Updated Winter Packets (plus audio files)

I often have one or two students who enter fifth grade already having studied a string instrument privately for a couple of years.  I have the flexibility to add them to sixth grade orchestra as fifth graders, which better meets their needs.  However, this means that those students take sixth grade orchestra twice.  Concert repertoire changes every year, more or less, but the packets of additional repertoire hasn't always.  This year I figured it was time to switch up the winter packet for the students in the second-year orchestra.  I've also been on a kick with creating audio files in Finale so students can play along with accompaniment at home, so I did that to these too.  Each piece has audio files in at least three different tempos.  The packet for first-year string players is the same as before; I've just added audio files.


Winter packet (for first-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF
• Audio files

Contents:

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Up on the Housetop
4. Overture to The Nutcracker
5. Carol of the Bells
6. Here We Come A-Caroling

Winter packet--revised version (for second-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF
• Audio files

Tenor clef version of winter packet--revised version (for second-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF

Contents: 

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas (duet)
2. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (duet)
3. Sivivon Sov Sov Sov (A two-part round)
4. Winter Is Coming (A three-part round)
5. Over the River and Through the Wood
6. Auld Lang Syne
7. "March" from The Nutcracker
8. Troika
9. Carol of the Bells

Winter packet--original version (for second-year string players)


Enjoy!

Supplement: D String Notes

Once we arrive to combining D string notes and the bow, some students are ready to take off with their note-reading and explore new music.  Others are quite content to stay in the book and on our concert pieces.  I give this packet to all the beginners but spend very little, if any, class time on it so students can really do what they like with it.

I've included a reference of the D string notes on the staff labeled with finger numbers and letter names along with a box of practice tips for home practice.  Students are eager to try out their new skills on some familiar and not-so-familiar tunes--they're most excited to see the melodies to the pieces they've already played the harmony parts to such as Barcarolle, Jingle Bells, and Twinkle.

Pieces included:

• Hot Cross Buns
• Go Tell Aunt Rhody
• Barcarolle
• All Through the Night
• The Huron Carol
• Dreidel Dreidel
• Jingle Bells

These pieces also use first finger B on the A string:

• Twinkle Twinkle
• Old MacDonald
• Lavender's Blue
• This Old Man
• London Bridge

D String Notes Supplement

• Word document
• PDF
• Audio files

And here's a link to an earlier post that tells a little more about this packet as well as the Orchestra Expressions supplement for the beginning of the book: Supplements.

Enjoy!

Winter Packets

My schools each have a winter band/orchestra/choir concert in December.  The closest we get to performing Christmas music is my arrangement of "Jingle Bells." It has become an orchestra tradition at my schools to end their portion of the concert with combined 5th and 6th grade orchestras playing their different parts and student volunteers ringing bells.  Before my students leave for winter break, I pass out these winter packets for them to enjoy over their time off from school.  These packets are great for sight-reading and reinforcing skills from the fall semester.  I've tried to stay away from the more religious Christmas songs and to include some melodies that may be unfamiliar to my students.  The second-year winter packet includes many rounds and duets too.

Winter packet (for first-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF

Contents:

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Up on the Housetop
4. Overture to The Nutcracker
5. Carol of the Bells
6. Here We Come A-Caroling

Winter packet (for second-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF

Contents:

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas (duet)
2. Good King Wenceslas (duet)
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Winter is Coming (A three-part round)
5. The Bell Doth Toll (A three-part round)
6. Auld Lang Syne
7. In the Bleak Midwinter
8. Carol of the Bells

Enjoy!

Jingle Bells!

One tradition at my elementary winter band/orchestra/choir concerts is that the orchestras always end their portion of the concert with "Jingle Bells."  I've written an arrangement that works well for where my students are by this point in the year.  Beginners have an open-string arco harmony part, while the 2nd-year players have a more exciting harmony part, with lots of shuffle bowing patterns.  The beginners' harmony part is in unision; while the 2nd-year harmony part has separate parts for upper strings, cellos, and basses.  2nd-year basses are welcome to add slaps on the rests in their harmony part!  The piano interlude gives them time to set bows down and get ready to pluck.

Combined beginners and 2nd-year players play through this twice at the concert:

1st time:

• Beginners--open-string harmony part
• 2nd year players--melody

2nd time:

• Beginners--melody (or open-string harmony--their choice) 
• 2nd year players--harmony

In past years, at the school performance for students, one pre-chosen student from each class comes up and rings jingle bells while the orchestra plays.  I have students from the orchestra help with distributing and collecting the bells.  They're just little jingle bells from a craft store threaded through pipe cleaners with the ends tied together to form a bracelet.

For an introduction, I play the last two measures on the piano, and, as an interlude before the repeat, I play the last four measures again, showcasing the jingle bell players and giving the string players a moment to remember which part they're playing next.

I'm sure "Jingle Bells" is one of those pieces that every orchestra teacher has their own arrangement of, but here are the parts for mine; feel free to use!  It's one that students love every year--and I enjoy hearing and playing too!

• Beginning parts (PDF) (melody/open-string harmony)
• Advanced parts (PDF) (melody/harmony)
• Score (PDF)
• Piano part (PDF)

Audio files (with piano introduction and interlude)

• Slower practice tempo (60)
• Faster performance tempo (90)

Happy jingling!