InTune

Free Holiday Songs, New Suggestions & Contest News in The Rest

Posted on Nov 01, 2009 by Monica.

For this month’s free sheet music download, we are offering separate arrangements for piano and guitar.

For our free piano sheet music download, we are featuring a holiday medley of the songs Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Up on the Housetop.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas is a traditional Christmas carol that may have been composed in the early 1900s. The simple lyrics are about someone wishing for St. Nick to come and leave them presents in their stockings. Up on the Housetop (Ho! Ho! Ho!) is an older traditional Christmas carol from the 1860s. Composed by Benjamin Hanby, this popular tune is also about Santa coming down the chimney to fill the stockings of little kids with presents. Combined, the two carols together create a fun, holiday medley that we hope you’ll enjoy singing and playing.

This holiday medley is available as a free sheet music download from now until the end of November. We have provided abridged lyrics as part of the medley, so you can sing our arrangement as a solo or with your family and friends!

Guitar Guru Lovers! Download the Russian Dance for Free!

This month’s free Guitar Guru Session and guitar tab, is a movement from The Nutcracker Suite composed by Tchaikovsky. The Russian Dance, which is also known as Trepak, was composed as part of the ballet in the early 1890s.

Now you can learn how to play the Russian Dance from The Nutcracker Ballet on guitar for free, through the month of November. Simply visit our free sheet music page to download this seasonal arrangement. We hope you enjoy it!

New Songs from YOUR Requests!

We have been hard at work adding a ton of new songs that you’ve asked for. First, we’d like to point out that we are expanding our selection of alternate instruments solos. This week, we added a ton of popular flute sheet music solos by some of your favorite artists. We’ve also added quite a few fun songs for guitar, including new guitar tab by Taylor Swift.

Here are some new songs we’ve added from the songs that you’ve requested:

• For Emma by Bon Iver
• Chances by Five for Fighting
• I Know It’s Today by Jeanine Tesori
• Guitar Guru Session for Cold as Ice by Foreigner
• So This Is Love by Cinderella
• Does It Still McFly? by Michael Giacchino and other songs from the new STAR TREK.
• Come Back to Me by David Cook
• Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble

Contest News! Guitar Guru Headset Give-a-Way and New Contest!

For the month of November, we will be offering a contest that we think many of you will really enjoy. Be sure to stay tuned over the next, few days to read about a contest and how you can win!

We’ve contacted our Guitar Guru headset winner for October’s contest. Thank you to everyone who entered for a chance to win.

Until next time, remember… practice really does make perfect!

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Song Requests in The Whole Note

Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by Monica.

Are you a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? This television show, created by Joss Whedon, was about a teenage slayer who hunts vampires. Certain episodes were risky, creative endeavors that pushed the boundaries of this paranormal show. For example, Hush was an episode nominated for an Emmy with very little dialogue. Once More With Feeling was a musical episode that is widely popular, even to this day. The lyrics were part of the episode’s story, so characters often broke out into song. Of course, there were also a few random blurbs in the show that added a little bit of silliness, too.

With music and lyrics written by Joss Whedon, the songs offer a range of styles from jazz to rock to Broadway. Now, you can download digital sheet music for Once More With Feeling. Here are some of the more memorable songs from this popular episode:

• I’ll Never Tell which was sung by Xander and Anya
• Going Through the Motions was sung by Buffy, but was also sung as a reprise.
• Rest In Peace was sung by the vampire Spike to Buffy.
• Under Your Spell was sung by Tara to Willow
• Standing was sung by Giles
• Walk Through the Fire was sung by the cast from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In addition to songs from this musical episode, we also have more sheet music from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including the theme song.

Hit Songs from Your Song Requests

We are pleased to announce that we’ve added these brand new songs straight from your song requests from some wonderful performers!

