O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Reggae Duet – Beginner (Grade 1)

Description

A Christmas carol with a difference... Here is a fun arrangement of the popular Christmas carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel in a reggae style! This duet in E minor will suit beginner primo players who are at about the Grade 1 standard (ABRSM) and offers an opportunity to experiment with a little improvisation at the end of the piece (see below).

The primo part moves mostly in hands together with unison rhythms in octaves or sixths. This arrangement features two verses of the carol, and lyrics are provided in case your audience would like to sing along (please feel free to make temporary copies for this purpose).

In the second verse, the reggae feel of the piece transforms into a regular 4-in-a-bar feel with a gentle 'choral' vibe. Then, with the return of the rejoice! refrain, we're back into the full reggae feel again.

The piece finishes with a majestic rallentando into a grand - and unexpected - C major seventh chord with the sustain pedal held. The primo player can then improvise a 'shimmer effect' by playing any notes in the G major scale over the top of this chord. The combination of the C chord with the G major scale forms the 'lydian' mode in C, which gives an ethereal sounding blend.  This  finally resolves to a sombre E minor chord to end the piece. Have a listen to the performance track to get the idea.

This piano sheet music to O Come, O Come, Emmanuel comes with a full performance recording and three play-along backing tracks featuring bass, drums and choir:

• a tempo for the primo player (with secondo part)
• slow tempo for the primo player (with secondo part)
• a tempo for both players (with bass, drums and choir)

I hope you enjoy the lilting feel of the reggae rhythms in this piece, as well as the dramatic ending. I look forward to hearing your comments - please feel free to leave a review.