Jazz, Blues and Fun for Handbell Choirs

We all need a bit of fun for handbell choirs from time to time! Here’s a list of jazz, blues and generally-fun-to-play arrangements available from Choraegus. Click on a title, and you’ll be taken to our music site, where you’ll find more details about each piece, preview pages, audio files, and information about how to purchase music from us!

A Celebration of Our Life
5 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes, Level 3

Peter and Melinda Darbee commissioned this lively, joyous piece for their 30th wedding anniversary celebration, and had their church’s handbell choir premiere it when they renewed their vows. Fun abounds in this piece, not just because it’s exciting to play, but also because it’s a musical puzzle with elements of the score referring to the occasion – find them if you can!

A Minor Crash
5-8 octaves of handbells and optional handchimes, Level 4

This original composition is full of interesting (and interacting!) rhythms. Separately, they’re fairly easy to learn; together; combined, they’re an exciting mix. A set of somewhat simplified pages is provided in case you need to be less adventurous than the as-originally-written middle section.

Banana Passacaglia
3 or 5 octaves of handbells, Level 4

The result of a challenge on Facebook, this piece starts as a Passacaglia, then goes totally bananas. Definitely an audience-pleaser, and a great choice for an encore!

Friskin’ the Whiskers
5-6 octaves of handbells and 2 octaves of handchimes, Level 5

Friskin’ the Whiskers is an original handbell composition for five or six octaves. The style is big band swing. It was commissioned by RiverBells of Sacramento, CA to celebrate twenty years of ringing.

Gaudete!
3-8 octaves of handbells and 3-4 octaves of handchimes, Level 4+

Gaudete! is a Christmas song dating back to at least the sixteenth century. You’ll find this arrangement (with optional cajón part!) exciting and fun to play!

Home at Last
5-8 octaves, Level 4+

Home at Last, the fifty-fourth in the set, is about the blessed hope that Christians have in the promise that Jesus Christ will one day return to take us to a new heaven and a new earth, a new life, and a new eternity future.The original choral version is also available from Choraegus, and the choral version can be combined with the handbell arrangement.

Mack the Knife
5-8 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes, Level 5

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill wrote Mack the Knife in 1928 for the Threepenny Opera. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitgerald, and Bobby Darin performed it, guaranteeing its place in our music social awareness. It’s such a happy, bouncy song that you’d hardly know it was talking about a hitman. But the legend lives on, and we’re thrilled to present our arrangement of this classic.

Mahler Swing
5-8 octaves of handbells, with 2 octaves of chimes, Level 5

What happens when you meld Mahler and the Swing Era for handbells? The result is the Mahler Swing, which takes elements of the first movement of Mahler’s first symphony and makes them swing. Advanced handbell choirs will enjoy this!

Smiles
4 or 5 octaves of handbells and optional 2 octaves of handchimes, Level 3+

Take your audience back to 1917 with this arrangement of the popular WWI song. Happiness and sweet romance, in a song written in a cottage in Bay View, Michigan! There are two arrangements of this song available from Choraegus; one is Level 3+ (shown in this video), and the other (listed below) is Level 5.

Smiles
5-8 octaves of handbells and 2 octaves of handchimes, Level 5

This arrangement was premiered at the 2023 Bay View Week of Handbells. We’ve added a bit of wildness to the original, by adding a section after the first verse that’s based on the Charleston (the 1920’s dance craze). You’ll have fun playing this one – and if you have the opportunity to add a drummer, it’ll be even more exciting!

A Snail’s Pace
5-8 octaves of handbells and 5 octaves of handchimes, Level 5+

Written with a plush orange-pink-and-purple snail in mind, this original laid-back jazz piece will challenge you even as you relax into its feel!

Somebody Loves Me
5-7 octaves of handbells, Level 5

This joyous song by Buddy DeSylva, Ballard MacDonald, and George Gershwin entered the public domain in 2020. This fun-to-play arrangement will put your audience in a nostalgic mood! Perfect for a Valentine’s Day concert.

Squirrels
3 or 5 octaves of handbells, Level 4

This original composition for handbells was inspired by… you’ve guessed it!

Strollin’ in the Park
5 octaves of handbells, Level 3+

This piece was composed for Libbie Randels and her handbell choir. Now, this was an unusual group because it consisted of about three dozen seniors. At the time, their average age was 73 – and they were active, happy, and musical. Getting older is most definitely not a barrier to good handbell ringing! So… here’s a composition about two people in love taking a romantic walk in a park. The sun is shining… and they get caught in the rain and thunder… and then the sun comes out. Imagine the choreographic opportunities!

Those Were the Days
5-7 octaves of handbells, with optional mandolin, tambourine, wood block and kazoo

Remember the Gene Raskin song made popular by Mary Hopkin in 1968? It was a No 1 hit, and now you can play it on handbells! This lively arrangement will have your audiences singing and dancing in the aisles!

Tico tico no fubá
5-7 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes, Level 5+

Tico tico no fubá is a truly exciting Brazilian piece written by Zequinha de Abreu. You’ll dance to this arrangement… but remember that you have bells to play too! We also have some terrific percussion parts, created by Alex Guebert, for guiro, maracas, cabasa, tamborim, and claves!