🎄 Four Weeks Until Christmas Day! 🎄 The countdown to Christmas is officially on - only four weeks to go! It’s the perfect time to fill the season with music, joy, and togetherness. Music has a unique way of bringing us closer, and what better way to celebrate than by sharing our Christmas music performances with the world? My Recent Performance: Jingle Bells Clarinet Variations I recently had the joy of performing my Jingle Bells Clarinet Variations during a recital earlier this month. This piece takes a playful approach to the timeless classic and is written in the style of the renowned clarinetist and composer Heinrich Baermann. It’s a fun way to put a unique twist on a beloved holiday tune!  I’ve included a video of my performance below—be sure to check it out! If you would like to play it yourself, the sheet music for the Jingle Bells Clarinet Variations is available for free. 🎺 Share Your Christmas Music with #ChristmasMusicJoy24 This season, I’m inviting musicians o...

#ChristmasMusicJoy24 While searching for Christmas music on YouTube recently, I was delighted to find people from all over the world performing my Christmas song arrangements. It was heartwarming to see musicians of all ages and skill levels sharing their love of Christmas music. Inspired by this, I wanted to encourage even more people to join the celebration. That’s how the idea for #ChristmasMusicJoy24 came about - a global, virtual concert where anyone can share their performances of Christmas music with the world.  Visit ChristmasMusicSongs.com to learn how to participate in #ChristmasMusicJoy24.   The site includes free sheet music for dozens of Christmas carols for all instruments.  Here are some great reasons to join the fun of #ChristmasMusicJoy24! Perform in a Global, Virtual Concert By participating in #ChristmasMusicJoy24, you’ll be part of a global celebration. The hashtag connects musicians and Christmas music lovers, making it easier for others to find and e...

Santa has been hard at work!  Since my last post a few years ago, I've added lots of new music to ChristmasMusicSongs.com.   Now, each carol boasts a diverse range of five piano versions (all available as free PDFs), catering to all skill levels. Versions 4 and 5, designed for intermediate and advanced players, introduce more complex rhythm and harmony.  For instance, the intermediate arrangement of Jingle Bells features lively rhythms and left-hand harmonies, adding depth and excitement to the music. Jingle Bells intermediate piano arrangement Take a look at this intermediate arrangement of Up On the Housetop.   It features moving notes in the left hand with some simple counterpoint and short countermelodies that make the music more fun to play. Up On the Housetop intermediate piano arrangement Version 5 is where advanced players can really shine.  These arrangements include richer harmonies in both hands. In this advanced version of Jingle Bells for piano,...

Only one week until Christmas, but that’s plenty of time to learn and play new carols!   As promised in my last post, the newest additions to  Christmas Music Songs  are arrangements for piano .   My goal is to provide several arrangements of each carol so that pianists of all levels can find something they are looking for.   All of these arrangements are available as free, printable PDFs.   As of now, there are three different versions of twenty eight carols, with more arrangements on the way.    The versions are progressively difficult, with arrangements suitable for beginners to more advanced players. Version 1 of each carol features just the melody, written in the treble clef staff.  Beginners or pianists who only want the melody can use these arrangements.  The songs are written within the staff and avoid ledger lines whenever possible.  Most of the songs are in the key of C, G, or F.  Instead of using key signatures,...

In my last post, I discussed the “Christmas in July” project to complete the arrangements of twenty nine Christmas carols for woodwinds, brass, and string instruments.  They’re finished!  Since my goal has been to create arrangements that can be played by as many people as possible, a good deal of time and thought was spent determining the best key for each song,  The Christmas wind and brass arrangements are all in the same key so that flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone. trumpet, trombone, and any other band instruments can play along with each other.  The string arrangements of the Christmas carols are in the same key so that violin, viola, cello, and bass can play together. I have kept beginning and intermediate players in mind, and made the keys as easy as possible, but I realize that it’s difficult to make everybody happy.  Finding a key that puts alto and tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, and trumpet all in a comfortable key for students is a real c...

It’s hard to imagine, especially given the mid-90 degree temperatures we have been experiencing on the east coast, but Christmas is exactly five months away.  The tradition of celebrating Christmas in July goes back at least 100 years.  In the northern hemisphere, it’s a happy reminder of cooler temperatures and the holiday season.  In the southern hemisphere, July is typically the coldest month of the year, making it a nice time to think of snow and Santa Claus.  Christmas in July also has given stores an excuse to offer sales in the middle of summer.  It’s also a good reason for people to give gifts and spread the joy of Christmas throughout the year. The phrase itself was further engrained in our minds by the 1940 Preston Sturges film “Christmas in July,” which featured Dick Powell and Ellen Drew.  Interestingly, it was released in October of that year, not July.  The film tells the story of a young couple who suddenly become rich after the h...

Ding Dong! Merrily on High is one of the happiest and most spirited Christmas songs, and like many of the traditional carols that are sung today, it was written hundreds of years ago.  The earliest record we have of the song is from 1588, making it at least 428 years old.  However, the piece originally had nothing to do with Christmas -  it was a standard tune used for French dances.  The melody is written (sideways! - see the image below) on page 92 of a book called Orchesographie by Thoinot Arbeau, which was the pen name of Jehan Tabourot (1519-1595).  His choice of pen name was particularly interesting because it is an anagram of his real name (the same letters were placed in a different order).  A facsimile of Orchesographie can be viewed on the Library of Congress website.   Orchesographie is a very important historical document that provides us with many of the popular melodies of the French Renaissance, and it gives i...