O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM – Ukulele Chord/Melody arrangement from the 33 Song Christmas Chord/Melody eBook from Ukulele Mike Lynch

November 2, 2014

Little Town of Bethlehem is a popular Christmas carol. The text was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), an Episcopal priest, Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, Lewis Redner, added the music.
Below is an original hand manuscript of the poem
By Phillips Brooks

Watch my video tutorial of O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

This seemed so natural as a Chord/Melody arrangement. . . For those of us who might not
wish to sing but allow the ukulele to “sing” the melody for us, then Chord/Melody playing is
just the ticket. Only the thumb is used . . No fingerpicking involved. Look at the short
clip below. Notice that in the third measure we have a series of chords that are all built on
the C major chord. I’ve frequently been asked for the “chords” needed to play the solo instrumental pieces. Simply indicating the traditional C major chord which is 0003 just doesn’t do the job. This is where tablature shines. For example, the third chord in that 3rd measure is a C chord but it only involves playing the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings . . 000 . . . No first string is played. This is where we depart radically from the norm of strumming songs. We are asked by the arrangement to be specific as to which strings to play.

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM is included in the 33 Song Christmas Chord/Melody eBook. . .
It can be purchased by making a payment of $19.95 through the paypal donate button on the
Ukulele Mike website: http://www.ukulelemikelynch.com
Note that it will be emailed to you within the day as a pdf file. It is not a hard copy book
as you might see in some of my video tutorials. Some people actually keep it as a digital file and use their computers or tablets as “music stand”.
I also offer a discount when purchasing both this Christmas Chord/Melody collection as well
as the 2011 Ukulele Christmas eBook. . . $35.95 for the two ebooks.