• Fallin’ for You by Colbie Caillat
• Doesn’t Mean Anything by Alicia Keys
• Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood
• Wild Horses by Susan Boyle
• Winter Snow by Chris Tomlin
• Bridal March by Jonathan Cain
• Happy by Leona Lewis
• Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z with Alicia Keys

Stay tuned for more news about your song requests and Christmas sheet music. We’ve heard that some of you are already practicing Christmas carols, and we want to ensure that we get you the sheet music you need to sing or play for this year’s holiday season!

ONE WEEK LEFT! Take $1.00 Off Your Next Digital Music Purchase

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Spooky Broadway Shows, $1 Off Treat and More in The Whole Note

Posted on Oct 16, 2009 by Monica.

In this edition of The Whole Note, we’d like to turn your attention to the sound and stage. Do you know what’s lurking behind the curtain? We do! There are several Broadway shows that are perfect for Halloween. Whether they inspire you to dress up in costume or sing a little tune, we think you might get a kick out of these shows.

SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a Broadway show that first appeared on stage in the late 1970s. Based on a character from the Penny Dreadful serial novel from the mid-1860s, this spooky barber cut more than his client’s hair. Assisted by Mrs. Lovett who bakes his victims into her pies, this is definitely one of the creepier shows ever to hit the stage on Broadway. Songs include Green Finch and Linnet Bird, Not While I’m Around and The Worst Pies in London.

Man-eating plants from outer space, frightening dentists and big hair run amok in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. The show has a little bit of a “B”-movie feel to it. A popular show for a lot of kids, songs include Suddenly, Seymour, Somewhere That’s Green and Feed Me.

Both PHANTOM and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA were inspired by the 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra written by Gaston Leroux. The story of a disfigured man-in-the-shadows who falls in love with a beautiful girl named Christine may be part romance, but it’s also a terrifying and tragic story, too. Over the years, the phantom’s signature mask has inspired many Halloween costumes. The new PHANTOM is more like the original novel than the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, but both offer memorable and haunting songs like Think of Me and Home.

Other Broadway shows perfect for Halloween include WICKED, JEKYLL AND HYDE, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

New Moon Sheet Music New Releases!

This week, we’ve added two classical pieces from the brand new NEW MOON soundtrack. Both of these songs are part of the bonus track on the CD, and sheet music is available for instant download.

• Die Fledermaus — Duettino: Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir performed by APM Orchestra
• Wandrers Nachtlied II, Op. 96, No. 3, D.768 performed by Ulf Bastlein

Be sure to watch Musicnotes.com for more updates about upcoming sheet music for New Moon.

Join Your Fellow Music Lovers on Facebook!

Have you visited Musicnotes on Facebook? We have been having a lot of fun on our Facebook page. Many of you have chimed in and offered us feedback or enjoyed our Facebook-specific contests. When you become a fan of us on Facebook, we’ll offer you some sneak previews that will show up in your updates.

Thank you so much for sharing your love of music! We hope you continue playing and practicing your favorite songs!

And if you’re on Facebook…we’ll see you there!

Trick or Treat! Take $1.00 Off Your Next Digital Music Purchase

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Great Song Requests and Vocal Method Book Sales in The Whole Note

Posted on Sep 18, 2009 by Monica.

From sheet music for songs from Glee to filling your song requests and adding sheet music for songs from The Beatles: Rock Band, we have had a very busy past couple of weeks. We are thrilled to announce several new songs that we’ve been working on. Some of these songs are older; some are “brand new.”

For example, we have sheet music for Meet Me On The Equinox from Death Cab for Cutie. This song is the first song announced for the movie NEW MOON, the sequel to TWILIGHT. The song Magic by Selena Gomez, on the other hand, is a song from the 70s that many of you have asked for.

Here is a list of some other great songs that we’ve been adding to fulfill your song requests:

• Send It On by Disney Channel Friends for Change
• Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus
• Bad Things from TRUE BLOOD
• Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
• Sort Of by Ingrid Michaelson
• Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
• Fire by Augustana

For those of you that prefer Christian sheet music, we’d also like to point out a few songs that we’ve added for your requests, too.

