The Five-finger series of piano duets has been quite popular, and the Fox-trot probably the most so.

Recently I have found that there is a great demand for arrangements for various smaller woodwind and brass ensembles, so it seemed logical to make a set from the piano-duet original.

Following a suggestion from Debby Hutt, an ex-member of the National Saxophone Ensemble, UK, I have now included an optional part for a second Alto Sax. This converts the existing quartet into a quintet, if required.

In the original, the five fingers referred to the fact that the melody consisted only of, in this case, the first five notes of the diatonic scale, as well as the bass for the middle section.

I have kept to this, as far as the melody goes, though perhaps just been a tad more fluid where the bass part is concerned.

As five-fingers aren’t, as such, specifically involved, I have re-titled the piece Five-note Fox-trot!, and to avoid confusion with the duet version.

N.B. In the present economic climate, a good number of smaller ensembles understandably buy just the set of parts as, in reality, these alone are all that is needed in performance. Equally, a similar number buy both the parts and the full score. To compensate for this, I intend to reduce the cost of the full score by $4, and increase the price of the lead part by $3, a differential that wasn’t available to sellers at the former SibeliusMusic.com.