Video Question: Christmas Songs

December 19th, 2007 - Juant asks "I bought my first guitar 1 week ago. I bought a Fender DSG starter package. My immediate goal is to learn two Christmas songs by Christmas Eve, so that I may play them for my 11 month year old son. So far I have learned the: E, A, D, C, and G chords, sand I'm transitioning fairly well between them. Please recommend two songs that only use the above chords, and advise if you have lkessons for them, so that I may cram between now and then. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best in 2008. Thank you in advance, Juan Enrique" Return to Video Q&A Listing


Length: 4.4 | Instructor: Matt Hammond Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Tuning and Measuring Notes - July 9th, 2008 (3 minutes, 50 seconds)

duaneellison asks, "Hello, I am sure there is a simple explanation but I don't understand something about tuning (well a lot of things, but that for a different question). I noticed this "problem" while trying to tune the new Squire Mini I bought for the kids. My chromatic tuner (Seiko SAT500) gave me the "green" dot for the strings - but the notes were not right and it sounded bad, bad, bad. So I went online and turned up my speakers and measured on the display the following for the different strings: E - C#2 A - F#2 D - B2 G - E3 B - G#3 e - C#4 Once I had this written down I went back to the Squire and retuned the strings making sure the display showed the same notes for the different strings. That brought everything in tune (duh) but what is the significances of the C#2, F#2, B2, E3, G#3 and C#4? I am sure it is something simple but I just don't get it! Thanks for the help and you guys have a really great site here! Keep up the good work! Duane..." View Response

Bending Strings - September 7th, 2007 (2 minutes, 10 seconds)

Chipc asks "Brad, Really like your lessons, I have a question on bending. I watched your lesson, are you rotating your wrist and keeping your fingers locked in to bend the string or are you pushing the string up with your fingers, when you were doing the 7th fret, 3rd string bends...I think I read somewhere that you were suppose to twist the wrist somehow or use the wrist to create the bend...but I'm not sure and wanted to get the word from you. Sincerely, Chip Carter." View Response

- July 11th, 2008 (3 minutes, 50 seconds)

Kenstyle asks, "What is proper protocol for playing eight notes or faster on the same string when using fingerstyle? are you supposed to develop "same-finger"speed with each individual finger? or should another finger sneak on to the string and do a two-fingered run? It seems i cant go much faster than quarter notes (obviously this depends on the tempo of a song) if i use only one finger, i.e. i can only use "upstrokes". Apologize in advance for my confusing question. This question might be appropriate for Steve or Jim D." View Response

position of left pinky - October 31st, 2007 (1 minutes, 10 seconds)

MillaTK asks: "Hi, first of all, thank you for the great lessons. I'm practicing scales, and I have a problem with my left pinky: I have large hands (if I stretch my left hand, from thumb to pinky, tip to tip, I span a little more than 24cm, that is 9inches and a half), so I can stretch it quite easily to the right fret, even with the other fingers still on the frets. The problem is that the pinky will not stay parallel to the others, so if I fret let's say the 1st string on frets 1-4, the knuckles my first three fingers will be perpendicular to the fretboard or will be slightly bent towards the head, while the knuckle of the pinky will point the other way... there will be a large "V" between fingers 3 and 4. If I use my right hand I can position the pinky correctly, but if I lift it and fret the string again, I'll have the same problem. This makes it difficult to hammer on correctly, as the pinky will not go down from the tip but slightly from the side (though the finger is curled correctly). Is there any particular excercise I can do to correct this? [sorry for the length of the question, but I wanted to be as clear as possible!]" View Response

Help With Barre Chords - January 8th, 2008 (1 minutes, 45 seconds)

LipstickManiact says, "I have problems with barre chords. Just can't find the right position of my 1st finger. For example...if i play D major barre (C shape) 3rd string doesn't play and I have a similar problem with other chords. I can't understand and find the right position. I didn't find answer in lessons, because teachers just say lay down your 1st finger below the fret. Please help..just show me what to do with 1st finger exactly." View Response