Guitar Class Ensembles

This group of books from Hal Leonard’s Essential Elements Guitar Ensembles is perfect for your guitar class, beginning at the mid-beginner level, and going up to the mid intermediate level. As long as all three parts are covered, any number of players can participate. These are great fun if you have 2 more guitar buddies who want to play ensembles, too.

Each book includes the score with all three parts, and has 14-15 songs per book.  Each book of sheet music costs $9.95, so each trio costs only sixty- six cents!  There is a melody part, a harmony part, and a bass line written for the regular six string guitar.  There are several styles of music to choose from:  pop, rock, jazz, and even Disney!

If you would like to know more about these or any other music we have, feel free to contact us at 1-800.42-MUSIC or at keyboard@stantons.com.

We Remember: Earl Scruggs

(from The Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Bluegrass legend and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, who helped profoundly change country music with Bill Monroe in the 1940s and later with guitarist Lester Flatt, has died. He was 88.

Scruggs’ son Gary said his father died of natural causes Wednesday morning at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital.

Earl Scruggs was an innovator who pioneered the modern banjo sound. His use of three fingers rather than the clawhammer style elevated the banjo from a part of the rhythm section – or a comedian’s prop – to a lead instrument.

His string-bending and lead runs became known worldwide as “the Scruggs picking style” and the versatility it allowed has helped popularize the banjo in almost every genre of music.
The debut of Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys during a post-World War II performance on The Grand Ole Opry is thought of as the “big bang” moment for bluegrass and later 20th century country music. Later, Flatt and Scruggs t eamed as a bluegrass act after leaving Monroe from the late 1940s until breaking up in 1969 in a dispute over whether their music should experiment or stick to tradition. Flatt died in 1979.

They were best known for their 1949 recording “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” played in the 1967 movie “Bonnie and Clyde,” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” from “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the popular TV series that debuted in 1962. Jerry Scoggins did the singing.

After the breakup, Scruggs used three of his sons in The Earl Scruggs Revue. The group played on bills with rock acts like Steppenwolf and James Taylor. Sometimes they played festivals before 40,000 people.

In a July 2010 interview, Scruggs said in the early days, “I played guitar as much as I did the banjo, but for everyday picking I’d go back to the banjo. It just fit what I wanted to hear better than what I could do with the guitar.”

Scruggs will always be remembered for his willingness to innovate. In “The Big Book of Bluegrass,” Scruggs discussed the breakup with Flatt and how his need to experiment drove a rift between them. Later in 1985, he and Flatt were inducted together in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“It wasn’t a bad feeling toward each other as much as it was that I felt I was depriving myself of something,” Scruggs said. “By that, I mean that I love bluegrass music, and I still like to play it, but I do like to mix in some other music for my own personal satisfaction, because if I don’t, I can get a little bogged down and a little depressed.”

He said he enjoyed playing because “it calms me down. It makes me satisfied. Sometimes I just need to pick a few tunes.”

At an 80th birthday party for Scruggs in January 2004, country great Porter Wagoner said: “I always felt like Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball. He is the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be.”

In 2005, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was sel ected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry of works of unusual merit. The following year, the 1972 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band record “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” on which Scruggs was one of many famous guest performers, joined the list, too.

Scruggs had been fairly active in the 2000s, returning to a limited touring schedule after frail health in the 1990s. In 1996, Scruggs suffered a heart attack in the recovery room of a hospital shortly after hip-replacement surgery. He also was hospitalized late last year, but seemed in good health during a few appearances with his sons in 2010 and 2011.

In 2001 he released a CD, “Earl Scruggs and Friends,” his first album in a decade and an extension of The Earl Scruggs Revue. Over 12 songs, he collaborated with an impressive stable of admirers: Elton John, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Vince Gill, John Fogerty, Don Henley, Johnny Cash and actor Steve Martin, a banjo player, were all featured.
Scruggs, born Jan. 6, 1924, in Flint Hill, N.C., learned to play banjo at age 4. He appeared at age 11 on a radio talent scout show. By age 15, he was playing in bluegrass bands.

