Wśród nocnej ciszy: the first carol on two chords

In the previous lesson we chose carols, and now we will try to play one. We start with “Wśród nocnej ciszy”, because in our version you only need C and G. If you already know those grips, you can pick up the guitar at once and try it with us!

At first the playing itself can take so much attention that singing is still hard. That is normal. First we will practise the chord changes and the strum, and we will add the words once you have settled into them a little.

When do you change C to G?

We play this carol in four. Try counting out loud: “one, two, three, four” and again from the start. One such count is one bar. You can tap it on the guitar body first, to hear whether you are counting evenly.

In the first bar you play C on “one” and G on “three”. So each chord gets two strokes: you hold C through “one, two”, and G through “three, four”. To start with, strike the strings only downwards, once on each number. We will add the march strum in a moment.

We count	1	2	3	4
We hold the chord	C	C	G	G
We strike the strings	↓	↓	↓	↓

When you sing, the first C falls on “Wśród”, and G on the start of the word “nocnej”. So do not wait to change until the end of the whole line of text. In this carol the chords also change in the middle of a line, and sometimes even in the middle of a word.

This is an example of the start of the carol, not a scheme to repeat through the whole song. Later some chords last longer. Open Wśród nocnej ciszy in the catalogue and check the next changes above the words.

Cannot keep up with the grip change?

If on the move to G you have to stop and rearrange your fingers, try playing more slowly. Choose a tempo at which you can still make the change. You do not have to play as fast as the backing in the app; you can lower the tempo.

You can also give yourself more time for a while: play four strokes on C and four on G. Repeat that a few times, then go back to two strokes per chord. You will practise exactly those moves in our tool Chord Changes.

Listen for an extra gap between C and G. If that is hard to judge, turn on the Metronome and try playing with it. Its clicks help you hear when you are late or early.

Let’s try the march strum

For this carol we chose the strum “March (Universal)”. You will also use it in other songs in four. To start, hold C on its own, so you can practise the right hand in peace.

Now count “one and two and three and four and”. On “one” strike down, on “two” miss the strings, on “three” and “four” strike down again. On the last “and”, right after “four”, strike up. That is the whole pattern:

The right hand moves down on every number and comes back up on every “and”. In the places marked with a dot it simply does not touch the strings. That can feel odd at first, because the hand wants to stop where we do not play. Try the whole movement slowly a few times, and only then play with the example below.

And now we add the singing

When the strum itself starts to work, add the C and G changes to it. Open the carol in the app and play the start with the backing. Only when you feel reasonably free with that, try singing the first line.

It may turn out that a moment ago everything worked, and after adding the singing the hands suddenly do not know what to do 😄. If that happens, go back for a while to simple downstrokes. Try singing that same line with them, and add the march strum later.

You do not have to start from the beginning of the carol every time. If you keep stopping at the same words, practise just that fragment. Then try joining it to the previous line and playing on.

Too high or too low?

If it is hard to sing comfortably, try changing the key. Once you are logged in, you will find it in our app under the “Key” button. After the change, check which chords appear above the words and whether the chosen version needs a capo.

We will come back to this more carefully when we choose a key for the whole family. For now, try playing and singing the first verse to the end. If you need a few goes, that is fine: that is what we practise for.