Junior Suite 3: Blueberry Blues

This is the last of the three little pieces for junior strings that together form a "Junior Suite". The pieces have an optional viola part, and the double bass part may also be played by cellos (in this movement the double bass part is optional).

Edit: Blueberry Blues is now a part of a new and improved suite: A Very Berry Suite! Listen to it here: 

Listen to Pterodactyl Polka from The Dino Dances!

Another one of my Dino dances for junior strings:

This is the last movement, the Pterodactyl Polka! 😃


Download the whole suite, complete with score and parts, at Sheet music Plus

Listen to Tyrannosaurus Tango from The Dino Dances!

I've been having fun with iMovie recently, and here's one of the results:

 

This is of course one of the movements from my Dino Dances for children's string orchestra (see this blog post from 2012), and one of my most popular pieces ever! Hope you liked my little animation 😄

Copyrighted arrangement: Angry Birds Theme for string ensemble

Who doesn't want to play the famous theme from the hit game Angry Birds!


This is a fun addition to the repertoire of any string ensemble - the double bass part is optional, and you can play Angry Birds Theme in a quartet, quintet or string orchestra. The difficulty level is not too daunting, either. Young and old alike will enjoy this upbeat piece!



Available for download at Sheet Music Plus: Angry Birds for String Quartet!

(Screenshot from Sheet Music Plus)

 

Christmas Carol: To Drive The Cold Winter Away

Time to start practicing for those end of the year concerts? Why not try this lovely old carol: «To Drive The Cold Winter Away», also known as «All Hail To The Days» or «In Praise Of Christmas». This Elizabethan carol is a praise of all the comfort there is to be had in the darkest time of the year:

«This time of the year is spent in good cheer,
And neighbours together do meet,
To sit by the fire, with friendly desire,
Each other in love do greet;
Old grudges forgot, are put in the pot,
All sorrows aside they lay,
The old and the young doth carol his song,
To drive the cold winter away.»

This pleasant theme of midwinter comforts makes this piece a good choice for winter events such as school parties and New Year festivities as well as for Christmas concerts.

In this arrangement for string orchestra with piano, all the parts have significant and interesting roles to play (although it's possible to do without the piano, if you skip the intro). The difficulty level is fairly easy, but the players must of course be able to play in the D minor/F major key.

Separate parts available at Sheet Music Plus.

Anglais from Skåne - Swedish folk dance for children's string orchestra

A fun little piece for the youngest string students! This lively Swedish folk dance is a great addition to the repertoire of any children's string orchestra. The rhythmic patterns are easy to learn and fun to play for everyone. The second violin and double bass parts are written with beginners in mind, and the double bass part may be played on the cello, too.

Celebrate Midsummer the Swedish way this year! :D

Parts available here - including viola part (second violin part in alto clef).

The Banks Of Allan - Scottish Jig

Jigs and reels and other lively folk dance tunes are always popular in my youth orchestra. This one is a jig from Scotland, and a lot of fun to play! I have tried to give all of the parts some interesting challenges. The piano part is optional.

You can download the parts on Sheet Music Plus - in which case you'll get an Irish jig into the bargain :)

Strawberry Song for Junior Strings

This is a nostalgic little melody from my composition for children's string orchestra: A Very Berry Suite. It's a flexible piece in that both the viola and double bass parts are optional - the piece will work well with as small an ensemble as two violins and a cello. That being said, it will obviously sound better with violas and double basses!

Don't ask me why the strawberries are so sad... Maybe they just like melancholy tunes? It can't be because the song is too difficult, because this piece is pretty easy for anyone to play :)

Complete parts for Strawberry Song and the rest of A Very berry Suite are available at Sheet Music Plus: A Very Berry Suite for Junior Strings.
Listen to one of the other movements: Blueberry Blues.

Air by Purcell

Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695) is often considered the creator of the English style of baroque music. I arranged his sweet Air in B minor for our junior orchestra.

Some of the parts are a bit technically demanding, and may work better for older students, although the Violin 2 / Viola and Cello 2 parts are quite easy to play. This would make a nice piece for an orchestra with players of varying ages and abilities.

Complete parts are available in this collection of baroque pieces at Sheet Music Plus: A Baroque Journey for String Orchestra.

Sonatina by Händel

More junior orchestra music from the baroque era! Georg Friedrich Händel probably needs no further intoduction. This is a flexible arrangement, in that it may be played with just the Violin 1 and the Cello 1 parts, who play in a sort of call-and-response pattern. The Violin 2 and Cello 2 parts are technically simpler, and the double bass part is basically the same as Cello 1.

Complete parts are available in this collection of baroque pieces at Sheet Music Plus: A Baroque Journey for String Orchestra

Enjoy! :)

Allegretto by Neefe

A wistful piece by the German 18th century composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, arranged for children's string orchestra. Neefe is probably best known as young Beethoven's first composition teacher, but he was a composer in his own right, as this sweet little piece shows.

