News & Views Friday, April 19, 2024

Sneak peeks of various publishers’ new string orchestra music for next fall are starting to show up in everyone’s mailbox – including Stanton’s!

We have been listening and looking at the new material, and as always, there are standouts, which Stanton’s will be stocking, advertising and including on New String Orchestra Music Reading Sessions.  Here are three levels of “Top Choice Original Pieces” from FJH:

HEART OF FIRE by Lauren Bernofsky (Grade 3)
A tribute to those fiery hearts who have left a legacy of a better life for us today – Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Susan B. Anthony – this energetic tour-de-force kicks in right from the start with a sixteenth note pulse that doesn’t let up until a lyric section in the middle featuring gorgeous woven solos in principal first violin, second violin, viola and cello. The frenzied recapitulation and rhythmic coda then tie it all together.

FAN DANCE by Soon Hee Newbold (Grade 2)
Conjuring up the colorful kimonos, cherry blossoms and the iconic folding fans of Japanese tradition, this delightful, pentatonic pas-de-deux is the perfect vehicle for reinforcing sixteenth notes (four of them on the same pitch alternating with two eighth notes), part independence with cascading entrances and the aural color differences between arco and pizzicato passages as well as staccato and spiccato bowing.

A BEETHOVEN LULLABY (Air on Ode to Joy) by Brian Balmages (Grade 1)
Who says that a piece that is technically a Grade 1 can’t open students’ ears to more mature harmonic layers that ebb and flow from dissonance to consonance?  Leave it to the consummate arranging skills of Brian Balmages to come up with a gorgeous string orchestra offering that weaves “modern” harmony around an ethereal melodic core of Ode to Joy.  Train your students’ ears as well as their fingers and hands!

Contact us for more great recommendations, check our previous post on new music from Carl Fischer, and keep your eyes open for more orchestra music previews in the coming weeks…

Stanton’s is pleased to welcome back Lloyd Larson as our clinician for the August Church Choral Music reading session!

Click here to watch video

Sacred Choral Reading Session
Saturday 8/11/2012, 9:00 am-12:30 pm
Battelle Fine Arts Center, Otterbein University, 195 West Park St., Westerville OH 43081
Cost: $20.00 (No pre-registration; you may register the day of the clinic beginning at 8:30.)
email our choral department for more details

Sacred Piano Reading Session
- Also featuring Lloyd Larson
Saturday 8/11/2012, 2:00 pm-4:30 pm
Stanton’s Sheet Music, 330 South 4th St., Columbus OH 43215
Cost: Free!
email our keyboard department for more details

Are you out of ideas for your music program or a camp this summer?  Stanton’s recommends these resources to provide engaging music activities for the wiggliest of kids from 1 to 92!

Beethoven’s Wig
Within this imaginative collection are zany, stick-in-your-head lyrics set to some of the greatest masterpieces of classical music, opening a door to serious music in a way that’s fun!

Get America Singing Again
Use singing to bring people together in your neighborhood, home, church, camp, school, club or activity with this collection containing over 40 songs representing America’s vast music heritage. Add guitar, piano, autoharp or any other instruments you can lay your hands on!

Make and Play
With step-by-step pictorial guides to making simple, inexpensive instruments, each unit features a play based on an indigenous folktale. Combine these elements to showcase the instruments created by the students, creating a final, performance-ready product!

Stomp Boom Blast
Based on the hit show Stomp, these clever pieces feature items like rulers, staplers, wastebaskets, pencil sharpeners and other common “stuff” to create unique rhythmic performances. A perfect change of pace for any concert, these are guaranteed to be audience favorites!

Double Dream Hands
Follow John Jacobson as he leads you through dance routines in a variety of styles from rock to samba, Hollywood to Bollywood, and  more. Recreate these routines at family gatherings, parties, school classrooms or anywhere else people want to have fun!

Let’s All Sing Novelty Songs
Here’s a must-have for your music library! This  collection of singable melodies and entertaining lyrics is perfect for the young AND the young-at-heart. You’re never too old for a little “Monster Mash” and “Yakety Yak”!

Pop Partners
This tremendous collection features well-known songs that will never go out of style – like “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” and “Splish, Splash” – in simple partner song format with reproducible song sheets, and easy-to teach staging suggestions.

Totally Tubular Whactive
Great for building group harmony, this collection of indoor and outdoor activities using Boomwhackers Tubes and commonly available items is suitable for General Music, Physical Education or any group that likes to get moving!

