“Rejoice and Be Merry”, also known as “A Gallery Carol” or “The Gallery Carol”, probably dates back to the 18th century. This particular arrangement of “Rejoice and Be Merry” was written for a children’s chamber group. The key signature is a standard G major. It is scored to be fairly …
Bonny Jean, one of many traditional reels known under multiple names (“Bonny Jane” and “Bonny Jean of Aberdeen”), is classified as a traditional Scottish reel. Though popular in the 1700s and the early 1800s, it may have fallen from favour given it was not commonly included in collections afterwards. This …
This easy arrangement of Lehár’s famous Merry Widow Waltz in G major was put together for a children’s chamber music group. There is 3rd position in the violin part and chords in the piano part. It is slightly beyond beginner music, but it is only beginner shifting. The Merry Widow, …
Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me is a traditional children’s song. This version is an easy piano piece for beginners. The student does not have to change hand positions at all; the hand position is what I commonly hear referred to as “Middle C position”. However, to make this …
My 2020 plan for children’s chamber music included this arrangement of Niccolò Paganini’s well-known theme from Witches’ Dance. It is also known as Le streghe, and the original music can be found at IMSLP. My students had fun doing this (or so they said)! Unfortunately, Covid-19 interrupted the chamber music …
The Moving Cloud is a traditional Irish reel. This version is in G major, fingered for harp, and has chords for use as a lead sheet. This song is more modern than what I would usually call “traditional” music because this was composed in the 1900s! It is disputed whether …
Thomas Walsh’s Inis Sear— my harp teacher seemed to be pronouncing it as /ih-nih SHEER/— is a traditional harp piece that my harp instructor had me prepare as one of my eight slow airs for a Mid-Atlantic Regional Fleadh. This is in the key of G major. The sheet music …
Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan, also known as Le cygne (Lowercase here deliberate.), is a staple of the cellist’s repertoire but is also so immensely popular that it has been modified and played on many other instruments, including the theremin. This was transposed from the original key of G to the …
The Three Ravens, which happens to be both Child Ballad #26 and Roud #5, is a Traditional English Folk Song. It was first published in 1611 in Melismata by Thomas Ravenscroft (click here for the rather good original SATB version), but the ballad is probably older. This is scored in …
The sheet music offered here is a piano arrangement of “A Thousand Years”, a song featured in the movie The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and composed by Christina Perri and David Hodges. This version is arranged for simple piano and contains the lyrics to help one follow where one …
