If We Make It Through December

Topical title. I came to this song via Phoebe Bridger’s cover of the song. Bridger fingerpicks it; my arrangement is closer to the Haggard original. The singing challenge for me was the phrasing of the 2nd line of the verses. I based the ukulele arrangement on a Hal Leonard guitar chart. That’s where the F6 instead of the Dm7 comes in. I have read that the distinction matters to guitarists and pianists. The Leonard chart also has C/B and Am/G. I understand that the note after the slash is intended the bass note. Solo ukuleles can’t comply, so I converted C/B to CMaj7 and Am/G to Am7. I like the sound of the resulting progression. I end the song with Bb at 3211, sliding up with the same form to F at 10 9 8 8, then take the form back down to a C at 5433. This was noticed at Gilroy by Karen. There was a question of how I get from F to Fm at the Oakland jam. I was not doing anything special, but another participant noted it would help play the F with a C on top using the pinkie (2013) to anticipate the finger changes. I took the song on zoom tour to:

Oakland Ukulele Jam
Bob provided instruction of playing Cynthia Lin’s arrangement of “Dream a Little Dream of Me. ” This arrangement is in D; I’m used to the San Jose Ukulele Club’s arrangement that is in C. We also reviewed and played “Worried Man Blues,” “When I Got To Memphis,” and “Shangri-La. ” Mary covered Dolly Parton’s arraignment of Carol Hall’s “Hard Candy Christmas.”

Gilroy Ukulele Jam
Linda led “Christmas Island” and” Little Drummer Boy.” Curt led “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Mele Kalikimaka,” and “Old Toy Trains.” Rudy led “Let It Snow” and “Silver Bells.” Rounders were “Must Be Santa,” and “Silent Night” (with verses in Spanish, French, and German).

Ukulele Rebellion / Bronco Billy
Mary led off with “Jingle Bells.”, then later “Christmas Island,” “Feliz Navidad,” “Deck the Halls,” and a funny parody of the Jefferson Airplane song “Go Ask Alice,” “Go Ask Santa.” Mike and Pam led a fun mash-up of “Blue Christmas” and “White Christmas” called “Blue White Christmas Cacophony.” Later, they covered “Let It Snow,” featuring a flute solo. Michael led “Frosty the Snowman” with an accordion. Christine led the “Chipmunk Song.”