InTune

Download I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles Sheet Music FREE!

Posted on Jun 01, 2009 by Monica.

This month’s free sheet music download of the month is a song we really think you’re going to love. The song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” was written by songwriters from Tin Pan Alley back in the early 1900s. Recorded originally as a waltz, the song was covered by most of the popular performers during the late 1910s and early 1920s.

Since the early 20th century, the song has been appeared in dozens of films in several musical styles. For example, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” appeared in the Woody Allen movie Sweet and Lowdown starring Sean Penn. In this movie, Penn “performs” a solo guitar version of the popular tune, which is actually the recorded performance of jazz guitarist Harold Arlen. Other movies that the song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” has appeared in include: Eight Men Out (which used a baseball version of the lyrics), The Roaring Twenties, Hooligans, The Eddie Cantor Story, Sweet and Lowdown and several others.

This song also has special significance for those of you who live in London, for “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is the theme song for West Ham United, a London football team. The story behind how this popular song from the twenties became the anthem for their team is pretty interesting. It’s rumored that one of the players from the early 20s resembled a child from a painting used in a commercial that featured that song. Many fans over the years have sung this song to support their favorite football team. You can find dozens of videos recorded by West Ham United fans on YouTube!

Still popular today, we hope you enjoy your free sheet music download for the month of June. Enjoy a standard arrangement of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” and kick off your summer!

After you download your favorite song, don’t forget to practice it for June’s Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest for your chance to win a $100 gift certificate to our store! Keep with us for May’s round of voting, too!

Download your free sheet music for “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” today!

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May Guitar Guru Sale, YouPerform Contest Voting, Free Download in The Whole Note

Posted on May 01, 2009 by Monica.

This month we’d like to help you play like a rock-n-roll guru!

We’ve taken off $1.00 on every Guitar Guru Session in our catalog, offering you the chance to learn your favorite songs! Choose from blues Sessions like The Thrill is Gone or classic rock Sessions like Barracuda.

Here are a few other Guitar Guru Session favorites that you’ve enjoyed:

No coupon code is required for you to enjoy this limited time offer, which is good through the entire month of May.

Want more Guru? Each week we’ll be getting behind-the-music to feature some of your favorite artists and performers that define what a “rock-n-roll” guru is all about. For more about how this software can help you learn your favorite song, visit Guitar Guru Sessions online or download your free Guitar Guru Session on our free sheet music page and give Guru a try!

Download Old McDonald Had a Farm for Free!

Did you know that “Old McDonald Had a Farm” has a song history spanning over two hundred years? Some music scholars speculate that the song’s history may be traced to an early 18th century opera called “The Kingdom of the Birds,” but it wasn’t until the early 20th century that “Old McDonald” evolved to the song as we know it today. Initially published in 1917, this beloved nursery rhyme has been translated into several languages and has been recorded by dozens of performers around the world.

Download free sheet music for Old McDonald Had a Farm through the end of May. Don’t forget, this song is eligible for your entry into our Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest for May 2009. Just join our May 2009 contest group on YouTube! and submit your performance for a chance to win!

Vote Now for Your April 2009 Contest Winner!

Speaking of contests, will you help us decide your favorite YouPerform contest winner for April? We have three entries this month, and we’d love to get your vote. Hope you’re considering entering next month’s contest, we’d love to hear you sing or play!

Don’t forget to check out our Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest rules page to find out how you can submit your video for May!

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Download “(I’ll be With You) In Apple Blossom Time” for Free!

Posted on Mar 31, 2009 by Monica.

Composed by Fleeson and Von Tilzer, this song was first performed in the 1920s. (I’ll be With You) In Apple Blossom Time is a perfect wedding song for Spring. Our piano sheet music version contains a full set of lyrics with a voice solo line. The guitar tab version of the song primarily focuses on the main chorus of the song, and is great for beginning guitarists.

Although this song originated in the 1920s, the most popular version was performed by “The Andrews Sisters” during WWII. The song has been recorded by a number of artists ncluding Nat King Cole, Barry Manilow, The Platters, Jo Stafford, Wayne Newton and several others.

This song is now available for free through April 30th through our free sheet music download page, for guitarists, vocalists and pianists. Remember, if you’re curious about Guitar Guru, you can try the software with your free Guitar Guru session, too!

Here are the lyrics included with the piano/vocal (aka the Singer Pro) edition of the free sheet music! Remember, you can download your copy all throughout the month of April!

Lyrics to (I’ll be With You) in Apple Blossom Time

First Verse

I’m writing you dear,
Just to tell you
In September, you remember
‘Neath the old apple tree
You whispered to me
When it blossomed again, you’d be mine.

