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Jingle Strums, the ukulele Christmas songbook, front cover
The songbook

Jingle StrumsThe Ukulele Christmas Songbook

Most Christmas songbooks give you verse one and wish you luck. This one gives you the whole song: the verses people actually sing around the table, with the chords right where they change, on every single page.

  • 40 classic carols and songs plus four hidden gems worth discovering
  • Chords, lyrics, notation and tab engraved fresh for GCEA tuning
  • Every song matches its page on UkuTabs note for note

The book is finished and goes on sale in time for Christmas, as a PDF and as a paperback. If you want a nudge when it does, the monthly newsletter is the place I will announce it.

What is inside the songbook

Complete sing-along versionsNobody is left humming the gap after verse one.
Chord diagrams on every pageWith finger numbers, so you never have to look a shape up.
Easiest firstThe songs climb gently, so book one is a beginner course as much as a songbook.
Melody in notation and tabRead it or ignore it. Both are fine.
A strumming pattern per songNamed, so you can go and listen to what it should sound like.
A caroling section at the backWords only, set big enough to share across a table.

A look inside

One song per opening, so nothing turns halfway through a verse.

Sample page from Jingle Strums showing chords, lyrics, notation and ukulele tab Second sample page from Jingle Strums

All 44 Christmas ukulele songs, with chords

Every song in the book, in the order it appears. Each one also has a free page here on UkuTabs with the same chords and the same arrangement, so you can practise from your phone and play from the book without anything shifting.

The four hidden gems

Why I made it

Every December the same thing happens on UkuTabs. Traffic climbs, people search for carols, and then they write to me asking why half the verses are missing everywhere they look. They are right. Most Christmas song sheets online stop after verse one, because verse one is the bit everybody already knows.

So I made the book I kept wanting to hand people. Public domain carols only, which meant checking every melody and every line of words against dated printed sources before it could go in. That part took months and it is the reason the modern Christmas pop songs are not here. They are still in copyright and they are not mine to print.

What you get instead is the older stuff done properly: complete, singable, in ukulele-friendly keys, and matching the free pages on this site note for note.

Jonas, who has been running UkuTabs since 2012

Questions

Do I need to read music to use this book?
No. Every song gives you the chord names above the words, plus chord diagrams with finger numbers, so you can play it the way you would play anything on UkuTabs. The notation and tab are there if you want the melody, and you can ignore them completely if you do not.
What tuning is it written for?
Standard GCEA ukulele tuning. The tab was engraved fresh for it rather than converted from guitar, so the fingerings are ones that actually sit well on a ukulele.
Is this the same as the free songs on UkuTabs?
The arrangements match note for note, so you can practise from your phone and play from the book without anything shifting. What the book adds is everything a screen is bad at: one song per opening, no scrolling, no ads, the melody in notation and tab, a strumming pattern per song and a caroling section you can put on the table so everyone sings from the same words.
Are these songs really public domain?
Yes, and that was the slowest part of making it. Every melody and every set of words was checked against dated printed sources before it went in, and the edition each one was verified against is documented per song. That is also why you will not find the modern Christmas pop songs here. Those are still in copyright and they are not mine to print.
Which songs are the four hidden gems?
Pat-a-Pan, the Wexford Carol, He Is Born and Infant Holy, Infant Lowly. They close the book. None of them get played half as often as they deserve, and all four are lovely on a ukulele.
What is the difference between the PDF and the paperback?
The words and the music are identical. The PDF is instant, searchable and printable at home. The paperback is the one you can leave open on a music stand without it snapping shut, and it is the better gift.
What are the easiest Christmas songs to play on ukulele?
Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Up on the Housetop and Go Tell It on the Mountain are the usual starting five, and they all sit inside the first ten songs of this book. The running order climbs on purpose: the early songs use three or four easy chords with no barre at all, so you can start at page one and work forward instead of hunting for something you can manage.
What chords do I need to play Christmas songs on ukulele?
C, F, G and G7 will carry a surprising number of carols on their own. Add Am, D7 and A7 and you can play most of what people sing at Christmas. Every song page here shows the chords it uses, and the book prints the shapes with finger numbers next to the words so you never have to look one up.
Are Christmas carols public domain?
The old ones usually are. Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World and the rest of the traditional carols are long out of copyright, which is why they can be printed and shared freely. The modern Christmas standards are a different story: songs like Rudolph, Winter Wonderland and Last Christmas are still very much in copyright. That is the line this book sticks to, and every melody and lyric in it was checked against dated printed sources before it went in.
Can I use these arrangements at a carol service or a singalong?
Please do. The songs are public domain and the caroling section at the back exists exactly for that, with the words set large enough to read across a table. Playing, singing and photocopying a page for the people in the room is all fine.

Corrections

Any corrections to the printed book get listed here, with the printing they apply to. There are none yet.

Found something that looks wrong? Please tell me and I will fix it here and in the next printing: send me a message.

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