• Revelation Song by Phillips, Craig and Dean
• Follow You by Leeland with Brandon Heath
• He Is by Mark Schultz
• More Beautiful You by Jonny Diaz
• Wait and See by Brandon Heath
• Lay ‘Em Down by Need to Breathe
• Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North

If you’re interested, please feel free to add your sheet music requests through our song suggestion tool.

Up to 25% Off Vocal Method Books

Are you a vocalist who wants to improve your skills? How about a singer who wants to improve your sight-reading? Whenever we talk about things like How To Find Your Vocal Range or offer some Sheet Music Sight-Reading Tips, you often tell us how much you appreciate the information. To help you become a better singer, we’re putting a great selection of vocal method books on sale.

From now through midnight, September 30th, enjoy up to twenty-five percent off select vocal method books. The price is automatically deducted from the books you want to buy; there’s no minimum purchase nor do you have to enter a coupon.

Included in our sale are vocal method books like The New Voice (How to Sing and Speak Properly) or the The Contemporary Singer (Elements of Vocal Technique) which we’ve pictured on the left. The New Voice method book has more of an emphasis on singing mechanics and is originally $15.95, but it’s on sale for $12.76, while The Contemporary Singer is perfect for vocalists wanting to appear on stage. We also recommend the book Sight-Sing Any Melody Instantly, for those of you who want to improve your skills in that area.

To take advantage of this sale, we invite you to visit our vocal method books page to browse our recommended titles.

Take 10% Off Guitar Guru Sessions

We recently had some fun promotions for Guitar Guru, like our huge $10,000 give-a-way, but we’re not done yet! From now until midnight, September 30th take ten percent off of your favorite Guitar Guru Sessions. Just enter code GG3TEN at checkout to take advantage of the savings. Limit one per customer.

You might want to check out some of the hot new Sessions we’ve added. This Guitar Guru Session of Yesterday by The Beatles has already hit our top five! With the release of the remastered CDs and BEATLES: ROCK BAND, Beatlemania seems to have literally struck a chord with guitarists. Check out these Guitar Guru Sessions for The Beatles to see some of the new Sessions we’ve added.

If you’re not sure what you want to play, here’s a few more suggestions from a broad range of musical styles for you:

• She Talks To Angels by The Black Crowes
• Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley
• Fridays I’m In Love by The Cure
• Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley
• Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet
• Breaking the Law by Judas Priest
• (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones

Well that’s all the time we have for this week’s edition of The Whole Note. Until next time, make sure you tighten those strings and flex your fingers!

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25% Off Sale on Musicnotes Editions and More in The Whole Note

Posted on Jul 24, 2009 by Monica.

From now until midnight July 31st, enjoy a twenty-five percent off savings on our Musicnotes Editions sheet music. (The average price of a Musicnotes Edition is around $4.95, so the sale would bring the price to around $3.71.) There is no coupon code for this sale; we have automatically deducted the twenty-five percent off so you can simply shop and enjoy!

What’s so special about Musicnotes Editions? Here’s a little explanation about our Musicnotes Editions, as well as an explanation of the additional benefits you’ll receive for buying this sheet music.

This digital sheet music was either arranged by Musicnotes.com’s staff of professional arrangers and composers or it is a new engraving of the composition’s original printed arrangement. When you purchase any Musicnotes Edition, you are granted performance and recording rights and you may print an unlimited number of copies of your purchased sheet music.

From christmas sheet music to classical piano sheet music, our Musicnotes Editions offer you a variety of song styles. For your convenience, we’d like to list some of the music styles we have available in this selection.

• Blues songs in Musicnotes Editions
• Children’s Songs in Musicnotes Editions
• Choral Arrangements of Musicnotes Editions. You may also want to check out our vocal selections, too.
• Christian-theme sheet music in our Musicnotes Editions. Includes some holiday sheet music and life events (e.g. weddings.)

