Hark, Hear The Bells!

Nothing says "Happy Holidays!" like the merry sound of bells... or Boomwhackers®, tone chimes, mallet instruments, Joia Tubes®, or any other C scale instrument. "Hark, Hear The Bells!" is a great song that gives you the flexibility to use just vocals or vocals with your choice of any or all of the aforementioned instruments – we chose kids' handbells for our recording, as you'll hear. (The bells part is included on page 65 of this issue.) You could also choose to perform this piece with just the instruments. If you go that route, consider adding some rhythm band instruments like triangles, tambourines, finger cymbals, jingle bells, and the like. Of course, you will probably want to establish rhythmic patterns for these players so that things don't end up sounding too cacophonous.

All the bell notes, from low C to high C are covered in this piece. So all players will have a chance to ring and/or make a sound. At the end, all eight notes are played together for a big finish. As the applause from your audience begins, which it surely will, you could let your players freely play their instruments, as sort of an applause of their own.

In case you want to have something for your students to play along with, there is an alternate accompaniment track that includes a guide bell track as an option. This track is available as a web extra on our web site. (See details on page 79.)