October is typically the month when musicians and teachers turn their attention to the imminent arrival of the festive Christmas season. It’s that time where we line up our resources, stock up on seasonal sheet music, and begin practising and teaching music with a holiday flair!
To support readers in their preparations, I am thrilled to be able to share an exclusive collection of seasonal downloads courtesy of Collins Music, Karen Marshall and David Blackwell.
Christmas Sheet Music
You can now download sheet music for all the following Christmas songs, completely FREE of charge, beautifully and skilfully arranged for elementary pianists by Karen Marshall and David Blackwell:
• Christmas Crackers: an exclusive preview of an original new piece composed by David Blackwell.
• Away in a Manger: an exclusive taster from the book Get Set! Christmas Crackers with the kind permission of Collins Music.
• Good King Wenceslas: another exclusive taken from the book Get Set! Christmas Crackers with the kind permission of Collins Music.
• More Christmas Carols: three more previously available sheet music downloads from Collins Music, presented here with exclusive introductions written by David Blackwell.
Christmas Practice Activities
Karen Marshall has produced several Christmas-themed piano activities:
• 6 Carol Christmas Tree (download)
• 12 Carol Christmas Tree (download)
• Piano Advent Calendar resource (download)
• 12 Days of Christmas Piano Challenge (download)
Karen introduces these resources:
The three free activity resources released since 2018 have proved a bit hit with teachers but more importantly their students.
The colour in Advent Calendar is a super way to keep children consistently practicing, and the two Christmas Tree resources (for 6 carols or 12 carols learnt) certainly encourage tackling lots of repertoire!
New for this year is a piano activity sheet with a number of challenges that can be done over 12 days in the Christmas period. From learning scales, to improvising and composing, brushing up on theory knowledge it’s another fun addition to the Get Set! Christmas free resources.
We love to see the wonderful colouring that children produce on these activity sheets, so would encourage teachers to post them on social media. They always bring a smile to our faces. Children are so colourful and creative in their design!
Get Set! Piano Christmas Crackers
These materials have all been produced in conjunction with the very excellent Get Set! Piano Christmas Crackers book, written by Karen and David. In my review of the book I wrote:
“In a crowded market, Get Set! Piano Christmas Crackers really does offer something different, interesting and hugely valuable. There are many good Christmas collections in the shops now, and to say that this is “the best” would be a moot point; closer to the truth, I believe that in offering a genuinely unique and brilliantly educational approach, this book is special.”
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