Books, Sheet Music & Media

About Books, Sheet Music & Media

Today's line of books sheet music and media for musicians to improve on their instrument of choice is both diverse and extensive. Many of these books contain works by legendary composers for brass, woodwind and orchestral strings - In fact sheet music is the main form in which Western classic music is written so it can be performed by ensembles instrumentalists and singers. Companies like KJOS Hal Leonard Alfred and Carl Fischer specialize in a wide range of performance instruction scores and music theory and history books for brass ensembles orchestral strings and marching percussionists. Popular titles among many music educators include "KJOS Standard of Excellence" "Hal Leonard Essential Elements for Band" and "Alfred Sound Innovations for Concert Band".

Another famous collection of musical lead sheets is the "Fake Book" which features the minimal information needed for a musician to make a quick song arrangement (ie: the melody line basic chords and sometimes lyrics). Since these books were originally printed illegally they contained many errors. In the 70s students at the Berklee College of Music began publishing versions that fixed these errors and called them "Real Books". Today legitimate versions of both Real and Fake Books can be found courtesy of Hal Leonard and they are central to the culture of playing music live - especially among jazz musicians who value improvisation skills. Sheet music and scores often come in the form of interactive DVDs and CD-ROMs. Digital sheet music downloads are also very popular. Books sheet music and media are available for famous movie scores holiday favorites and famous top-40 bands and singers.