#5 in Top 10 List: Holiday Sing-Along with Mitch Miller

Holiday Sing-Along with Mitch Miller, Mitch Miller

Coming in at #5 on our list of Top Holiday CD is this favorite by Mitch Miller. Classic Holiday Carols sung by a good chorus is how they write about this CD. Hard to image Christmas without hearing Mitch Miller's music. Contains many traditional favorites including; Frosty the Snowman, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Christmas Song, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Twelve Days of Christmas, Jingle Bells, Silent Night and of course White Christmas, 16 songs in all.

Some have called this the greatest Christmas album ever recorded along with one of the most classic, others have called it uplifting. This classic album goes back to 1961, but if you like great and timeless then this is a must for your library.

Click on our affiliate link to get a copy at Amazon,

Takamine S35 Jasmine Acoustic Guitar (Natural)

Right at the top of the list for an entry level guitar, the Takamine S35 Jasmine Acoustic Guitar. A good deal at the $200 list price but for this year it is great at $74 at last we checked.

As Amazon says the best deal you'll find in a great acoustic guitar, the Jasmine S35 features a Spruce top and Mahogany back & sides with a satin finish. Contemporary styling and time-tested construction methods produce an instrument that is built to last and, most importantly, sounds powerful and clean on all strings, from treble to bass. Chrome covered tuning machines and a rosewood fretboard are also featured.

Good base, nice treble, just a great way to start. This guitar has over 60 reviews with comments like, "very good acoustic smooth sound," "a good beginner's guitar," "smooth, solid, rich wood, this guitar is top notch." A great place to begin learning the guitar.

Check it out at Amazon, click on the affiliate link below.

Top 10 Christmas CD of All Time: Bing Crosby and White Christmas

White Christmas, Bing Crosby

Well if we thought that Charlie Brown was a classic, Bing Crosby's White Christmas wrote the book. White Christmas the song and CD is forever stamped with Crosby's name. I remember watching White Christmas with Kanny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, This Cd has all of the classic tunes in his crooning Christmas manner. Even if you don't know who Bing Crosby is he is burned into our DNA. This is one of the finest Christmas albums every made with some estimates of over 50 million sold. This album started the trend of major artists recording holiday albums. The Guinness Book of World Records lists White Christmas as a 100 million seller. This record and now cd has never been out of print.

Including: Silent Night, White Christmas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, I'll Be Home for Christmas, Jingle Bells with the Andrews Sisters, Silver Bells and who can forget It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

This Amazon reviews kinds of nails it "Bing was an absolute master of his craft back when this album was made and John Scott Trotter's orchestrations were to Bing what Nelson Riddle was to Sinatra - perfect"

A must have for everyone's holiday collection, click here to pick one up at copy at Amazon:

#3 in Top Ten List of CD Albums: A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi

Well you can't get any more classic than the Charlie Brown Christmas, this CD is the original sound track recording from the CBS Television Special. A special that always stops everyone in my household for an evening of viewing. This disc will take you back to your childhood. Remember Charles Schulz's classic Peanuts characters well all of them are here.

Great piano playing will bring a smile to your home with the classic tracks, including: O Tennenbaum, What Child is This, Linus and Luch, Christmas Time is Here, Greensleeves and more.

A great comment from an Amazon reviewer says it all " This is the Tao of Christmas. You can't help but lose yourself in the meditative freedom expressed in this arrangement, like the Peanuts characters in the movie, gliding so freely, smoothly and gracefully on the frozen pond in the pristine greyness of winter."

Click here to get your copy at Amazon for the Holiday season:

Second Most Popular Amazon Instument, The Kala Mahogany Ukulele

Well here it is, this is the second most popular Stringed Instrument in the Folk & World Instruments area on Amazon.com. The Kala Mahogany Soprano Ukulele w/binding. Ukuleles are becoming more and more popular. I see them at guitar camp and in the stores all the time. This beauty comes in at $55.00, and has a full-bodied tone with as they say plenty of "Sweet Highs" and "Mellow Lows". I like playing the Uke, it is an easy little instrument to strum away on and very easy to cary around.