For more great suggestions for summertime fun, contact us!

School is finally out for the year, marching band planning is well underway, and you know what that means – it’s time to start previewing new music for concert band!  Ok, so maybe it is a little early, but publisher promotions full of new band titles are already hitting your school mailbox, and the band staff at Stanton’s is already checking out next year’s music, too, so we know what to recommend come fall.

If you like to plan ahead, or if you just like checking out new music, visit our concert band listening library where you can view the Current Publisher Promotions, or click on the New Releases by Publisher link at the center of our concert band webpage.  Choose which publisher you’d like to preview and all of their new titles will appear.  You can then sort them by grade level or series to preview the titles that are appropriate for your ensemble, and publisher descriptions are included (even if they’re not always great) to give you as much information about each piece as possible.

Create a wish list so you can keep track of the titles you like and revisit them later.  Don’t forget that you can subgroup your wish list any way you want – by ensemble, grade level, concert program, etc., and you can even e-mail it directly to your treasurer as a requisition!

We currently have the new titles for Alfred, Belwin, Carl Fischer, Daehn Publications, FJH, Kjos, and LudwigMasters.  Titles from other publishers (C.L. Barnhouse, Hal Leonard, Grand Mesa, etc.) will be added as soon as they’re available.

Hopefully you find our website helpful in planning and organizing for next school year.  Check out our new mobile website – now you can preview and shop with Stanton’s Sheet Music ANYWHERE!  Keep an eye out for Stanton’s Selections of the best new titles for band later this summer, and COMING SOON: Stanton’s Virtual Workshops!

Stanton’s is proud to announce the official launch of our new Mobile Website! After last year’s June launch of our completely redesigned main website, we immediately turned our attention to building a mobile website. The world is getting smarter and moving faster—at least, our phones are—and in order to keep up with the grower number of customers using smart phones, Stanton’s knew that we needed to adapt our site to be user-friendly on the “small screen.”

Why are we so excited? The new mobile website doesn’t need to be zoomed in; it’s designed to fit within your phone’s screen size. It breaks down categories with a simplified structure that is easier to navigate with your fingers.

Using Stanton’s new mobile site, your smart phone becomes your mp3 player for our thousands of music sound files.  So if you’re at a doctor’s appointment, at the airport, or sitting on your back porch, you’ll be able to listen to something new from our mobile website anywhere you are!

What’s next for our Mobile Website? We are currently designing our fan favorite–the Listening Library–to be mobile friendly as well. Stanton’s is working to include bar code scanning capabilities in the store, so you can easily scan and hear sound files while standing right in front of the music!

Check out Stanton’s Mobile Website on your smart phone, and give us your feedback. We know you’ll be as excited as we are about what we’ve created for you!

In the lead-up to the July 20 release of The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, the Tumbler Tour has been crisscrossing North America putting the series’ Tumbler (Batmobile) and Bat-pod (motorcycle) on display.  The tour rolled through Columbus last Wednesday, and being a Bat-fan and a native of Pittsburgh (part of TDKR was filmed there), Ken from our instrumental department had to check it out and share some photos – it also didn’t hurt that it coincided with his day off!  Enjoy!

If you would like to program or perform any music from the Dark Knight’s various adventures, there are plenty of options available:

From the Christopher Nolan series are arrangements of Batmobile Chase for marching band and Corynorhinus (Surveying the Ruins) for piano from Batman Begins.  Selections from Hans Zimmer’s fantastic score to The Dark Knight are available for concert band, full orchestra, and in a complete piano folio.

For those who prefer the 60’s TV series’ theme by Neal Hefti, arrangements are available for marching band, concert band, string orchestra, easy string orchestra, and easy piano.

Danny Elfman’s theme from 1989′s Batman directed by Tim Burton, and later reworked for Batman: The Animated Series (TV), is available for marching band, concert band, and easy piano.

Also available for concert band are arrangements from the animated television series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and NEW for 2012, Selections from Batman: Arkham City, the video game that is taking the gaming world by storm!

Do you want to make the most of your time when planning for your new school year? Take advantage of two full days of the best new choral music from Hal Leonard!

Register today, either online, by email or by calling 1-800-426-8742. We look forward to seeing you there!

