I love hearing from you all with your questions and comments. Due to request, one of our readers reminded me of this fantastic Christmas carol. I decided to take a go at “White Christmas.” Scroll down towards the bottom to see the chords for this song.
As you may have discovered, Christmas songs are known for their weird chords (e.g. 7th, diminished) and constant chord changes. In parenthesis, I designated some optional chords. If you chose not to play them, it would be easier and the song wouldn’t fall apart. However, they do add a cool sound to the song.
Chords Used in “White Christmas”
There are quite a few chords in this song, but thankfully, they aren’t too hard to play.
C major
G major
F major
C7
G7
D minor
A minor
F minor
A diminished
“White Christmas” Ukulele Chords
C
Dm
C
(Adim C
) Dm
G7
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
F
Dm
C
Dm
G7
Just like the ones I used to know
C
C7
Where the treetops glisten and
F
Fm
children listen
C
F
Am
Dm
G
G7
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
C
Dm
C
(Adim C
) Dm
G7
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
F
Dm
C
With every Christmas card I write
F
C
C7
F
Fm
May your days be merry and bright
C
Am
Dm
G
C
And may all your Christmases be white
I noticed that you are using GCEA opposed to gCEA much of the time. Do you change the g string to a heavier string, like a C string?
Steven, yep, I use a wound low G string vs. a nylon string. You can by string sets that are “set up” with a low G string. I like the low G sound on the tenor. If I had a concert or soprano uke I’d probably keep it as a high G. Hoping to get one one of these days.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
My mom will love this =)
For sure! 🙂
love the song and especially the sleds in the background. nice job!!!
This was really helpful and the best website i found for this song. And you have an AMAZING voice. Loved the video 🙂
Thanks Haley! I’m glad it was helpful! 🙂
so you did they awesome ones now maybe I want a hipopotamus for christmas
LLLOOOOVE this…
thanks bunches!
ur awesome.
Glad you like it! 🙂
I am just learning how to play, I bought a kala soprano uke (The Curly Mango) and I love it. My problem is that some of the chord in my songbook I bought I find almost impossible for me to play. For instance Bm i can’t seem to get my fingers to do. Also a relatively
simple chord like D. How do you get your three figers on one fret ? am i missing something here ? Thanks for any advice you may have for me. Ps my fingers are rather short. jeff
Jeff, sounds like you got a really nice ukulele! Chord fingerings can take some time and really test your patience. 🙂 Your fingers do need time to build strength and develop some muscle memory. The best thing you can do is keep practicing your chord fingerings for 15-30 minutes each day. You’ll notice as you practice consistently that chord fingerings that originally felt really difficult are now easier.
For a D chord, you might try barring the top three strings at the second fret with your index finger. This means you press down on all three strings with your one finger. As I have larger fingers, it’s really hard for me to fit three fingers really close together to play a D chord. I either barre the chord with my index finger or ring finger. You might give that a try.
Another thing you can do is check out the ukulele chord library. Each of the chords you look up have different variations for different ways you can play the same chord. Sometimes you can find an easier way to play the same chord in a different position.
Keep going! Consistent practice and time will continue to help. 🙂
I’m having trouble with the Adim fingering. Any tips for finger flexibility?
I also found on the G7 chord is to slide your fingers down one fret on ‘-mas’ of ‘christmas’ because it adds that “hawaiian touch” if you will.
Hi Sydney, it’s a tricky chord for sure. I like to use my middle finger on the 3rd fret of the A-string, index finger on the 3rd fret of the C-string and little finger on the 5th fret of the E-string. Using my little finger like this helps me reach that note easier. It takes practice, so keep at it!
Great tip with the G7 chord! I like the sound of sliding it like that. Thanks for sharing!
Jeff, I’m sure you are already passed this, but..
What has helped me with D and Bm is to use one finger to hold down three strings when they are in the same fret. On Bm, I use my index finger to hold down the three strings and my middle finger to hold down the string in the next fret. On D, I use my middle finger to hold them down, since it is a stronger finger and the strings are across the stret from me.
I’m new to your website and I want to tell you it’s the “greatest” I’m 80 yrs old, have been playing uke,on and off, for a lot of years starting in around 1949 with and old Gretsch Uke. Carried it thru the Korean War as a Marine strumming anytime we had some light and a couple of guys.
Enough of that, Your book is great, the songs and chords are wonderful and I love your renditions particularly from the teaching standpoint! I’m hooking up to your coat tails and they’ll have to beat me off. I feel like I’m learning all over again. John F
John, do you still have your old Gretsch uke? I didn’t even know Gretsch made ukuleles. How cool!
I’m so glad to hear the book has been helpful to you so far. I got some more stuff in store in the coming months, which I’m really excited about!