This one has the traditional white binding on the top and a rich satin mahogany finish with chrome die cast tuners. The Kala is a great little instrument to get started with, and looks like a favorite based on reading the reviews.

I would also pick up a couple of books by Jim Beloff, such at Camp Ukulele, or Ukulele Beach Party, all available on Amazon, just search on Beloff. Easy to understand, great songs, a great place to start. And remember we have free pdf chord charts for the Ukulele, just sign up above.

To check out more info on the Uku or to purchase for a Christmas gift click on the link below.

#2 in our The Best Christmas CDs: Holiday Spirits, Straight No Chaser

Holiday Spirits, Straight No Chaser

You may remember this guys, they are the a cappella group that had the 8 million views on YouTube with the phenomenon "the 12 Days of Christmas." Well they are out with a captivating Cd with ten unadulterated human voices singing extraordinary music with a sense of humor.

Includes songs Jingle Bell Rock, Christmas Wish, Little Saint Nick, The classic 12 Days of Christmas sung live, Silent Night, and Auld Lang Syne.

With over 200 reviewers this is quickly becoming one of the classic holiday albums. Quotes like "My favorites", "a must have addition to your Christmas music collection" and "If you like Holiday music, you will absolutely love this one."

You can see all of the list on our Top 10 Christmas CD site.

To pick up the CD collection, click on the Amazon link and enjoy.

Great Response to Clay Aiken's Top 10 Christmas CD

Well I wanted to thank all of our readers on the great response to our posting of our new Top 10 list and to the Number one CD on the list, Clay Aiken's Merry Christmas with Love. Just overwhelming. Here are some of the responses that came in as comments:

"This is one of my favorite holiday albums. Clay Aiken and the holidays are a good match. The album makes a good gift."

"I love Clay Aiken's Christmas album...He sings Christmas songs like no one else....If you have an opportunity to pick up an EP of "All Is Well"..please do so..you won't be disappointed..... It is incredible...You'll play Clay's music all through the holidays....it truly is wonderful."

"Thank you for the reminder -- it's not too soon to start playing Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas with Love." Clay and Christmas music are synonymous, IMO. His vocals are superb."

"I just LOVE Clay Aiken's Merry Christmas with Love album. It's amazing!"

And these are just 4 of the many, so thank you everyone and make sure you check out his CD. Reading through his over 500 reviews on Amazon, your get the same love and affection.

Here is the Amazon link again, Merry Christmas With Love

Three Chords for Christmas Guitar Songbook

Three Chords for Christmas Guitar, Jerry Silverman

This is one of the books I use, 3 Chords for Christmas Guitar. Hard to beat, just 3 chords per song. Nice simple melody lines, lyrics and all the songs you know with over 90 to choose from. No strange chords, a great book for the beginning guitarist.

Over 90 great Christmas songs, all playable with just 3 chords! Including: Angels We Have Heard On High, As Lately We Watched, The Babe of Bethlehem, Boar's Head Carol, Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabell Carol of the Birds, Cherry Tree Carol, A Child This Day is Born, Christ Was Born on Christmas Day, Come, All Ye Shepherds, Come, Kiss the Baby, Come, Let Us Adore Him, Come, Little Sheherds, The Coventry Carol, Deck the Halls, The First Noel, The Friendly Beasts, Go Tell It On The Mountain, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Here We Come A-Wassailing, I Saw Three Ships, In A Manger Was Born, and more.

Pick it up today at Amazon and you will be all set when the holidays come around and people want to sing.

Top 10 Christmas CD List on AMTV

I know it seems a little odd to have a top 10 holiday CD list in our blog, but I love playing the holiday songs on my guitar. You can't play them any other time of the year, people just look at you like you are nuts. There are a lot of great songs to play on guitar and because you have heard the songs your whole life you know where they are suppose to go and how they are suppose to sound. So at this time of year I break out my holiday song book and play away. And to go along with this are a list of some of the all time favorite CD collections. So watch this space play along.

