A guitar lesson by Lauren Bateman teaching how to play John Lennon’s "Merry Christmas, War Is Over" in waltz timing (counting in threes). The lesson covers the song’s chord set (mostly open chords: A, D, E, Em, G; occasional B minor barre), a basic and a spiced-up waltz strumming pattern (accent on beat 1, optional up-strums between beats), guidance for simplifying the Bm barre, tips for practicing chord changes, and how the lyrics align with chord changes. The instructor targets absolute-beginner players (notably older adults) and promises a full playthrough at the end.
Chapters
Hey, guitar enthusiasts. It's crazy Christmas sweater time, and we're going to be doing Merry Christmas, War is Over by John Lennon. But it has a very specific timing that we want to talk about. This is going to be a waltz timing. It means we're going to be talking, or talking means we're going to be playing and counting in threes.
So we're going to be counting to 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1st, 2, 3. 1, two, three.
And you'll always know a song is in waltz time because you feel like you can sway to the music. So we call that waltz time. And all we're going to do is count to three. Okay?
1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1st, 2, 3.
Gonna show you a simplified strumming pattern, and I'm gonna show you how you can spice it up. But first, let's talk about the chords we're gonna be using throughout the song. Now, fortunately, most of the song is open chords, meaning no bars in them. So we have an A chord, we have a D chord, we have an E major chord, we have an E minor chord. We do have a G major chord. Now, every once in a while, there is a B minor bar chord that comes into the mix. And if you can play that, amazing. If you cannot, you can simply ignore the bar. And what you could do is just play the bottom four strings of the chord. So my first finger would be on the second fret of the E string. My second finger is going to be on the third fret of the B string. My pinky is going to be on the fourth fret of the G string, and my third finger is going to be on the fourth fret of the D string. Okay, so that's. That's one option that sounds a little bit fuller. If that's too much, just do three fingers. So it'd be first, second, third, and you would just play the bottom three strings. It has a bit of a tinnier, harsher sound because you're only playing the bottom three strings, the treble notes. But it means you don't have to play a bar chord or have the song start sounding like that. Okay, so that is an easier option for you. Now, for those of you don't know me, my name is Lauren Bateman, and I help make the guitar make sense. I specialize in teaching absolute beginners, especially those in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. And we learn fun songs like this one by John Lennon called Merry Christmas, War Is Over. So let's start off with our strumming pattern before we hop into the verse. And very quickly, I would like to thank Eric Deschene, who's in Canada, who recommended that I get this Christmas sweater. Last year, it came a little bit late, so I couldn't do any videos with it. So thank you, Eric. I made sure to do it for the first video for this year. So let's talk about the strumming pattern. You heard me say we're going to be counting in threes. Okay.
One, two, three. One, two, three.
The easiest way to do this, if we just take an E minor chord. I like to play my E minor chord with the first and second fingers, but if you do it the second and third, that's also perfectly fine.
And we're just gonna go 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.
And I would recommend kind of accenting the 1.
1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3, 1st, 2, 3.
And if you can hear, I'm kind of doing a full strum on that wand, and I'm just kind of tapping. Just kind of tapping the bass notes. I'm probably only catching the top two or three strings. With the other two notes, it'll sound.
Like this 1, 2, 3.
Okay, so that is a very, very basic waltz strum that you can do. Now, if you want to spice it up a little bit, what we're going to do is we're just going to add up strums in between. Okay. So it's going to sound like.
Here I'm accenting the one.
So it's 1 and 2 and 3 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 1, 2 and 3 and 1 and 2, 3.
And again, you hear I'm still kind of accenting that one beat, that first down strum, and then I'm just grazing the other strings.