Classical music in Musicnotes Editions

• Country sheet music in Musicnotes Editions

Folk songs in Musicnotes Editions

• Holiday and Special Occasion songs in Musicnotes Editions
• Jazz songs in Musicnotes Editions
• Methods and Studies in Musicnotes Editions
• Pop songs in Musicnotes Editions
• Rock music in Musicnotes Editions
• Broadway showtunes in Musicnotes Editions
• Traditional songs, ballads and melodies in Musicnotes Editions

For more sheet music in this special format, be sure to browse our Musicnotes Editions sheet music. You’ll want to pay special attention to the left hand sidebar; there are links that will help segment and filter our catalog to help you narrow down your selection.

Hot off the Sheet Music Press! New Songs!

These past few weeks have been very exciting for us, because we’ve been really busy adding a ton of new songs. Some of these tunes are very timely, and others we’ve arranged based on your song requests. Without further adieu, here’s a partial list of some of the new music you may be interested in playing:

• Human Nature Guitar Tab by John Mayer (Michael Jackson cover)
• Maybe by Ingrid Michaelson
• I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas
• Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu by Johnny Rivers
• He Could Be the One by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana)
• Eet by Regina Spektor
• Heartless by Kanye West
• New Divide by Linkin Park
• Beat It in a Guitar Guru Session by Michael Jackson
• Before the Storm by Jonas Brothers and featuring Miley Cyrus

Thank you to everyone for suggestion your favorite songs, we do listen to your requests. We hope you’re enjoying the sheet music from our store but regardless, we wish you the best with your music.

Last Chance Reminder! July Deals

July is almost over, but there’s still time to take advantage of our clearance bin for sheet music books, our July 10% off coupon (TAKETEN at checkout) and 20% off of our sheet music refills.

For more information about these July Summer $avings, be sure read our post about how you can Jump for July $avings on Sheet Music Books and more!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Talent Shows like American Idol, YouPerform Contest Winner in the Whole Note

Posted on Apr 24, 2009 by Monica.

In this week’s wrap-up, we talk about how talent shows are inspiring musicians everywhere to sing or play their instrument and provide you with some sheet music suggestions. We also reveal the winner of our own “talent” show, the Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest for March 2009.

Britain’s Got Talent! Do you?

As we mentioned earlier this week in our press release entitled Susan Boyle Phenomenon Resonates in Sheet Music, “Britain’s Got Talent” singing sensation Susan Boyle has had a definite impact on sheet music. You’ve been so inspired by Susan Boyle’s performance of I Dreamed a Dream, that this single song from Les Miserables sheet music is one of your top downloads on Musicnotes.com.

That’s not the only performer that you’ve enjoyed, though. Competing for a chance to perform in front of the Queen, this past week Shaheen Jafargholi started singing the song Valerie by Amy Winehouse and Simon Cowell stopped him after the first few bars. Switching to the song Who’s Lovin’ You by the Jackson Five, this twelve-year old received a standing ovation. (Watch the video of Shaheen singing.) Another sensation was a music teacher playing an alto saxophone version of the song Somewhere from West Side Story named Julian Smith.

Looks like this talent show is inspiring more than just singers to offer their music to the world. How about you? What do you play?

Talent Show American Idol Continues to Impress You

Have you been following American Idol? This week was a big heart-breaker for Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds as they were eliminated from the show. Many of the songs sung by Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and all your favorite singers have inspired you to play the songs they’ve performed. Featured songs from our selection of American Idol sheet music for Season Eight include:

• Hot Stuff by Donna Summer
• Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard
• September by Earth, Wind and Fire
• She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer
• Stayin’ Alive by Bee Gees
• Mad World by Gary Jules
• Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
• I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
• Stand By Me by Ben E. King
• All She Wants to Do Is Dance by The Eagles
• True Colors by Cyndi Lauper
• What’s Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner
• Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder

Whether you buy sheet music from us or not, we hope you pick up your favorite instrument or microphone and get inspired to play!