Here is the link over to our full page of Top 10 Holiday CD,

Top 10 Christmas CDs: Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken

Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken

One of the most popular Christmas Cds, Merry Christmas with Love by Clay Aiken, including the songs, O Holy Night, Winter Wonderland, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Mary-did You Know, Joy to the World, The Christmas Song, Don't Save it all fro Christmas Day, Merry Christmas with Love, Sleigh Ride, and What are You Doing New Years Eve?

This Cd has over 500 reviews on Amazon attesting to it popularity. He sings in a straightforward way, different from many celebrities who go a little crazy with holiday songs. As Tammy La Gorce says " Aiken lets it rip, reining in a passion and pure-heartedness so believable that fans will wish he, rather than the guy in the red velvet suit, were Santa Claus."

Some of the comments from customer reviews "amazing vocal range, shows his true talent" "A great voice...sounds like he's havingso much fun singing his song" and "Clay Aikens new Christmas Cd is one of the best I have ever heard"

Click here to pick up a copy of the CD at Amazon


Check out all of our Top Ten Holiday CDs on our Top 10 Christmas CDs site.

Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday)

This music video was shot for Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album 'Water Flavor EP'. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.

Director: Masashi Kawamura + Hal Kirkland + Magico Nakamura + Masayoshi Nakamura

I bet this took some effort to pull together

GP50 3-Piece Junior Child/Kids Drum Set with Sticks - Black (for 3 to 8 yrs)

Ok so we have moved from the acoustic guitar to the keyboard to now the drums, a full band.

A perfect starter set for the young player in your family. Amazon writes "The GP-50 3 Piece Junior drum set features a hi-hat stand for added fun and to help develop your child's 4-way coordination. This smaller size drum set is perfect for the young student drummer.

With fully tunable top and bottom heads, real wood shells & chrome plated metal hardware, its durable quality will hold up to your child's playing! The snare drum and adjustible angle tom are both 10" and have 5 lugs each. The 11"x16" bass drum has 12 lugs and features attractive color-matched inlaid rims and a ported drum head for a pro-like "look". Includes: snare drum stand, hi-hat stand and drum stool - all with adustible height, brass cymbals, spring-loaded bass drum pedal, cymbal arm, drum sticks and tuning key. Recommended for ages 3 to 7 and smaller 8 year olds. Makes a wonderful music gift for kids! Replacement parts are also available. Some assembly is needed for this drum set. Easy set-up instructions are included. Available in 9 attractive colors!"

I don't know much about drums but from this Amazon reviewer it looks like this might be a good set to get started on, "I got this drum set for my early musician 2 year old son. He does not get tired of playing with it. The set is like a pro one but junior size. VERY WELL DONE, EXCELLENT QUALITY AND CAN TAKE A TODDLER'S BEATING!!!"

Check it out today on Amazon.

Guitar Power Chord Chart, New NoteBook Music Chord Chart

Our newest pdf Chord Chart, The Guitar Power Chord Chart. We get requests all the time about doing a guitar power chord chart. I started looking around the web at other charts and found them confusing, I also just wasn't that familiar with power chords, so this is our stab at it. I would love your comments on it. This chart is a little different in that it is trying to show how the power chord is played instead of just a chart of positions. Also these are movable chords so it is really one fingering, just moved around. A little like we how we play mandolin two finger chords.

You can get you copy by signing up on the mailing list upper right and it will direct you to the download page. And let me know your comments.

Chris Thile, the Mandolin and Mandolin Concerto

Chris Thile the amazing mandolin player brought his Mandolin Concerto to Birmingham, Alabama and played with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Last week he was with the Oregon Symphony to play. As they say the "mandolin wizard Chris Thile" is always pushing the boundries and taking his instrument and music to new emotional range.

