Rockin' Up the Housetop: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$42.00 USD

Rockin' Up the Housetop: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Rockin' Up the Housetop: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-20718
Price: 42.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Bob Phillips

Grade: 2.5

Item: 00-20718

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This high-energy holiday medley combines the well-known tunes, "Up on the Housetop," "Jingle Bells," and "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" in a 1950s rock and roll style. The open fifth, eighth note accompaniment should be played with a bounced bow at the frog. Pay careful attention to the staccato notes during the driving eighth note melodies. Students will love this "Chuck Berry meets the holidays" setting of traditional tunes. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Rockin' Up the Housetop: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.

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Series: Highland/Etling String Explorer

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 116

UPC: 038081219486

SKU: 00-20718

More about this title

About the Composer: Bob Phillips

Bob Phillips has spent decades reshaping how string students engage with music beyond the classical canon. Since 1953, he has composed over 200 works for orchestras and bands while simultaneously building pedagogical frameworks that thousands of teachers rely on yearly. His curriculum innovations include the complete Sound Innovations series and genre-specific collections like Jazz Philharmonic, Rock Philharmonic, and Mariachi Philharmonic, each designed to expand students' musical vocabulary and ownership of their instruments.

For 27 years, Phillips directed a string program in Saline, Michigan that grew to serve over 700 students and became a national model for balancing classical rigor with stylistic diversity. His Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic gained international recognition, performing more than 80 shows annually and appearing at the White House and the Midwest Clinic multiple times. As an ASCAP award-winning composer and conductor for youth orchestras across the United States, Phillips continues to demonstrate that eclectic styles in strings aren't a departure from musicianship, they're an acceleration of it.

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Why we love this

Rock and roll styling in a string arrangement often feels forced, but Phillips executes it with genuine swagger here. The bounced-bow accompaniment on open fifths gives your students an immediate physical sensation of the 1950s groove, while the staccato figures in the melody keep everyone locked into the drive of the piece. Holiday repertoire doesn't have to feel obligatory, and this medley proves it.

What to expect

Imagine Chuck Berry's swagger applied to the melodies every string player already knows. The rhythmic bounce and open sonorities create that vintage rock-and-roll sparkle while the familiar tunes keep everyone grounded and smiling.

Who it's for

String orchestras at the intermediate level looking to program something festive that energizes both players and audiences. Directors who want holiday music that teaches stylistic flexibility without sacrificing musicianship or fun.

How to get the most out of it

Establish the bounced-bow technique on the open fifth accompaniment during sectionals before ensemble rehearsal. The frog work defines whether this lands as authentic rockabilly or feels tentative.
Mark the staccato articulations in the string parts clearly. The clarity of those eighth-note figures against the driving rhythm is what makes the rock style actually read as rock.
Balance the three melodies as they rotate through the ensemble so listeners can follow the medley structure. Bob Phillips's arrangements reward transparent voicing.
Play the recorded accompaniment early and often so students hear the stylistic context. Knowing the 1950s rock DNA underneath their parts changes how they approach tone and energy.

How to use it

Slot this into a December concert alongside a classical holiday arrangement to show students how the same source material can speak in different languages. The energy of this piece makes it an excellent closer or pre-encore number that leaves audiences in a great mood.