March 2009 YouPerform Contest Winners!

It seems like only yesterday we asked you to vote on the twelve entries to March’s Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest. We have contacted the first place, second place and third place winners today, and have invited them to share with us a few words about their musical background and performance. We’ll offer you an update next week when we’re able to sit down with our lucky contestants.

We’d like to announce that your favorite performance is of the girl who played the piano and the hornpipe. Choosing the song “Bunessan,” here is the video of the March 2009 YouPerform Contest Winner for Musicnotes.com. Who placed second and third? Find out early next week when we offer you an inside look at our own musical contestants who are definitely talented!

The contest deadline for April is rapidly approaching and we’re really excited to see who’s going to enter. We hope you’re considering adding your contest entry, because if we receive a minimum of ten entries — we’ll give more away! Just yesterday we posted that:

Effective for March’s contest and any month going forward, we will award first, second and third place prizes provided we have a minimum of ten entries. For first place the YouPerform contest winner will receive a gift certificate in the amount of $100, second place will receive a $50 certificate, and third place will receive a certificate for $25.

What are you waiting for? We hope you’re so inspired, you’re ready to show the world what musical talent you’re hiding!

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Chopin, Ask Musicnotes and U2 in The Whole Note

Posted on Apr 09, 2009 by Monica.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Chopin, “Chopin’s music for the piano combined a unique rhythmic sense (particularly his use of rubato), frequent use of chromaticism, and counterpoint. This mixture produces a particularly fragile sound in the melody and the harmony, which are nonetheless underpinned by solid and interesting harmonic techniques.

He took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication. Three of Chopin’s twenty-one Nocturnes were only published after his death in 1849, contrary to his wishes. He also endowed popular dance forms, such as the Polish mazurek and the Viennese waltz, with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin was the first to write ballads and scherzi as individual pieces. He also took the example of Bach’s preludes and fugues, transforming the genre in his own Préludes.”

Musicnotes.com is proud to feature this classical composer known for his emotionally-charged works on our classical sheet music page. We’ve added dozens of Chopin sheet music that you can download for your next concert or practice for our Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest.

Choose from over one-hundred and ninety different arrangements of Chopin sheet music for your needs. Remember, many of these songs are Musicnotes Editions, too!

Did you Ask Musicnotes about Transpositions? Here’s our Answer!

Many of your questions that we received were related to transpositions for sheet music. Specifically, how can you get your sheet music transposed to the key that is more comfortable for you, your choir or your band to play.

When songs are written into sheet music, they’re frequently set in keys that are comfortable for most players and singers. If an “originally-recorded in” key is noted on the sheet, Musicnotes.com tries to offer you a corresponding transposition.

You can transpose many of our sheet music downloads at the time of your purchase, but at this time we don’t offer any tools that allow you to transpose the songs yourself. If you have a song that you want in a different key, we’ll be happy to transpose it for you! Just contact our Musicnotes Customer Service department and request your transposition. Make sure that you give us a little bit of advance notice when you’re requesting transpositions so we can ensure we’re hitting the “right notes.”

Watch for an upcoming post next week where we share more answers for Ask Musicnotes!

Sheet Music for U2 Album “No Line on the Horizon”

U2 made waves earlier last month with the release of their new album, No Line on the Horizon. The CD is a departure from what we’ve come to identify as “classic” U2, and embraces old sounds in new and innovative ways. From the upbeat Get Your Boots On to the lovely melody White As Snow, U2’s new musical venture highlights a potpourri of musical styles that range from 70s throwbacks to world music.

Now you can be a part of this musical journey by playing guitar tab or sheet music for No Line On the Horizon by U2. If you’re interested in learning more about U2’s new album, read Rolling Stone’s Review of No Line on the Horizon.

