Hi everyone,
In todays post I will be talking about Christmas books that are available for intermediate players.
All of the Christmas books that I have chosen for intermediate players come from the Classical Players range of books from Hal Leonard.
Favourite Christmas Carols
This book features a range of well known Christmas Carols, but some of the arrangements can be a little tricky as it does feature some changes in time signatures, and the key signatures go up to five flats and sharps. I would say that this book could also be pushing it to players who are early into the advanced stages of their grades.
Pieces featured in 'Favourite Christmas Carols'
- Angels we Have Heard on High
- Away in a Manger
- Coventry Carol
- Deck the Hall
- The First Noel
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman
- He is Born
- In Dulci Jubilo
- In the Bleak Midwinter
- Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
- Joy to the World
- Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
- O Come, All Ye Faithful
- O Holy Night
- Once in a Royal David's City
- Silent Night
- Still, Still, Still
- Sussex Carol
- What Child is This?
Christmas Songs
This book features a range of well known Christmas songs, and most of the pieces seem pretty manageable for an intermediate player. There's one piece that uses five flats within the music, but apart from that the music seems pretty straightforward.
Pieces featured in 'Christmas Songs'
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
- Christmas Time is Here
- The Christmas Waltz
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- I Wonder as I Wonder
- I'll Be Home for Christmas
- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
- O Christmas Tree
- Silver Bells
- Sleigh Ride
- Waltz of the Flowers
- White Christmas
The Nutcracker
This book features ten pieces from Tchaikovsky's ballet 'The Nutcracker'. These are arrangements are really nice for the intermediate player, and the key signatures that they have chosen are also lovely. They maybe some tricky finger placements and passages throughout, which might be a bit of challenge for someone whose just starting to play at an intermediate level.
Pieces featured in 'The Nutcracker'
- Arabian Dance (Coffee)
- Chinese Dance (Tea)
- Dance of the Reed Flutes
- Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- March
- Miniature Overture
- Pas de Deux
- Russian Dance (Trepak)
- Spanish Dance (Chocolate)
- Waltz of the Flowers
If you are looking for Christmas books for an intermediate player I would highly recommend the 'For Classical Players' series by Hal Leonard. Just make sure you have a browse inside the books before purchasing, as I have looked inside one of these books for the violin and it looks to be on the more challenging side. Whereas for the flute, these books aren't actually that bad.
