ensemble piece for teens?

[kb]

I have 3, maybe 4, teens in my church choir who would like to try the challenge of ensemble ringing.
I know of several easy ensemble selections, but have any of you used a fairly easy - med difficulty piece for 3 or 4 ringers that would especially have appeal for this age?

Thanks!
Kathy

[Nancy Tipton]

I had a group of 4 seniors who went on a school mission trip to NYC this past spring, and in preparation for that we created some medleys of the arrangements in the Twelve Bells for Worship I and II books arranged by Patricia Sanders Cota (Agape). For example, we combined "What a Friend" and "Tis So Sweet" in a "Trust Medley," and "All Hail the Power" and "O Worship the King" in a "Crown Medley." They couldn't take tables, so they did everything either 3- or 4-in-hand. Cota's arrangements sound fuller than just 12 bells, and they have a lot of variety. The kids enjoyed doing it, especially the three boys who normally just ring the 5th and 6th octave bass bells--ringing 4-in-hand was enough of a challenge for them to hold their interest . . . and reading treble instead of bass clef. 

For traditional ensemble ringing, there are some really nice settings in Doug Wagner's Five-by-Five, if you wanted to ring with them. (I find that my ringing with my teens helps them to develop the kind of technique I want them to use, because they emulate my technique. And it's good for the director to have to work hard once in a while.) 

If you want something secular in nature, we've used both "Spinning Song" by Christine Anderson (trio) and "Pick a Winner" by Lew Gillis (quartet or quintet) with great success. These are slightly more challenging than the sacred pieces I've mentioned. 

Also check out music from Bronze: FX publishing by Cheryl Baker Woldseth. She has several classical transcriptions with flexible assignments, and they work well with motivated teens. She has a setting of the Pachelbel Canon that works well as either a 3- or 4-in-hand trio or quartet with a piano accompaniment. I had 4 junior girls do that as a trio with piano, and they really liked it. 

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[gj berg]

Played the Canon arrangement while in manuscript form.  Loved it!

Also the Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (quartet).  Debuted it on local PBS station (geez, must be close to 20 years ago) as part of concert station auctioned off in their pledge drive.

Cheryl has a lot of fun stuff she's done.

On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Nancy Tipton <bellst...@gmail.com> wrote:

Also check out music from Bronze: FX publishing by Cheryl Baker Woldseth. She has several classical transcriptions with flexible assignments, and they work well with motivated teens. She has a setting of the Pachelbel Canon that works well as either a 3- or 4-in-hand trio or quartet with a piano accompaniment. I had 4 junior girls do that as a trio with piano, and they really liked it. 

--
gj berg
Go SHARKS!!!

[kb]

Thanks everyone!

[Rima Greer]

Here's a shameless plug for Dance of the Knights by Prokofiev.  I have a new arrangement at www.atlpublishing.com

It's one of Prokofiev's most recognized pieces, incredibly catchy, EASY to play, but needs huge sound.  Your kids will have fun playing FFFF!   You'll recognize it the second you hear it.  MP3 up there too...

Rima

[HandMeTheBell]

If you can do classical works - there are lots of good resources.

A couple of my favorites (and favorites of the teens I have directed)
are:

Rondo a la Turque (trio - transcription by David Jordon)

In The Hall of the Mountain King (configurable - transcription by
Michele Mason)

I also 2nd on "Pick A Winner" as all the youth I have directed have
loved this - even though it is secular, I still programmed it in
church :-)

And although you've probably heard it before, I have done some really
neat stuff with teens by simply taking something they like and working
it to suit them. A great example of this is that I have often taken
2-3 octave music and helped them figure out (if that's a learning
challenge you want to give them), or figured out for them, how to play
the piece with a smaller number of ringers.

In general, my experience is that youth ringers enjoy things that are
fast and have lots of techniques. If you can even find something that
they would otherwise consider "boring" but alter the tempo or the
techniques to still sound musical, this is another way to go.

-Josh