Mary Did You Know

Tug peoples heart strings with this trumpet trio arrangement of the popular Christmas song, Mary Did You Know. This is a no-nonsense arrangement. Very simplistic and absolutely true to the original recordings. Of all the modern Christmas songs, Mary Did You Know is the one that seems to have the same kind of appeal that the traditional Christmas carols have had over the years. It has a powerful story line and beautiful melody and its most likely everyone at your Christmas event is going to recognize it. Whether it is for a church function or a Christmas mall concert, people are going to recognize the tune and enjoy it. Eddie Lewis wrote this trumpet trio arrangement in response to a request from one of his adult students. The student expressed a desire to bless his neighbor with a recording of him playing her favorite Christmas song. The student mentioned it to Eddie and the project went on to his to do list. Trumpet Apprentice Skill Level The range in the first part of this arrangement goes to B flat above the staff. Because there are so few rests, endurance can be a problem. There is enough repetition in the piece that you can safely cut sections without losing the continuity of the song. The other two parts come in at our Trumpet Player skill level, which is our first intermediate level. The highest note in the second part is top line F, with most of the part being in the mid to lower register. The third trumpet part is mostly low notes. Practice Recommendations Theres no reason to play this piece loud. Shape the phrases and take deep, musical breaths and that will do a lot to alleviate any problems you may encounter with endurance. To make this arrangement sound beautiful, good phrasing is a must. I recommend repeated listenings to the vocal group, Pentatonix, who do a wonderful job on this piece.