Percussion Ensemble Music
Christmas Bossa
Med-Easy Mixed Ensemble; 3-8 Players
Borrowing from the musical style of Brazilian bossa nova music, this upbeat and fun arrangement of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is sure to be a crowd-pleaser on your next holiday concert! The beginning introduces the listener to the sound and feel of the music before the xylophone states the first verse of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”, changed and syncopated to fit the South American musical tradition. The middle section explores a few other common Christmas tunes such as “Carol of the Bells”, “O Christmas Tree”, and “Auld Lang Syne”, traded off between players. Eventually the piece builds to a climax with the xylophone and marimba 1 players returning to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” over the bossa nova inspired baseline of the marimba 2 part.
The keyboard parts are kept simple and contain familiar melodies, while still allowing students to experience syncopated eighth note rhythms that are staples of bossa nova music. At the heart of this piece is the keyboard trio, which can function on its own independently without any of the additional auxiliary percussion parts. The marimba parts are written so they are able to be played on a shared 4.3 octave(Low A) marimba if two marimbas are unavailable. All auxiliary parts are optional but highly suggested to allow students the time to explore these latin percussion instruments. Additional instruments can be added to enhance the Brazilian feel of the music. Have fun exploring these sounds and musical traditions with tour students!
Drumline Cadences
Strawberry Jelly
It’s not a drum jam… it’s a drum jelly! This short groovy cadence is guaranteed to get the crowd moving! The bass part is fully unison so it can be played by any size line.
Peanut Butter Cracker
A fast and energetic cadence named by some students in the Fall of 2023. The quads play a major roll in setting up the feel of the cadence. The cowbells in the snare part are optional and can be played on the rims instead. All the bass splits are able to be played by 4 basses.
Non-Stop
Non-stop is an intermediate level parade cadence with a lot of groove! The parts are fun to play and will offer a challenge for most high school level drummers to play cleanly at tempo. There are two bass drum parts included, one for 4 basses and one for 5 basses, so can be played lines of any size. The cymbal part does include some notated A/B splits.
