HAPPY Ukulele Workshop Video

Catch this video at https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-ukulele-m-114943003

Walk in Him

Visit PROJECT PAUL for free sheet music, mp3 & chord chart for this setting of Colossians 2:6-7, as well as all the other songs in this collection.

Walk in Him (Colossians 2:6-7)

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

A Christmas Carol: The Musical Experience (Free Sheet Music)

I wrote a musical! This is my third, not counting my two produced operas, AND … I wrote all the songs for this one with my UKULELE in hand. I just finished formatting everything and uploading it to my new Fablelight Media project. You can become a free member (or make a pledge to support the project) and download all the lead sheets (with music, words and chords) at https://www.patreon.com/posts/sheet-music-106577193

The script and minus tracks (accompaniments) are also available. Links on the page.

Be Strong in the Lord & The Whole Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Get free sheet music for Be Strong in the Lord & The Whole Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) at https://www.patreon.com/posts/be-strong-in-of-103872859

Catch up with Project Paul on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/collection/95172 (including all free sheet music) or bookmark the playlist to listen/watch on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JASmZl4X6d4&list=PLa626nR993Oy4reMVF4cqEFvMGfaAQNU9&ab_channel=Uke%26Me

This lengthier entry for Project Paul is actually two settings, the first of which segues into the second. Either could be performed on their own, with just a chord substitution noted in the sheet music at the end of the first. I took quite a bit of liberty in repeating or going back to key phrases of the source text. I really enjoyed practicing and singing this one. I hope you enjoy its many moods as well!

“… be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit …”

Ephesians 6:10-18

Let Us Be Content

Free sheet music at https://www.patreon.com/posts/let-us-be-102788622

Happiness is so dependent on our thoughts, and thoughts of gratitude and contentment for the things we have make up a great portion of that good feeling. People living in impoverished nations consistently rank higher in studies of happiness than we do in the states, not because they have more, but because they’re happy with what they have. Striving has been a great source of stress and unhappiness in my life, and though it was a hard pill to swallow, I have tried to let this verse seep into my heart.

1 Timothy 6 : 6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

We Shall Ever Be with the Lord – Project Paul (Free Sheet Music)

Find free sheet music for this setting at https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-shall-ever-be-102476851

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Ukulele Club: Easter Season

In honor of the Easter season we’ll be doing the classics Amazing Grace, Ride On King Jesus, and a new song from the 2024 youth album Disciple of Christ: Savior of My Soul. RSVP for April 10th, 6:30-7:30pm at https://forms.gle/ApNxYUkJZsw6oiLV9 and download the free music to bring on your device or print. If there’s extra time we’ll tackle more of Blue Skies.

Uke Club: Spring in Full Swing

Utah County Ukulele Club: With Spring in full swing, we’ll be visiting a few songs with a focus on the change of the seasons. RSVP for March 27th, 6:30-7:30pm at https://forms.gle/ApNxYUkJZsw6oiLV9 and download the free music at https://www.patreon.com/posts/100862693 to bring on your device or print. We’ll tackle a medley of super easy ‘primary songs’ that evoke melting snow, rain falling, the return of birds, and the life-giving effects of little streams. Then we’ll visit the well-known Spanish folk song De Colores, which celebrates the return of the Spring’s colors. Wrapping up, we’ll begin work on Blue Skies, the famous Irving Berlin jazz standard – this one has a bunch of chords, so we will return to it in coming weeks.

Ukulele Bootcamp Now Completely FREE

The online version of Ukulele Bootcamp is where you will learn all about ukuleles, how to learn a song, stretches and warmups, tuning, holding the ukulele, how to read chords, strumming, tablature, the C scale, your first chords and a dozen songs. Over a decade of ukulele teaching went into creating this course and now you can enjoy it for free.

Walk in Love (Ephesians 5:1-2)

A bit of a campfire song. This one is the last of those I recorded in ‘wave 2’ of this project. It may be into 2024 before I record more settings, with the Christmas season now in full swing.

Visit Project Paul for free sheet music for this and all my other settings released so far of verses from Paul’s letters.