To read more on Chris Thile and his efforts, check out Nonesuch.com

Ukulele Tabs for Everyone

The Ukulele is increasing in popularity all the time. We get more and more responses to posts when we talk about it and our Ukulele Chord Charts are downloaded every day. Here is a cool site we just came across, Ukulele-tabs.com. It is a free user contributed source for ukulele tabs, chords and lessons. Playing the Ukulele is easy with the chords shown right along with the music. Includes songs like Imagine b John Lennon, Pretty Woman by Ray Orbinson, and Flake by Jack Johnson among many more. Looks like a great place to keep up on your Ukulele music and learning how to play the ukulele.

Click here to visit Ukulele-tabs.com

Tuner for your IPhone

Well this looks like a cool thing to check out. It is an instrument tuning app for your iPhone. It is called Guitar Toolkit and uses the iPhone's built in microphone. It is a chromatic tuner, a metronome, has a chord section and a scale section. You can tune almost any musical instrument, so great for calling in your band members and getting them all in tune.

Click to read the entire review.

Keep Your Guitar, Mandolin and Fiddle in Tune with the IMT500

Not the easiest name but a great little tuner that always causes other players to go, "What kind of tuner is that, that is really cool looking." The Intelli IMT-500 clip on chromatic tuner that works with electric and acoustic guitars, basses, violins, banjos, mandolins, all without the use of wires, microphones or pickups. Tuning in noisy environments is a easy because the unique, flexible clamp actually "feels" the instrument's vibrational energy instead of relying on sound. And, the swivel allows a perfect view of the back lit display. The best part is that this amazing quality tuner costs a fraction of what other similar tuners cost. It works great and keeps you in tune.

This music tuner was tied for number two in popularity on our list of Back to School music items. To learn more click on the Amazon link below.
Intelli IMT-500 clip on chromatic tuner

Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords for Guitarists

Another in the popular Gig Bag Book series, Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords for Guitarists also got a lot of interest on our Back to School Gift List. This book is packed with information, it fits in your case and has a comb-bound binding so it lays flat. With over 1,000 standard chord forms in easy-to-read diagrams and close-up photos this is an excellent reference for the student or the experienced player.

To learn more or pick up a copy click on the Amazon link below.
Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords for Guitarists

Mandolin Gig Chord Book

We have been pulling together our Back to School List and this book pops as a favorite, The Gig Bag Book of Mandolin Chords. This book has over a 1,100 chords presented in standard notation and diagrams illustrating fingering, inversion and scale degrees. For the common chords several different positions are given. This book pops up all the time when I am at gigs. Also fits great in your case with its tall skinny size, about 11.5" x 5".

To learn more click on the Amazon link below.
The Gig Bag Book of Mandolin Chords

Back to School Gift Suggestions for 2009

Bruce here from Acoustic Music TV, thank you all for your support and hope you have enjoyed our chord charts. Well we have made it to September and the temperatures are starting to go down and the students are heading back to school.

I was trolling around on Amazon and came across a great list of popular music items and thought that some of these would make great presents for the back to school student. So I went through it and pulled out some instrument tuners, a music stand, the Snowball USB mic and even a harmonica. Also whenever I go to a jam someone is always pulling out one of those skinny gig chord books if they aren't using our charts so I put in a number of those too.

I put them all on a page on our Music Chord Chart site,

so give them a look if you get a chance, here is the link:

http://web.me.com/bjdesign/Acoustic_Music_TV/Back_to_School.html

Thank you again and let me know what are some of your favorite music item for gifts. We are working on some gift pages for this year's holidays and would love to make sure we highlight some great items.

Mike Marshall's Mandolin Fundamentals on DVD

One of today's great mandolin players, Mike Marshall, has a new two DVD set for beginners to experienced mandolin players. In his DVD set he takes you through proper techniques, problem solving and exercise regimen. He begins with the basics, holding the instrument, correct posture, how to eliminate tension by having the proper hand and pick positions. Using Mike's Fingerbuster exercises you can build your physical abilities while getting command of the mandolin fingerboard. With exercises on scales, chord shapes and arpeggios you will learn to visualize the mandolin fretboard and improve your overall playing ability.
Published by Homespun, Directed by Happy Traum

