Kiskarácsony, nagykarácsony - Hungarian Christmas Song
Although it is only early October, I thought I would post this video in good time so that anyone who feels like it has plenty of opportunity to learn and practise this very sweet and popular Hungarian Christmas song. In December 2011, my arrangement of Silent Night was posted on the blog - perhaps a little too late for people to learn it by Christmas - but I still received lots of positive feedback (thank you!).
I think EVERYONE in Hungary knows Kiskarácsony, nagykarácsony. It is one of those Christmas songs that stays with us throughout our lives. What many people may not know is that "little Christmas" and "great Christmas" are not simply affectionate names for the holiday but historically refer to two different feast days: "great Christmas" is 25 December, Christmas Day, while "little Christmas" is 1 January, New Year's Day. (I hope I copied that correctly from Wikipedia .).
If we pick up a ukulele, we can accompany the song very simply with just three chords:
And if we "want a little more", let us not be lazy - play the melody along with the chords as well!
When I came up with this ukulele arrangement, I decided that I definitely wanted to make a video of it so that anyone inspired to learn it could use this small musical gift and surprise to create a magical Christmas atmosphere for family and loved ones.
Update (26 November 2020): thanks to my fellow ukulele player András, tablature has now also been prepared for this song (thanks ), making it easier to learn:
