UD#89 A Holiday Duet for 2 Ukes
UD#89 A Holiday Duet for 2 Ukes
from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek
When I was a kid, the Peanuts Christmas special would come on every year. There was such a strong mood that was evoked by that short TV program. I think that, along with the animation and story, it was the beautiful music that helped create such a special feeling.
Today I’d like to share with you an arrangement of “Christmas Time is Here,” which was one of the main musical numbers from the program.
Here is a link to the song as originally performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and choir:
Consonant and Dissonant
As you can hear, “Christmas Time is Here” has a very strong Jazz aesthetic. As is typical in the Jazz genre, the composition features at lot of extended, complex chords. These chords, though beautiful sounding, have notes that can seem to clash or create tension. This clashing or tension between notes is referred to as dissonance.
The opposite of dissonance is consonance. When two notes are consonant, they create a sound that can be described as stable, pleasant or agreeable. In music, dissonance tends to want to resolve to consonance.
Here is a good example of two dissonant notes resolving to two more consonant notes. Please play this on your uke:
NOTE: Pairs of notes are referred to as intervals.
Sometimes a dissonant interval does not “resolve” and it creates a different kind of effect. Sometimes this can be perceived as unpleasant or tense. But it can also be compelling and beautiful. Here are some unresolved dissonant intervals for you to play.
Spooky sounding, eh? But, interesting!
When you play today’s duet you will encounter some dissonant intervals. At first, it may sound wrong! But hopefully in the context of the whole arrangement the beauty will emerge.
Have a listen!
Also, here is a link to get the sheet music for the piece. Click here…
NOTES:
The arrangement is for two ukes in G C E A tuning.
In the arrangement, UKE 1 plays the main melody and UKE 2 is the accompaniment.
Please note, that the A section on the first page repeats. Also, the arrangement ends with a repeat of the last 4 bars.
In the recording, the two parts each have a channel/speaker. You can eliminate one of the parts by changing the balance on your computer audio or removing a headphone.
UKE 1 is in the RIGHT CHANNEL.
UKE 2 is in the LEFT CHANNEL.
I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson,
See you in 2019!
Guido
Welcome to Ukulele in the Dark. I am regularly creating new lessons for this site. Please subscribe below to receive every new lesson by e-mail. Be sure not to miss a thing!
________________________
CHORD MELODY CLUB
________________________
…also…
Private Online Lessons now available through ZOOM!
>SEND ME AN E-MAIL TO INQUIRE<
________________________
Something else to help you learn?
CHORD MELODY BOOK
Learn to play beautiful solo ukulele arrangements!
-Get a Copy-
Need help with your strumming? Try this…
HEAR THE STRUM!-VIDEO
-DVD or INSTANT DOWNLOAD
For your listening enjoyment…
Guido Heistek-Solo Ukulele CD
-CHECK IT OUT HERE-
SUPPORT UKULELE IN THE DARK
GIVE A LESSON AS A GIFT!
>GIFT CERTIFICATES<
