Rock The Halls!

Hi - I've done another Christmas tune, and it's free this week

It's a jazz/rock twist on Deck The Halls, about Grade 4 difficulty.

Find it here.

All feedback extremely welcome, especially suggestions for any tweaks to the score you'd like to see!

thanks

Well, it seems that the server has crashed and burned - hopefully it will be back up soon, but in the meantime, you can PM me for a copy

/edit - it's back online now.

Yay, a new piece by Ben!

I went through the checkout process, but it never sent me a link for the piece! I'll PM you my email address. Thanks!

Ditto.

Hi John,

I'm not seeing any pending orders from you, so I'm not sure it's the same problem as Stanny. Would you mind trying again, and let me know what happens?

Thanks!

Oooh...Three Blue Kings....love it!

I downloaded the piece fine.

Now to find time in front of a piano to play it through...

For anyone who's interested, I've done a new version of this which is scaled down to grade 2 difficulty. Similar structure, but with some fairly distinctive changes, too.

I would be very appreciative of any feedback - I intend to bundle them together eventually, but for now if anyone wants a copy, please PM me with your email address.

thanks


Ben

(Mail not intended to get public to bots, sorry. Anyone, please delete the posting if possible)

Thanks Ben I've been rocking my halls this afternoon. I love both arrangements. The only thing I could say by way of feedback is some of fingering suggestions .... well, obviously our hands are quite different! Certainly sound arrangements.

Thanks, TLT!

re. fingering, could you specify which bars/beats aren't working for you?

Rock the halls level 4. Bar 4, rh, F maj triad with fingers 5,4,2? I see why, I imagine you play the Cm with 2,3,5, but you need a big hand to make that work.

Moving on to bar 9, that lovely lick in the rh. You marked the C as 2, meaning I end up with 4 on D#, and managing that grace note with a thumb-tuck, I just don't know. Maybe that just needs practice, but my natural inclination is to avoid that somehow, even if I then need to lift between the E and the G.

Next, bar 10, downwards lick in rh. Why not put 4 on the Eb? I need to lift anyway, and it avoids the thumb tuck thing later in the bar.

Fingering for bar 20 is good and helpful.

Rock the halls, easier version, all fine and good - except, now I manage it, but I think by students will object to doing the initial grace note combo with fingers 4 and 5. Maybe your's are made of sterner stuff, but mine will only get that with 2-3.

But fingering is quite individual, and I can see why you've done it as you've done it.

Hehe. I thought that 542 might ruffle a few feathers

Actually, it's not quite what I'm thinking here: because bar 3 starts with the same two notes as bar 1 (minus the grace note), I assume the same fingers (5+3). I then play the Cm triad with 1,3,5 - not entirely conventional *but* by sticking with that scheme (including the 5,4,2) you will be perfectly poised for the whole stretch in bar 6, beat 1, and very little movement is required for the whole of bars 3 and 4. Personally, I find this helps the groove.

However, I certainly regret not clarifying the fingering in bar 3. Unfortunately, I've managed to delete the MuseScore project for the grade 4 version :lol:



For me, that just feels totally comfortable, and sets the hand up for the next few notes. But, I have been playing that scale in that way for years now, so I guess it should feel comfortable! I think it's because I find the placing of the 4th on D# enables an easy sweep of the forearm that places the thumb on the E without feeling like I have to tuck it under.



In this instance, I'm trying to force the thumb to stay on C, because otherwise the repeat is nowhere near as easy.



Absolutely!

Thanks so much for this feedback - I find it really valuable

Yes, I can see all of that. Happy to help. Thanks again.

Hi Ben,

I've rocked the halls with the easier version. Just a few comments:

Measure 8 LH 2 and 4 works better than 2 and 3 that are marked. I figured it was a typo.

Measure 17 has dynamic marking "rf" (instead of mf)--a typo unless it's a new marking indicating "real forte".

I have to really focus not to swing the 8th notes in the A section. Being a "rock tempo" I'm taking this to mean to play 8th notes as written. (Did I get that right?)

Thanks for sharing this. It will go into my Christmas repertoire notebook.

I'm trying to encourage legato here, so not a typo - I understand that for small hands the 2,3 might be uncomfortable, though. The choice I made felt more like the lesser of two evils.



"rf" is "rinforzando" - I intend this phrase to have a strength that isn't necessarily as bold as mf might be interpreted there.



Yes, you're right, and you're not the only person to say this! For me, only some of the phrases work in swing - I might have to play around with a Swing The Halls version too, if I get time...



You're welcome, Ann - thanks for the feedback!

I think it's just at good swung - you just need to write 'swing' at the top and you get to sell them all over again!

Thanks, Ben, for your responses and for introducing me to the word 'rinforzando'. Love it! A sudden emphasis, but not as much as an accent. I like the challenge.

@TLT - There are just a couple of phrases which I would want to change slightly to suit my taste. What I'm really not keen on is the molto rall. e dim. section being swung, but it might actually make a nice contrast to keep that bit straight. It can also suffer being played at a slower tempo in swing, which is no bad thing.

You know, I might just make the easier version into Swing The Halls, and be done with it - I'll try and send everyone the new version

Ben,

Thank you for this new version! I really like Swing the Halls. It also makes a nice set paired with Swingle Bells.

The rock version I liked, but it felt like a nice pair of shoes that pinch a little. Now the shoes are a good fit. And my joy in playing it has grown 2 sizes bigger. (Picture the Grinch's heart growing 2 sizes bigger after he removes the shoes that are too tight.)

Thanks Ann