Christmas time is a great opportunity for guitar players to show (off) their skills.
Everybody wants to hear a good old fashioned christmas tune during the holiday season.
So to entertain your family and friends or impress your audience you got to prepare, study hard and learn from the best.
Besides that, you might want to listen to some decent christmas music yourself from time to time.
We all know the famous christmas songs we hear everyday on the radio, but guitar players need quality input to improve, to be fueled, to be inspired, to fall in love with and stay ambitious.
Listening to christmas guitar albums makes you understand how melodies and rhythm work in different ways.
It shows you how every guitar player has his own unique way of phrasing.
There is so much to learn from just by listening to records.
Listen to the records and hear how guitar players make use of scales, patterns, triads, arpeggios, intervals in the most creative ways.
Listen to the feel, dynamics, timing, tempo, techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, tapping, etc.
When you’ve listened close enough to the lead guitar and rhythm guitar parts start listening to the bass guitar, the piano, the drums and other instruments.
Concentrate your ears on one instrument at a time throughout the whole song. You will learn to start listening differently with your musical ear.
It’s important for a guitar player to listen to every instrument on the track and how it relates to the guitar.
Be inspired by all those different sounds and colors. Absorb everything, be influenced and reflect it on your own playing.
Here are 4 Brilliant Christmas Guitar Albums worth listening, enjoying and studying:
Merry Christmas to all!
1 Six-String Santa – Joe Pass
2 Merry Axemas Part I
3 Winter Nights – Al Di Meola
4 The Christmas Guitar – John David
I appreciate your comments. Let me know your favorite christmas guitar album.
Thanks,
Klaus
What about Steve Lukather’s Christmas album “Santamental”?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santamental
Featuring Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Michael Landau and Slash.
Unfortunately it’s not available on Spotify.
O yeah joe pass is the man! you know which song i learned today to one of my studente… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB2xA9b026k , different, but also a very nice christmas song to learn. and not too easy…
Hi Theo,
I wanted to minimize the list to only four favorites.
Love Steve Lukather’s Santamental.
Thanks for sharing.
Klaus
Hi Michael,
There’s a nice Jingle Bells solo in the song for guitar players who are starting out with playing lead guitar.
Great tip!
Klaus Crow