The Yuletide Rag: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$55.00 USD

The Yuletide Rag: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Name: The Yuletide Rag: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-22330
Price: 55.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Richard Meyer

Grade: 2.5

Item: 00-22330

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What would it sound like if Scott Joplin had written "Jingle Bells?" Your students and audience will find out when they hear this delightful holiday piece in ragtime style. Full of great teaching opportunities (chromatics and syncopated rhythms), this arrangement has a mature, polished sound that orchestras of all levels will enjoy. All parts are playable in first position throughout.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, The Yuletide Rag: 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 Orchestra

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 128

UPC: 038081230153

SKU: 00-22330

More about this title

About the Composer: Richard Meyer

Richard Meyer spent 35 years teaching strings across elementary, middle, and high school levels in California public schools. At Oak Avenue Intermediate School in Temple City, he transformed a program of 29 students into one of 200, while also directing the city's elementary string initiative. He served as music director of the Pasadena Youth Symphony for 16 years, leading performances across New York, Washington D.C., Vienna, Australia, and Canada.

Beyond the classroom, Meyer has become a nationally recognized composer with over 190 published works and arrangements to his name. He spent 16 years as string editor for Alfred Publishing Company and co-authored the String Explorer Series and Sight-read It for Strings method books. His "Giving Bach" program, launched in 2009, uses interactive concerts to reach special needs and underserved students throughout Southern California, earning national recognition for its impact.

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Why we love this

Meyer's ragtime sensibility shines here without sacrificing the orchestral maturity your ensemble needs to sound polished in concert. The chromatic writing and syncopation teach real musical concepts while staying within first position, giving Grade 2.5 orchestras a chance to tackle rhythmic sophistication without fingering struggles.

What to expect

A ragtime waltz through the holidays, complete with the wit and stride that Scott Joplin might have brought to "Jingle Bells" himself. The piece dances and sways, mixing familiar melodic warmth with unexpected harmonic turns and rhythmic playfulness that keeps audiences engaged.

Who it's for

String orchestras at the Grade 2 to 2.5 level looking for holiday repertoire that sounds genuinely sophisticated rather than simplified. Directors who want their students to grapple with real rhythmic and harmonic concepts without extensive position work.

How to get the most out of it

Establish the swing feel in rehearsal before diving into the ragtime rhythms. Have your ensemble tap the main beat while you demonstrate the syncopated figures so they hear where the accent sits against the pulse.
Isolate the chromatic passages by section and practice them slowly with a metronome. Chromatics can blur together if intonation isn't locked in, and Meyer writes them prominently enough that clarity matters.
Let the piece breathe at the structural breaks. Ragtimes have distinct sections, and a moment of silence between them reinforces the form and gives your students a chance to reset their rhythmic energy.
Record a rehearsal and listen back as an ensemble. Hearing yourselves exposes timing inconsistencies in the syncopated lines that are easy to miss in the moment.

How to use it

Slot this into a winter concert as a lighter contrast to heavier holiday standards or classical arrangements. The mature sound works equally well as an opener that sets an upbeat tone or as a closer that sends the audience home smiling.