For starters, you could groove to School of Rock Guitar Tab. This song was featured in a comedy film by the same name, starring Jack Black. To help you learn this song, we also have a Guitar Guru Session of School of Rock, too. Remember, every session comes with an accompanying guitar tab so you can play this song well after you’ve mastered it.

Not into hard rock? That’s okay, we understand that you might think we don’t need no education, but we still think you do. Don’t want to keep Waitin’ in School? Maybe you should Grease back your hair and get ready for a High School Musical. After all, you don’t want to be a Beauty School Dropout, do you? If the first HSM isn’t enough, you might want to try High School Musical 2. What’s that you say? You want to Scream “I Want It All Right Now!” Okay…don’t worry! We have what you want in this High School Musical 3 Collection.

Well, before you Walk Away, you might want to study up on your lessons with Schoolhouse Rock!

Schoolhouse Rock Sheet Music

Do you remember Schoolhouse Rock? From songs like Conjunction Junction to I’m Just a Bill, Schoolhouse Rock has brought animated humor and a whole lot of fun to help teach topics like politics, science, grammar, money, math and technology.

In this money-saving Schoolhouse Rock Song Collection you can enjoy ten popular songs for only $26.95, which saves you $23.15.

Here are ten songs from Schoolhouse Rock that you might enjoy playing or singing:

• I’m Just a Bill
• Conjunction Junction
• Three Is a Magic Number
• No More Kings
• Interplanet Janet
• Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here
• Electricity, Electricity
• My Hero, Zero
• Dollars and Sense
• The Great American Melting Pot

What songs get you in the mood to learn your instrument or master your singing lessons? Share your favorites in the comments below!

Beginner Piano Playing Tip: It’s not uncommon for beginner piano players to experience difficulty playing songs with both hands. To help strengthen your fingers and learn how to play with both hands, try “practicing” your sheet music on a counter-top or hard surface.

Why is this helpful? Well, if you’re focusing on a hard surface instead of a keyboard, you’ll concentrate on how your fingers work together instead of worring about hitting the right notes. Over time, you’ll begin to notice when your hands go “flat” and correct your form, too!

Remember, practicing is really the only way to get through some of your greatest challenges while you learn. It does take time to master an instrument. For example, many of our Musicnotes YouPerform contest winners have been playing for several years.

Here are two more questions we’d like to address that were very similar to several others we received, regarding proper fingering and recommendations for books:

ASK MUSICNOTES: What is the proper finger numbering for scales up 3 octaves and back? The entire circle of fifths and more. Thanks! – Stowell

There are a number of books that teach players how to practice scales, arpeggios and other music theory fundamentals. These books are called “method books” and help piano players learn how to play using a number of different techniques. We feature piano method books on Musicnotes.com, but here are a few we recommend that might help with proper fingering. The book pictured here is called “The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences.” One of the reasons why we recommend this particular book, is because this is a good piano method book for both beginning and advanced piano players to use as a resource.

If you have a keyboard, there are a few method books that have been written specifically for you. One of those books is the Master Scale & Chord Guide for Keyboard; another is the Keyboard Guide – Chords, Scales & Modes In All Keys.

If you want to learn how to play guitar, we’d also like to point out that we do offer guitar method books as well.

ASK MUSICNOTES: Is there a book that I could buy and some great software that will help me learn now to play the piano? Thank You! – Derrick

One of the great things about new technology, is that many music publishers have embraced new ways to help you learn how to play piano. Alfred’s Teach Yourself To Play Piano is one book that we recommend, because it offers you the ability to learn multiple styles of music and comes with a CD. Here’s a little bit more about this piano-learning book:

Everything you need to know to start playing now! Whether you’re a beginner with no prior musical training, or you “used to play” and are need of a refresher course, Alfred’s Teach Yourself to Play Piano is the perfect resource to teach yourself piano, even though you have never taken a lesson. Complete with on-screen scrolling music, MP3 play-along tracks for every example, and iPod*-compatible video files, you will master how to make rhythms made simple, how to form the most important chords, techniques for playing with feeling and expression, and so much more. Upon completing Teach Yourself to Play Piano, you will be able to play in pop, blues, classical, folk, hymns, spirituals, and ragtime styles. The DVD includes exciting arrangements of “The Entertainer” and “Amazing Grace,” and sets the stage for a life-long relationship with music and playing the piano.

