Block chord arrangement of Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 25 Nov 2011 9:40 pm

Yeah, I can barely stand the idea that I played holiday music of my own free will, but I did, and I made a slightly jazzy block chord arrangement that you can check out at:

Lap Steelin'

This is what it sounds like (so you can determine whether or not you want to click the link

):

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Hope you enjoy and I hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

Brian Hunter · Post by **Brian Hunter** » 26 Nov 2011 5:40 am

That's FUN, Mike! Thank you!

Jay Seibert · Post by **Jay Seibert** » 26 Nov 2011 6:22 am

Thanks, Mike... what a great way to start my morning! Most inspiring! Thanks so much...

Mitch Crane · Post by **Mitch Crane** » 26 Nov 2011 8:58 am

That's it !...off to set up the tree and decorations with the wife

Thanks Mike.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » 26 Nov 2011 12:08 pm

Mike,

More great stuff. We really appreciate the time and effort you put in. Thank you.

Ian

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 26 Nov 2011 7:46 pm

I'm sick of Christmas music already! Unfortunately, my wife is like a kid and she plays Christmas music all through December. She doesn't let me throw the tree away until mid-January.

Bah humbug.

Mitch Crane · Post by **Mitch Crane** » 26 Nov 2011 7:53 pm

Sick of Christmas music ? I wish there were a Christmas channel all year round on XM radio or ?..

Mike.. are you OK ? ... some childhood drama to uncover or what ?

I used to get the blues around Christmas time.. a lot of people get 'down' around this time of year. Now, go and do ANOTHER Christmas tune for us all ?

That'll snap you outta it ?

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 26 Nov 2011 8:19 pm

Mitch Crane wrote:...
Mike.. are you OK ? ... some childhood drama to uncover or what ?
...

You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus.

Mitch Crane · Post by **Mitch Crane** » 26 Nov 2011 8:25 pm

Well, that'll sure do it !! Poor man

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 28 Nov 2011 11:04 am

Has anyone tried to play this? I'd love to get your feedback on it if you have.

Raymond Jones · Post by **Raymond Jones** » 28 Nov 2011 11:44 am

YES - and thank you for always adding fun into playing!The fullness of chording "felt good" and sounded great. It felt like it flowed and it was easy to follow. A nice way to move around the strings. Thanks always for all you add to the forum.

cheers - Ray

Ian · Post by **Ian** » 28 Nov 2011 11:55 am

Hi Mike,

I ran through it a bit on Saturday morning and again just moments ago. Overall, I thinks it's great; I really enjoy your block chord arrangements in general. The one thing that tripped me up was at bar 17 with the reverse slant (first string 12th fret, strings four and five 13th fret) I would imagine a string pull on the forth string would do it but I just skip the fifth string. Same in bar 19 for the G7 chord. As I mentioned in my previous post: Thank you so much for your time and effort.

Best,

Ian

Mike Ihde · Post by **Mike Ihde** » 29 Nov 2011 11:06 pm

When I first heard it I was sure it was a Leavitt Tuning example. I was really surprised to see the tab. Great job of arranging and playing.

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 29 Nov 2011 11:14 pm

Pretty festive chord voicings Mike...good job.

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 30 Nov 2011 6:58 am

Mike...fine arrangement, I've played it a bit and
will continue practicing it to smooth out my bumps.
I really like the chords and the arrangement.
The reverse slants are no problem.
Blake

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 30 Nov 2011 9:45 am

Very cool Mike, makes me want to drag out my lap steel tonight.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Nov 2011 9:46 am

Sounds good, Mike. That's a great tune!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 1 Dec 2011 5:04 am

Thanks, everyone. This was just a quick little arrangement--I could have gone a dozen different directions with it, but wanted to keep it simple. I love doing that with standards and I've been building up a repertoire.

Mike Ihde wrote:When I first heard it I was sure it was a Leavitt Tuning example. I was really surprised to see the tab. Great job of arranging and playing.

Mike, it's amazing what a diminished triad makes possible.

Chris Gabriel · Post by **Chris Gabriel** » 1 Dec 2011 4:20 pm

Mike, this is a nice arrangement, I'll get back to you, I'm gonna work on this...

Comping?
...on the lap steel? Sounded nice! I thought it was a regular guitar at first...

I too would like to be in that "place"...I've done some work backing up singers, so know what you mean about keeping out of the way of the melody while comping, but I really liked how you did that! Nicely done!

I was inspired to (finally) check out your blog, and your concept for comping, in your book, "Bebop for lap steel". Your comping ideas work. U da man! Probably gonna have to get me that book!
Thanks!
Chris

Chris Gabriel · Post by **Chris Gabriel** » 16 Dec 2011 12:33 am

Here you go Mike, and company, wishing you all well. Thanks again Mike, for posting this. And Thanks you all for listening, Chris

Have "C6/A7" little Christmas

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 16 Dec 2011 9:52 am

Chris, I'm glad you liked it well enough to try it out. Nice job.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Block chord arrangement of Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas

Block chord arrangement of Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas

playing this TAB -

Nice tabs

My rendition