Belwin Beginning Band Kit #7: Holiday Edition: E-flat Alto Saxophone

Bullock has engineered five beloved holiday standards into a cohesive concert program that actually holds together musically and dramatically. He understands what beginning bands need: clear voicing, sensible ranges, and straightforward rhythms that let young musicians focus on phrasing and ensemble blend rather than fighting the page. The kit format means one purchase gives you a complete, polished holiday concert with no hunting for parts or worrying about instrumentation gaps.

Warm and unpretentious. These are the songs audiences come to hear, arranged with affection for the melodies without fussy orchestration. The band sounds unified and confident, even at entry level, because Bullock has done the compositional problem-solving so young musicians can focus on making music together rather than deciphering complex notation.

First-year and second-year band directors preparing their first holiday concert. This kit is ideal for beginning instrumentalists in middle school or high school who need accessible, familiar music that engages audiences while building foundational ensemble skills. The complete package approach means no guesswork about which arrangement to choose or whether parts are missing.

• Balance the melody between trumpet and clarinet voices, especially in Up On the Housetop and Jingle Bells, so the tune emerges without one section overwhelming the others.
• Let Silent Night breathe; resist the urge to rush through this arrangement. Young players tend to hurry legato passages, so lock in the tempo during rehearsal and have them voice-lead into each measure.
• Bring out the rhythmic character in We Wish You a Merry Christmas by keeping the accompaniment figures light and crisp; the melody should land clearly on top.
• Use Jolly Old Saint Nicholas as a moment to work on intonation awareness. The slower tempo gives you time to listen for tuning issues that faster pieces might mask.

Program this as your complete holiday concert, or split selections across two performances (perhaps opening with the upbeat numbers and closing with Silent Night for emotional contrast). The five-piece structure and short total duration (under four minutes) also makes the kit an excellent fit as part of a longer winter concert, especially if you want to showcase how much your beginning ensemble has grown during fall rehearsals.

• Legato articulation and sustaining long tones (Silent Night)
• Clear diction and rhythmic precision in fast-moving figures (Jingle Bells)
• Balancing melody and accompaniment within a section
• Phrasing over harmonic changes
• Listening to intonation in slower, exposed passages
• Maintaining consistent tempo across multiple sections and key signatures