News & Views Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Last Call for the Nancy Bachus Piano Workshop 31 July, 2015

royal_town_crier_ap_ftrmjrLast call!  Don’t forget the annual piano workshop featuring Nancy Bachus, who will be presenting some of the best educational offerings for piano teachers from Alfred Music.  Come join us at Stanton’s for a morning of fun at the piano! The workshop is this Friday, August 7th.  Attendees can register at 8:30 AM and the workshop begins at 9:00 AM.  Hope to see you there!


Join Us for EXCELLENCE IN CHORAL LITERATURE 29 July, 2015

Stanton’s Sheet Music is excellence logo tinypleased to announce our 22nd annual Excellence in Choral Literature Clinic on Saturday August 22, 2015! 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, contact us by email, or call us at 1.800.426.8742. Register online NOW!

Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!


Happy Birthday, Enrique Granados! 27 July, 2015

00-37300Enrique Granados was born on this day in 1867, in the city of Lleida, Spain.  As a young man, he first studied piano in Barcelona, and later in Paris.  He returned to  Barcelona in 1889.  In 1911, he premiered his suite for piano,  Goyescas.  Goyescas is the most popular of Granados’ works. It is a suite of six pieces, each piece based on a painting of Francisco Goya.  He also wrote Valses Poeticos and 12 Spanish Dances.  His nationalistic music is uniquely Spanish in style.   Sadly, Granados and his wife, Amparo, died when a German submarine torpedoed their passenger ship during WWI.  Stanton’s stocks all 3 collections of works mentioned above.  Get one of them, expand your horizons, and add to your repertoire! For more information about this piano sheet music or other, similar collections, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs.

 


Stanton’s Welcomes Nancy Bachus 24 July, 2015

00-31352On Friday August 7th, Stanton’s will host a piano workshop presented by Nancy Bachus.   She is one of Alfred Music’s writers and editors. One of her series,  Exploring Piano Classics:   A Masterworks Method for Developing Pianists, pairs motivating performance repertoire with thoughtful technical studies. Each level contains a Repertoire book with CD and a Technique book, both with convenient page-by-page correlation. When used together, the books give students a deep understanding of the art of music, performance practices, and the necessary skills to play the piano with technical ease. Certified as a Master Teacher by MTNA, Nancy has taught for the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan and has 27 years of teaching experience at the college and university levels. She served on the Board of Directors of the American Liszt Society and was editor of its newsletter for many years. Currently, Nancy is on the faculty at Cleveland State University and maintains a private piano studio in Hudson, Ohio. She is married and has two daughters.  Come join us on August 7th!  Registration begins at 8:30 AM, and the workshop begins at 9:00 AM.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs.


Join Us Next Week with ANDY BECK! 22 July, 2015

gm logoElementary General Music Clinic
Wednesday 7/29/2015, 9:00 am-12:30 pm
Columbia Heights UMC
REGISTRATION: $20.00
Stanton’s Sheet Music is excited to welcome Andy Beck as our clinician for the 33rd edition of our Elementary General Music Clinic. This is one of Stanton’s longest running and most successful clinics, showcasing 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!

Register NOW online, or call us at 1.800.42.MUSIC. Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!


Instruments A to Z 20 July, 2015

250px-Tambores-El-Power170px-Croix_Sonore_Jon_B_1Welcome to month #3 of “Instruments A to Z!  As promised, the instruments presented will not be common ones.  The first instrument is an electronic instrument called a croix sonore.  A prototype of this Nicolai Obukhov invention was built in France in 1926 by Pierre Dauvillier.  It functioned along the same lines as a theremin.  Obukhov wrote music for the croix sonore which was played by one of his students, Marie-Antoinette Aussenac-Broglie.  Next are the Candombe drums, actually a set of three to four drums. Each of the drums has its own size, voice, and function in the ensemble.  Last is the celesta, in instrument that is just over 100 years old.  It was invented in 1886 by Auguste Mustel.  It is a small keyboard instrument most famously used by Tschaikovsky in The Nutcracker’s “The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy“.  A concert band arrangement of Harry Potter movie themes also uses a celesta at the beginning of the piece for “Hedwig’s Theme”. Contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website if you have questions or if you are looking for something special.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!


