Celebramos Juntos

Christmas is the time to celebrate together, and that's just what this song suggests… in Spanish and English. The arrangement of this piece uses Spanish instruments: guitar, guitaron (which is a big acoustic bass guitar), percussion, accordion, and Spanish harp. It also offers the kids the chance to do more than just sing. They get to clap and ring handbells. (Visit MusicK8.com to see our options for handbells.) Handbell notes include C, E, F, G, A, and high C. They only occur in one small section of the piece and at the end. While they appear on the piano/vocal score, below is an abbreviated look at the measures they play. Since it's so brief, perhaps players can memorize their parts and you can just cue them so they don't have to fumble with music. If you prefer, we do have the bells part extracted and available on our web site. Also, it's important not to let the notes ring into the next chord. Have the kids dampen the bells on their chests or legs.

There is an optional second part that begins during the bridge (measure 26) and continues through the rest of the song. We have isolated this part and put it on our web site for your rehearsal purposes. We also isolated part 1 here, just in case.

Verse one is in Spanish. It is very easy Spanish: ¡Celebramos juntos! ¡La Navidad¡ Verse two is the English translation, albeit a loose translation: Celebrate together, this Christmas time! The bridge mixes up the English/Spanish a bit: Ring the bells. Then the Spanish: ¡Toquen las campanas! Then back to: Ring the bells… en Navidad! Which means, "Ring the bells for Christmas" or "this Christmas." It isn't literal but is conversationally proper. An audio pronunciation guide is included on our web site. But if you have Spanish speaking students in your choir, you can spotlight them and make them the teachers!