Eight Special Candles

"Eight Special Candles" is a song for Hanukkah that is unique in the sense that it does not actually mention the word Hanukkah. The lyrics do mention the Festival Of Lights, lighting candles, and spinning the dreidel, which, along with the recorded accompaniment, gives you a definite Hanukkah feel. In addition to the singing, this piece features ukuleles and finger cymbals as well. Both parts are fairly simple. There are only three chords used for the uke – C, F, and G. You'll find isolated ukulele and finger cymbal parts on our web site.

The song is arranged so that the singers start in measure 5, the ukuleles come in the second time at measure 5, and the finger cymbals come in on measure 5 on the D.S. Of course, you can choose to have all play and sing all the time, or any other combination you wish. Also, while rhythmic patterns are written out for both the ukuleles and finger cymbals, you can make the parts easier or harder, depending on your situation. If you'd rather just use this tune as a ukulele and finger cymbal feature, you could have the ukuleles and finger cymbals play and not have any singing, or have the performers just hum or whistle the tune. As always, we aim to provide you with many options.

The song itself is very simple and most students should be able to sing it, even your youngest. And because it's unison and repetitious, it probably won't take long to learn it. Also, this one is a natural for using battery candles or Kandle Lights™ (available at MusicK8.com).