Meet the Stanton’s Team – Rachel S. 17 July, 2015

We’ve written before on the Stanton’s blog about our knowledgeable staff. Now, we’d like to give you a chance to get to know our staff on a more personal level.  Over the next several months, we will be having members of the Stanton’s team take our “30 Questions in 60 Seconds” questionnaire. We hope you will get to know the “real” us, and learn how we might better be of service to you!

rachel and chloeRachel Steele has been at Stanton’s since 2013. She previously taught middle school and high school band and choir for 13 years, and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music education from The Ohio State University. Currently a member of the Heisey Wind Ensemble and a musician at Epiphany Lutheran Church (Pickerington OH), Rachel also enjoys reading, sewing, baking and the Pittsburgh Steelers!

  1. What department do you work in at Stanton’s? – Choral Department
  2. What do you consider your specialties here? – Middle school choral, instrumentalists transitioning to teaching vocal music, and general music products.
  3. How long have you worked at Stanton’s? – Almost 2 years
  4. What is your favorite task at Stanton’s? – Helping teachers solve programming problems when they come in.  It’s like a great big puzzle!
  5. What is your hometown? – I graduated from Jackson High School near Canton, OH, but I and my extended family are from the Pittsburgh area.
  6. Where did you go to college? – I did both my undergraduate (Bachelor’s of Music Education) and graduate (Master’s of Music Education) degrees at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
  7. What is your major instrument? – Flute
  8. Where or with whom do you currently perform/teach? – I am a flutist in the Heisey Wind Ensemble (Newark, OH) and I play flute, sing in the choir, and ring handbells at Epiphany Lutheran Church (Pickerington, OH).  I also occasionally clinic local school groups.
  9. What do you like to do in your spare time? – baking (I’m one of THOSE Christmas cookie people), sewing (my kids have the most elaborate Halloween costumes on the block), and reading (I love history and historical fiction).  I also love to shop for other people.
  10. What days of the week can you be reached at Stanton’s? – Tuesday-Saturday.  I’m grateful to have a “weekend” even if it’s offset by a day.
  11. What is the last song/piece you listened to? – Armenian Dances by Alfred Reed
  12. What is the last song/piece you played/sang? – Mozart Flute Concerto in G
  13. If you had a chance to perform with three musicians, living or dead, who would it be? – Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin
  14. What is your most memorable musical moment? – The summer between high school and college, my private voice teacher talked me into auditioning for the Blossom Festival Chorus, which is the summer chorus for the Cleveland Orchestra.  By some miracle, they accepted me and I got to perform “Carmina Burana” with the orchestra that summer.  It was an amazing weekend, but since I’m short, I always stand in row 1.  I learned that percussionists act the same from 5th grade band all the way through the Cleveland Orchestra.
  15. If you could be instantly proficient on an additional instrument, what would you choose? – French horn
  16. What is the most unusual performance you have ever been a part of? – My first year teaching, we got a call from the mayor of the small town I taught in.  There was a bridge re-opening after construction, and they wanted our marching band to start at one end of the bridge, and the marching band from the next district over to start at the other end and march toward each other, meeting in the middle.  Both bands then played a selection together in the middle of the bridge for the ribbon cutting ceremony.  Everyone took the whole thing very seriously, but for me keeping a straight face was difficult.
  17.  What musical sound or noise do you love? – A great wind ensemble playing a chorale in minor key.
  18. What musical sound or noise do you hate? – Young children singing in a belt-y, scoop-y, slide-y pop style.
  19. If you had your choice watching a great concert tonight or performing in a great concert tonight which would you choose and why? – Perform.  There’s something about being part of an ensemble (where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts), that is really special.
  20. If heaven exists, when you arrive at the Pearly Gates, what heavenly ensemble would you like to be assigned to? – Assuming that I’m going to not suck, I want to get assigned to the jazz band.  Those are going to be some fun folks to hang out with for eternity.
  21. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? – Archaeologist/Egyptologist
  22. What profession would you not like to do? – Construction worker
  23. On a scale of 1-10, how funny do you think you are? – In person, about a 5, because no one seems to know when I’m being sarcastic.  On social media, I’d like to think I’m closer to an 8!
  24. Who was your first crush? – Robin Williams as “Mork” on Mork and Mindy.
  25. Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion? – I would love for it to be considered “manly” to sing and be musical.
  26. Do you love or hate roller coasters? – LOVE!
  27. If you were a super hero, what powers would you have? – I would be able to add hours to every day, and eat as many Christmas cookies as I wanted without gaining weight!
  28. How many pairs of shoes do you own? – I don’t think I’ve ever really counted, but I’d guess around 25 or so.  I am especially guilty of collecting sandals.
  29. Would you rather win the lottery or work at the perfect job? – Win the lottery.  I’d love for my “job” to be volunteering for a school music program and giving money away whenever I felt like it.
  30. If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? – My mom’s homemade iced tea, sliced tomatoes from my Great-Grandfather Patton’s garden, and corn on the cob!  (Melting Pot for dessert!)

