Up on the Housetop: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Feldstein's arrangement distills a beloved holiday melody into something your Grade 1 band can actually pull off without losing the tune's cheerful character. The scoring is transparent enough that balance happens naturally, and there's zero wasted motion—every note serves the melody or provides essential harmonic support.

Bright, straightforward, and instantly recognizable. The arrangement captures the tune's rollicking charm without complexity; it sounds like Christmas without asking your players to reach beyond their current abilities.

Beginning concert bands playing their first holiday program. This works equally well for late-fall rehearsals or December performances, and the one-page format makes it perfect for reading at sight and quick rehearsal turnarounds. Directors building Grade 1 repertoire will find this reliable and genuinely musical.

• Keep the tempo steady and moderate. Young players often rush holiday music; lock in with the conductor's beat from measure one.
• Balance the melody across your section that carries it. A single student in first clarinet or first trumpet shouldn't overshadow the whole band.
• Shape simple four-bar phrases with gentle dynamic swells. Even at this level, the tune breathes better than a straight mezzo-forte throughout.
• Check intonation on the held notes. Grade 1 players tend to drift when sustaining, so mark those spots in rehearsal.

Pair this with one or two other Grade 1 holiday selections for a complete early-winter concert, or open a general concert with it to settle the audience and give your band an immediate confidence boost. Its brevity (one page) also makes it ideal for a quick encore or a filler between larger works.

• Reading and performing Grade 1 concert band parts
• Balancing melody and harmonic support across the ensemble
• Maintaining steady tempo under a conductor
• Sustaining whole notes and half notes with consistent tone quality
• Responding to simple dynamic markings and phrase shapes