I’ve waited until I could claim you,
I hope I’ve not waited in vain.
For when it’s spring in the valley,
I’m coming my sweetheart again!

Chorus:

I’ll be with you in apple blossom time,
I’ll be with you to change your name to mine.

One day in May I’ll come and say,
“Happy the bride the sun shines on today!”

What a wonderful wedding there will be,
What a wonderful day for you and me!
Church bells will chime
You will be mine,
in apple blossom time.

Second Verse

I hope that you meant
what you promised
in September, you remember
and I’ve thought of the day
I’d take you away
just to have and to hold, for my own.

It’s such a long time since you kissed me
and told me that you would be true
but when the orchard is blooming
my sweetheart I’m coming to you.

Chorus:

I’ll be with you in apple blossom time,
I’ll be with you to change your name to mine.

One day in May I’ll come and say,
“Happy the bride the sun shines on today!”

What a wonderful wedding there will be,
What a wonderful day for you and me!
Church bells will chime
You will be mine,
in apple blossom time./ul>

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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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Free Jazz Love Song, Death Cab for Cutie Guitar Tab Sale and More in This Week’s The Whole Note

Posted on Jan 31, 2009 by Monica.

Can you hear birds singing? While it might not be Spring just yet, our hearts are all a-flutter here. February’s free sheet music download of the month is an interesting love song called “When My Baby Smiles At Me.”

Composed in 1920 by Bill Munro, the lyrics for “When My Baby Smiles at Me” were written by Ted Lewis and Andrew B. Sterling. Ted Lewis was the original performer of the song. Ted Lewis enjoyed a career in music, spanning over fifty years. “When My Baby Smiles at Me” marked the beginning of the roaring twenties and the start of Lewis’ world-wide popularity. Lewis used to enjoy world-wide recognition for his music up until the mid-1930s, even though he went on to enjoy a long career in music.

Both the guitar tab and the piano sheet music includes the lyrics to “When My Baby Smiles At Me.” We hope you enjoy February’s free sheet music download of the month, and hope you are inspired to sing or play this fun, uplifting tune for your sweetheart.

The free song should be available no later than Monday. For now, you can still download “Hail to the Chief.”

35% Off Guitar Tab for Death Cab for Cutie’s Latest Album!

Have you listened to Death Cab for Cutie’s album Narrow Stairs? This best-selling album is the latest from Death Cab for Cutie, who is currently on tour. According to the Death Cab for Cutie 2009 Tour page, they’re making their way to the U.S. later this year.

Hone your musical skills and strum along to songs like “I Will Possess your Heart” and “Your New Twin-Sized Bed” with an exclusive 35% off coupon. Take 35% off Death Cab for Cutie guitar tab for songs from the album “Narrow Stairs” through Midnight CST on Saturday, February 7, 2009.

Click here for guitar tab on sale. Death Cab for Cutie’s album “Narrow Stairs.”

Know How to Play Fur Elise? Submit your Entry for February’s YouPerform Contest!

We’ve been really happy with how our Musicnotes YouPerform contest has been going these past, few months. We know it’s pretty tough to try to learn a new song and record it, but we’re still hoping that you’ll give it a shot. As you know, we opened up the contest to include classical pieces from our Musicnotes Editions collection. There are a ton of familiar and classical songs to choose from including: Clair de Lune, Canon in D, Fur Elise, Amazing Grace, Nocturne No. 3 by Liszt and a whole lot more. Remember, your arrangements are eligible of these songs, too. So get out there and play your flute or sing a tune, because we’ll declare another winner of a $100 gift certificate to our site next month.

Just to let you know, if we don’t get another entry into the Musicnotes YouPerform Contest for January, then we will be able to announce a winner early next week. We’re hoping we’ll get at least one more entry, so we can offer you another music-filled battle! So what are you waiting for? Find your song among over 1,000 Musicnotes Editions today!

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Download Free Sheet Music for “Hail to the Chief”

Posted on Dec 31, 2008 by Monica.

This month’s free sheet music download is none other than “Hail to the Chief.” This song holds a special patriotic significance for U.S. citizens, as “Hail to the Chief” is played to usher in a new president to the Oval Office.

History of Hail to the Chief

Did you know that the original lyrics for “Hail to the Chief” are based on a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott written in 1810? (A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story, like a ballad or an epic poem.) The narrative poem that inspired the song “Hail to the Chief” was written in three sections by Sir Walter Scott, a poet from Edinburgh, about the conflict between King James the Fifth and a powerful Scottish clan named Douglas. If you’re interested in reading the poem, you can read Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott at The Literature Network.