That’s all for this week’s edition of The Whole Note. Remember, stay sharp and keep practicing!

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Easter Sheet Music, Guitar Guru Coupon and YouPerform Winner in The Whole Note

Posted on Mar 27, 2009 by Monica.

With the rise in popularity of Christian sheet music the past, few years, many of these music lovers have renewed their interest in sheet music for Easter. Musicnotes.com offers a broad selection of Easter sheet music by your favorite Christian music artists like: Newsong, Glad, Point of Grace and much, much more! If you enjoy Easter sheet music, we also have sheet music for the movie The Passion of the Christ which was released in 2004 and was directed by Mel Gibson.

We invite you to check out our Easter sheet music selection, and are happy to announce that we have more new songs on the way!

If you can’t find the song you’re looking for on that page, feel free to search for it on Musicnotes.com. We add hundreds of new songs each week, so don’t be afraid to check back with us for all your sheet music needs!

Guitar Guru Coupon in Honor of our New Store!

In honor of our brand new Guitar Guru Sessions store page, we’re offering all you guitar lovers out there an exclusive two-week coupon. We’ve already given away free gift certificates through our @guitar_guru Twitter account. We’re so excited by all the great feedback we’ve received that we want to share the love with you! Here are the Guitar Guru coupon details:

Use coupon code GGUSAVE5 to save $5 on your next Guitar Guru purchase of $20 or more. Coupon expires Saturday, April 11th at midnight. One coupon per person.

Don’t forget, every month we give away a free Guitar Guru session on our free sheet music page! If you’re looking for some Guitar Guru session ideas, visit your list of favorites from previous years. We recommend browsing through your Top Guitar Guru Sessions from 2008 or even your Top Guitar Guru Sessions from 2007.

Hope you take advantage of this great coupon, and stay tuned for more updates about Guitar Guru!

Here’s our February YouPerform Contest Winner!

The voting ended and you declared Jon the winner of our Musicnotes.com YouPerform contest. We asked Jon a few questions that we’d like to share with you now. After you read his answers, be sure to watch his award-winning video! Jon performed Sonata in C Minor “Pathétique” II. Adagio Cantabile by Beethoven.

Also, we were able to get a hold of our January YouPerform contestant, and because he was the only entrant in our contest, he won! Here’s a link to our January Musicnotes.com YouPerform contest on YouTube!.

MUSICNOTES: How long have you been playing piano?

JON, Contest Winner: Eight years

MUSICNOTES:: Of all the Musicnotes Editions we offer, why did you pick this song?

JON, Contest Winner: I picked this song because of its simplistic sound but still
beautiful effect.

MUSICNOTES: If you had any advice for future contestants, what would it be?

JON, Contest Winner: Play something that you love and are motivated to master, something that is a joy for you to play.

MUSICNOTES: What are your plans for your musical future?

JON, Contest Winner: Music will continue to be a hobby and release in my future, but not
a career.

MUSICNOTES: Is Beethoven your favorite classical composer?

JON, Contest Winner: Alongside Chopin and Debussy, Beethoven ranks among my favorite
classical composers.

Don’t forget, next week we’ll open up new voting for the March Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest, and based on the entries we received we will definitely need your help! As always, if you have any questions about the contest feel free to comment on the blog or shoot us an email to musiclovers AT musicnotes DOT com.

“

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Coupon, Diana Krall and Contests in The Whole Note

Posted on Mar 06, 2009 by Monica.

Enjoy downloading sheet music or Guitar Guru Sessions? Then this coupon is for you! Use coupon code MN24U to get $2.00 of your next digital sheet music or Guitar Guru purchase when you spend $10.00 or more. One coupon per customer, and the coupon excludes digital collections. If you’re interested in our digital sheet music collections, like the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone sheet music collection composed by John Williams, be sure to read the product information closely. There, you’ll see that you’re already saving money by buying your favorite sheets in a collection. (For example, that particular collection we mentioned offers a savings of over $25!)