Joe Bonamassa’s Dust Bowl album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, and #37 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart.  That makes it the highest selling and chart ranking US debut yet for him.  His concert here in Columbus, OH, was very well received last year.  Dust Bowl is Bonamassa’s ninth studio album, and it continues in the same vein of  excellence as the previous  eight albums.  Now you can play the songs you’ve been listening to!  This book of sheet music is in note-for-note transcriptions with tablature.  Give us a call at 1-800-42-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com to learn more about this collecton or other guitar music you may be interested in.

The 2012 Tony Awards Show was certainly a night of wonderful performances, from the opening with the cast of The Book of Mormon through to Neil Patrick Harris’ closing number! If you’re looking for more from your favorite shows, check out what’s currently available from Stanton’s for some of the big winning musicals:

Once
Based on the 2006 movie of the same name, “Once” took top honors of the evening, with a total of 7 Tonys including “Best Musical.” Much of the music from the movie was also used in the stage musical, and you can enjoy playing all these songs, including “Falling Slowly,” from the Piano/Vocal/Guitar collection.

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Winner of “Best Revival,” this new staging also garnered a Tony for Audra McDonald. You can still get the full vocal score from the opera or the vocal selections; there is also a new choral medley to honor the Broadway show. You may also enjoy a full-color, hardcover history of the opera: The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Newsies
“Newsies” took home Tony Awards for “Best Choreography” and “Best Original Score,” fully redeeming the box office failure of the 1992 movie. Coming soon is the Piano/Vocal/Guitar collection from the new Broadway musical, and the collection from the movie is still available. There is also a great choral medley and a single of “Seize the Day”which were published in the wake of the movie, but ring true to the excitement of the stage version!

Nice Work If You Can Get It
This new musical using the classic numbers from the Gershwin songbook won Tonys for “Featured Actor” Michael McGrath, and “Featured Actress” Judy Kaye. Although there is nothing new in print specifically based on this musical, many of the songs featured—including the title song—can be found in The Gershwin Song Collection (1931-1954).

Contact Stanton’s Sheet Music for more information on any of these products, and check back here for updates as new publications from these Tony Award-winning shows become available!

Sneak peeks of various publishers’ new string orchestra music for next fall are starting to show up in everyone’s mailbox – including Stanton’s!

We have been listening and looking at the new material, and as always, there are standouts, which Stanton’s will be stocking, advertising and including on New String Orchestra Music Reading Sessions.  Here are three levels of “Top Choice Original Pieces” from Carl Fischer:

DOTONBORI DASH by Alan Lee Silva (Grade 4)
Illustrating an adventurous chase through the lively and colorful Dotonbori Market in Osaka, Japan, your students will end up with a good grasp of A minor pentatonics, Col Legno (simulating Taiko Drums), slap pizzicato and the sense of a driving forward motion, accomplished through tumbling melodic lines that are shared by every section of the string orchestra plus a percussive element that hints at a rock band rhythm section.

THE VOYAGE by George Sweet (Grade 2)
Influenced by the composer’s love of sci-fi and fantasy movies, this could be a 1980′s film score!  Pushing the far edge of Grade 2, it features meter changes, major seventh harmonies and other accidentals, triplets and off-beats as your spaceship tumbles through the cosmos.  Each of the three major melodic themes are infectious and every orchestra section performs a major role in propelling the piece forward.

STORM CHASER by Kevin Mixon (Grade 1)
Using nothing faster than eighth notes, and staying in the key of E minor with no accidentals, this very playable romp sounds much more difficult than it actually is.  With cello and bass tremolo simulating thunder, it starts with random finger snaps in the upper strings to conjure up the sound of raindrops.  Once the main theme kicks in, the use of accents and very basic hemiola push your storm chasers into the eye of the hurricane!

Contact us for more great recommendations, and keep your eyes open for more orchestra music previews in the coming weeks…

Stanton’s Sheet Music is pleased to invite you to the 2012 “Stanton’s Super Session,” a day-long choral reading session of new music from a variety of publishers! Pre-registration is now open – register online, or call us at 1.800.426.8742. Check out our video below for a “sneak peek” at what we have in store!

Click here to watch video

This book contains 15 beautiful contemporary Fingerpicking Christian songs arranged for guitar.  Words are included, and there is the option to strum along using the chord names above the staff.  Summer is fast approaching, and with it the need to supply special music during the worship service. This sheet music book is full of possibilities: “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns, “Where There is Faith” by 4Him,  “Be Still and Know” by Steven Curtis Chapman, and more.  This would be a great resource for praise bands, too.  If you would like to know more about this music book, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or email us at keyboard@stantons.com

Marches are a staple of summer band concerts, and there are quality new arrangements released every year.  The band staff at Stanton’s would like to recommend the following titles to add to your band library, and your summer concerts this year.