Be Ye Kind (Ephesians 4:31-32)

With a moderate swing … “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Visit Project Paul for free sheet music for this and all my other settings released so far of verses from Paul’s letters.

The Household of God

Another setting from Project Paul (now with 10 songs posted), The Household of God, is now available as a free sheet music download at https://www.patreon.com/posts/household-of-god-92032444 along with a demonstration video. You don’t need to be a patron to download this music, though support is appreciated. Enjoy! Ryan

Project Paul

I wrote these settings of Paul’s epistles hoping to get to know him and his writings better. I’m sharing them freely (videos, mp3s, PDFs, chord chart). The first 8 of the settings are now available at bit.ly/projectpaulmusic

Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ

I began writing these scripture settings last year, focusing on the epistles of Paul, simply because I’ve always found his writings a little difficult and I wanted to lean in and understand them better. Looking for scriptures to set to music really makes you slow down and read carefully … something beautiful, uplifting and concise. I thought this scripture particularly, the latest I’ve set, would make a good introduction to Paul and his letters. Free sheet music at  https://www.patreon.com/posts/82809358  .

50+ Holiday Songs to Hit the Billboard Charts

I generally don’t mind most holiday songs (with the exception of ‘Last Christmas’ which sounds like it was written by a tween – the inclusion of the word ‘special’ really gets my goat), and generally I am a sucker for the romantic ones that aren’t really about Christmas at all (I’ve got Your Love to Keep me Warm – Ella & Satchmo have got my number). Before going through this data though, I had never heard of many of these songs before. Instead of dwelling on the bad pennies, some surprised me by being clever, poignant or well-written … AND I was glad to see a trend of more actual Christmas songs breaking into this mostly secular list in recent years.

• Better Days (Goo Goo Dolls) – I may not agree with every word of this song, but it seems heartfelt and sincere and promotes forgiveness … one of Christ’s key teachings.
• Child of God (Bobby Darin) – Who doesn’t love a good spiritual? This got on in the early days of the Billboard charts, in the early days of the folk revival.
• Christmas for Cowboys (John Denver) – A simple song that recognizes simple gifts and acknowledges Christmas as a day for prayer, even for cowboys. I love Denver’s voice.
• Christmas Tree Farm (Taylor Swift) – I honestly don’t know what to make of Taylor Swift, but this is a nice addition to the holiday love song category. I really like the image of having a Christmas Tree Farm in my heart, growing lovely green trees that will go out to bring joy to the world. “Sweet dreams of holly and ribbon / Mistakes are forgiven” expresses that forgiveness theme and is a nice slant rhyme to boot.
• Favorite Time Of Year (Carrie Underwood) – A feel-good song, maybe not poignant, but fun.
• Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood & John Legend) – NO! It’s not a Christmas adaptation of the overly-covered Leonard Cohen song. A lovely duet that hints at real Christmas themes … “Let the world stand still, the church bells ring, Silent night as the angels sing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah … Ooh, let thеre be peace on earth, Let the lonely join together, let them know their worth, Ooh, let the children know, There’s a brighter day ahead (let’s hold on to hope).”
• It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way (Jim Croce) – It’s Christmas, let’s get back together! Why not? Nice to hear something folk-y on the list. 🙂
• Like it’s Christmas (Jonas Brothers) – Another fun addition to the holiday love song category.
• Mistletoe (Justin Bieber) – Most songs in this list do their best to ignore the elements of the Christmas story … even though its making a love song metaphor, I like the phrase “the wise men followed the star, the way I followed my heart” (which assumes people know the story of the wise men). Minus points for using ‘shawty’.
• Silent Night (Carrie Underwood) – It was nice to see the actual most popular Christmas song of all time make a blip on this list devoted to radio play.
• Someday at Christmas (Lizzo) – A recent cover of this Stevie Wonder Christmas against War song. The years have a had number of these kinds of songs, particularly coming from the sixties and seventies. I hadn’t heard this one before, and as it led me to Stevie Wonder’s original, I was glad to hear about it.
• Take Me Home For Christmas (Dan + Shay) – I like that the protagonist of this song is brave enough to declare to his sweetheart “take ME home for Christmas” instead of imploring Santa to drop off a relationship at the door. It’s a good image, giving yourself as a gift at Christmastime.
• The First Noel (Gabby Barrett) – Yea! Another traditional real Christmas song to blip into the top 100.

