Dec/9/08
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Christmas Ukulele: 12 Days of Christmas (Chords)

12 Days of Christmas (Chords)(PDF)

Incredibly irritating to song to go through sober, but the big advantage of it is that all the numbers from 12 to 6 just require one strum of a D chord.

The best bit, obviously, is the ‘FIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIINGS’. I like to beef that part up a bit with these chords:

I also like to add bits of the melody into the chord accompaniment as well. And a solo version in this key is, handily enough, in my How to Play Christmas Ukulele ebook.

There are two different versions of the D chord in the chart: one with an open A string and one with the A string at the fifth fret. But you can use just one of them the whole way through if you’re not comfortable with either. I’m going to have to come up with a better way of referring to different inversions of a chord than calling it ‘alt’, let me know because there must be one. Perhaps calling it D, D’, D”. Let me know your suggestions.

Requested by Annie

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17 Comments

  1. Greg Givler December 9th, 2008 9:03 pm

    I frequently use the D with the fifth fret D at the end of phrases because it is a chord that sounds complete. I like the idea of D’ or something as a quick and dirty way to notate it on a Chordsheet.

  2. Iain December 9th, 2008 9:53 pm

    I still don’t know what a (four) golly bird is.

  3. Mike December 10th, 2008 1:25 am

    I’ve tried using prime marks after the chord name for higher inversions, but there are already a bunch of little superscripted marks in use to indicate diminished, maj7, and so on, so it would just get confusing if these were combined. Now what I do is add a superscripted number _before_ the chord name: e.g., 2G (but 2 superscripted) for second-, third-position chords. I save [alt] for different fingerings of the same chord: E minor with and without a barred second fret for example.

  4. Josh Gordon December 10th, 2008 4:06 am

    “Alt” isn’t good, because “Dalt” actually means something to us jazz players. Superscripts or subscripts might be better; or why not, say, D(I), D(II), D(III)?

  5. Woodshed December 10th, 2008 8:27 pm

    Greg: I definitely agree with that. It gives a firmer ending.

    Iain: A racially offensive bird stereotype?

    Mike and Josh: Thanks for the suggestions. There really needs to be a standard way of doing this.

  6. Benedict December 10th, 2008 9:11 pm

    Eddie Izzard agrees with you Woodshed about the 5 gold rings part – here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BgSe_gzyM1c

  7. Woodshed December 14th, 2008 8:09 am

    Benedict: Thanks for the link. It’s a shame he doesn’t do as much stand up any more.

  8. Emily December 18th, 2008 11:29 pm

    Sober I will NOT be when I play this at a friend’s tree-trimming party on Saturday. You can count on some reindeer antler headband action as well.

  9. Woodshed December 19th, 2008 8:07 pm

    Emily: Drunk is definitely the way to go. Good luck with it.

  10. Christmas Ukulele Tabs and Chords | Ukulele Hunt November 30th, 2009 6:01 pm

    […] 12 Days of Christmas (Chords) All I Want for Christmas Is You (Chords and Tab) Fairytale of New York (Chords) Give the Jew Girl Toys (Chords) German Christmas Carols (Tab) Jingle Bells (Tabs) Let It Snow (Chords) Mele Kalikimaka (Tabs) Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight) (Chords) Merry Xmas Everybody (Chords) Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Chords) Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer (Tabs) Santa Baby (Chords) Silent Night (Tab) White Christmas (Chords) White Christmas (Tab) Winter Wonderland You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch […]

  11. Mr. Bill September 24th, 2010 3:13 am

    What does “alt” mean? Alternative chord as in 1st position, 2nd position chord? Or just another way to play that chord?

  12. Woodshed September 24th, 2010 3:01 pm

    Mr. Bill: Yeah, it’s just another way to play the chord. The alt is to distinguish between the two different ways of playing it.

  13. Mr. Bill September 27th, 2010 8:13 pm

    Thanks Woodshed…after I posted the question, I looked at other sites and came that same conclusion.

  14. gamer November 29th, 2010 3:52 am

    what is the strumming pattern on this I can’t get it

  15. You March 20th, 2011 8:34 pm

    When I try to copy and paste the chord charts onto a word document it comes up at a black block and I find it quite hard to read as just a download screen… :/

  16. Mr. Bill March 21st, 2011 11:04 pm

    See if you can reformat the black block with a right click and this may make it easier to use and read.

  17. You March 22nd, 2011 4:59 pm

    Thankyou, Mr. Bill (it worked) :)

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