This collection contains 10 familiar Christmas carols arranged for a one octave, 13-note chromatic scale Handbell choir with Piano accompaniment. For each song, the Piano provides an introduction then the Handbells play the melody and occasional 2-part harmony. Each song also includes an optional repeat and second ending in case a longer song is desired.

For each song, there is a combined score with both instruments (Handbells and Piano) on a grand staff plus two separate scores for the Handbells (one in standard format with black and white notes and the second with color-coded notes). A color-coded note chart is also provided for each song which shows the Handbell notes used as well as the number of times each note is played. The note distribution is helpful when assigning notes to ringers. You may want to assign fewer notes to beginners or evenly distribute the bells between all ringers.

The color-coded scores are enlarged so the colors are easier to distinguish and all sharps and flats are displayed (shown in the key of C) as reminders for beginning ringers. Also, only filled noteheads (quarter and eighth notes) are used so the notes are full color and easier to see (this does not indicate the bells need to be silenced immediately before the next beat).

As noted above, one of the Handbell scores for each song is color-coded for easier note reading for beginning ringers. These separate color-coded scores use the ?Chroma-Notes? Colored Music System.? If you have a set of Handbells with a different color scheme, ?Chroma-Notes Stick Ons? can be purchased and applied so the Handbells match this color scheme.

The number of ringers needed will vary depending on the skill level of the participants. For more advanced players, each person could be assigned two or three notes. For beginners, it is best to assign one or two notes to each person. Note assignment suggestions are included for each song and range from 4 to 8 ringers.

These familiar Christmas carols are perfect for small groups and especially beginning ringers. Most songs can be performed with as few as 5 people (4 ringers and 1 piano player). The Piano accompaniment is written for an intermediate player.

Permission is granted to make up to 10 copies of each score. For more than 10 copies, please purchase additional sets.

Each song is also available separately with accompanying preview pages and audio samples. For each song, a piano accompaniment and/or rehearsal track (MP3 format) is available as a separate purchase.

Song titles included in this collection:
Angels We Have Heard on High
Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
Ding Dong! Merrily on High
Joy to the World
O Come, All Ye Faithful
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O Thou Joyful Day
Simple Gifts
The First Noel
We Three Kings

Contains:
"En Face Du Miroir (Facing The Mirror)"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano complete collection, "Red" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists

Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons

Red is pianist/composer Isadar?s genre-defying tenth solo piano album and seventeenth independent release from the past twenty years. It is also the third installment in a trilogy of solo piano albums released in the past year - Reconstructed, a Will Ackerman-produced anthology of some of Isadar?s best piano pieces; O Christmas, Isadar?s second piano Christmas album; and now Red, a bittersweet love-themed album that took seven years to produce and that consists of the first new original solo piano material Isadar has released in more than ten years.

I have been reviewing and thoroughly enjoying Isadar?s releases since his second piano album, 1999?s Active Imagination, which still stands as one of my favorite recordings. Even though I have been a big fan for many years, I was still blown away by Isadar?s live performance in my house concert series in July 2010. The man has magic fingers and an extraordinary piano touch that are perfectly suited to express his imaginative, distinctive, and emotionally powerful music.

Isadar is also a singer/songwriter and an electronic musician who creates the music videos for much of his music, dramatizing the stories that inspired the songs. I will always be partial to Isadar?s piano albums because his voice and vision are unique, incorporating jazz, new age, pop, and classical stylings into a musical language all his own.

Red opens with ?Broken Valentine,? a free-flowing expression of heartbreak and the broad range of emotions that go with it, alternating between grief and confusion then shifting to perhaps anger and resignation - a great beginning. The title track conveys the freedom of an improvisation while weaving together a variety of upbeat themes. ?The Man Who Broke My Heart? is energetic and in constant swirling motion - also very free and from deep within. ?The Stairwell? is darker and much more mysterious, overflowing with Isadar?s intriguing accented rhythms and picturesque compositional style. My favorite track is the almost nine-minute ?Letting Go,? a piece that intertwines a series of musical vignettes into a powerful, colorful musical collage. I love the way Isadar seamlessly goes from flowing and smooth to a bouncy jazz style to high drama without missing a beat. Great stuff! ?En Face Du Miroir (Facing the Mirror)? is much lighter, with fingers dancing nimbly around the piano keyboard. The album closes with ?Blood ... Thicker Than Water,? again a combination of changing themes that could well be a musical family portrait - different personalities working separately and as a unit, bound together by the unseen ties that keep families together through thick and thin.

Isadar has created another piano masterpiece that should be more widely heard than his previous releases due to the success of Reconstructed. I hope so, anyway! Red is available from isadar.com, Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. Very highly recommended!

Isadar?s Red: Solo Piano Sheet Music Collection is a note-for-note transcription of all seven pieces from Isadar?s 2013 CD/download release by the same name. The music was transcribed by David Shenton (shentonmusic.com) with clear, concise notation that includes dynamics, pedaling and metronome settings.

Isadar is an amazing pianist with a style all his own, so this isn?t a book that most pianists will be able to just sit down and play. It will take some work and attention to detail to get this music right, but it will be well worth the effort. Having the recording for handy reference would be a big help.

Rhythms are often complex and syncopated, but are usually repeated within each piece, so once you have them, the rest will follow fairly easily. There are only a few chords with a reach of more than an octave and none of the key signatures are terribly difficult. The layout and spacing of the music is excellent, and the paper stock is a bright white 9?x12? format with a stapled binding.

If you enjoy listening to Isadar?s music, I?m sure you will enjoy playing it, too! This songbook is available from isadar.com. Recommended!

The songs with their key signatures and the number of pages is listed below:

Broken Valentine - C minor (3 flats) - 4 pages
Red - A minor (0 sharps or flats) - 5 pages
The Man Who Broke My Heart - A minor - 6 pages
The Stairwell - F# minor (3 sharps) - 7 pages
Letting Go - F minor (4 flats) / C minor (3 flats) - 8 pages
En Face Du Miroir (Facing the Mirror) - Ab (4 flats) / F minor/ Bb minor (5 flats) / Db (5 flats) - 7 pages
Blood ... Thicker Than Water - A Minor/ C (0) / F (1 flat) - 7 pages

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com

The Multi-Bundle Value Pack 2 is a superb collection of 3 best sellers in the Flexi-Band Classical Concert Series for Grade 2 Bands and Orchestras. Featuring the concert opener Slavonic Dance No.8 (Dvorak), the Seasonal March from the Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky) and powerful Jupiter form The Planets (Holst). Accompaniment and Part-Dominant rehearsal tracks available for single or multi-user MP3 downloads for your entire ensemble from www.paulbarkermusic.com

The Flexi-Band Classical Concert Series allows conductors to mix and match orchestration to meet available resources. Suitable for all common combinations of C, Bb, Eb, F, Treble, Viola, Bass Clef Orchestral/Band instruments, Keyboards and Percussion.

Level: Early Bands - Grade 2
Duration: Various
Occasion: General Concert - Band Repertoire - Ensemble Examinations
Instrumentation: Flexi- Instrumentation for C, Bb, Eb, F, Treble/Viola/Bass Clef Orchestral/Band instruments, Keyboards and Percussion.