Entitled “The Lady of the Lake,” this poem became so popular it influenced other musical works as well. Rossini wrote an opera dubbed “La Donna del Lago” (which is Italian for the phrase The Lady of the Lake) and a German translation of the poem was set to music by Franz Schubert. The third movement of Schubert’s work, “Ellens dritter Gesang,” was subsequently translated to Latin and became widely popular. You may recognize Ellens dritter Gesang’s other name, the song is more commonly known as “Ave Maria.” Like “Hail to the Chief,” there have also been variations of lyrics set to Schubert’s music as well, but the original lyrics were set to Sir Walter Scott’s poem.

Written as a march, “Hail to the Chief” first incorporated lyrics from the narrative poem around 1812. The widely-popular lyrics were set to music by an English songwriter named James Sanderson for a London musical according to the History News Network. “Hail to the Chief” originally referred to a scottish chieftain, featured in the poem, which is why this song was originally known by another name — “Wreaths for the Chieftain.”

According to an article published by John Hopkins University about the history of Hail to the Chief, the first President to be ushered in by this song was Andrew Jackson.

Hail to the Chief was first associated with a Chief Executive on February 22, 1815, when it was played (under the title Wreaths for the Chieftain) to honor both the belated George Washington and the end of the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson was the first living president to be personally honored by Hail to the Chief, on January 9, 1829. The tune was among a number of pieces played for Martin Van Buren’s inauguration ceremony on March 4, 1837, but it was Julia Tyler, the wife of President John Tyler, who first requested that the tune be played specifically to announce the President’s arrival.–SOURCE: Hail to the Chief: A Musical Tour Excerpted from Lester S. Levy’s Lectures

The lyrics evolved to fit the Presidential march now played for the United States Presidential inaugurations. What are now considered “traditional” lyrics for “Hail to the Chief” are rarely sung, and our research didn’t turn up much information about these lyrics that are said to be written by Albert Gamse per Wikipedia.

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that’s our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

Although the song “Hail to the Chief” wasn’t officially part of the musical tribute for a U.S. president until 1954, it has a long history that started across the Atlantic with a popular poem.

We invite you to download “Hail to the Chief” for this month’s free sheet music download of the month in a guitar tab or Guitar Guru format. The song is also available in piano sheet music as well.

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Get your Christmas Gift from All of Us Here at Musicnotes.com

Posted on Dec 23, 2008 by Monica.

Get free Christmas sheet music as our gift to you from all of us here at Musicnotes.com. Click anywhere on the image below to get your free gift, available in sheet music, guitar tab and Guitar Guru formats.

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Christmas Movie Soundtrack Playlist for Monday Melodies

Posted on Dec 15, 2008 by Monica.

We are so glad that you enjoyed our first Christmas music playlist, so we created another one for you. Today, we bring you Christmas music from several Christmas movie soundtracks including: Bad Santa, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Scrooged, Elf, Santa Clause 2, Christmas with the Kranks and more!

Did you know that many of the same, popular Christmas songs are played in different soundtracks? Or that non-Christmas carols and even rock music are sometimes used to accentuate different parts in the movie, like in Jack Frost? While researching the Christmas movies for this post, we even found that some soundtracks were either one hundred percent original (i.e. composed just for that movie), a mixture of new compositions and old, or just renditions of other classical pieces. You’ll hear a few classical pieces in this Christmas movie playlist from Tchaikovsky; his music has appeared in Bad Santa, Prancer Returns, Nutcracker and A Christmas Story. (And those were just the holiday films we were researching!

You’ll also notice that there are more than a few songs that are geared for kids. In this christmas soundtrack playlist, enjoy songs from The Muppet Christmas Carol and the John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together holiday special, right along with A Charlie Brown Christmas and the ever-popular Polar Express, too.

Thanks for tuning in today for our Monday Melodies! Watch for a post listing several of the Christmas movies we have sheet music for later this week!

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All our Monday Melody Free Playlists For You to Review

Posted on Dec 01, 2008 by Monica.

Typically, every Monday we create a new free music playlist in a feature called our “Monday Melodies.” Today we would like to feature what we have put together for your listening pleasure — just in case you missed a week or two. The links below will open a new window with the blog post.

If you’d like to listen to any one of these free playlists, all you have to do is press the “play” button on the playlist you want. As always, all of the songs included in this selection of audio music have corresponding sheet music found through Musicnotes.com. If you find a song you like, you can use the “sheet music search” feature located on the side of this blog.

We hope you enjoy listening to this broad selection of music. Do you have a music style or a theme that you would like us to feature? Feel free to comment below and let us know!