Well, that’s all the time we have to answer your questions today. Whether you’re just learning how to play piano or you’re an experienced pianist, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Ask Musicnotes. Don’t be afraid to keep your questions coming or chime in with your thoughts below!

I have been teaching piano for over 15 years and have taught the 3 kinds of minor scales, but I have never understood the origin or the purpose of the melodic minor. I have continued to teach it along with the natural and harmonic minor scales so that if my students continue on with their music education they will know it and hopefully find someone to explain it to them later—perhaps in a college theory class?! I have asked many music-minded people over the years and have never received a satisfactory answer as to WHY we even have the melodic minor, let alone an example of a song with it in it. Any ideas??!

Sincerely,
Curious in Spokane, WA

Do you know what a melodic minor is? A melodic minor scale is based on a natural minor, but the sixth and seventh tones in the melodic minor scale will be raised by a semi-tone (half step) when the melody is moving upward toward the root note (tonic). The trick is that a melodic minor is the same as a natural minor when you play the descending scale.

Both the harmonic and melodic minor scales are used to increase the “weight” of a desire to resolve to the tonic. In the harmonic minor scale, the 7th is raised to make it a half-step below the tonic where it is referred to as a “leading tone.” If you’re in A minor and play a G sharp, you get a tangible sense that it REALLY wants to resolve upward to A – even more so than a G-natural due to proximity. Plus, the raised 7th gives us the traditional V7-i cadence.

The harmonic minor scale does present a problem, though: it creates an awkward augmented 2nd interval (3 half steps) between the 6th and 7th. Historically, going all the way back to early music and chant, this interval was considered dissonant (both melodically and harmonically) and was to be avoided or resolved immediately. By raising the 6th along with the 7th (melodic minor) this awkward interval could be avoided. The raised 6th also serves to further emphasize the upward motion toward a resolution to the tonic.

However, if you’re descending melodically in the scale – moving AWAY from the tonic, there’s no need to build “upward” motion or tension toward that resolution. The raised 6th and 7th can actually be confused for a major scale if you play them descending, resulting in a sense of tonal ambiguity. That is why the 6th and 7th in the melodic minor scale are usually employed as “raised ascending/natural descending.”

Many songs may employ the melodic minor as a phrase-shaping tool, so it can be challenging to find examples of a song that uses the melodic minor consistently. Typically, the melodic minor is usually used to shape singular phrases or passages when it is convenient for the harmony.

Have a question for our team here at Musicnotes.com? Don’t be afraid to “Ask Musicnotes!”

Did you know that sheet music is a form of music notation? There are several different ways that a song can be written into sheet music. Often, the notation may change depending upon the arrangement, complexity and musicians involved in the piece. For example, our Singer Pro sheet music features an independent vocal line that is separated from the piano accompaniment. Whenever possible, our Singer Pro piano accompaniments are notated just as you hear on your favorite artists’ recordings. As another example, there are multiple ways that music notation for guitarists can be rendered, too.

Piano Music Notations

Here are some other piano sheet music notations that you might be interested in learning more about.