“My music came up from the soil of North Carolina,” Scruggs said in 1996 when he was honored with a heritage award from his home state.

He and Flatt played together in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, then left to form the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948.

Their popularity grew, and they even became a focal point of the folk music revival on college campuses in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Scruggs’ wife, Louise, was their manager and was credited with cannily guiding their career as well as boosting interest in country music.
Later, as rock ‘n’ roll threatened country music’s popularity, Flatt and Scruggs became symbols of traditional country music.

In the 1982 interview, Scruggs said “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” broadened the scope of bl uegrass and country music “more than anything I can put my finger on. Both were hits in so many countries.”

Scruggs also wrote an instructional book, “Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo.”
In 1992, Scruggs was among 13 recipients of a National Medal of Art.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought of rewards and presentations,” he said. “I appreciate those things, especially this one.”

Louise Scruggs, his wife of 57 years, died in 2006. He is survived by two songs, Gary and Randy. Gary Scruggs says funeral arrangements are incomplete.

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!

Get a real, LIVE person on the phone!

We’re always talking about our knowledgeable staff—you’ll find that very phrase on much of our printed advertising, as well as on our website. Stanton’s sales staff is separated into departments to ensure that each staff member is well informed about a specific area of the wide variety of music that we carry. So when you call and ask about music for trumpet, you’ll be speaking with someone who has first-hand knowledge of repertoire, not just a phone operator with no musical experience. Here’s what you’ll find in each department:

CHORAL DEPARTMENT (ex. 1)
Church Choral Music
School Choral Music
Elementary Classroom Music
Classical Solo Vocal
Handbell

BAND DEPARTMENT (ex. 2)
Concert Band
Marching Band
Jazz Ensemble
Orchestra
Solos for all concert instruments
Instrumental Method Books
Music Software/Technology

POP/KEYBOARD (ex. 3)
Sacred & Secular Piano
Organ
Piano Method Books
Popular/Broadway Solo Vocal
Contemporary Christian Vocal
Guitar Solos and Methods
Music for Folk Instruments

BILLING AND ACCOUNTS (ex. 4)

You can direct emails to the exact department you need by clicking the links above, or press the appropriate extension when you call 1-800-42-MUSIC (1-800-426-8742). If you’re unsure of which department to choose, we’re always happy to direct you to whoever can best address your needs; press “0″ to have your call directed, or send a general email. At Stanton’s, it is important to us that you receive the most educated answers to your questions and the finest music recommendations.

Dream Theater: A Dramatic Turn of Events

Judging from the orders pouring into Stanton’s for Dream Theater’s latest album, “A Dramatic Turn of Events”, this is the hottest album that Dream Theater has ever produced! The orders have come from the USA and from Europe. From December 16, 2011 to today, December 28, we have already sold 33 copies of the keyboard transcriptions/vocal book that matches their album.

The matching book for the guitar is not yet off the press, but you may reserve your copy in advance by email or online order, or call us at 1-800-426-8742. We will ship your reserved copy as soon as it is available in mid to late January; please be patient–it looks like it will be worth the wait!

Stanton’s “21-Day Trial” Program

Did you know that you can preview music from Stanton’s before you decide to buy? We know that it’s difficult to tell if a particular piece of music will fit your needs without actually reading it through, so similar to checking things out from a library, you can “borrow” resources from our store using the “21 Day Trial” program!

Each of Stanton’s departments has slightly different guidelines about what/how many items can be sent on “21 Day Trial,” but in general we can send printed sheet music that is currently in stock. You can request items for trial by phone, email, fax, online or in person—any of the ways that you can place a regular order—but make sure that you specify “21 Day Trial.” You can list the music you’d like to peruse, or you can give us some specifications (like “Christmas piano solos,” “SSA choral music on the theme of friendship,” or “new publications for 8th grade jazz band”) and Stanton’s knowledgeable staff will find some suggestions for you!

