Christmas for Fingerstyle
Guitar |
Various Artisits |
intermediate to advanced |
64 |
12 pieces |
standard notation and tabulature |
| 10 |
* |
Editions Orphee |
Twelve Carols for Christmas |
Pick, Richard |
intermediate to advanced |
19 |
12 pieces |
standard notation,a separate melody
lines, and chord symbols |
| One of my favorite holiday recordings is this collection of
arrangements featuring Liona Boyd on guitar. I believe that
it would appeal to just about anyone who enjoys holiday music. The
arrangements in the music book are of course,
for solo guitar and the difficulty level varies quite a bit. |
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Additional Christmas/Holiday music links are found below.
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