• Christmas Music - Variety of artists and singers that perform novelty, traditional and Christian Christmas songs.
• Music from UK Bands - Dozens of great UK bands lend their voice to some rockin’ tunes.
• Music from Songs on XBox Live - XBox Live features artists and songs in downloadable video. Songs featured are on XBox Live and Musicnotes.com.
• Broadway Showtunes - To put a little spring in your step, listen to these Broadway hits.
• Variety of Music Styles and Artists - Songs chosen from our record-breaking upload of 300 songs in one week.
• American Patriotic Music - Music from the Armed Forces, classic American songs and more!
• Nostalgic Music from the 40s through Today - A time-travelling selection of songs that will bring back memories.
• Songs Based on Customer’s Favorite Sheet Music - Favorite new songs that our customers love.

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The Rest: Special 2 Day Holiday Offer, New Free Sheet Music and More!

Posted on Dec 01, 2008 by Monica.

Get a free* cell phone and a $20.00 gift card to Musicnotes.com!

Only open to current Musicnotes.com customers, this offer will provide you with a free* phone and a $20 Musicnotes.com gift card and will appear on the receipt page after your purchase with us. This promotion is a better deal than you would get if you went through a retail store, so we hope you take advantage of this money-saving offer.

Be sure to read the Terms and Conditions on the Musicnotes.com Free* Phone and Gift Card offer for more information.

TWO DAYS ONLY!! 15% off your Entire Order!

To get 15% off of your entire purchase from Musicnotes.com, just enter in coupon code CYBER08 at the checkout. Expires midnight on December 2, 2008 so get in on this awesome deal! Valid once per customer.

New Christmas Sheet Music Just in Time for Saint Nick

As part of our ongoing effort to ensure that we have the broadest range of Christmas sheet music available for you to enjoy, we released quite a few new arrangements of classic Christmas carols and new Christmas songs. One of those Christmas songs is a Musicnotes Premiere; we were the first to offer and arrange sheet music for the song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) performed by Death Cab for Cutie. New to Musicnotes.com? Don’t forget to download the Musicnotes Viewer to preview sheet music (audibly and visually) and download it right to your computer.

Here’s a small list of what new Christmas songs we’ve added to Musicnotes.com, with more on the way!

• The Little Drummer Boy by Celtic Woman
• Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney
• (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man with the Bag by Kay Starr
• What Child is This? by Barlow Girl
• Mister Santa by Nat King Cole and Amy Grant
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Josh Groban
• I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day by Wizzard
• Suzy Snowflake by Rosemary Clooney
• It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas by Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis
• Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade
• Silent Night by Taylor Swift
• Carol of the Bells / Sing We Now of Christmas by Barlow Girl
• The Christmas Song by Mannheim Steamroller
• O Come all Ye Faithful by Rush of Fools
• Joy to the Rhythm of the World by New Song
• Love Came Down at Christmas by Jars of Clay
• Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You by Billy Squier
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Death Cab for Cutie
• The Christmas Song by Mel Torme

Download Free Sheet Music for a Nutcracker Medley

December’s free sheet music download of the month is a medley of music from the Nutcracker Ballet.

Composed by Peter Tchaikovsky, download the Nutcracker Medley for free. Available for piano, guitar and through Guitar Guru, our Nutcracker Medley is perfect for the holiday season. This composition, arranged by our professional staff, is part of our Musicnotes Editions collection.

For more songs like our Christmas Musicnotes Editions, we invite you to visit our Christmas sheet music page. After you download this new addition to our holiday sheet music collection, we hope this sheet music inspires you to have dreams about sugar plum fairies and sparkling snow!

Important Contest News and Public Voting

We received five contest entries this month for our second edition of the YouPerform contest. We will be reviewing the entries submitted to the Musicnotes.com YouPerform Video Contest November 2008 this morning, so watch for public voting later today or tomorrow!

Well, that’s all the news we have today. Thank you so much for visiting our blog and remember, to change your tune all you have to do is sing a different key!

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Free Christmas Music Playlist for Today’s Monday Melodies

Posted on Nov 24, 2008 by Monica.

The first snow has officially landed here at Musicnotes.com, and we’re making plans to get ready for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie and turkey aren’t the only things on our minds — we’re getting ready for the holidays.

Like all of you, we’re wrapping up November and counting down the days until Christmas. In today’s Monday Melodies music playlist, we’ve added seventy Christmas song titles for hours of Christmas music for you to listen to. This Christmas music playlist is a blend of novelty, Christian, and traditional Christmas music. We’ve also chosen a wide range of talented musicians and singers as well. Listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Amy Grant, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Jimmy Buffett, Whitney Houston and dozens more!

We hope you enjoy today’s free Christmas music playlist. The songs chosen here are just a fraction of what we offer through our Christmas sheet music store. We’d also like to mention that on that page we offer music for other winter holidays like Hannukah and Kwanzaa, too!

Thanks so much for listening!

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