Notation Style	Example
Piano/Voice/Guitar (PVG) Typically, this notation offers the piano part, vocal line and guitar chord frames. You might also see the vocal part repeated in the piano part. Piano/Vocal/Chords (PVC) Typically the music notation offers the piano part, vocal line, and chord names above the staff. You might also see the vocal part repeated in the piano part.
Piano Solo This type of music notation doesn’t offer a vocal line, because it’s meant to be performed as a piano solo. These notations may or may not offer chord names as well.
Easy Piano This type of music notation is geared toward beginning to elementary level piano students. Sheet music may often includes lyrics, but isn’t listed as a separate vocal line. Did you know that easy piano arrangements can almost always be performed as a piano solo? However, easy piano arrangements are “abridged” and do not always contain complete lyrics. Like the piano solo notation, you may or may not find chord names above the staff.
Five Finger Piano If you’re learning how to play piano, you know how important fingering is! In this style of piano music notation, notes are numbered by finger and hands stay in one place over the same keys throughout. Typically, five finger piano notation offers the melody line of your favorite songs, but it also might include an optional teacher accompaniment.
Big-Note Big-Note notation refers to sheet music that features larger notes. These songs may include notation for easy level piano, but not necessarily. Big-Note notation is more about the “size” of the notes than the level of complexity. We recommend reviewing any songs you wish to download with big-note notation before you purchase them to ensure that the song fits your level of playing ability.
Letter or E-Z Play Today If you’re looking for the easiest type of music notation that we sell, then you’ll want to look for Letter or E-Z Play Today notation. Typically, these arrangements only focus on the right hand melody of your favorite songs and include large notes with the letters printed right in the notes.

Musicnotes.com employs a wide range of talented individuals who are as passionate about music as you are. From professional arrangers to educators to just plain old music lovers, everyone here is dedicated to bringing sheet music to life in one way or another. We’d like to share our knowledge with you by opening the floor to your questions.

Here’s how we’d like to help you in your music endeavors:

Trying to learn music and need answers? Write down your question related to learning music or music performance and send your question to this email address: musiclovers AT musicnotes DOT com. Please put “Ask Musicnotes” in your email subject line.

We’ll choose questions to answer here on the blog, and will provide you with a detailed answer. In the interest of time, not every question may be answered. How often (and how quickly) we respond to your questions will depend on scheduling and you!

If you’re looking for ideas on what types of questions to ask, you might start by reading our tips for sight-reading post to help inspire you.

Here are some tips to help you improve your sight-reading of new sheet music that you’re interested in playing or singing. Two of these tips were recommended to us by Twitter user @kittskrafts, and we’d like to thank her for taking the time to mention these tips.

• The more you practice sight-reading the easier it gets! From Twitter @kittskrafts
• Be sure of your key signature before you begin. From Twitter @kittskrafts
• For singers, chant or speak the lyrics to the beat before you start singing, so you get a feel for the song’s rhythm.
• Clap out beat by beat–including rests–to distance yourself from the notes so you can get the time signature down right before you play.
• Try playing the piece your first time through without all the bells and whistles. Skip phrasing, trills and other embellishments to focus on getting the notes right.
• If you have a really complicated piece for two hands, play through the piece focusing on just one or the other.
• Attempting to speed up your fingering skills? Try playing the piece in a slower tempo before attempting a presto pace.
• If you’re listening to what the song sounds like before you’re playing it, fiddle with your stereo dials to amplify the vocal line.
• To ensure you’re singing is in tune, try practicing a perfect fifth or a third. For example, sing an “f” to a “b-flat.” That way, no matter what song you’re trying to sing, you’ll have a starting point.

Some of our Musicnotes YouPerform contest winners offered their tips when they were describing how they read the sheet music for our contest. You can read more about their tips on our Musicnotes YouPerform contest page. Just look for the previous contest winners.

Are you an excellent sight-reader? Have you more tips to share? We invite you to comment and share your thoughts!

You’ll notice that some of these music gift ideas are perfect for kids that are younger than ten years old. If your child is taking music or theory lessons, we encourage you to double-check with them to see if they have any other ideas for you.

