Description
Important Note: This trumpet duet is also available in the Trumpet Christmas Duets book. It’s a book of 21 Christmas carols arranged for trumpet duet. Click HERE to go buy that book.
The Holly and the Ivy Trumpet Duet
Traditional English
Of all the trumpet duets in our Trumpet Christmas Duets book (published 2023), this arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy is probably the happiest sounding of them all. It’s a joyous arrangement which takes advantage of the simplicity of the original Christmas carol.
The original Christmas carol, The Holly and the Ivy, is only eight bars long. In this trumpet duet arrangement of the carol, I add new material that is heavily derived from the original. It is so heavily derived that after a few listenings, you will wonder why that material wasn’t in the original from the beginning.
In my opinion, part of what makes this Christmas carol sound so happy is because of it’s emphasis of the subdominant over the dominant. The tonic chord is only present in four beats out of the full eight bars of the form. The rest of the harmonic structure alternates between tonic and subdominant.
The overall form used in this The Holly and the Ivy trumpet duet arrangement is similar to other trumpet duets in this series. It begins with a sostenuto statement of the main theme, then introduces my original material. Then there is a plain statement of the original hymn.
In most of these Trumpet Christmas Duets, I have at least one verse for which there is a very simple statement of the original Christmas carol. These are written in the style of my Unadorned Trumpet Hymn series (published on YouTube). I include these simple statements of the original carol for two reasons. First, it helps give the listener an anchor to hold on to. The familiarity of the original Christmas carol will anchor them through the rest of the arrangement. Secondly, as a gigging trumpet player, I know that there are times when the gig doesn’t call for all that other fancy stuff. I wanted my customers to have the option of playing only the simple statement of the piece when it is necessary.
Trumpet Christmas Duets book
The Holly and the Ivy trumpet duet is number twelve in our Trumpet Christmas Duets book. This is a book of traditional Christmas carols arranged for trumpet duet. The book is something of a sequel to the Trumpet Hymn Duets book. Both books strive to honor the mood and harmonies of the original carol/hymn.
If you like this arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy and would like a book of twenty similar trumpet duets, then we encourage you to visit the Trumpet Christmas Duets page on this website.
We would also like to encourage you to check out our other duet books as well by clicking HERE (Trumpet Duet Books). We currently publish six different trumpet duet books (as of 2023).
Trumpet Apprentice Skill Level
The most obvious aspect of the Trumpet Apprentice Skill Level is that the highest note is written B flat above the staff. Some of the duets in the Trumpet Christmas Duets book, including this The Holly and the Ivy trumpet duet, observe this restriction. There are three written As (above the staff) in the first part.
In the second part, the highest written note is fourth space E. There is only one of these and the rest of the part is on the bottom side of the staff.
The length of this duet is two pages long.
Practice Suggestions
Here are a few recommendations for working on this trumpet duet of The Holly and the Ivy.
- The piece works best with the correct tempo changes.
- The most difficult section is from measure 49 to 51. Practice these with a metronome.
- Make a contrast between the sections marked staccato and the very same material marked tenuto.
The Holly and the Ivy Trumpet Duet Play-Along
There is a free trumpet play-along video for this The Holly and the Ivy Trumpet Duet. We publish these free play-along videos for educational purposes, but they also offer a wonderful opportunity for prospective buyers to take the piece for a “test drive”.
Click the following button to go to that video:
The Holy and the Ivy Trumpet Play-Along VideoIf you are interested in more of these play-along videos, then the best way to access them is on our other website, EddieLewis.com.
The Holly and the Ivy Trumpet Duet Score Video
Here is a score video of our The Holly and the Ivy trumpet duet arrangement.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.