Christmas Songs for Winds, Brass, and String Instruments

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 challenge.  My solution was to place as many instruments as possible in a friendly range, and for the instruments that are not in a comfortable range, I have provided an extra arrangement.  For example, the band version of The First Noel is in the key of concert B flat, which places many instruments in an easy key.  However, that key forces the clarinet to cross the register break several times, which can be problematic for some students, so I also included an arrangement of The First Noel for clarinet that is entirely in the lower register.
A version of The First Noel for the clarinet that is only in the lower register, making it easier for students.


Whenever possible, I have placed the band and string arrangements in the same key, so that all woodwinds and brass can play along with violin, viola, cello, and bass.  Typically though, the wind and brass arrangements are in the key of C, F, or B flat, while the string arrangements are in the key of C, G, or D.  There are still several options for all types of instruments to play together, though.  The main lead sheet page for each carol also includes arrangements of the songs in seven different keys: up to three sharps and three flats, (and no sharps or flats).  Therefore, if a tenor saxophonist and a cellist want to play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing together, they can easily find arrangements to play it in the key of concert G (key of A for the tenor), or any number of other keys.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, melody and chords in the key of G. Bass clef and alto clef versions are available, too.


I’m not sure if I’ll be able to provide an arrangement for every single need, but I’ll keep trying.  Next up: lots of piano versions of the carols.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The History of Ding Dong! Merrily on High

Image
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...
Read more

Christmas Sheet Music for Piano Students

Image
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,...
Read more