Grand Mesa Music

Valiant Violas gives your beginning viola section a chance to shine! This uplifting work is a follow-up to the composer’s "Cellos in Charge". It was inspired by a virtual visit with Linnea Bronson's o...

Rock Star Strings is a fun work for young students based on the standard 12-bar blues progression that is the basis for early rock and roll music. Be sure to balance both the upper and lower strings d...

Beach Party! is a sunny blast! This piece depicts the bright sunshine reflecting off the sparkling sand and waves, a scene for the perfect beach party. The syncopated rhythms give developing players a...

Between Shadows and Light is a reflective and evocative piece built around the dialogue between two contrasting sound worlds: one darker, with an ancient and suspended quality; the other brighter and...

Caribbean Flavors will sound best when players pay close alention to articulations. Be sure to keep the eighth notes and staccato quarter notes short and separated but encourage students to use plenty...

Drawbridges Dragons - Journey to a land and time of valiant knights and the castles and kingdoms they've sworn to protect in this fantastical original composition for middle level string orchestras, i...

Fiery Dash is a driving, high-energy work for string orchestra, fueled by razor-sharp staccato rhythms and electrifying syncopations that keep the music in constant motion. Amid the fiery momentum, my...

Good Days is an exciting new piece based on a very catchy tune that students will surely leave class whistling or singing. You can probably hear the words "good days, good days, we're gonna have, good...

Land of the Cyclops is inspired by Homer's "The Odyssey" and the timeless "hero's journey," "Land of the Cyclops" takes young musicians and audiences alike on an epic adventure. Listeners will imagine...

Mysteries of Pompeii is a thrilling, dark journey to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. The piece was inspired by a recent news story of "stunning artwork" that archeologists recovered, including colo...

A foot-stomping romp of rustic Russian energy, Siberian Stomp features the driving rhythms and pentatonic scales of the music of the southern Siberian Republics of Altai, Khakassia, Tuva, and Buryatia...

Lexington Reel is an epic fiddle journey for strings. The spark is easily traced to a jam session on the final day of the National ASTA conference in Louisville, KY. Earlier in the weekend, Rachel Jay...

In this piece composed by Matt Neufeld you'll find yourself at the door of a large mansion. It's nighttime, and you don't remember how you got here, or even why you're at this house in the first place...

In this evocative string work, composer David Bobrowitz uses the power of music to spur vivid, nostalgic images in the minds of listeners. Hearing the extremely moving melodies and harmonies of this w...

The four-note sequence, C - D - F - E can be heard as far back as ancient plainchant, as in Josquin's, "Missa Pange Lingua". Mozart chose to use this same note sequence as the starting point in his ex...

This stirring minor key work captures the longing in the human soul as melodic phrases effectively express the sorrow and loneliness felt from the absence of a loved one. The recurrent sweeping counte...

Bells of Wonder is an easy arrangement featuring the holiday favorites "We Three Kings" and "Carol of the Bells". All sections are given the opportunity to perform the melody, and the piece culminates...

Down by the Salley Gardens is based on a poem by Yeats written in 1889. It is thought that the Salley Gardens refer to the banks of the river at Ballysadare near Sligo town in County Sligo, Ireland. O...

English Rondo is written in the style of a bourée, a type of dance from the Baroque tradition that is felt "in two" and features frequent quarter note pickups in the melody. This is contrasted with a...

The Iron Road, composed by Eric B. Davis, gets its name from The West Highland Railway in Scotland that goes from the city of Glasgow north to the beautiful and scenic highlands. In Gaelic, the name o...

Kentucky Mountain Hoedown, composed by Mekel Rogers, is a strings orchestra work for young players in the style of a traditional lively folk dance. The main theme is based on the eastern Kentucky folk...

In music, a hocket is the alternation of single pitches or small groups of pitches between parts resulting in a continuous melodic line. The composition Hocket In Your Pocket uses the concept of hocke...

Westward Dreamers is a musical homage to the pioneers and visionaries who ventured into the unknown, driven by a spirit of exploration and a yearning for new beginnings. This music is uniquely crafted...

An isolated dark tower stands deep in the woods. A knight rescues a princess from the dungeon of an evil dragon. Now the two must escape from the dark tower before they are discovered. Escape From The...

GARGANTUANS - Journey into the magical, mysterious world of giants! This original composition for beginning orchestra uses only quarter, half, and whole notes - and only pitches on the D and A strings...