Stompin' on the Housetop: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Michael Story's arrangement strips this beloved tune down to its essentials without sacrificing charm, making it ideal for bands still building fundamental technique. The piece works as a genuine confidence builder: students get to sound polished and holiday-appropriate after just a few weeks of instruction, which matters enormously for morale and parent perception. Programming a recognizable, seasonally relevant piece this early in the year also sets a positive tone for the ensemble's first public performance.

Warm, uncomplicated, and genuinely cheerful. The melody sits comfortably in a register where young players hear themselves succeed, and the accompaniment figures move at a pace that feels manageable rather than constraining. There's a homespun quality to the arrangement that invites genuine enjoyment instead of technical anxiety.

Bands in their first year of instruction who need accessible concert repertoire that sounds complete and recognizable. This works equally well for beginning high school bands, middle school ensembles starting fresh, or community bands welcoming new members. The Very Beginning Band series explicitly supports this early-stage learning, so students get a realistic first performance experience.

• Establish a steady pulse in early rehearsals by having the rhythm section tap along silently while woodwinds play the melody; this anchors coordination before balance refinements.
• Keep the tempo moderate and consistent to avoid rushing through the straight-forward rhythm. Young bands often accelerate during eighth-note figures from excitement alone.
• Pay particular attention to unison or octave doublings in the melody line; slight intonation drift becomes obvious when multiple sections play the same notes in this accessible register.
• Balance the melody voices prominently enough that the tune comes through clearly, even in sections with sustained accompaniment from lower voices.

This is your opening or closing piece for a December concert, especially if you want maximum audience recognition and student confidence in the same performance. Pair it with one or two other grade 0.5-1 selections to create a short, satisfying first program without overextending a developing band. It also works well as the finale of a holiday pops section, leaving audiences in a buoyant mood.

• Reading and sustaining simple quarter-note and half-note rhythms in a concert setting
• Maintaining intonation in unison and octave passages
• Coordinating part independence (melody versus sustained accompaniment)
• Responding to conductor cues across the ensemble
• Building endurance for a complete piece performance