Christmas Joy, Festive Christmas Music

Christmas Joy, Festive Christmas Music, arranged by Joanna Mell. Published by Joanna Mell, 2010.  51 pages.  $ 15.00. Available from: www.joannamell.com.

This new Christmas music collection includes 11 holiday favorites. Carol of the Bells, normally challenging because of the melodic minor, is arranged so there are no lever changes during the piece, it features harmonics and is very ‘play-able’. Ding, Don, Merrily on High has glisses and fun backwards rolled chords!

Keys include A minor, G major, E minor, C major, F major, and one is in the A dorian mode. 

Features include harmonics, triplets, sixteenth notes, and syncopated rhythms.

This book will be a nice addition to your performance and background repertoire and is appropriate for intermediate and even some late beginner players.

Mell tell us in her introduction that she has “purposefully not included sharping lever or pedal markings for accidentals or glissandi, so that the player may use his/her preferred system of markings.”
You will have to spend a bit of time organizing and marking the lever changes, particularly in Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. There are no chord symbols or suggested fingerings included.