 


COMING SOON – Stanton’s Super Session 2015! 15 July, 2015

ss logoStanton’s Super Session
Saturday 8/1/2015, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
at Stanton’s Sheet Music, 330 S. Fourth St, 43215
REGISTRATION: $55.00 (includes lunch)

Do you need to put a little “spark” in your choral program? Is there just too much new music out there for you to review? Join us for a fun, enriching day of music education with Andy Beck, Greg Gilpin, and Stanton’s own Jen Sper featuring music from Alfred Publications, Shawnee Press and many other choral publishers. Nowhere else will you find such a variety of new choral selections and teaching resources to inspire and motivate you and your students as you begin the school year.

Register NOW online, or call us at 1.800.42.MUSIC! Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!


IN TWO WEEKS – Join Us for “The Joy of Singing!” 13 July, 2015

logo JJWStanton’s Sheet Music is pleased to invite you to our 2015 “John Jacobson Workshop” on July 30th and “Joy of Singing” on July 31st – two full days of the best new music from Hal Leonard!

John Jacobson Workshop
Thursday 7/30/2015, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Columbia Heights UMC
REGISTRATION: $60.00 teacher/$40.00 student, Both fees include lunch

logo JOSJoy of Singing
Friday 7/31/2015, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Columbia Heights UMC
REGISTRATION: $50.00 (includes lunch)

Register NOW online, or contact us at 1-800-426-8742 or choral@stantons.com for more information.

Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!


Stanton’s E-Tools – Virtual Workshop 10 July, 2015

virtual workshop image for promosThe amazing staff at Stanton’s knows how valuable your time is.  That’s why we try to provide you with as many tools as we can to make choosing music easier,  faster and more enjoyable.  In this series of blog posts, we will be profiling our E-tools. Whether you are a local customer here in Columbus, OH or one of our many friends around the world, we hope you will find a way to use our E-tools!

If you’ve never attended one of our workshops or reading sessions, you really are missing out.  We have tons of fun, read new music, and benefit from the advice and experience of internationally renowned clinicians as well as Stanton’s own knowledgeable staff.  But if you live too far away to attend, or just can’t make it, we are proud to present our Virtual Workshops.

Inside each Virtual Workshop you’ll preview the score of actual arrangements with audio demonstrations, and often LIVE video footage of our workshops.  The Virtual Workshops themselves are designed so you can easily preview Stanton’s top choices as featured on our clinics, workshops and promotions – it’s almost like being there!

Here is a sampling of just a few of our most recent clinics:

For questions about how to use the Virtual Workshops, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-42-MUSIC or visit us online or in person!

First posted Aug. 22nd, 2014


The Stanton’s Difference: For New Teachers 08 July, 2015

Stanton's
We know you have many choices when it comes to purchasing sheet music.  Over the next few weeks, we want to take the opportunity to highlight just a few of the many reasons why Stanton’s is the best place to buy music for your school, church, private studio or personal use!

