In This Issue: Upcoming Community Events | In The News | There's An App for That | Guitar Club | Tip of the Month | Music Videos | Staff in the Spotlight | Contest! | Composer Birthdays

Friday, May 14th through Sunday, May 30th, the Phx Theatre Greasepaint Youtheatre presents "The Sound of Plaid (Forever Plaid School Version)" at Stagebrush Theatre in Scottsdale. Forever Plaid, with it's collection of some of the great nostalgic pop hits of the 50's has become a huge hit around the world and a favorite among audiences everywhere. Now this deliciously goofy revue has been adapted for a large male and female cast.

Sunday, May 16th at Arizona Community Church in Tempe, and Saturday, May 22nd at Chaparral Christian Church in Scottsdale, the Tempe Community Chorus will perform their Spring Choral Concert. This mixed voice concert features popular, inspirational and Broadway show tunes, such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Aquarius, and I Dreamed a Dream.

Friday, May 21st, the Lakeshore Jazz Series brings you the Tierney Sutton Quartet at Tempe Center for the Arts.

Saturday, May 29th, The Families for Orphans organization will sponsor "Hope for the Children" Vocal Competition at Gilbert High School. The vocal competition is for singers age 12-25 and Brooke White from American Idol will be one of the judges. The competition is to raise awareness about orphans and children in crisis. There are cash prizes of $300 and $500 for the winners.

Monday, May 31st, join the Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts for their 8th Annual Memorial Day Celebration at the Pera Club in Tempe. This annual event recognizes the memory of our war heroes through a spectrum of family events including food, games, entertainment, and raffles. The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps will debut their 2010 music.

Monday, June 7th, Tempe Schools' Fun with Music Performing Arts Summer Enrichment Program begins. The program runs Monday through Thursday until June 30th.

Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th, the Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts presents The Academy - CenterStage, at Tempe Center for the Arts. Featured will be solo dancers, their zany tuba section, new percussion and drumline productions, unique performances by The Academy staff, marching drills on stage, and powerful music performed by a complete cast of 150.

Saturday, June 12th, The Music Store invites all school, church, and community choral directors to attend our free 12th Annual Choral Reading Session at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Phoenix, with clinician J. Edmund Hughes.

Monday, June 14th through Friday, June 18th, The CCC will be providing a summer camp open to all, ages 6-16. They will be singing, dancing, and acting to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," honing vocal and choral skills and ending with a swim party at Evo Swim School. The CCC is also offering a First Come, First Served opportunity to be in Broadway Palm Dinner Theater's professional production of "Joseph" this summer.

Checkout The Music Store's Community Calendar for more information about these and other upcoming events. If you would like to add your group's events to our calendar, visit our submission page.

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Congrats Grads!

We would like to offer our congratulations to all of the students who are graduating this month. We're very proud of you and know you will go on to future success.

Faber & Faber Books Now Available

Many of the Faber & Faber books in the PreTime to BigTime series have been involved with licensing issues for over a year. Previously published by FJH, the Faber & Faber books are now being published and distributed by Hal Leonard, who have informed us that all books will be back in print by the end of the summer. The only exception is the "More Popular" titles, which are being completely revised and for which there is as yet no release date. We hope that the following list of titles already back in print will help you.

PreTime: Christmas, Classics, Favorites, Hymns, Jazz & Blues, Popular, Rock 'n Roll
PlayTime: Christmas, Classics, Favorites, Hymns, Popular
ShowTime: Classics, Favorites, Hymns
ChordTime: Christmas, Classics, Favorites, Hymns, Jewish Favorites, Ragtime & Marches
FunTime: Christmas, Classics, Favorites, Hymns, Ragtime & Marches
BigTime: Classics, Favorites, Hymns, Ragtime & Marches
AdvanceTime: Christmas

Choral Reading Session

All school, church, and community group choral directors are invited to attend our free Choral Reading Session on June 12th at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 1212 E Glendale Ave, Phoenix. Clinician Dr. J. Edmund Hughes will be joining us again this year to sing through the best new choral material from publishers such as Hal Leonard, Alfred, and Lorenz. Attendants will receive a packet of the materials to take home, a "letter of attendance" which can be used for continuing education/career advancement credit, and will be entered to win a $100 choral music gift certificate. For session times and registration, visit our Directors page.

Hal Leonard Preferred Retailer Shopping Cart

In addition to the new sheet music titles being added daily to our online store, you can now order Hal Leonard titles online that we don't carry in stock or haven't yet added to our site! The Preferred Retailer Shopping Cart program allows you to shop the entire Hal Leonard catalog and then check out with us. Once you checkout, if we have the item in-stock, you will be able to pick it up or have us ship it to you same day Monday through Friday. If it is not part of our regular stock, we will order it with our next bi-weekly order and receive it in-store in approximately 7-10 days.

