Here’s a handful or two of fairly easy Christmas Duets for Trumpets. They appear in a variety of keys, because you should be learning to play in a variety of keys. If something sounds wrong, either I made a mistake or you did! (BIG HINT: most of the mistakes I hear are key signature mistakes.)These keys also keep the top, melody part from getting too high while leaving enough space for a lower duet part. The top is always the tune, so you don’t need to have a “Part B” player, but they are more fun to play that way.
Watch out for low C#’s and D’s. If you’re new to my site you might not have endured my lectures on how those notes are notoriously sharp and really need you to get that 3rd valve slide moving. In a song like Joy to the World you’ll be slurring from that sharp low D to the one an octave up (which has a real tendency to be flat). Everyone can hear an octave, and when an octave isn’t quite there – just sayin’.
As soon as I get around to it I’ll record myself playing the B part so you can play duets with me if nobody else is around. That link will appear here.
These are simply the tunes, they’re not fully fleshed out arrangements that would sound great at a concert. Every one of them could, and probably should be repeated. If you and a friend want to busk outside the local grocery store, go for it! You might want some more material but this will get you started.
Each of these tunes appears on two staves (that’s plural for staff). The melody is always on the top staff, so if that’s the part you’re playing then you get to the end of a line and skip down to its continuation below the Part B staff. I hope that’s clear – if not, get someone to show you what I mean.
One more thing … You can play these duets with another Trumpet player or even a Clarinet player. There is the odd low note in the Part B that a Tenor Sax player might have to skip but they could play the top if you’re desperate. If you know a Baritone (or Euphonium) player who reads in Treble Clef they’d make a good duet partner too. All of these instruments have B-Flat in their names, just like you. If you try them with a flute, violin, piano, F-horn, trombone, also sax or anyone else there will be a problem. Without getting into it in detail, someone will have to play notes other than the ones printed. That’s a skill called “transposition” and it can be really useful. It is beyond the scope of this post – look here if you want to learn more about transposition.
I can’t remember why, but there are 2 versions of The Gloucestershire Wassail (aka Wassail, Wassail, aka The Wassail Song). One is higher than the other one, so it’s in a different key. They won’t sound good at the same time – pick one.
About range … The lowest melody line is in Jolly Old St. Nick. A couple of these duets require an F at the top of the staff – but only in the melody part (of Silent Night, Deck the Halls and the Higher Gloucestershire Wassail.) The B Part is always below or at C in the staff. The lowest notes in the B Part are the occasional low A and all of us should be able to play that note – even if you think of yourself as a “high note player”.
Here they are in a very approximate order of difficulty:
Jolly Old St. Nicholas (in G)
Jingle Bells (in F)
Away in a Manger (in F)
Gloucestershire Wassail (Low, in G)
What Child is This?(in e minor … looks like G)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (in G)
Joy To The World (in D)
Angels We Have Heard on High (in F)
Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly (in F)
Silent Night (in C)
Gloucestershire Wassail (High, in Bb)
These arrangements are Copyright but the melodies are all in the Public Domain.
Leave a Reply