Whats the strumming pattern?
Great question!
Broken down, my strumming pattern is:
down, down up, down up, down up
I’m playing to a count of four, where all my down strums are one each beat (1, 2, 3, 4). And then my up strums are eighth between those beats or on the “and” of those beats.
I’m also swinging my strumming pattern just a little bit.
Oooh, so glad I found your site! My whole family are newbie ukulele players! We’re gonna love learning to play these songs, especially the Christmas ones this holiday season! Thanks!
I’m glad you find us! Welcome! 🙂
I love White Christmas. My family watches this movie every christmas. It’d be cool if you could get more songs from the movie on here too. Can’t Wait to show them this.
I have some more Christmas songs that I will be posting here over the next few weeks! 🙂
What strum pattern are you using.?
For the most part, I’m doing a down, down up, down up, down up strumming pattern to a count of four. The first down strum gets a quarter note in length and then the rest of the down up strums get eighth notes in length.
If you want, you could use the strumming pattern I teach in this video:
http://www.ukuleletricks.com/ukulele-strumming-patterns-for-beginners/
It would work great for this song!
Thanks so much for posting this. I just discovered this site. Excellent work! Can’t wait to explore other songs. Have a merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you too!
What’s a good trick for switching from chord to chord fast?
Great question. Unfortunately, there is no better trick than time and practice. Your fingers need time to build up muscle memory for different chords so you can switch to them quickly and easily without thinking. The best way to build this muscle memory is through repetition and practice.
This is fantastic! do you have the chords to the intro verse by chance? “The sun is shining, the grass is green, the orange and palm trees sway…etc” ?? It would be AWESOME if you knew and could post those :)!!
I’m not super familiar with this version. For this post, I wanted to cover the classic version of this song. Merry Christmas! 🙂
merry christmas brett…^_^
i’m new to ukulele,and now i’m learing from your website..i really want to learn it hehe
btw,thank you so much..
Just wanted to thank you for sharing those chords 🙂 And merry christmas from Norway 🙂
You are welcome! Merry Christmas to you too! 🙂
This is beautiful! One of my favorite Christmas carols. 🙂 A suggestion for a fun Christmas song tutorial would be Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby. Such a fun a light Christmas song!
thank you for all the work u put into this site! it helps a lot. but i was wondering how you finger out (lol) the Fm chord. it’s so difficult for my fingers!
Hey Julie, for the Fm chord, I place my index finger on the 1st fret of the top string, middle finger on the 1st fret of the second to bottom string, and my little finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom string. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the great help. As a beginning uke player, I was delighted to find uke music online. I too would love to have a ukulele version of I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS. It’s been one of my favorites since Captain Kangaroo sang it with Mr. Greenjeans.
amazing.
It gets confusing knowing you’re swinging your strumming pattern….. D:
Hey! I just got my very first ukulele and found this song…thank you so much! It’s easy yet pretty, and you have such a good voice! Now I’m going to find some of your other songs…
Hi Brett. I have a question. I just got a tenor ukulele (Makala MK-T), but it came with a high G string. I really want a low G and will probably go ahead and get a whole new set of strings while I’m at it. Any recommended brands or products? Thanks!
Wow! You are so cute, and this song was amazing. I just got my first uke for Christmas and I’m so pysched to be able to play a Christmas song before the end of the day 🙂 Thanks so much!!
You are welcome! Merry Christmas!
when will ou have materiala for dgbe tunning for baritone ukes. can’t follow your fingering of chords in you instructionss
Helloooo…I’m loving this, I can play this song, not by heart yet but I can play it:) AND its in the same octave as my voice, can I hear a WHoop,Whoop!! Thanks man! Looking forward to Christmas time.
Great work, Shari! Summertime is the perfect time to work on practicing these Christmas songs. That way you’re ready!
Hi Brett,
What type of Uke do you play on the videos?
Thanks
David
Hi David, I play an MJ Franks tenor ukulele. You can learn about it here:
http://www.ukuleletricks.com/all-about-my-tenor-ukulele/
Hi Brett! I am new to your website and appreciate all of the videos and instruction tips that you offer. I’ve been learning this song for Christmas and seem to have issues going from F to Fmin using the chord instructions. Do you have any recommendations for an alternative (ie. easier) way?
BTW, do you tour for concerts or workshops?
Thanks!
Brett
So glad you’re enjoying the lessons! F to Fmin can be challenging. While in the F chord position, to set up for the Fmin, I like to begin to extend the little finger and hover it over the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string to get ready for the Fmin. Then, when it comes time to switch, it’s just a matter of lifting up the index and middle fingers and switching them to the right position.
This is a tough change, so it’s best to practice and take it slow.
At this time, I don’t have a tour for concerts or workshops. I appreciate your interest though!