Free Mel Bay Christmas Songs For 5-String Banjo Ebooks To Download
Well-known composer, performer, bluegrass and five-string banjo specialist Janet Davis has arranged this fantastic book of Christmas songs for five-string banjo. Selections include material for various levels of ability and offer wide variety of songs for the holiday season. Tablature only with lyrics for each song. The companion CD is included. This is a stereo recording which contains all the music in the book, played slow and up-to-speed. The fast version includes guitar accompaniment.
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc (November 4, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786665602
ISBN-13: 978-0786665600
Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #161 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments > Strings > Banjos #1468 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Lieder & Art Songs #2987 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments > Guitar
I didn't see any customer reviews for this book, but I bought it anyhow since I want to play some Christmas songs at church around Christmas time.I am writing this in October of 2005. I tell you this to let you know how old this review is and that at this point I have only been playing the 5-string Bluegrass banjo for four months. I just received this book a couple of days ago, and I am already playing Joy To The World from this book. I especially like this book because Janet Davis (the person who arranged the tabs in this book) teaches about the same way my banjo instructor does. Her tabs are clearly written, and make sense. She also plays the songs right from the tabs on the included CD, so you know how it is supposed to sound, which is also what my banjo instructor does on a tape. At the beginning of the book, there are instructions on how to read tablature. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is just because she doesn't show the fingerings for the different cords. I only know a select few, so I have a hard time when I am supposed to be in an A chord when I don't know what the fingerings are supposed to be. I can figure it out though. She even adds very simple one string tabs in this book, assuming for little children who just started the banjo.I think this is a very good book, with plenty of learning to be gained from it. Janet Davis is a very good banjo player and knows what Bluegrass ought to sound like.Oh, and for those of you who want more than the Bluegrass sound for these songs, she arranged some tabs for melodic style and tripelet. I don't have the book in front of me, so I can't say which songs are arranged in that style.Anyhow, great book for the price.
I can't say I like all of the arragnements. Maybe the word to add there is "yet". This book is still worth the 5 stars. Janet gives several versions of each song. She is a genius when it comes to coming up with arrangements where you can truly hear the melody. The CD that comes with this book is a great addition to be able to hear how the song can be played. She plays the song slow, and then faster with a guitar accompanyment. I particulary like the version of "We Three Kings", "Away in a Manage", the more advanced version of "Joy to the World", the melodic version of "The First Noel" and of course "Silent Night". Those are the ones that I have camped on, waiting for my opportunity to play them out in public somewhere.The other songs in this book are:Jingle BellsJolly Old St. NickHark the Hearald Angles SingDeck the HallsO Come All Ye FaithfulAngles Fron the Realms of GloryO Christmas TreeO Little Town of BethlehamGo Tell it on the MountainGod Rest Ye Merry GentlemenGood King WenceslasO Holy NightIt Came Upon a Midnight ClearWhat Child is This?Ave Maria
I bought Janet Davis' other book, "You Can Teach Yourself Banjo" and it really helped me to get started with my banjo. I like the way she presents the material in her books. She gives several variations on the songs beginning with "basic" and working her way up to more advanced.
I bought this with another book. IT is a good buy becuse it has both TAB and standard Notation which is good for everyone regardless of which wasy you learned. I really like stuff from Mel Bay and carries most of the books.
This is my favorite Tab book.The book is organized well, with a melody only and scruggs style arrangement for each song, and a third arrangement for many of the songs as well.The actual arrangements are well thought out and enjoyable, they are distinctly bluegrass and the melody is prominent and easy for a listener to identify.I personally enjoyed the chord-only arrangement of "it came upon a midnight clear"; it's great for getting to know some additional chord positions past the 5th fret.The best part of the book is each song fits on its own page, or on 2 facing pages. NO PAGE TURNING MID SONG!I would say the songs are novice difficulty... not exactly beginner, but certainly easy enough if you put some repetition into the practice.The CD is helpful to listen to especially for the songs based on triplets but not essential. Of course, you can listen to the full speed versions of the songs just for fun!Thank you Janet!
Got this a little while ago and I am playing the melodies to most of the songs. With practice I will be playing the intermediate parts next Christmas. That makes this book great for beginners and intermediate! It's gonna be great being able to play an instrument and lead some singing at the same time with family at Christmas this year. It was a great buy!
The book has several variations to the Christmas songs. I have played banjo for 1.5 years and consider myself an advanced beginner/starting intermediate player. The songs start with just the melody line and then have 2-3 variations after that which are more "banjo-like". I like the arrangements I am learning. I like that there are several variations that I can use as I become a better player.
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