History of Christmas carols

  I guess since this is the last blog of the class, and Christmas is coming around soon, I will be talking about Christmas carols.

  Some of our songs about Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Baby Jesus, and the holiday of Christmas are probably older than you think. Can you believe that one of the oldest Christmas carols was actually put together in the 300s? According to Streetdirectory, It is believed that "Of the Father's Love Begotten," written by Aurelius Prudentius may have been the first recorded Christmas carol. Christmas carols became more popular when the famous inventor Johannes Gutenberg created his printing press around the year 1447. This machine allowed copies to be made fairly easily, so paper copies of Christmas carols could be rolled off by the dozens, even hundreds, and passed around to celebrators looking for song and fun.

  Puritans and other very stringent folks frowned upon carols, so they were not entirely popular. What’s worse, most of these paper copies were destroyed over time, by age or on purpose. From 1649 to 1660 in England, when the Puritans ruled the country, Christmas carols were banned altogether.

  “Silent Night, Holy Night,” was penned by Joseph Mohr, a priest in Austria, in 1818. He wrote the song one Christmas Eve after discovering that his church’s organ was broken. He put together a song that everyone could sing without the need for the organ, and Mohr saved Christmas for his congregation that year.

  Despite all of these early songs, many of our current Christmas carols didn’t start appearing until the end of the 1800s. That’s in part because the 1800s is when Christmas as a whole really started picking up steam as a holiday, and when puritanically dislike for Santa, carols, and anything fun with Christmas started to die down. It doesn’t hurt, as well, that technology now makes it so easy to spread the cheer with Christmas carols. First, there were records and radio, but now we have CDs, DVDs, MP3s, and the Internet to spread holiday cheer. Whether you favor classic carols like, “Silent Night, Holy Night” or new traditions like Bing Crosby’s recording of “White Christmas” (the best selling Christmas single of all time!), Christmas carols are a long-established way to help celebrate the Christmas season.

  Christmas fun facts (from Listverse): Tony The Tiger Sang ‘You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch’, ‘Jingle Bells’ Was A Thanksgiving Song, and ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’ Was Inspired By Nuclear War.

Calluses from guitar

A callus (or callosity) is a toughened area of skin which has become relatively thick and hard in response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. A person may get calluses from a number of different things including weightlifting, playing stringed instruments, running, etc. Calluses mostly form on the hands and feet, but they can form wherever there is repeated friction. Some violinist will form calluses on their chin from holding the violin on their chin.

In the band I play in, we typically practice for an hour, eat dinner, and then perform for about 15 minutes. If we do not play songs the entire hour, then my calluses won’t form. Last week we played the entire hour without any breaks because we were learning a new song and we played it over and over. Within that hour calluses were forming on my fingers. It hurts to actually form the calluses because your fingers get tired and the skin hurts from the strings pushing on them from the guitar. Lactic acid can build up in your fingers from playing the guitar. After the extended period of playing guitar your finger will start to heal. Eventually, in a few days, the tips of the fingers start to become very hard and the skin feels way different. The next time you pick up the guitar, the callus will have formed and it won’t hurt anymore. Calluses are good for guitar players when they are built up. If you do not keep up the friction, it is possible to lose your calluses. In a week or two the calluses from the fingers will be gone. It is like you never had them. You would have to rebuild the callus to have it again for guitar. I have played guitar for many years now and I built calluses but then lost them many times.

There five things you can do to help the calluses when they are forming. 1) Soaking your fingers in rubbing alcohol a few minutes a day will dry out the area and help the calluses form faster. 2) Sometimes rest is the best solution. The fingers need time to heal and to build the skin tougher. 3) An obvious one: don’t push your fingers so hard into the guitar. 4) Buy light strings that are easy to push down on rather than heavy strings. 5) Try to avoid submerging your fingers in water, and moisturize your fingers.