Christmas Duets for Violin and Cello: 22 Traditional Christmas Carols arranged especially for two equal players. All in easy keys.

The arrangements are unnecessarily complicated. The melody is passed back and forth so quickly that it just sounds... messy. Every year we try to like this book but it's just not easy.

These were nicely adapted pieces for beginners. I had only started playing cello a couple of months before I ordered this book and I was delighted to be able to work through several pieces

These arrangements are perfect for my students to play together for the Holidays

Four stars instead of five because the book does not lay flat on the stand. I have to take it to the office supply store and get a comb or spiral binding put on, which is always an extra annoyance.The book contains mostly known Christmas songs with a few omissions, probably due to the range of notes they would require. There are also a number of pieces I have never heard of: In the Bleak Midwinter, I Saw Three Ships, Once in Royal David's City, Pat-a-Pan, Sussex Carol, While Shepards Watched. The people who put the book together live in the UK, which probably explains the unfamiliar tunes.Twelve of the tunes are familiar Christmas pieces to the US market. All pieces are one page, no repeats (of course you could choose to repeat, but there are no first and second endings, no intros, codas, etc.) The melody line starts in the treble clef and at some point in the piece goes to the bass line. There are no written dynamics so you might want to go through and write "mp" when you are the harmony and "f" when you are the melody, otherwise it would sound rather muddy.For the low price it is ok, especially if you need easier pieces for a treble and a bass instrument. Many pieces in C major, a couple with one sharp or one flat, one piece with two sharps. That's it. I am a cellist and bought this at the request of a fellow rower who plays flute. We plan to do the duets at the boathouse after Thanksgiving. There are no notes too low for flute.Update: it cost nearly $5 to get a spiral binding piut on at FedEx-Kinkos. A comb would have been more like $3.

Good selection of music for beginners or those who haven't played for years to pick up quickly

Good book for violin and cello to practice together.

Easy, fun and short pieces. Great for sight reading and having fun with holiday music.

Would like slightly higher level of difficulty.

A nice selection of songs. Impossible (or at least exceedingly difficult) for a cellist and violinist to play together, as there’s only one set of music. Expect to make a copy of it for the second player.