Karl King had a true gift for crafting flawless marches for bands of all levels. Aces of the Air is a splendid, straight-ahead march.  The scoring is solid, clean & uncluttered, with just the right amount of technical decoration, and marvelous low brass countermelodies that just make it sing.

Americans We may be one of the most popular marches of the hundreds that were written by Henry Fillmore. Robert Foster has clarified some inconsistencies in the original quick-step size edition and provided extensive program notes on performing this standard march.

Made famous for generations to “children of all ages”, march masterpiece Entrance of the Gladiators is at last available in this concert edition arranged by Andrew Glover. This delightful, entertaining, and familiar work will be a hit at any concert performance.

Fans and march enthusiasts will be delighted with John Philip Sousa’s wonderfully stylish, rediscovered Esprit du Corps.  At the time it was written, Sousa was living in Philadelphia and had not yet begun his Marine Band career; however, it was not published for band until after he left the Marine Band and formed his professional band.

Count on Karl King to define the timelessness of a great march—The Viking is 100 years old! Composed in 1911 when King was playing in his first circus band at the tender age of 20, it rose to prominence almost immediately when Indiana University borrowed its heroic, singable trio for their school fight song. This is incomparable King at his best.

More great march titles can be found on our concert band webpage, and other suggestions are listed under the Community Band tab. Feel free to place your order online, give us a call, or add them to your wish list.

Elementary General Music Clinic
DATE/TIME: Wednesday 8/1/2012, 9:00 am-12:30 pm
LOCATION: Franklin County Veterans Memorial
REGISTRATION FEE: $20.00

Stanton’s is excited to welcome back Greg Gilpin as our clinician for the 30th edition of our Elementary General Music Clinic. This is one of Stanton’s longest running and most successful clinics, where we showcase the best new teacher resources, song collections, games, musicals and more! We are sure that you will find materials that will keep you and your students interested throughout the year. Get your school year started on the right foot!

Click here to watch video

Directing a marching band is a time consuming and planning intensive endeavor, so there can never be too many tools to make the band director’s life easier.  Generally the domain of the drumline, percussion cadences are often steeped in tradition – written and added to by the best drummers in the section, passed from one battery of drummers to the next, and if the band program is stable, cadences can be passed from generation to generation.

What if your program is lacking this tradition?  Maybe your current battery is young and green, and you don’t have any writers among them?  What if you (or your drummers) are just looking for something new and fresh?  Hal Leonard percussion writer and arranger Will Rapp has released Kickbutt Cadences and Kickbutt Cadences Volume 2 to help!  Each set contains 4 dynamic, hard-hitting cadences that can be mixed and matched to suit your drumline.  A conductor score and full set of parts is included in each, and they are available via our Digital Delivery site, so ordering replacement parts when your drummers lose them (and you know they will) is easy!

For more ideas, visit the Percussion Cadences section of our marching band webpage.  You may not have any writers in your group, but we’re sure they’ll be glad to help you pick out some new cadences and be responsible for starting a new tradition!

For other Stanton’s suggestions to make marching band easier, visit the 4^th of July tab on our marching band webpage for some great patriotic recommendations, and check out our recent post about Hal Leonard’s Parade Sequence arrangements to make parade planning a breeze!

This collection of Folk Rock Favorites includes 31 songs from the 1960′s and 1970′s that defined that era.  Included are many songs often played at jam sessions and still performed at informal get togethers:  Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver, The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds, Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce, and more.  The format is words with chords, and the chord grids for guitar are included at the beginning of each song.  You can play these for your own amazement or play along with friends.  Get reaquainted with old favorites! For more information about this collection or other sheet music collections, please contact us at keyboard@stantons.com, or call 1-800-42-MUSIC

Stanton’s Sheet Music is pleased to announce our 19th annual Excellence in Choral Literature Clinic on Saturday, August 25, 2012! This session was designed to help you select concert and contest literature from some of choral music’s most distinguished composers, featuring the best in new music for mixed, treble, and men’s choirs at all levels of difficulty. Registration fee includes a complimentary packet of over 30 titles. Come join us to discover beautiful music and share ideas with colleagues and friends! For more information, please check out our video below, contact us by email, or call us at 1.800.426.8742.

Click here to watch video