When you pay and download the music you get a printable full score and all the printable parts that exist for that piece. Most of them have a basic set orchestration. But I’ve also produced alternative parts that can be used as substitutes, as well as some optional parts that can be added, such as extra cello and double bass parts.

When I talked to teachers about my plans to write this music, the biggest gripe I heard was that of not having a viola player. I actually started to play the viola at high school simply because no one else played it and we wanted to form a string quartet. I think this is often how viola players are born! It isn’t always the case though because at my children’s school there were two viola players! So I have taken the liberty of writing a couple of pieces that have a viola part with no alternative. We at The Little Music Bazaar are viola players and we know that sometimes only those low viola notes will do!

Any number of players can play each part, as long as thought is given to the balance of sound when organising children into groups. It’s difficult when you have a rather random group of string players of all levels who all want to be involved. But my aim when I started composing these pieces was to help groups get the best possible performance, so there has to be some thought when choosing how many players will be on each line. Balance of sound is important to obtain the greatest performance possible.

Most of the compositions here, especially those of easy or moderate standard, would benefit from having a director or a conductor. If there is a live pianist, then perhaps they could direct from the piano. The pianist should always be close to the ensemble. If children are up on their own on a stage it’s great for parents watching, but it doesn’t help to get the music together. Players can feel very isolated so far away from the piano. You wouldn’t separate ensembles out like this in a professional situation, and so it goes for the beginner ensembles.

If using the piano or percussion backing tracks, or one of the new style backing tracks with extra synths etc, a director would definitely help. Whether or not a group needs a director or not depends on the musical abilities of the performers and their level of confidence. It would be fantastic if a group could perform without any help, led by a designated leader perhaps.

But if the group as a whole is unconfident then someone should direct, because the quality of the performance would be greater and this would lead to the players enjoying it more, which would make them more likely to want to perform again.

Some of these pieces have piano parts which are integral to the piece, they wouldn’t work without them. In practice, these piano parts should ideally be played by a live pianist. But most of the pieces can be performed with the piano backing track that you receive when you download your purchase. There aren’t any pieces that absolutely cannot be performed with the backing track, but some will work better than others. And whether these work or not depends on the abilities and the experience of the players. The individual performance notes that come with each piece give advice about this on a piece by piece level. With some of the faster numbers, I have included a slower version of the piano backing track so that players can practice slowly along with it. Some of the pieces have no integral piano part. However, for one or two of the easier ones I have written some very simple optional piano accompaniments in case they are needed. The full audio performances of these particular pieces do not include the piano accompaniment.

On a basic level these grades are:

• Easy: Grades 1-3

• Moderate: Grades 3-5

• Advanced: Grades 6-8

The level at which I have graded each piece gives a standard based on the technical difficulty set against the ultimate goal, which is the creation of a great and memorable performance.

Yes, see the PDF attached to this post for a quick and handy list.

Any number of players can play each part.

Of course in the case of a string quartet for example, then ultimately it would be better just one to a part. But it doesn’t mean you have to do it that way. It is good to try and create a good balance of sound when you organise a group if you can, but it’s hard when you have a random group of string players of all levels who want to be involved.

Basically, it’s entirely up to you how many people you put on a part!

Many of these pieces have integral piano parts of various levels of difficulty. If you haven’t got a

pianist, or if you have one but the piano part is too difficult for them, then most of these pieces can be performed with the MP3 piano backing track that comes with your download. Some pieces work better with the backing tracks than others. Each piece has its own info about this in the performance notes.

There are some slower backing tracks that come with some pieces for practice at slower speeds.

Some of the easiest pieces have simple optional piano accompaniments in case they are needed.

Yes, in general they are. Most of the arrangements of the popular tunes have been written for players of a more moderate and advanced standard. This will change over time as I plan on creating easier arrangements of the famous folk songs.

For now please check the individual difficulty ratings of each piece to be sure.

Yes you can! We always want to hear which tunes you’d like to play!

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