Thursday, December 12, 2013

Carol of the Bells for Orff (finally!!)


I've been avoiding writing this post because of the amount of time I thought it would take. I'm going to go out on a limb and hope you all will not mind the imperfections of this final product. Here is the list of things I was going to mention in more detail:

1. The arrangement is very close to the traditional SATB Carol of the Bells.
2. The Orff instruments I have do not have G#, which created a few issues. I chose to use piano to play  the one important section that contained the note. There is another section that I am hoping doesn't sound too bad with a G natural.
3. The notation system I used was free online, and I had very little time to write it, so there are a few issues with it. Oh well! I hope to edit on a better notation system some other time.

Ok! That's it! My fifth graders are loving it. I'll post a recording if I can. The one included here is a demo that I created on Garage Band.

11 comments:

  1. Hello Beth!
    I love this version of Carol of the Bells. Most Orff arrangements I've seen have been very difficult for my students to successfully complete. Your arrangement seems perfect! Would you mind if I used it for their winter performance?
    Thank you,
    Sara Robbins

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  2. Hello! I loved your version. So excited to try it out. What was the notation program your used?

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    1. I used a font called "music teacher" in my word processing program. Glad you like it!

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  3. how do i access the full page of this?

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  4. How do I see the full road map? I can only see steps 1 - 3 right now. Is it available for purchase?

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    1. There is a free link at the bottom of the article!

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  5. Hi Beth!
    I teach Elementary Music at a rural school in Ontario, Canada.
    I have entered a student Orff ensemble in a small, local music Festival and I'm writing to ask for permission to use your arrangement of Carol of the Bells.
    This band is made up of Junior students (Grades 4-6), and they would be performing this piece for adjudication purposes only. This is an entirely non-profit Festival, and the only people in attendance would be those student bands being adjudicated, a few Festival Committee members (involved in the administration of the individual classes), and any of the parents who might attend to listen.
    The Festival rules require a copy of the music to be provided to the adjudicator. Photocopies are not allowed, but with your written permission, I would print a copy of the arrangement from your website and attach this permission to the arrangement. This copy would be for the adjudicator only, and it would be returned to me following the Festival performance.
    Would you be willing to grant permission for me to use this piece for this purpose?
    My students LOVE playing this piece...it's quickly become one of their favourites!
    Thank you! Looking forward to hearing from you...

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  6. Hi Beth, the link for the music at the bottom doesn't work for me. Could you email it please?

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