The Christmas Dreidel: Score
Featuring: Christmas Is Coming, the Goose Is Getting Fat / The Dreidel Song
Arr. Rick England
Grade: 2.5
Item: 00-PR-0003375
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Description
Two traditional seasonal songs, "Christmas Is Coming, the Goose Is Getting Fat" and "The Dreidel Song," are combined. Discuss with your students some of the compositional techniques (imitation, augmentation) or tonalities that are used to fit these two tunes together. The many teachable moments make this a blast to teach and play!
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, The Christmas Dreidel: Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
Highland/Etling String Orchestra
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
124
SKU:
00-PR-0003375
Instrumentation:
string
More about this title
About the Arranger: Rick England
Rick England is a string arranger whose work for the Highland/Etling series has earned respect for its pedagogical clarity and musical substance. His arrangements balance accessibility with authentic compositional techniques, making them ideal teaching tools that never feel dumbed down.
Why we love this
Rick England has created an arrangement that does something rare: it takes two beloved seasonal melodies and weaves them together with real compositional substance, not just surface-level medley writing. Your students will see how imitation and augmentation work as teaching tools because they're woven into the musical fabric, making abstract concepts tangible and engaging.
What to expect
Warm and accessible, yet musically clever. The familiar melodies feel fresh when layered together, creating a sense of discovery as the arrangement unfolds. There's a genuine celebratory quality that resonates with winter audiences without feeling saccharine.
Who it's for
String orchestra conductors teaching at the Grade 2.5 level who want repertoire that combines holiday appeal with meaningful musical learning. This works well for ensembles ready to tackle compositional techniques through performance rather than abstract discussion.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the imitative entrances carefully during the opening; make sure each voice part can be heard as it picks up the melody line so students understand the compositional technique at work.
- Pay attention to the transition between the two tunes; mark the tempo and harmonic shift in your rehearsals so players understand how the arrangement moves from one song to the other.
- Encourage your strings to listen across sections during passages where augmentation occurs; this helps them hear how the same melodic material transforms rhythmically.
How to use it
Program this during your December or January concerts as a bridge piece between traditional holiday repertoire and concert literature that teaches compositional concepts. The teachable moments make it ideal for a concert where families appreciate seeing students engage with music theory in real time.
Skills your students will build
- Identifying and performing melodic imitation across voice parts
- Recognizing rhythmic augmentation and its effect on phrasing
- Balancing multiple melodic lines playing simultaneously
- Understanding how harmonic progressions support tonality shifts
- Reading and executing ensemble transitions between contrasting sections