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Thinking about Christmas Music

As October approaches, I’m already thinking about which Christmas song to add to my repertoire this year. (I’ll share a September recap and October goals soon, but today’s focus is on my holiday project.)

Last year, I tackled "Jingle Bells Rag," which I started learning in September. It was a challenging piece, but I managed to have performance-ready by Christmas. Here it is, in all its glory, including one charming flub at the end:

This year, in my efforts to get away from complicated reading-by-the-dots pieces, I'd like to do something a little simpler, and a little more flexible--something that allows for creativity and doesn't demand hours of passage-drilling. Sadly, this rules out my initial idea: Jonny May's "Silent Night Rumba" in the style of Dr. John. It's delightful (listen to it here), but it's too intricate and challenging for my timeline, especially if I want to balance other projects.

Instead I'm considering three options for my Christmas piece, all of which feel achievable even if I start later in October.

Option 1: Jazz Ballad-Style Christmas Using PWJ Quick Tips

Piano With Johnny offers multiple Quick Tips on crafting jazz ballad arrangements using Christmas songs as examples. This approach gives me flexibility:

  • Learn one of the sample arrangements note for note.
  • Master the concepts enough to create my own arrangement or improv of the sample song.
  • Apply the techniques to another Christmas song not covered in the Quick Tips.

This option feels approachable and lets me blend structure with creativity. The big unknown is how (and whether) I can "master the concepts enough" to develop something good by Christmas.

Option 2: Ragtime-Style Christmas Using Ragtime Courses and Experience

Another option is to find a faster Christmas song and develop a ragtime arrangement based on what I've learned from Jingle Bells Rag and other PWJ ragtime courses. I can use Butch Thompson's "Yulestride"  (a favorite holiday album since I discovered it in the mid-90s) as inspiration.

Option 3: Learn an Easy/Intermediate Arrangement

There are so many beautiful, accessible Christmas arrangements out there. I can just choose a straightforward piece that I can learn quickly. One possibility is Jonny's Silent Night Rhumba 1 course, a simpler version of the rhumba I originally considered.

I think any of these paths could work. If I had readers, I would end this blog post with, "Which option do you think I could choose?" For now, I'll decide soon and share my progress here!

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