The staff at Stanton’s understands the stresses and pressures of the first year of teaching.  Getting to know your building and district, discipline, lesson plans, common core, evaluations, booster groups, budgets/purchasing, scheduling….oh, yeah, and actually teaching!  We’d like to make your life just a little bit easier, and here’s what we can do to help:

Money Matters-Requisitions, purchase orders, board accounts, booster accounts; it can all seem “Greek to you” if you’re not familiar with school purchasing.  Visit or call us as soon as you are hired to determine what kind of account(s) your school has and what you have to do to get music.  Don’t be shy, ask lots of questions now!
We’re Happy To Meet You-Come on down and visit us in person.  Introduce yourself to the staff, let us know what and where you’re teaching.  We can give you a short tour of the store and let you know what kinds of products we have that fit your needs.  We’ll also be happy to send you home with any current promotional materials or a 21 Day Trial so you can choose literature at your leisure.
So Much Music, So Little Time-The tens of thousands titles that we have in stock can be a bit overwhelming for anyone.  The music educators on our staff can steer you in the right direction, offering suggestions for all types of classes and ensembles at all levels. We spend hundreds of hours each year reviewing new publications, so we show you only the best of what’s out there.
E-Tools-Stanton’s website has several different e-tools to assist you in choosing, purchasing and teaching your music.  There’s our Virtual Workshops, Jukebox, Listening Library, Digital Delivery and, of course, there’s an app for us too-we’re on The App Store and Google Play.For more details, questions or to introduce yourself, visit us online at www.stantons.com, or give us a call at 1-800-42-MUSIC!First published June 30th, 2014


Playbook: A Tiny Library from Hal Leonard 06 July, 2015

14043451Hal Leonard has a new “tiny” library ! There are how-to-play books, each one a handy beginner’s guide to playing ukulele, guitar, keyboard or harmonica.  They are small, (3″ x 4″),  and spiral bound at the top. Also offered in the “Tiny” series is a book of chords for guitar, ukulele, or keyboard, which include a photo of someone playing that chord alongside a diagram of the chord. A brief guide to music theory rounds out this series.  They are easy to keep in a case or a gig bag, and very reasonably priced at $3.99.  If you need to keep something handy for chords or “how-to” tips, these little books are great references! For more information about this “tiny” library, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs!

 


Meet the Stanton’s Team – Ken T. 03 July, 2015

We’ve written before on the Stanton’s blog about our knowledgeable staff. Now, we’d like to give you a chance to get to know our staff on a more personal level.  Over the next several months, we will be having members of the Stanton’s team take our “30 Questions in 60 Seconds” questionnaire. We hope you will get to know the “real” us, and learn how we might better be of service to you!
ken tilger
A former band director, Ken taught grade 5-12 band and music appreciation in both public and parochial schools in central Ohio.  His iPod ranges from jazz to classic and alternative rock, symphonies, and classic songs from Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  His interests include comic books, traditional amusement parks, the Muppets, football and hockey (especially the Steelers and Penguins), and all things Pittsburgh.

