Darren Day Does Christmas!
Darren Day Does Christmas!
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Darren Day is a Northern Irish teacher and composer. He founded the New Irish Chamber Choir, for which he has often composed. Darren often collaborates with professional soloists for recitals, concerts and weddings – covering opera, musical theatre, jazz, cabaret and pop. He has also been a music examiner for Trinity College London since 2019 and has travelled as an examiner throughout the U.K. and also to India. Darren is a prolific composer of piano and vocal music and is now published and distributed by 80days Publishing.
If you are learning to play the piano and if you love Christmas (and hey, who doesn’t love Christmas?), Darren Day’s “Did Someone Say Christmas” is definitely the book for you!
Famous classical tunes have been given a festive twist, with Darren’s very effective words added, popular carols are here in easy-to-play versions and there are delightful original tunes. There are even some creative activities for beginner pianists. But don’t just take my word for it:
“Ideal for younger players…with creative learning at its heart…several of the pieces have added activities likely to engage children in their learning. There’s certainly an emphasis on ‘fun’ in this collection.”
[Andrew Eales, Pianodao]
“Whilst there are many easy Christmas books available for piano, Darren Day has filled a niche by creating a book which combines original compositions, arrangements of Christmas tunes, and reimagined classical melodies, alongside fun activities with a seasonal flavour. I can see this book being especially useful for piano teachers who are looking for new seasonal and Christmas material for early-stage and beginner piano students. Once again, it is Darren’s imaginative original compositions which stand out.”
[David Barton]
"What a fabulous book for the beginner piano player. My boys have picked their first tunes and are delighted that at their stage of playing they can work on a Christmas performance piece. The optional duets are really good fun and will really make learning the piece into a real performance. The pieces are well written and the division between the left and hand works really well. I would totally recommend this book.”
[Customer review]
Here’s The Mischievous Elf, inspired by Grieg’s In The Hall of the Mountain King:
The Mischievous Elf.movAnd here’s The Secret Stowaways, a delightful original composition:
The Secret Stowaways.MOVEarly-level arrangements have the student play the melody split between the hands, with starting hand positions given in keyboard diagrams.
Optional duet accompaniments create a fulfilling musical experience and add to the fun.
Easy solos, which give the student an opportunity to play hands-together, lie comfortably under the hand and are marked with helpful fingering. Changes of hand position are also indicated to further aid learning.
There’s also a piece included to introduce reading chord symbols, as well as a handful of engaging activities to strengthen listening skills, develop inner hearing, explore improvisation – and even test Christmas trivia knowledge!
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