News & Views Thursday, May 17, 2012

Are you looking for that unique music gift for Mother’s Day? Come and shop at Stanton’s! We just received music throws as well as decorative pillows that would “dress up” any music studio or home.

We have a wide array of gift items such as jewelry, scarfs, bags, mugs, all occasion cards, etc. In addition to our gift assortment, we stock a wide variety of printed music.

If you can’t decide what to buy, then purchase a Stanton’s gift certificate that is redeemable for any item in the store.

Visit Stanton’s online or in person; odds are…you won’t leave without something special!!

“Miyabi” is a traditional Japanese aesthetic ideal meaning “refinement” or “elegance.” It certainly applies to this collection of Japanese impressions for piano composed by Naoko Ikeda. Written on an intermediate level, these pieces give a lovely impression of Japanese music in the use of Japanese modes and sounds along with more modern functional harmonies. This is definitely worth a look.  The melodies are sweet and delightful to play.

If you would like to know more about this collection or other music we have to offer, please contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our website at www.stantons.com.

Hey Band Directors: Before it’s too late, you may want to check to make sure your arrangement of Pomp and Circumstance is complete – you know how parts often don’t come back after your students play it for graduation ceremonies.  If you need a new set, let us know and we will send it your way so you will be ready for graduation without a last minute panic.

The most popular version is Fanfare and Processional arranged by James Ployhar, but there are others to choose from.  Contact our band department if you need one!

The rural Sliabh Luachra region on the border of counties Cork and Kerry has a long history related to fiddle music.  Music students at University College Cork can even earn a diploma in Irish Traditional Music with a specialty in fiddle.

“Irish Fiddle Music”, written by Drew Beisswenger with Connie O’Connell, features a few dozen tunes most played by each of the three leading fiddlers of the Sliabh Luachra region: Connie O’Connell, Denis Murphy, and Padraig O’Keeffe. Polkas, slides, hornpipes, jigs and reels are well represented among the three fiddlers.  A CD included with this collection of fiddle tunes has 30 of these tunes played solo by Connie O’Connell.  Many of the tunes are played for Irish set dancing, which is very different from Irish step dancing. If you play for Irish set dancing, or enjoy playing the music for yourself, this collection is a treasure house of tunes!

For more information on this collection of fiddle sheet music or other fiddle collections, please contact us at 1-800-42-MUSIC or visit our website!

This is Volume One of Janet Linker’s Complete Wedding Collection books.  This collection of organ solos will cover the wedding service from Prelude to Postlude with classical favorites like The Bridal Chorus, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Pachelbel’s  Canon in D, the  Rondeau by Mouret, and more.  Janet Linker has edited and arranged the pieces in this beautiful collection. 

If you are seeking a book of classical favorites for weddings, this is the book for you! Feel free to contact us to ask about this collection or any other wedding or organ music .

This book teaches the intermediate mandolin player how to improvise the Bluegrass way.  Joe Carr teaches how to show off in style  using  melodic variations, scale soloing, arpeggios, and non-melody based soloing.  A CD is included that demonstrates these techniques and gives examples as applied to several Bluegrass standards.

If you play mandolin, and have been wanting to know how to spice up your playing, this is just what you need!  For other mandolin sheet music or Bluegrass music, please email us, visit our website or call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC.

This battery powered LED light is new from Mighty Bright, a manufacturer of all types of LED  battery powered lights. Powered by only 3 AAA batteries, (which are included in the package), it is the brightest of their LED book lights so far.The batteries last about 9 hours. The light bar has 6 LEDs, and the light has 2 settings.

The LEDs never need to be replaced. The clip is sturdy, and will grip nearly anything.  The base is heavy enough to use it free standing.  A handy cloth case is included for the light.  Small and light enough to keep in your gig bag, the HammerHead light is a great value at only $24.95! You may contact us for more information about this product or any of our other products.

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

Attention Adults:  If you’ve ever wanted to learn to play the piano on your own…you should look at Alfred’s Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course.  Over the years, we have heard customers say that they would love to learn to play the piano, or that they wish to pick up the piano again but think it’s too late.  It’s never too late to start a new hobby or return to one of your favorite interests that will give you years of enjoyment and a new challenge in life!

