The Nashville Number System

What is the Nashville Number System?   It is probably the easiest, fastest method to transpose keys for people who play chords.  For session players and jammers, it is the way to change keys instantly.  Duck’s Deluxe explains and illustrates the Nashville Number System with a dial that shows the guitar chords and basic progressions.  If you don’t play guitar, it doesn’t matter.  All you have to do is use the chords for your own instrument and follow the chord progressions.  This dial is indispensable for learning the Nashville number system.  It’s a great time saver for those who work with vocalists, and need to change keys on the spot! For more information about this or other helpful guides for playing guitar, call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, write us at keyboard@stantons.com, or check out our website at www.stantons.com.  Shop Stanton’s for all your sheet music needs.

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 $9.99, 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 sheet music we have, feel free to contact us at 1-800.42-MUSIC or at keyboard@stantons.com.

How To Play Classical Guitar

Sometimes there is just not enough time to do everything you want to do.  Taking music lessons can be one of those things.  “You Can Teach Yourself Classic Guitar” is a good book to use to help you learn a new style of guitar playing.   Fingerpicking in classical style is covered; rhythms, scales,  and arpeggios are also covered.  The songs and exercises is this book were written for the classical guitar by players and composers such as Fernando Sor, Carulli, and Carcassi.

A second book , “Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Pieces” , is a collection of beginning classical guitar pieces that were written by those same composers, plus a few more.  A CD is included with this book, which can be helpful in deciding the tempo to play a piece at, or checking  what some rhythms should sound like.  For more information about these or other classical guitar books, call 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or visit our sheet music website!

How Much is that Guitar in the Window?

Do you have a guitar you want to sell or are you looking at buying a used guitar? How do you know how much it’s worth? You’ve most likely heard of the “blue book” for used car prices – did you know there are “blue books” for guitars, as well?

We have the fourteenth editions of the “blue books” for electric guitars and for acoustic guitars.   Each book is packed with information: brand, model, year of manufacture, history of each brand, and value of each type of guitar according to condition.   If you collect guitars, sell guitars, or are curious about values of various guitars, these books would be a great help to you.

If you are interested in these books, other guitar method books or popular collections, feel free to call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, email us at keyboard@stantons.com, or check out our website at www.stantons.com

Glen Hansard Guitar Songbook

Glen Hansard is an the Academy Award winning song writer known for his performance in the 2007 film “Once.” Starting at age 13, when he dropped out of school to busk on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, he has been a very active musician.  He has toured world wide, and has won multiple awards as a song writer.

This book of guitar sheet music,which includes tablature, is a collection of his best songs from 2001 to 2012, including his “Falling Slowly“, which he and Marketa Irglova wrote together.  Check out the Glen Hansard Guitar Songbook!

You can email us at keyboard@stantons.com,  call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, or check out our website at www.stantonssheetmusic.com.

Who You Gonna Call?

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)
Choral Music for School & Church
Elementary General 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

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. If you’re unsure of which department to choose, we’re always happy to direct you to whoever can best address your needs. At Stanton’s, it is important to us that you receive the most educated answers to your questions and the finest music recommendations.

Fingerpicking Christian

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

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.