Coupon is good through midnight, March 21st so if you have some shopping to do, take advantage of this money-saving offer!

Diana Krall Sheet Music

In anticipation of her new album Quiet Nights due out on March 31st, we’re shining the spotlight on this talented singer on our piano sheet music page later today. In her career, Diana Krall has breathed life into dozens of songs including: Cry Me a River, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much). In addition to her new album’s release, Diana is currently touring in the U.S. Be sure to visit the official Diana Krall website for more information about her performances and her new album.

Watch for more updates on Diana Krall sheet music coming soon!

YouPerform Contest Voting!

Earlier this week we approved two videos for February’s YouPerform contest. We hope you’ve taken the chance to watch these contestant’s entries and vote on their performance! If you haven’t, visit the February YouPerform Contest Entries post and take our poll, or stop by the Musicnotes Channel on YouTube!.

We would like to extend our best wishes to all of our contestants. We hope that they’ll inspire you to take the opportunity and submit your contest entry for March!

What’s Coming Next Week?

We’ve got more Twitter give-a-ways in the works for @music_notes, @guitar_guru and @mxtabs. Watch for a special post about a film that’s getting rave reviews, more behind-the-scenes with an esteemed music professional who is make strides in music with Web 2.0 technology and a whole lot more!

That’s all the time we have for now this week. Remember, if you have questions for us we’re happy to take them. For customer-service related questions, feel free to contact Musicnotes.com customer service. If you’re interested in learning how to become a better musician, why not ask Musicnotes?

Until next time, polish those ivories and enjoy your lessons!

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Bunessan Free Sheet Music, More from Twilight in The Whole Note

Posted on Feb 27, 2009 by Monica.

Do you remember the song Morning Has Broken? The popular melody performed by Cat Stevens in the early 1970s was originally based on a song by Scottish composer Mary MacDonald (1789 – 1872). The original lyrics for her hymn entitled Leanabh an Aigh were written in Gaelic. When the hymn was translated into English by Lachlan Macbean, the song title was renamed Bunessan after a Scottish village close to Mary MacDonald’s hometown of Ardtun. Believe it or not, the song was originally associated with a hymn called Child in the Manger. (1)

This March, download your free sheet music for the song Bunessan and enjoy this gorgeous melody.

To download your free copy of Bunessan, please visit our free sheet music page on Musicnotes.com.

Twilight Sheet Music News!

Yesterday, we were pleased to bring you an interview with Twilight score composer Carter Burwell. We hope you enjoy reading about this score composer who has worked on over fifty films!!!

We just got in a brand new sheet music book for Twilight that includes some great songs that you’ve been asking for and collector’s photos. Here’s a little bit about this collector’s sheet music book:

This sheet music book for Twilight includes Bella’s Lullaby, and 10 more tracks from alt-rock bands author Stephenie Meyer listened to as she wrote the novels. Features the hit singles Decode by Paramore and Go All the Way (Into the Twilight) by Perry Farrell, as well as songs from Muse, Linkin Park, Collective Soul, Mute Math and others, plus Never Think by British actor Robert Pattinson, who plays the movie’s male lead.–SOURCE: Twilight Sheet Music Book

Watch for new digital sheet music downloads to come out next week for this popular movie sheet music. To stay on top of Twilight news, be sure to check out our Twilight sheet music post.

What’s Popular on the Musicnotes Blog Lately?