Alfred’s Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course is a take-off from their Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course with the addition of study-guide pages.  These study-guide pages help the student to learn as if a piano teacher is sitting right beside them.  Also, the course includes a CD which helps you to hear how the music sounds.  Besides learning a new hobby, playing the piano can help to improve your memory, promote finger dexterity, relieve stress and make you the life of any party!

For more information on these or other piano materials, contact us!

This collection of love song duets for weddings is arranged by Donald Sosin  for high voice/low voice duets, so almost any type of vocal pairing will work. The piano accompaniment is truly an accompaniment–the melody is not doubled in the piano part–to enhance the vocal parts and add interest to the arrangements.

There are 23 songs, including “Amazing Grace,” both the Schubert and Bach/Gounod “Ave Maria”, some pop song standards such as “Longer” and “Sunrise, Sunset,” and several classical duets, including Cesar Franck’s “Panis Angelicus.”  Wedding Songs for Vocal Duet is one of the few collections of this type.  Whichever titles you choose,  these heartfelt classics will bring an extra touch of joy to an already joyous occasion.

Feel free to contact us at keyboard@stantons.com to ask about this or any other music product you may be interested in. You can also shop/browse our website for more wedding sheet music.

In 115 Tang Tungling Tongue Twisters, enjoyable and challenging tongue twisters are set to music using every letter of the alphabet. Say them! Sing them! Use them to focus your choir’s attention! These tongue twisters are effective tools to improve diction and enunciation, while offering some amusing “icebreaker” moments.  Whether used as a warm-up, warm-down or focus moment, they will taunt even the most talented in town with a tang tungling time! Greg Gilpin has written the piano accompaniment with chord symbols so your choir can move up and down the scale with ease.

For more fun resources for your choir or music classroom, please contact us!

Jazz Warm-Ups and Vocalises by Gary Walth is a perfect set of warm-ups for the vocal jazz ensemble that’s designed to enhance and stimulate the growth of each member’s vocal and choral ability. Thinking of the warm-up as a “mini voice lesson,” you can reinforce concepts with consistent encouragement, criticism, problem-solving and praise. This practical volume will help the conductor provide purposeful leadership and develop artistry in each individual through exercises that build styles such as Swing, Latin and Rock using solfege and scat syllables as well as tone and blend in ballad style. Each exercise includes a notated keyboard accompaniment with multiple modulations and professional recordings of a rhythm section and singers performing each drill on the enclosed CD.

Please contact us for more exciting resources for your jazz choir!

Easter is drawing nigh!  If you need piano music for Palm Sunday and Holy Week that will help your congregation connect with the Divine  and enhance your worship services, this carefully crafted , advanced level suite arranged by Mark Hayes will be just the thing.  Palms and Passion Suite includes three pieces:  ”All Glory, Laud and Honor” is perfect for Palm Sunday.  “Let Us Break Bread Together” brings to mind the first communion at the Passover table earlier in the evening before Jesus was arrested.  “There is a Fountain” reminds us not only of the cross, but the redemptive work done there.  To inquire about this book or other Easter or sacred piano books, email us  at keyboard@stantons.com or contact the piano department at 1-800-224-4257, extension 3.

The author of best-selling Icebreakers and Icebreakers 2, Valerie Lippoldt Mack reflects on her career as music educator, dancer, and musician and shares valuable knowledge and experience with you in Putting the SHOW in CHOIR. Full of tips and suggestions for successful auditions, choreography, staging and lights, costumes, programming, rehearsal suggestions, budgeting, public relations and more, this resource is a must for every concert, jazz, or show choir director!

For more resources to help you put on the best performance you can, please contact us!