Music Posters

Music posters like the Poster Set Basic Elements Of Music – These educational music posters are perfect as another gift idea for the beginner musician. The other nice thing about this poster set, is that it comes with activity sheets and teaching notes if you choose to use them. At the very least, having four posters that help your child understand rhythm, intervals, fifths and scales help reinforce the fundamentals of learning music.

If your child or teen has a favorite musician or band, a poster can be a fun gift idea to inspire them, too!

Realistic Toy Instruments

Toy instruments that look and feel like a real instrument can be a great gift idea because it helps kids eventually choose which instrument they want to play. From a kid’s mini guitar to a pink baby grand piano, you can often find toy musical instruments in a variety of colors and sizes. If you’re looking for a specific child’s instrument, your local music store can help point you in the right direction. Many instruments have special descriptions targeted for kids, too. For example, drum sets may be labeled as a child’s “starter” drum set. So be sure to have a general idea of what proficiency and size you might need.

Toys to Help Learn Music

Learning Music Toys are another great way to get kids of any age to shore up and prepare their musical skills. These LeapFrog Learn & Groove Counting Maracas are really great for little kids because they feature multiple options for learning. Little kids can count, name colors, learn music beats in both English and Spanish. For less than $20, it’s a really good deal for a multi-purpose toy, especially since there is an option for free play.

Besides LeapFrog, FisherPrice also offers quite a few music-related learning toys like this Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage. The thing to remember with buying music-learning toys, is that there are a ton of free music games available online for older kids and adults. These music-related toys work well as stand-alone items that can be picked up and played.

High-Tech Music Toys or Instruments

For your older kids (and even some adults, too) there is a continuing wave of music instruments that are compatible with your computer. ThinkGeek’s Music Gifts has a slew of ideas for you to check out like the drum set that plugs into your USB outlet. It has a flexible mat you can roll up and put away; perfect for storage and messy teen closets. Many piano keyboards have ports for USB plug-ins now, too. This is allows your teen or budding songwriter to interact with their computer and any additional software the keyboard might have. Some of these music toys are really high-tech and small, like the Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer. Nothing says “cool” for your teen like an exclusive gift.

Sheet Music Books for Kids

Of course, if you want to encourage your kids to play and practice, you might want to help them expand their musical horizons by picking them up a fun sheet music book. From classical music like Alfred Publishing’s Music for Little Mozarts series to popular culture songbooks like A Charlie Brown Christmas songbook for piano, you’ll want to look at how the music is printed and arranged. Bigger notes are easier to read; sometimes “easy piano” will include special music-playing hints right on the sheet music, too.

Our top five recommended sheet music books for kids are:

• The Big Book of Children’s Songs
• Children’s Favorites for Easy Piano
• Kids Music Collection
• 100 Songs for Kids (Easy Guitar With Notes & TAB)
• Favorite Songs From Jim Henson’s Muppets

Hope our ideas have helped to inspire your holiday shopping this year. When in doubt, don’t be afraid to support your teachers and ask them what they recommend, too. The trick to getting a great music gift is to tie it into something the child you’re buying for might be interested in. That’s one of the reasons why the educational toys are often a big hit, because kids can often learn more than just music.

Have any tips to share? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments below!

The book featured at left is perfect for either beginning piano players or singers because the notes and words are printed large and are extremely easy-to-read. When you’re looking for gifts for a beginner musician, you’ll want to find songbooks or sheet music that’s written in big notation. The benefit to finding a book like the Disney Giant Movie Hits Songbook or the 30 Favorite Christmas Songs sheet music book, is that the songs are familiar to the beginning musician. This is a great help for teachers or music enthusiasts who are learning how to read music.

The other benefit to “big” notation for beginning piano players, is that it helps them expect that “next note” for fingering. Sheet music with big notation often uses easier piano arrangements, so the musician doesn’t get overwhelmed with too many phrases and notes to play. As the piano player’s fingers get stronger with more and more practice, look for more complex big notations with chords to help that transition period.

Learning to Play Guitar?

