I've been trying to truly observe Advent this year. abstaining from meat and sweets, more prayer, confession, holding off on Christmas celebrations as much as possible, and trying to sing only Advent Carols. I learned more of the Advent carols, and really said and meditated upon the O Antiphons this year. Thanks to my blogging friends, we observed our best Advent yet.
So, today, the Vigil of Our Saviour's birth, we can FINALLY burst forth into those beloved carols that the radio and TV have been broadcasting for a month now.
I just discovered a wonderful aid to expanding your Christmas Carol repertoire. In addition to the things I buy every year for Christmas, there are things I try to learn every year. Like a Christmas carol in a foreign language. This year I want to teach the girls Stille Nacht in German.
I want to FINALLY learn all the lyrics in Italian to my favorite carol "Gesu Bambino".
Here is a MIDI index of tunes you can use to learn the lyrics of popular Christmas carols. Click on the tune, under the heading 'tutti' and the MIDI will play all four voices of the carol. If you want to learn the harmonies separately, you can click on, for example, just the tenor voice.Injoy! I'm sure it will provide my family with a lot of enjoyment this Christmas season.
How did I do learning to play Christmas carols with my daughters? Gaby and I perform a lovely meditative"The First Noel" with her on guitar, and me on violin, and Isabella plays a majestic"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" on the organ, while I play the melody. Next year, we'll have enough practice in and I'll be technologically advanced enough to post a concert on this blog via You Tube.
Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cause of Our Joy, and my three daughters, the cause of my joy.
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