Are you as excited as we are to welcome the Spring today?! Even though we had a very mild winter here in Ohio, we’re still ready for consistently warm temperatures and bright sunshine streaming in the Stanton’s front windows! A great activity to keep your students engaged through the end of the school year would be to start a drum circle, or incorporate more percussion into your regular music classes. The following resources would be great for upper elementary, middle school and even beginning high school hand drummers:

Picante: Salsa Music Styles for the Classroom & Beyond
Experience authentic music styles of the Afro-Spanish-Caribbean by Puerto Rican-born author & bi-lingual educator, Alejandro Jimenez. Connect with educational philosophies and cultural backgrounds of the Spanish Caribbean to understand how they influenced the music of that area. Learn how song, dance, rhythmic instruments and drama all come together to help build confidence and promote personal expression.

Originally developed and used in urban, multi-cultural settings here in the United States, the works featured in Picante are for all general music classes. Students form their own Latin Music ensembles and explore the highly rhythmic beat of the plena from Puerto Rico, the regueton which is popular among urban Latino youth, the fast two-step beat of the merengue from the Dominican Republic, the bomba from Puerto Rican folk music, and the son from Cuban dance music. These different styles influenced what we now call Salsa music.

The kid-friendly ensembles have been written for Grades 5-9 and are presented from easy to more difficult. A variety of short, easily-learned ostinato rhythm patterns are played on Latin percussion and Orff instruments and added one at a time, followed by voice parts with the Spanish and English lyrics to create easily-sung harmonies in an instant!  A helpful teaching sequence, dance steps and objectives linked to the National Standards are provided for each song, and all ensemble parts are reproducible.

World Grooves: Elemental Rhythms From Around the Globe
Capture the spirit of calypso, zydeco, bossa nova, gospel, jigs, jazz and more with this unique collection of global rhythm styles by Tom Anderson. Each ensemble includes 3 to 4 rhythm parts for classroom percussion instruments, and one part is always the pulse, so even your youngest students can join in! There are also body percussion parts to help learn the rhythms before the instruments are distributed, and when there aren’t enough instruments to go around. Optional Orff instrument parts and piano are also included for additional layers of tone color!

The enclosed CD offers two recorded tracks for each groove: an instructional track and a play-along track without the percussion instruments for the flexibility of adding any number of performers. PDFs of all the parts are also included on the Enhanced CD.

All parts are 4 to 8 measures, and once they are secure, the parts can be layered in one-at-a-time, in different orders–you decide! Then add your new world groove accompaniments to different songs in these styles from your music library. Music grooves include: Calypso, South African, Hora, Gospel, Irish Jig, Zydeco, Rock and Roll, Bossa Nova, American Jazz, Irish Reel, and there is even an overall theme song called “The Beat of the World” for your students to experience. Let the spirit groove you! Suggested for grades 3-6.

Stanton’s is pleased to present “Ragtime in Our Time,” a brand new Spring release from Frank Rodgers for your elementary to middle school string orchestra!

The stand-out hit at Stanton’s String Orchestra Reading Session at the Ohio Music Educators Association Convention in February, this one contains all the rhythmic pizzazz of Scott Joplin, but at a level at which second year players can have success after just a few rehearsals – especially when you use Mr. Rodgers’s suggested Word Associations for selected rhythm patterns.  Using “hip” phrases such as “I like to surf the net” and “My friend just tweeted me” he helps you teach the rhythms found in the piece, much like he has done with his past successes such as String Explosion, El Macho Nacho, Rumba-Bumba and Mozart and Beethoven are Haydn in my Music.

Ragtime in Our Time is playable using the notes of a one octave D major scale, with a few altered notes to lend authenticity to the ragtime harmony.  Violins get Bb and C natural, Violas get Eb, Cellos get F and C natural and Basses get F and C natural as well as top line Ab.  Rodger’s includes an optional, supportive piano part and lots of teaching tips to help you make the most of this delightful new work.  So it is not only fun, it is educationally sound!

Frank Rodgers is a retired string teacher from the Norfolk,Virginia area and “tries out” his pieces with his former fellow string teachers, so you can rest assured that they are all student tested and teacher approved.  Plus with his quirky sense of humor, you know that the students and audiences will enjoy anything that his imagination can create.  Don’t miss this ragtime romp!