Scottsdale Musical Arts Holding Auditions

Scottsdale Musical Arts is a new organization that is offering opportunities in youth choirs and orchestras for students grades 1 - 12. Rehearsals start in the fall of 2010. The Artistic Directors are currently hearing students who are interested in participating. To get more information, visit www.scottsdalemusic.org. This is a great opportunity for young musicians to get ensemble experience. The adult choir and orchestra will also be holding auditions soon.

Keep the Music Going All Summer Long

The best way to keep instruments in the hands of students through summer break is with fun music to play. There are a number of great collections, many with play-along CDs, that your child or student will want to play.  To make it even easier to keep them playing, we're offering 20% off any one instrumental collection for E-Club members. We have a great selection in-stock and our staff can help you pick something that fits your child or student's style.

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Want to try your hand at playing the drums? Away from your kit but need to work out that beat? Got a killer solo in your head and want to record it for later? Drum Meister is an app with virtual drums that allows you to arrange your kit to your preferences, practice with a metronome, and record your beats for later. It also includes 4 different drum kit sounds. This fun app is available from the iTunes App Store for just $1.99. (Can't see the video? View it in a browser.)

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Choosing Your First Guitar

Whether you're buying your first guitar or picking one for your child, it can be a confusing process with so many options available, so here are a few tips to consider:

Cost: For a quality instrument that will allow and promote growth of the student, you can expect to spend from $80 to $130 for a smaller classical, $100 to $200 for a full-size classical, $150 to $280 for an acoustic, $175 to $300 for an acoustic-electric, $150 to $200 for an electric, and $160 to $220 for a bass guitar.

Size: Children may need a 1/2 or 3/4 size guitar. As a rough guide children from 5 to 9 should play on a 1/2 size and children from 9 to 12 on a 3/4 size. The guitar should feel comfortable when playing close to the nut (top part by the headstock). Nylon strings are easier to play than steel strings as they are softer on your hands. Classical guitars generally have a slightly wider neck compared to a similar size steel string guitar.

Tone: Laminate guitars are great first instruments. They require no maintenance, are lower priced, and are very sturdy. Conversely, solid top guitars often have a fuller and deeper tone. They require maintenance, including weekly use of a sound hole humidifer, and start at $200.

Accessories: A gig bag or case will only cost an additional $30 to $60 and is the best way to protect your guitar during transportation. For acoustic-electrics, electrics, and electric basses, an amp is a must and start in the $60 to $140 range. Your guitar will come with strings, but it is a good idea to have an extra set on hand. Choose steel strings for country, rock, blues, and pop, and nylon strings for classical and folk styles. For most styles, you'll need picks, which come in a variety of colors and thickness. Beginners usually do best with medium picks and they start at 3 for $1. Choosing a strap is largely based on personal preference, as they come in a variety of colors and fabrics, but basic straps start at $5. You'll also want to be able to tune your guitar at home between lessons. You can pick up an electronic guitar tuner for about $15. Last, if you do chose a solid top guitar, we highly recommend a humidifier, which start at $15.

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Humidity

Keeping your solid wood guitar humidified is very important, especially in Arizona during our dry summer months. Consider using a second case humidifier or one that seals the sound hole like the Kyser series. Our staff's humidifier system of choice is the new Planet Waves Humidipak which incorporates both sound hole and headstock humidifiers. The Humidipak uses 2-way humidity - adding or depleting moisture - to keep a constant 45% relative humidity within a sealed environment  (your case). Further, the replacement packettes used in the system come pre-saturated, so you don't have to fill them with water, and you don't have to worry about drips. Keeping your guitar from drying out will ensure that your instrument stays in top playing condition and will prevent cracks from forming.

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Do you have a favorite music related YouTube Video that you would like to share? E-mail your submissions to web@the-music-store.com.

Here is our favorite for this month. We hope you like it as much as we did. (Can't see the video? View it in a browser.)

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Cory Fournier	Summer lessons are a great way to prepare for school music programs and Fall auditions, to start learning a new instrument, or just to hone your chops. If you're looking for a teacher, check out our newly improved Lessons page with bios for each of our 24 college-educated instructors. They say that "Music makes you smarter," so what are YOU doing for yourself this summer?			Mike Hall
Tracy Kimbrell	Erin Lanus	Jeff Lauffer	Lawrence Petross	Alden Powers

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We have a winner! Congratulations go to Ron Mann, winner of our E-Club drawing and recipient of a $100 gift certificate to The Music Store.

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Happy Birthday to the composers who were born in May!

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