If you are giving the gift of a guitar this holiday season, we recommend accompanying your present with guitar sheet music perfect for beginner guitarists. Sometimes, you will find guitar chords printed above the staff on an arrangement geared toward piano and voice. Other times, you’ll find specific notation just for guitar sheet music, called “guitar tab.”

One of our favorite guitar sheet music books to help our music lovers learn guitar is this one called, Teach Yourself Guitar in 10 Easy Lessons. For a more seasonal guitar book, take a look at the Christmas Guitar Book – A Collection of Easy Guitar Solos that offers fifteen popular holiday songs. Normally it retails for $9.95, but we’re offering a 20 percent off Christmas sheet music books sale through November 30th.

Guitar Guru Helps Guitarists Learn Songs, Too

Our Guitar Guru Sessions also help guitarists learn how to increase their skills, but in a unique way. One Guitar Guru session includes the guitar sheet music (or tab) for the song, in addition to an interactive fret board that you can use right on your computer. Compatible for Mac or PC, you simply download our free Guitar learning software and pick the song you want.

We recommend starting with our free Guitar Guru session that we offer once-a-month. Features of Guitar Guru include:

• Detailed, note-by-note instructions
• Virtual fret board with customizable, real-time finger positions
• Adjustable playback/learning tempo (up to 300%)
• MIDI or CD-Synched/MP3/WMA-synched Audio
• Use your CD or MP3/WMA files as an audio track, or use the included MIDI.
• Step-Through Playback Function

Sessions are, on average, one or two dollars higher than if you would purchase the guitar tab by itself. For Christmas music sessions, you can either look at individual songs like Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree or Dream Child by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. For the PC, we do offer two, different Guitar Guru gift packs that offer everything a beginning guitarist needs to learn six holiday songs and more!

Whether you’re new to playing piano or are a proficient classical guitarist, it’s always a good idea to practice and hone your skills. These browser-based music games feature different challenges from learning music theory to pitch recognition, songwriting and ear training.

For those of you wondering whether or not these music games are for adults or kids, we’ve added a mini-review to each of these websites to help you see whether or not these games are right for you or someone you know.

Enjoy!

List of Free Music Games

Morton Sobotnick’s Creating Music Games – This site features three, interactive games that help beginners distinguish musical strains, develop their ability to hear different pitches and recognize rhythms. Blocks and colors are drawn in a cartoon-like style, and would be attractive to kids who want to get into music.
Level of Music Ability: Beginner
Perfect for: Kids, People who are new to Music

Music Tech Teacher’s Music Games – Several dozen music games are featured on this website and range from music quizzes to theory and music “word” games. Designed from an instructional point-of-view, many of these music games help expand a musician’s knowledge to help them read music in addition to honing their practical skills.
Level of Music Ability: Beginner to Advanced
Perfect for: Adults or Kids. Must have good reading comprehension.

Neave Games Simon – Inspired by the original Simon Says, this is a browser-based music game where you have to match the tones played by clicking on the buttons with your mouse. Here’s a larger version of the memory music game that’s easier to use.
Level of Music Ability: Any
Perfect for: Adults or Kids.

Sheppard Software Music Memory Game – This game features a “C” scale where every note corresponds to “Do, Re, Mi” and a color. More advanced than the four-button Simon we described above, this music game gave some of us a real challenge. One of seven notes will play and you repeat their tone by clicking on each note. The game gets very challenging, very quickly!
Level of Music Ability: Advanced Beginner to Professional
Perfect for: Musicians who want to do more “ear training.”

DSO Kids Memory Game – Based on the old Memory card game from days gone by, this browser-based game has three, different levels of play. The first two levels operate by encouraging you to match two music symbols together. The “advanced” level asks you to match the music symbol with its corresponding written name.
Level of Music Ability: Beginner to Advanced
Perfect for: Musicians learning how to recognize music symbols.

We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s musical treasure about these free music games. Do you have any you would like to share with us? Post them in the comments below!