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Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Kyle

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas Songs for Winds, Brass, and String Instruments

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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...
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The History of Ding Dong! Merrily on High

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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   Orchesographie is a very important historical document that provides us with many of the popular melodies of the French Renaissance, and it gives i...
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Share the Magic of Christmas Through Music

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#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...
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