  1. What department do you work in at Stanton’s? – Band & Orchestra
  2. What do you consider your specialties here? – Concert band music and instrumental music education
  3. How long have you been working at Stanton’s? – Since 2004
  4. What is your favorite task at Stanton’s? – Pulling orders
  5. What is your hometown? – Pittsburgh
  6. Where did you go to college? – Otterbein College (now University) – I have Bachelor degrees in Music Education and Applied Music (performance)
  7. What is your major instrument? – Saxophone
  8. Where or with whom do you currently perform/teach? – I play alto saxophone with Swing’s the Thing Big Band. Our recording, Walk on out the Door, is available at gigs and via download from iTunes and Amazon.
  9. What do you like to do in your spare time? – Besides playing with my son, I like reading, watching TV, & keeping up with Pittsburgh sports teams.  I love checking out music, too, but don’t get to listen as much as I used to.
  10. What days of the week can you be reached at Stanton’s? – Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday
  11. What is the last song/piece you listened to? – The closing theme to Curious George as I left for work this morning
  12. What is the last song/piece you played/sang? – Last played?  An arrangement of Blue Suede Shoes. Last sang? Probably Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) by the Dixie Chicks; it’s a bedtime favorite!
  13. If you had a chance to perform with three musicians, living or dead, who would it be? – Mister Rogers, the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Dave Matthews Band.  I also feel compelled to share my three favorite sax players: Sonny Rollins, Branford Marsalis, and Jeff Coffin
  14. What is your most memorable musical moment? – Back in 2011 Swing’s the Thing played a concert at the Johnstown (OH) Opera House.  Built in 1885 this theater still has the old wooden seats, a really old upright piano, the clam-shells for the stage footlights, etc.  Playing there, it looked like Abraham Lincoln could walk in at any second.  Anyway, a color guard from the local VFW Post did a presentation of the colors before our performance.  At the time, we were doing an arrangement of Runaround Sue that we’d segue with a drum fill into Peppermint Twist.  I distinctly remember one of the old veterans from the color guard dancing during these tunes with a lady from the audience.  Man, when we hit the key change shout of the final chorus in Peppermint Twist I KNOW we transported him back to his youth.  The band was up and wailing and those two were cutting a rug like you’ve never seen!  I’ll never forget that sight, and I think of him every time we play that chart.
  15. If you could be instantly proficient on an additional instrument, what would you choose? – steel guitar, drum set, or cello
  16. What is the most unusual performance you have ever been a part of? – A toss-up between posing as the Michigan State pep band in a boxing ring at some event at the Columbus Convention Center my freshman year of college, and a wedding my sax quartet played that was in a park pavilion, had beer AT the ceremony (including a cooler for us), began really late due to the bride and had us musically covering for at least a half-hour, and later involved rumors of pregnancy, drug use, etc.
  17.  What musical sound or noise do you love? – Mandolin, cello, jazz guitar, and steel guitar
  18. What musical sound or noise do you hate? – aggressive songs with screaming, unintelligible vocals; songs with overly redundant or annoying samples or sounds; instrumental works that lack focus or have no point to the extent that they lose my attention
  19. If you had your choice watching a great concert tonight or performing in a great concert tonight which would you choose and why? – Attending a great concert because I don’t get to very many live shows right now, and I love the feeling of inspiration I get from watching and hearing top-notch musicians create in the moment.
  20. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? – I’d love to be a professional musician (if I had the chops), comic book writer, or college professor.  If money was no object, I’d own my own amusement park!
  21. What profession would you not like to do? – Most
  22. On a scale of 1-10, how funny do you think you are? – On a really good day, an 8; when I’m not feeling it, a 0.  I basically strive to entertain myself, and if anyone else is amused, it’s a bonus!
  23. Who was your first crush? – I don’t remember
  24. Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion? – I’m a saxophonist so we’re all stuck in the ’70s to some degree
  25. Do you love or hate roller coasters? – Love.  I prefer classic woodies thanks to growing up with Kennywood as my home park, and non-looping steel coasters.  I am fascinated by coasters of all types as well as amusement rides, and hope to join ACE someday and participate in the Roller Coaster Race!
  26. If you were a super hero, what powers would you have? – Super Intelligence!  Think a combination of Batman’s thoroughness, advance planning, and detective skills combined with Cyborg’s direct internet access.  I already have the power of Super Organization!
  27. How many pairs of shoes do you own? – 4 (at least 2 of which need replaced), plus a pair of sandals and a pair of flip-flops for water rides/swimming.
  28. Would you rather win the lottery or work at the perfect job? – I’d like to win the lottery, and then work by choice knowing that I didn’t have to.
  29. If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? – Egg sandwiches!!  A fried egg with ham or bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a little mayo on an English muffin, with or without cheese!

The Devil Went Down to Georgia 01 July, 2015

00352933On July 21, 1979, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” hit the Billboard pop chart at #3  and stayed there for twelve weeks.  Charlie Daniels fiddled, and he and the band sang about Johnny winning a gold fiddle from the devil in a heck of a fiddle contest.  It’s a workout on the fiddle, and worth the practice.  This sheet music for violin and piano includes chords for guitar.  Sometimes the piano and/or guitar get the spotlight, sometimes the narrator gets the spotlight, and of course the fiddle gets a good bit of the spotlight. So order a copy and get ready to show off!  Give us a call if you have questions about this sheet music at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs.