Thisarrangement of Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree is written for a guitarquartet although it may also be performed by a large guitar ensemble with fourparts. The Guitar 4 part may also bedoubled on bass. The rhythms in thisarrangement are rather simple. The rangefor guitar 1 goes to a high D on the tenth fret for only one note. This should be considered an intermediatelevel arrangement and ideal for Year 2, Quarter 2.

Derek Hasted writes "This is a real crowd-pleaser that will suit any concert.

This arrangement is closely based on the version that the group 'Sky' played (with the electric guitar 'break') rather than the version for solo guitar. A version of my arrangement was originally performed by the Hampshire Guitar Orchestra, and the soundclip sitting alongside this score in the SheetMusicPress shop is part of a recording they made live in Concert. That soundclip features different sizes of classical guitar, but the arrangement here is for 4 ordinary guitars - or for a bigger sound, a large ensemble.

The essence of the electric guitar solo in Sky?s arrangement is captured in this arrangement in Guitar 1a, but it?s hard to play without a cutaway guitar, so there?s a second version with the solo an octave lower in Guitar 1b. The rest of the Guitar 1 parts are identical.

Both the Guitar 1 parts and the Guitar 2 part have finger positions shown on the score - this is so that all the fast runs can be slurred, which gives the melody a nice articulation and takes some of the workload away from the right hand. If you prefer to stay in one position and pluck the runs, that works well too.

I hope you enjoy this piece!"

This is one of a large and growing range of accessible ensembles from experienced arranger Derek Hasted, and is supplied as full score and parts. Check out Derek's other arrangements - search SheetMusicPlus for Derek Hasted and you'll see the full list, all with soundclips and sample score. Derek's website at www.derek-hasted.co.uk/smp has all the arrangements grouped by "number of instruments".