REGISTER NOW – Elementary General Music Clinic!

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!

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USE IT OR LOSE IT!

School Teachers – we’re talking your budget allotment here!  In these tough economic times, you will want to make sure that you use what you have been given!  If you have money left on any of your Purchase Orders, we recommend that you get it spent before someone in the office decides to pull it out from under you and buy soccer balls with it!  Plus if you don’t use your allotment, there is a chance you won’t get as much next year because the clerk/treasurer sees that you don’t spend what you’ve been given, so they’ll give you less the next time!

With that in mind, Stanton’s Sheet Music has some great music with which you can finish out the school year.  Whether you want serious literature or something on the lighter side, we have plenty of choral, band and orchestra music that would be perfect for your Spring Concerts, for graduation, for teaching new concepts or practicing sight-reading or just to get a head start on next year. 

Check out the recommendations on our website, or call Stanton’s at 1-800-42-MUSIC (1-800-426-8742) and talk to one of our knowledgeable sales people about top notch music to finish out your budget.  The music we recommend is educationally valid, the best sounding and the most highly programmable, so you can count on getting just the right pieces for your groups to get your precious money’s worth.  Contact Stanton’s today!

REGISTER NOW for the “John Jacobson Workshop!”

John Jacobson Workshop
DATE/TIME: Thursday 8/2/2012, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
LOCATION: Franklin County Veterans Memorial
REGISTRATION FEE: $60.00 per teacher.
Students may attend this session for $40.00, however students WILL NOT receive a music packet/choreography DVD. Both fees include lunch.

Wear your comfy clothes and tennis shoes because you’re gonna get a workout! Recharge your battery, renew your enthusiasm and review the best new titles for show choir with the master of choreography, John Jacobson and special guest, Roger Emerson. You will receive all the music and choreography notes for 20 complete routines and a DVD of some of the titles covered in this session.

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Mark Your Calendar for “Stanton’s Super Session!”

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!

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“115 Tang Tungling Tongue Twisters”

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!

BANG THE DRUM–Spring has come!!!

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.

Spring Musicals for Grades 4-8

Are you looking for a fun musical to motivate your upper elementary and middle school performers? Try one on these new publications–they’re all “Stanton’s Approved!”

Harmony High
Can’t get enough of this “way out” school where everybody sings and everything’s cool! It’s the first day of school, and new students Michael, Michele and Junior are about to discover what the singing is all about. The principal is quite cheery and loves to vocalize!? Everyone’s a winner in Jim the Gym teacher’s gym, and those classical cooks of the cafeteria are always ready to dine. Even the students in detention are singing…the blues, and the whacky Science class is really rockin’! Upper elementary and middle school performers will rock to “Harmony High.” Clever original songs, zany antics and creative script writing combine for a truly spectacular moment on stage that will have everyone singing, including the audience!

Midsummer Night’s Dream
Greetings, lords and ladies! I, William Shakespeare, will be your host this evening and I have a special treat for my thespian friends! You are about to be transported to a land of kings and queens, fairies and nymphs, music and madrigal, and most of all, trickery and love, for love can happen in the strangest ways, especially on a Midsummer Night! Intimidated by the idea of producing a Shakespeare musical play? Nonsense, with this new version, even I’m a piece of cake! You will create an educational and artistic experience your cast and audiences will never forget. I’ve made it very easy for you!” Experience Shakespeare like never before in this fresh, new rendition of the old classic. Designed for grades 6-9, this full-length 60-minute production features five acts with eight original songs in a variety of musical styles from madrigal to rap arranged for 3-Part Mixed, with suggestions for 2-Part Treble voices.

Thwacked!
Once upon a time… Talking frogs? A falling sky? A town full of confused folk? What is really happening and who can answer these questions? The librarian? The coach? The Mayor and town council? The sweet and smart-thinking Rachel? With song, dance, and a fast moving script, Thwacked! unfolds to reveal these and many other delightful characters as they attempt to unravel the mystery in a fairytale world. Whether your cast is small or large, this 35-minute musical will involve all of your students and delight your audience with the amusing dialogue, charming songs and clever story.

