This month's sightreading handout* presents three old Christmas carols that you might recognize from Colorado Public Radio, but they're not so familiar as to be included in their annual "Carol Countdown".
The first is a Spanish carol telling the story of how a kingfisher thwarts a wolf from harming a lamb (the Virgin Mary). It's a lively piece despite being in Dorian mode, and its narrow range of just six notes makes it an extraordinarily easy sightread in multiple positions (I, II, V, and VII).
The second is a northern-European carol, also in Dorian mode, celebrating the fourth-century Saint Nicholas (a.k.a Saint Nick), known for anonymous gift giving and saving children. A thousand years after his death, a widely believed story, pictured in church artwork, had him resurrecting three children who had been killed and pickled in a barrel by a butcher who intended to sell them as ham during a terrible famine! He knows if you've been naughty!
The third uses a rose as a metaphor for Mary, foretelling the birth of Jesus. Though without time signature or measure bars, it is easily played in eight different positions, with IX being the easiest. So get out your guitar, relax by the fireplace and play some easy sightreads from long ago.