Okay. Now, if you are someone that feels comfortable with that strumming pattern, but your chord changes are still a little bit slower, you might want to stick with the easier pattern until you can pick up the chord change speed. All right, so when I look at this verse. And again, if you need to follow the notes for any of my songs here on YouTube, you can go to laurenbateman.com and check out the song section there. So when I look at this chord chart, it's AB minor, E, A D, E minor, A, D. So before you even get into playing the song, you just might Want to practice doing your chord changes? Alright. Going from A to B minor, B minor to E, E to A, A to D. Just work on changing between the chords. Because for a lot of people when they learn music, that's the hardest part is the chord change. All right, so when I look at this, we're going to play A each chord four times. Okay? So that means we're going to do that strumming pattern four times in a row. So if I play this A, it's.
Going to be 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1st, 2, 3, 1, two.
Three, or 1 and 2 and 3.
And 1 and 2 and 3 and 1 & 2 and 3 and 1 and 2.
& 3. All right, so for this tutorial, I'm going to opt to play that second strumming pattern because that's usually how I would perform the song. But if you need to use the easier strumming pattern, go right along and do that. All right, so I'm just going to take it from the.
Verse here. So we got one, two, three. One, two, three. One, 2, 3. Here.
We go. This is Christmas.
What have you done?
Another year over.
A new one just begun.
So this.
Is Christmas.
And I hope you have fun.
The near end.
The old and.
The young.
Now, a great thing about this song, if you want to play and sing this, a lot of the words fall right over the chord. So if you're having a hard time, you're like, how do I know if I'm playing it for four measures? How do I know if I'm not on measure three? Well, the first chord changes on done. So again, when I'm playing this, I'm not really counting it. I'm feeling the rhythm, but I'm letting the lyrics tell me the timing. So I got. So this is Christmas and what have.
You done? Another year over and a new one just begun and so this is Christmas I hope you.
Have fun. That one's kind of in.
Between having fun, but.
Have fun. You could always sing it so that it's right over the have.
The near and the dear one the old and.
The young. So this is a great song to practice if you want to practice singing and playing at the same time. Because the lyrics really, really do line up right over the chords and the lyrics line up right over each other. So let's check out this chorus. Now, fortunately, in the chorus we have no barre chords. So this is great. We have a G, an A, an E minor and a D chord. And we're just gonna keep that same rhythm and don't worry, at the end here I will do a full playthrough of this song because it is so much fun. So if I take it from the top of the chorus and I' probably gonna have to use my Julie Andrews voice because they. I think this is where the choir comes.
In, but. Have a very merry Christmas.
And a happy new Year.
Let'S hope it's a good one.
Without.
Any fear.
And so this is Christmas it goes right back into the verse. So same thing here on.
This chorus. Very merry Christmas and a happy new year let's hope it's a.
Good one without any fear so again, the chords and the lyrics line up really well here. And then the last part, just before I jump in, is the outro where we just repeat. It's the part war is over and it's the same thing, it's just a B minor EA and you repeat that all the way out. But nothing's changing on the strumming. There's no breakdown. So it's a nice, even kiltered song. Let's take it from.
The top. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. One.
Two, three. So this is Christmas.
What have you done?
Another year over.
And a new one just begun.
And so this is Christmas Us.
I hope you.
Have.
Fun.
The near and the dear one.
The old and the young.
Have a very merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
Let'S hope it's a good one.
Without any fear.
So this is Christmas.
For the.
Weak and.
The strong.
For the rich and the poor ones.
The world is so round.
And so happy Christmas.
For the black and the white.
For the yellow and red ones let's stop all the fight.
Very merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
Let'S hope it's a good one.
Without any fear verse 3 so this is Christmas.
What have you done?
Another year over.
And a new one just begun.
So this is Christmas and I hope you.
Have fun.
The near and the dear ones the old and the young here's.
The.
Outro. Ready?
War is over.
If you want it War is over.
Now now.
War is over.
If you want it War is.
Over.
Now.
If you enjoyed this Christmas lesson, then go check out my full Christmas playlist right over there where we'll be doing some more holiday tunes.