Well, that’s it. Almost everything else new was a variation on “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The other songs on the list, many of which I like, are so common as to need no commentary. Here is the list I compiled of almost every holiday song that has been on the top Billboard charts since they began in the late 1950s (may this list, checked twice, provide you some inspiration for new songs to play):

• A Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives)
• All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)
• Baby, it’s Cold Outside (Dean Martin)
• Better Days (Goo Goo Dolls)
• Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley)
• Child of God (Bobby Darin)
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love)
• Christmas for Cowboys (John Denver)
• Christmas Tree Farm (Taylor Swift)
• Cozy Little Christmas (Katy Perry)
• Deck the Halls (Nat King Cole)
• Favorite Time Of Year (Carrie Underwood)
• Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano)
• Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood & John Legend)
• Happy Holiday | The Holiday Season (Andy Williams)
• Happy Xmas (War is Over) (John & Yoko)
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Michael Bublé)
• Here Comes Santa Clause (Gene Autrey)
• I’ll be Home for Christmas (Josh Groban & Kelly Clarkson & Bing Crosby & Camila Cabello)
• It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way (Jim Croce)
• It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Perry Como)
• It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)
• Jingle Bell Rock (Bobby Helms)
• Jingle Bells (Frank Sinatra)
• Last Christmas (Wham!)
• Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! (Dean Martin)
• Like it’s Christmas (Jonas Brothers)
• Mary Did You Know? (Pentatonix)
• Mele Kalikimaka (Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters)
• Merry Christmas (Ed Sheeran & Elton John)
• Merry Christmas Baby (Chuck Berry)
• Mistletoe (Justin Bieber)
• Oh Santa! (Mariah Carey)
• Pick Out A Christmas Tree (Dan + Shay)
• Please Come Home for Christmas (Eagles)
• River (Sarah McLachlan)
• Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee & Justin Bieber)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Gene Autrey)
• Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry)
• Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt)
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Jackson 5)
• Santa Tell Me (Ariana Grande)
• Santa, Can’t You Hear Me (Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande)
• Silent Night (Carrie Underwood)
• Sleigh Ride (The Ronettes)
• Someday at Christmas (Lizzo)
• Take Me Home For Christmas (Dan + Shay)
• The Chipmunk Song (The Chipmunks)
• The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole & Lauren Daigle)
• The First Noel (Gabby Barrett)
• There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays (Perry Como)
• This Christmas (Chris Brown & Donny Hathaway)
• Under The Mistletoe (Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge)
• Underneath the Tree (Kelly Clarkson)
• What Can You Get a Wookie for Christmas
• Where are You Christmas? (Faith Hill)
• White Christmas (Bing Crosby & The Drifters)
• Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
• You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Thurl Ravenscroft)

Which are your favorites? Which do you never want to hear again? What songs are new surprises for you?

Go Tell it on the Mountain

When I was young, I didn’t really like this song … it was so far outside my cultural experience and people tend to like the kind of music they’re familiar with. When I got into high school, we had a great choral program that exposed me to all kinds of music I never would have known about otherwise, from all over the world. Spirituals were a big part of that exposure to a larger musical landscape and inspired me to make purchases of music from artists outside the states in the 90s from musicians I otherwise would have had no contact with. I also purchased recordings of bipoc artists in the USA that I probably would have had no exposure to without that educational experience … these purchases included a recording of a Carnegie Hall Christmas concert featuring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis from which I came to love “Go Tell it on the Mountain.”

Free sheet music for supporters at https://www.patreon.com/posts/76005925

Father, We Thank Thee (Thanksgiving Sessions)

A lovely text often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson (disputed) with a new musical setting. Free mp3 recording and sheet music for patrons at https://www.patreon.com/posts/75028438.

Get the music for all 14 songs in the Thanksgiving! (2022) collection on Sheet Music Direct.