Over the past few months, we’ve been actively bringing you sheet music news, interviews with songwriters and composers, and other music-related goodies. We have been working hard behind-the-scenes here to look for new ways to bring you great content. In the meantime, here are some posts that many of our music lovers have enjoyed reading this past week:

• 10 Free Music Wallpapers – This post was so much fun to put together, we just might do another one!
• Sightreading Tips for Singers and Musicians – We just posted about how you can increase your sight-reading abilities to help you with your performances or our Musicnotes.com YouPerform contest. This was a very popular post this past week; it’s really great to see that so many musicians out there wanting to improve their musical skills!
• Sheet Music from the 2009 Oscars – Many of you have enjoyed reading about your favorite movies. There are a lot of new films coming out that are generating a lot of excitement including Watchmen, a brand new Harry Potter film and a whole lot more!

That’s all the time we have for now. Stay tuned for next week as we bring you updates about your song requests, offer you a fun battle of the contest videos and get into American Idol. For now, feel free to subscribe to the Musicnotes.com Blog RSS feed or follow Musicnotes on Twitter! We’ve got some give-a-way contests going on today!

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Bolt Sheet Music, American Idol Surprises and More in The Whole Note

Posted on Feb 20, 2009 by Monica.

Have you seen Bolt yet? Nominated for an Academy award, this film is about a Hollywood action star dog who believes he has super powers! But does he? If you haven’t found out whether or not Bolt’s true super powers lie in his paws or in his heart, you’ll definitely want to rent this heart-warming tale about man’s best friend voiced by John Travolta.

Miley Cyrus lends her voice-acting and singing talents to the other main character in the film, Penny. Miley sings the song I Thought I Lost You, a song featured on the Bolt soundtrack and in the movie.

Now you can sing right along with Miley, or play sheet music from the movie Bolt. We have a number of songs from the film, including many selections from the musical score composed by John Powell. We hope you enjoy playing Bolt sheet music, and encourage you to write a sheet music review if you get the chance.

Click Here to View Bolt sheet music.

Don’t forget to visit the official website of the movie Bolt to learn more about the film and get some great freebies like Bolt wallpaper, games and more!

This Week on American Idol

Now in its eighth season, American Idol has moved past the audition phase and into the top 36. Performing in batches of twelve, there were some interesting song choices from the first American Idol group. Performances from the first group on American Idol included:

+ Alexis Grace’s soulful rendition of I Never Loved a Man by Aretha Franklin earned her a spot as an American Idol finalist.

+ A show-stopping version of Hero by Mariah Carey was sung by Danny Gokey. Danny was the clear favorite and it’s no surprise he’s also an American Idol finalist.

+ Ricky Braddy’s high tenor voice breathed new life into the pop song A Song For You by Leon Russell. He didn’t make the finals, which was a bit surprising because Ricky has an amazing voice.

+ Sung by American Idol finalist Michael Carver, I Don’t Want To Be by Gavin DeGraw was an interesting choice for the audition. This is a pretty complicated song to sing, because of its frequent pitch changes and fast tempo.

+ Casey Carlson didn’t make it in the finals with her rendition of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police. Would she have made it if she picked a different song? Maybe. Her performance is a good example of how the right song choice is extremely important for any audition.

For more American Idol sheet music and recaps, stay tuned until next week when more finalists are announced. Until then, we hope you practice your singing all week long. Maybe one of you will consider trying out for next year’s American Idol!

Contests on Twitter, Just for You!

It’s no secret everyone here at Musicnotes.com loves music — and you!

We want to show you how much we love our fellow music lovers, so we’re giving away free t-shirts, hats and other Musicnotes.com goodies randomly on Twitter. You can find us here: @music_notes.

Yesterday, we had our first Twitter contest winner after asking this music trivia question: How many children did J.S. Bach have? The answer is 20!

We hope you stay tuned and join us on Twitter for a little bit of music trivia fun and prizes. Remember, if you’re interested in more fun, don’t forget we have our Musicnotes YouPerform contest every month. We already have an entry for February, so be sure to record your video performance for a chance to win $100 gift certificate to Musicnotes.com!

Until next time, we hope you pick out your favorite piece of sheet music this weekend and play it with a smile. There is nothing like a good song to toss away those Winter blahs and usher in Spring.

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