 

Complete parts are available in this collection of baroque pieces at Sheet Music Plus: A Baroque Journey for String Orchestra

Komm, Lieber Mai - Mozart's May Song

It's May, and time for some spring music! This is a simple and flexible arrangement of Mozart's famous song.

You can use just the melody part (Violin 1 / Viola 1 / Cello 1) together with the slightly easier harmony part (Violin 2 / Viola 2 / Cello 2).  It may also be used as a duet for violin (or viola, or cello) and piano. The piano part is written for a young player of the same age as the rest of the orchestra.

Enjoy! :)

"Reinlender" - traditional dance from Northern Norway

This traditional fiddle tune is from the area where I live, quite close to where the Arctic Circle crosses Norway. It's a popular dance as played by the local fiddler Mikal Rabliås, which I have arranged for a combined junior/youth orchestra with a very easy open string part. That way everyone can join in!

The Violin 1 and Cello 1 parts provide some challenges to the youth players, whereas the violin 3 (Viola) and Cello 2 parts avoid any streching, and so are suitable for less experienced players. The open string part is written in treble clef with violin in mind, but is equally playable on the viola or cello.

Hope you enjoy this festive tune! :)

 

Grieg: Kom, bukken til gutten (Early Summer Song)

Edvard Grieg wrote several songs to poems by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. "Kom, bukken til gutten" is one of the most popular ones, here in a version for youth string orchestra. The harmonies and chromatic lines give this unpretentious little tune an unmistakeably Griegian sophistication!

Note that the Viola and Cello 1 parts in this arrangement are interchangeable.

One elephant – or more!

This arrangement was made as a part of The Double Bass Project, but for a spesific concert with both junior and youth orchestra members playing together in one big orchestra.

The unusual thing about this particular orchestra was that it had 5 – five! – double bass players, which, let me tell you, is no common occurence in our small town. We had two of my cellists-turned-bassists, one junior bassist, one youth bassist, and the bass teacher. I really wanted a piece with which to show off this incredible bass section, and this Danish elephant march was the result. Well – I'm not the first to cast the double bass in the role of the elephant...

We actually had the whole bass section stand in front of the orchestra for this piece, and it seemed to me that it was very popular!

As this piece is meant to be played by musicians of varying ages and abilities, some of the parts are super easy (Violin 3, Cello 2 and Double bass 2 can all be played on open strings), some are just easy, and some – notably the Violin 1 part – require more experienced students.

I include the beginners' part, Violin 3 and Cello 2 (in Norwegian only, sorry!), which is basically rhythms on the open A string.

Dino Dances 1: Velociraptor Waltz

This velociraptor seems to be a little dizzy – maybe he has been running around in circles for too long?

P.S. Complete parts for  the Velociraptor Waltz and the other Dino Dances are available at Sheet Music Plus: Dino Dances for Junior String Orchestra

Dino Dances 2: Tyrannosaurus Tango

Who knew the T-rex was such an elegant dancer?

Note: The Cello 1 part may be played by a soloist.

P.S. Complete parts for the Tyrannosaurus Tango and three other Dino Dances are available at Sheet Music Plus:  Dino Dances for Junior String Orchestra

Listen to Tyrannosaurus Tango here!

Dino Dances 3: Brachiosaurus Boogie

The Dino Dances were actually inspired by the drawings of the amazing children's book illustrator Paul Stickland. I'm starting with the last one, that way they will end up in the right order on the blog (you see, I'm learning...).

Like in the other Double Bass Project pieces, the bass part is playable on open strings. But in this piece the bass section gets to show off a little, too, starting at letter B. Who says open string parts have to be dull?

The brachiosaurus is way too awesome a creature to have a regular ending to its dance. In the last chord, everyone should play as high a note as they can on their instrument. This will result in a sort of microtonal cluster. What the brachiosaurus actually does (or says) here, I leave to the imagination of the musicians!

P.S. Complete parts for the Brachiosaurus Boogie and the other Dino Dances (with a bonus movement!) are available at Sheet Music Plus: Dino Dances for Junior String Orchestra

Synes du om meg?/Ut å søke tjeneste – Two folksongs from Norway

A new piece for The Double Bass Project: Two Norwegian folk tunes. The song called "Synes du om meg?" (Do you love me?) starts at letter A, and "Ut å søke tjeneste" (Seeking a post) starts at letter B.

Like in most of my other Junior pieces, the Violin 2 and Cello 2 parts are intended for the least experienced musicians in the orchestra. Nevertheless I have tried to make them as musically meaningful as possible – to encourage practicing at home!

Polly Wolly Doodle

A well known tune for Junior string orchestra, with a very easy double bass part!

In my experience, most children find it easier to play fast notes than long slow ones. That's why most of the Junior pieces on this blog are of the lively kind. Also, they tend to be more popular – many of my youngest students seem to rate music by speed: the faster the better! Nevertheless, I do have some pieces of the slightly more slow and soulful kind up my sleeve... Stay tuned!