We require account or credit card information so that if you choose to keep the music we can charge you accordingly, or return the music within 21 days of your invoice date and you’ll never be charged! (You’ll just have to pay return shipping to get the music back to us.)

As you return from Winter break and begin programming the rest of your school or church year, remember that Stanton’s Sheet Music is here to help!

Self-Teaching Courses for Piano and Guitar with DVD

Two Self-Teaching favorites, Alfred’s Self-Teaching  Basic Guitar Course and Alfred’s Self-Teaching Basic Adult Piano Course, are now available with DVD and CD. Both methods teach how to read music in addition to how to chord. The CD lets you play along with the songs in the book and the DVD helps by demonstrating techniques that are used in each song in the book.

The guitar method includes a chord chart on the back page that sorts the chords by key. The piano method book includes “emusic”–50 free music downloads. If you are giving or getting a guitar, keyboard or piano for Christmas, one of these self-teaching books will get you or your loved one started.

If you want to know more about these books or related instructional materials please call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us or check out our website.

The Day the Music Died

February 3, 1959:

(from “Today in Oldies Music History“) Within minutes of takeoff from the Mason City, IA Airport, at around 1:00 AM CST, the chartered Beech-Craft Bonanza airplane No. N3794N containing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper crashes into the Iowa countryside, killing all three in addition to pilot Roger Peterson. The plane, headed for the next “Winter Dance Party” tour stop in Fargo, ND, had been chartered by Holly in order for the band members to travel in heated comfort and to arrive early for their next gig.
When he learns that band member Waylon Jennings, who would eventually become a country star in his own right, has decided to take the freezing bus instead, Holly jokes, “Well, I hope your old bus freezes up.” Jennings jokes back, “Well, I hope your plane crashes.” Another Holly band member, Tommy Allsup, flips Valens for the last available seat, losing the coin toss. Valens exclaims, “That’s the first time I’ve won anything in my life!”
Pilot Peterson, not having been informed of worsening weather conditions, decides to fly “on instruments,” meaning without visual confirmation of the horizon, which leads to the crash. The tragedy was later immortalized as “The Day The Music Died” by Don McLean in his famous song “American Pie.” (http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/february3.htm)

Pay tribute to the loss of these influential musicians and keep their music alive! Check out Buddy Holly Lives, a souvenier songbook with many full-color photographs. For choirs, try the Ritchie Valens Medley which includes “Come on Let’s Go,” “Donna,” and “La Bamba.” Remember “The Big Bopper” and his contemporaries with the collection History of Rock-Late 50′s which includes “Chantilly Lace.”

For more suggestions to honor these and other legends of rock ‘n’ roll, contact Stanton’s Sheet Music!

Stanton’s Travels Continue!

After our trips to Rochester, Grand Rapids and Cincinnati, Stanton’s has one more stop on our convention circuit – next week we’ll be heading to Louisville for the Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference!

In Louisville, you’ll find us in the exhibition hall under the big, blue Stanton’s balloon. Stop by for all your music needs, or to give us a good restaurant recommendation! Contact us this week if you have any special requests for the music we’ll choose to fill our large booth.

Ukulele Popularity

If the band “Train” can use a ukulele to produce the song “Hey Soul Sister,” it must not be your granddaddy’s uke anymore!  Stanton’s is now stocking a ukulele kit that includes a good quality uke, a pick, and a beginner’s book with an instructional  CD.  It costs only $49.95.

The ukulele has been enjoying renewed popularity over the last few years.  Check out YouTube to see what folks are doing with the uke these days.  You may just want to get started with one of these handy kits!

 Jumpin’ Jim Beloff, ukulele player and collector, has many books for ukulele published by Hal Leonard. He has instructional videos, “The Joy of Uke” volumes 1 and 2.

Mel Bay Publications has many books for ukulele, as well.
The range of difficulty is wide, from beginning books to “The Cat’s Meow,” a book of 1920′s songs from Mel Bay that will work your fingers hard.