Jump back to the '80s with Modern English's timeless smash hit “I Melt with You” and Simple Minds' “Don't You (Forget About Me).” These quintessential '80s pop songs inspire feelings of love and romance, and are sure to be...
“Red-Haired Boy” is a traditional Irish reel that has become a standard tune in the American old-time and bluegrass musicians' repertoire. This arrangement combines non-traditional phrase structures and an extended introduction as well...
Add the Afro-Cuban and Latin beats of “Bésame Mucho” and “Song for My Father” to your repertoire. When Consuelo Velasquez wrote “Bésame Mucho” (in English: “kiss me a lot right now”)...
“Grand Mamou” and “Allons a Lafayette” are two tunes from the great tradition of Louisiana Acadian dance music, which draws on French, German, and African-American influences. The Cajun fiddle tradition can be immensely...
Take your ensemble back to the 1930s with these lively Cole Porter show tunes arranged for string quartet. Written in 1934 as the title song for his Depression-era Broadway musical, “Anything Goes” has a distinctive rhythmic motif and a...
A tender prequel to “Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love,” Cole Porter's “You Do Something to Me” is a perennial classic from Porter's 1929 musical Fifty Million Frenchmen. It is a highly regarded standard at weddings and other...
The elegant tango “Comme Il Faut” was written by the great player, composer, and bandleader Eduardo Arolas (also known as “El Tigre del Bandoneon”) between 1917 and his untimely death in 1924. Crisp rhythmic eighth notes and...
Turn your orchestra into a big band for the night with Duke Ellington's swing classics. The loping bass line, the sinewy horn parts, and the intricate harmonies of “Echoes of Harlem” are translated into an artful arrangement for string...
Mix it up with original rock tunes from composer Anna Stafford. Keep it light while playing “Grounded,” a charmingly simple rock 'n' roll piece best played with a classical approach. Bring a bit of twang to your rock mood with the dreamy...
Want to add a sparkle to your string orchestra holiday program? These fun and inventive arrangements are perfect for a Level 2-3 ensemble. “Winter Fest” is a fantasia of tunes from Vivaldi's “Winter” concerto from The Four...
Immediately recognizable and always fun to move to, these James Brown funk tunes are sure to win over your audience. The driving interlocking rhythms, the short melodic and rhythmic phrases, and the bluesy harmonic vocabulary help to make these two...
Get your audience up and dancing. They'll be unable to resist clapping along to these two festive compositions. “Klezzfied” is an original medley of two klezmer-style tunes, one a Romanian-style hora, and the second an upbeat...
The perfect romantic tunes for a wedding or ball, these charts deserve a permanent spot on your setlist. From the first chord, your audience will swoon to “At Last,” the signature pop hit for R&B singer Etta James. Playfully, yet gently,...
Beginning string ensembles will enjoy “Mimi's Minor Mambo,” a dance tune inspired by the traditional Afro-Cuban music played by the Caribbean island nation's charanga ensembles. Charanga, sometimes called the grandfather of salsa,...
Orchestral in scope, but rock by instrumentation, Radiohead pushed the musical limits of rock music with its 1997 landmark album OK Computer. This arrangement of the album's epic track “Paranoid Android” will challenge any string...