To learn more details click on the link below.
Mike Marshall's Mandolin Fundamentals For All Players #1-Building Technique Through Exercises and Melodic Studies

Fan of Acoustic Music TV with our New T-Shirt

A big thank you to one of our readers, for picking up one of our new T-shirts at our AMTV store, excellent. To anyone, buy one of our new Tees or bags or mugs, take a picture of you with it and send it in and we will put it up.

thank you, thank you

Cool Ukulele Site

Hi, all, I came across this cool Ukulele site today, if you are into ukes then this one of the places you want to be, ukuleleunderground.com. They have lesson videos, (really well done), song videos, a forum, reviews, a store, the whole works. And the man in all the vides, Aldrine Guerrero plays and sings beautifully. So check it out and keep playing.

Banjo Chord Charts in G Tuning

Our Banjo chords are here for both G and D tunings. Check out the above chart for Banjo Chords in G Tuning. The Banjo is essential in everyones Bluegrass band. Download and 3 hole punch for your jam note book. Available for Free after signing up on the form to the right.

Free Banjo Chords in D

Our Banjo chords are here. Above check out our Banjo Chords in D Tuning. Download and 3 hole punch for your jam note book. The Banjo is essential in everyones Bluegrass band, so download and enjoy. Available for Free after signing up on the form to the right.

How to Put Together a Bluegrass Band

Pretty good lesson from Brad Laird on how a bluegrass ensemble is put together and then how to play Boil 'em Cabbage Down with the mandolin in that group.

Gerry Ryan in the Studio on Acoustic Music TV

Click to Play

Join Salem, MA based singer song writers Gerry Ryan, Charlie Ortolani and Melissa Fleming in the AMTV/NPATV studio for a half hour of song and stories. We hear several of Gerry Ryan's new songs including, Fool Moon, Don' Talk to Me, Seaport Town and Down the Highway, plus a joint venture with Charlie, Pick Up the Pieces. With an interview woven inbetween we have a wonderful journy with music.

Tags: acoustic music tv, gerry ryan, folk music, samw, charlie ortolani

T-Shirts and Gifts From Acoustic Music TV

I had a great idea the other day, I have drawn all of these cool instruments for my chord charts, the guitar, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, etc, and thought wouldn't these look good on a t-shirt. I have always wanted to produce a line of t-shirts, and I now have all this cool art so why not. So over the next bit of time I will be putting up all kinds of shirts, and gifts using the art from our charts. Everything is located on Cafepress, so it makes it easy to order and it is ready to go. If anyone has a cool idea for a shirt, it isn't to hard to make one up so let me know and I can pull one together. I would also love to see you wearing one so take a picture and send it in and I will post it.

To Check out our AMTV Store at CafePress Click Here

Banjo Chord Sheets Coming Shortly

Look at this cool picture from 1856, The Banjo Player by William Sidney Mount, pretty neat. Summer has finally arrived in the north east and we are finished with all the end of school year stuff, so back to working on Acoustic Music TV.

We have several new chord sheets coming, a banjo sheet in G tuning, a guitar blank chord sheet and a mandolin blank chord sheet. With the blank chord sheets you can write in your chords for a great way to jot down a song when you are in a hurry.

We also have a new AMTV show coming with the music of Gerry Ryan, finishing up editing should be soon. Thanks everyone for all the great comments and look for the Banjo sheet shortly.

Chord Chart for Mandolin Two Finger G Chords

We received a great email the other day from one of our readers. It had to do with a different 2 finger chord for the (1) One chord for the key of G on the mandolin, the G Chord. This one using the middle two strings, the D and the A strings. I haven’t used this position before but found that it gives a nice bright sound. I often use the lower position for the verses and the higher position for the chorus. This position like the others is movable up and down the fretboard. I think it is brighter sounding because the notes are reversed with the B on the higher string. This fingering can be moved all over the place so try experimenting. Very cool.

Make sure to check out all of our chord and music charts by just signing up over on the right. We love comments so thank you a lot and keep them coming.