For more great recommendations, contact us!

World Music Songbook

This new release from Hal Leonard contains over one hundred folk songs from around the world.  If you teach general music, you will find that the “World Music Songbook” is a valuable resource. Some songs have the words in the original language, enhancing the world music experience.  The melody is in the right hand for the pianist, so it’s easy to lead the song if you are playing for a music class.  Whether you are a teacher, or simply love world music, this book of international sheet music will catch your attention!

Digitally Download Sheet Music

Do you ever need sheet music in a big hurry?  Check out Stanton’s Digital Delivery to browse our digital sheet music library. There are pop songs, Broadway songs, sacred songs, guitar tabs, and much more!

You’ll need to download a free Scorch program that allows you to see the first page of each song you look up, and it allows you to print on your own printer.  Many songs can also be transposed to whatever key you need! Just pay with a credit card, download and print.

This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Happy browsing!

Copyright Resources for Musicians and Educators

Copyright law and its implications affect musicians and educators every day, yet most of us have little to no understanding of it.  Whether majoring in performance or education, undergraduate courses of study rarely present an introduction to the subject, let alone offer any courses that study it in detail.  It is challenging to know what is permissible under the law, and what exactly is allowed under the doctrine of ‘fair use.’  Violations of copyright occur frequently in our schools mostly due to the lack of education on the subject, and, like it or not, use in an educational setting alone does not necessarily constitute compliance with the ‘fair use’ provision of the law.  With increased scrutiny and debate over copyright infringement on the internet, the staff at Stanton’s would like to recommend the following resources to shed light on the subject for musicians and educators alike.  They are presented in order of increasing detail, and we highly recommend The Teacher’s Guide to Music, Media, and Copyright Law for music educators.  In addition, YouTube in Music Education is a great resource for those looking to use this technology to enhance their programs, but have concerns about how to do so appropriately.

Music Copyright Basics – Joel Leach
What is copyright?  This seemingly simple question often causes confusion with its complex answers.  In Music Copyright Basics, professor and expert copyright witness Joel Leach answers frequent questions in a straightforward, easy-to-use format.  Whether you are searching for a simple answer to a common question or want a general knowledge of the copyright procedure, this book will quickly provide you with the information you want.  Music Copyright Basics features: a convenient question-and-answer format; easy-to-understand answers to all your copyright questions; coverage of copyright basics, copyright submission process, copyright ownership, copyright and earnings potential, and international copyright; and a compact, portable design that keeps information easily at hand. (2003)

The Teacher’s Guide to Music, Media, and Copyright Law – James Frankel
The easy-to-understand guide for teachers using copyrighted music and media in the classroom.  In this era of unprecedented access to information, teachers have a wealth of readily available resources for lesson planning, but determining what you can and can’t use legally in the classroom is a difficult task.  Written by a 15-year veteran of the New Jerseypublic schools, The Teacher’s Guide to Music, Media, and Copyright Law helps explain just how information, images, video, and music can be incorporated into any kind of lesson plan without running afoul of copyright laws.  This resource includes: what resources you can use without obtaining permission, how to obtain and license the works you need permission to use, how to check the copyright status of any media item, and how to apply copyright legality examples to real classroom situations. (2009)

Music Copyright Law – Moser & Slay
Music Copyright Law will help you gain an in-depth understanding of a topic that is vital to the success of anyone in or entering the music industry.  From songwriters and performers to managers, producers, and agents, everyone is affected by the issues covered in this book.  Avoiding the technical jargon and “legalese” that bogs down other books on the subject, this book explores the world of copyright law and homes in on how it applies to music.  It begins by building a foundational knowledge of the fundamentals of copyright law – what it protects, the benefits of registering a copyright, and what to do when copyright has been infringed.  Once the fundamentals are established, coverage expands to include controversies involving copyright and music in the digital age and the debates over online music.  Packed with practical examples that bring complex concepts to life, this book is a must-have for any professional in or entering the music business. (2012)