A few years ago, I arranged some Christmas songs for a group of children from my local area. Most of them couldn’t read music, so I worked out harmony parts that would be easy to remember. After a few rehearsals and armed with a set of colourful handbells, we performed outside the local train station and the pride our little group felt when they realised that complete strangers were stopping to listen to them was magical. It has now become an annual ritual that we all look forward to.
To go carolling you need to perform with little or no accompaniment, which is a challenge, and most Christmas music for unaccompanied choirs is intended for trained voices, so it’s easy to see why, for many, carolling feels daunting. I think that’s a great shame. There’s something particularly special about going out into your community and singing together and this year will be all the more special, having had a year without singing at Christmas. I hope that Sing Carols! makes it possible for a few more people to experience the joy of carolling in your community and we’re encouraging everyone to #SingCarolsTogether this Christmas!
With Sing Carols!, you don’t need to be musically trained, you just need to be willing to try it. You can choose to sing the melody as a single unison line, but there are also second and sometimes third parts that are easy to learn. I have included accompaniment suggestions for handbells and ukulele – these are easily portable for performing outside, and there are accompanying backing tracks available online.
However, and wherever you decide to sing these carols, I hope you have lots of fun doing so.
Harry Escott
Compiler & arranger for Sing Carols! published by Faber Music
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Sing Carols!
Sing Carols! is a collection of traditional carols and Christmas songs for carol singers of all ages, compiled and arranged by composer Harry Escott. Featuring all your favourites, every song in this collection can be sung as a single unison line, with easy-to-learn second and third parts provided for some. Additionally, there are some accompaniment suggestions for all the carols that are easy to perform outside and accompanying backing tracks are available to download.
