I used to think I had to be more "perfect" around my students, but I've learned to just be myself, and sometimes that means being a little silly. We wore our tacky Christmas sweaters (a school-wide effort). We wore our silly Santa hat & reindeer antlers. We put the words to the songs on the board, and invited the kids to sing along. Some of them did. Most of them enjoyed the performance (I think); at least all of them tolerated it, and Mark and I had a lot of fun.
Our 2013 Christmas ukulele repertoire includes:
"Feliz Navidad"
Of course you know this one. So do the teenagers. The chords are super simple so we sang it first. It was a good warmup for everyone.
"Mary's Boy Child"
This one was a little more complicated. The chords are more difficult, and not everyone knows it. I loved sharing it with our students because it has a fun, upbeat rhythm and a sweet message about Christ.
You don't know it yet? Well, here you go!
I tried to talk Mark into getting me a furry white cape - and he could wear the skinny white pants - but he wasn't going for it.
Oh, well. It's still a good tune for the sweet and cheerful plinky-plink of a ukulele.
Until this morning, the only version I knew was the Boney-M version (above).
Then when I looked on You Tube this morning I found this link to a calmer version sung by Harry Belafonte. I like the violin accompaniment, but I can't say that we sounded that refined.
And then I found the Glee version. Hmmm. Maybe this was what Mark worried about if he got me that white cape? Maybe this was what my students were picturing as they sang along? I don't think I'll ask.
Merry Christmas to all of you! I'm going to play a few more chords on my ukulele now...
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