Christmas repertoire books featuring solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements are great for the holiday season!  Whether you simply want to get into the Christmas spirit or you need to perform Christmas tunes at your gigs, there are a number of great Christmas repertoire books.  Last year I did a similar multi-book review, but I need to put out an update since I have since gone on a buying spree and purchased 4 more books that I’d been curious about.  In this review I will look at the original three books that I reviewed:

• Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide,”
• Mark Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” (Cherry Lane Music Company), and
• John Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” (Hal Leonard)

As well as my four new books:

• Michael Wood’s “Echoes of Christmas Past,”
• Bruce Emery’s “Christmas Fingerstyle Guitar,” and
• Doug Young’s “Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar” AND “A DADGAD Christmas.”

And finally I’ll mention one book that I don’t have, but I can see enough from previews to be able to compare to the other books:

• Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Christmas”

To be clear, all books are suitable for either steel string guitar or nylon string classical guitar.

I will demonstrate tunes from each book so that you can see and hear what you’re getting.

Now, whether you are just looking to enjoy playing holiday tunes for yourself, with your family and friends, or on stage, there are several factors to consider.  Christmas music is really only acceptable in the month of December, so if you are like me then you’ll start preparing in November.  As these tunes are kept on the shelf for 10 months of the year, I generally look for the easiest arrangements that still sound as good as possible.  I need to be able to whip these into shape in a reasonable amount of time.

Perhaps you (unlike myself) are looking for the most incredible sounding arrangements possible, regardless of their difficulty?  One of these books in particular fits that bill.

Another important factor to consider is whether you are looking to play instrumental arrangements or if you are looking to lead a singalong.  Some books are better suited to one or the other.

I’m going to try to guide you to the book or books that are best for YOU.  Each of these books is valuable in its own way, but one may fit you better. 

Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” is the only book out of these that has popular modern/mid-twentieth century tunes like Holly Jolly Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bell Rock, and Let It Snow!  Hal Leonard is a publishing giant and has the ability to publish these popular tunes that are protected by copyright.  Late-beginner/intermediate.  Pretty good arrangements, especially as a starting point.  No audio recordings.

All of the other books contain traditional Christmas carols like O Come, All Ye Faithful, The First Noel, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night.  These are all of the tunes that fall under the realm of public domain, so authors can arrange them without worrying about legal issues or royalties.

Out of all of these other books, two books stand out for containing beautiful, yet easy to play arrangements.  Wood’s “Echoes of Christmas Past” is #1, Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” is #2.  Wood’s arrangements are incredibly playable and sound so so good.  Very flowing and arpeggiated with a folksy touch.  Never too many notes at once, so easy on the hands.  No lyrics written into the music, and no audio recordings.

Phillips’ arrangements also flow very well with lots of arpeggiation and pedaling on the open G string.  Definitely has some classical guitar vibes.  Once again, no lyrics, but this one does come with a CD for the audio recordings.

If you are the type of player who wants a simple arrangement that you can enhance, or if you want to lead a singalong and need a really straightforward arrangement, Bruce Emery’s “Christmas Fingerstyle Guitar: Plain and Fancy” and Doug Young’s “Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar” are very valuable books.  Each contains the most basic arrangements with block chords harmonizing each melody.  These are excellent for beginners and work great as lead sheets for intermediate and advanced players (as a platform from which you can create your own variations).  Young’s book is a bit easier.   Emery’s book provides each carol at three difficulty levels.  Emery’s has lyrics in the music so it works better for singalongs.  Young’s has lyrics on the opposite page from the music, so usable for singalongs, but not ideal.  Both provide audio recordings.  These two books are both great gigging books, but I if I had to choose, I’d rather have the Wood or Phillips book at a gig.

Doug Young’s “A DADGAD Christmas” is unique and incredibly beautiful.  Much more difficult in comparison – suitable for intermediate and advanced players.  Audio recordings are available on Spotify and make for great listening!  Some really satisfying arrangements, but not my first choice of Christmas gig book – I generally want Christmas gig tunes to be on the easier side.

Hill’s “Classical Guitar: Christmas Sheet Music” contains arrangements that can absolutely work on steel string guitars, but they are written only in treble clef.  These arrangements are all a bit more difficult to play, regardless of treble clef vs. TAB, and they don’t necessarily sound better than the arrangements of the other books.  Many arrangements just feel clunky with difficult fingering.  One thing that I do like is the arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s “March” from the Nutcracker, which you won’t find in any of the other books.  If you are a classical guitar teacher, these would definitely be useful to use with your students.  No audio recordings.

So, to organize all of this information:

• Only one for mid-twentieth century tunes: Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide”
• Best for solo instrumental gigging: Wood’s “Echoes of Christmas Past” is #1, Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” is #2.  Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide”is an equally important gigging book for me too just because of its arrangements of popular tunes.
• Best for singalongs: Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide”, Bruce Emery’s “Christmas Fingerstyle Guitar: Plain and Fancy”, and possibly Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Christmas”
• Most beginner friendly: Probably Doug Young’s “Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar” orBruce Emery’s “Christmas Fingerstyle Guitar: Plain and Fancy,” then Wood’s “Echoes of Christmas Past” is #1, Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar”
• Most sonorous arrangements: Doug Young’s “A DADGAD Christmas”
• Don’t buy: Hill’s “Classical Guitar: Christmas Sheet Music”

Performance:

• Holly Jolly Christmas, Frosty the Snowman – Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide”
• Come, All Ye Faithful – in all books other than Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” andDoug Young’s “A DADGAD Christmas”
• Silent Night – in all books other than Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide”

My own books:

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar: An In-Depth Study of the 12-Bar Blues in E Major – Books 1 and 2 are available in paperback or as an eBook through Amazon [https://a.co/d/g7Udsso (Book 1) and https://a.co/d/aDbh4H0 (Book 2)].  The first priority of these books is to quickly get you playing a solo instrumental 12-bar blues, and then to build on it until you can freely improvise or “jam.” You should be up and running by the end of the third chapter, and each following chapter will add icing on the cake.

Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.  Learning to arrange melodies will also help your fingerstyle songwriting and your understanding of the inner workings of fingerstyle guitar.

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.