In This Issue: Upcoming Community Events | In The News | Guitar Club | Tip of the Month | Music Videos | Staff in the Spotlight | Composer Birthdays

Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th, the Arizona Academy of the Performing Arts presents "The Academy - CenterStage" at the 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.

Friday, June 18th from 7pm to 9pm, come see the final concert for "Chamber Music Camp with Quartet Sabaku" at the Renaissance Theater at Pebble Creek in Goodyear. Chamber ensembles and Quartet Sabaku (camp coaches) will perform. Camp orchestra performs under the direction of Claire Gordon.

Saturday, June 19th at 8pm, the Lakeshore Jazz Series presents Brian Bromberg at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Wednesday, June 23rd at 7:30pm, attend the "2010 Southwest Corps Connection" at Red Mountain High School in Mesa. The Southwest Corps Connection is the local edition of the Drum Corps International Summer Music Games featuring some of the world’s best drum and bugle corps. These shows attract thousands of enthusiastic drum corps fans from across the country.

Thursday, June 24th from 7pm to 10pm, enjoy "An Evening with Cherryholmes" at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix. The four time Grammy nominated family band will perform new hits and original favorites with hard-driving instrumental virtuosity and explosive vocal harmonies creating a sound all their own. Opening for Cherryholmes that evening are 2009 Telluride Bluegrass Festival winners, The HillBenders.

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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Father's Day Outing Idea: Visit the Musical Instrument Museum

The following contains snippets from an article published at examiner.com.

The Steinway piano that John Lennon used to write the song "Imagine" is on display at the world's first global Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) which officially opened its doors on Saturday, April 24 in Phoenix, Arizona. The piano is on loan to the museum for one year from its current owner, pop singer George Michael.

The $250 million museum has more than 12,000 instruments and objects in its collection, with 3,000 on display. It was founded by former Target stores chairman Bob Ulrich. The two-story, 190,000 square-foot museum features over 280 exhibits relating to practically every country in the world. All types of guitars are on display including Spanish Flamenco guitars, Martin Guitars, Gibson guitars and Fender guitars.

The museum is located at 4725 East Mayo Boulevard in Phoenix, Arizona just a few hours from the Grand Canyon. Admission for adults is $15 and $13 for seniors. For more information, visit the Musical Instrument Museum's official web site at http://www.themim.org/

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.

Summer Fun

After working hard all year long, summer is a time for fun and relaxation, but you don't want them to stop practicing! Choosing a fun 5-Finger, Big Note, or Easy Piano collection is a great way to keep the music going while also allowing them the time to relax and enjoy what they're playing. This month, E-Club members can take 20% off any 5-Finger, Big Note, or Easy Piano collection when you print out and bring in the coupon. You can also visit our online store to see a sampling of what we have in store.

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Choosing the Right Guitar Strap

Whether you're a beginner selecting your first guitar and accessories, or purchasing a strap for a father or friend as a gift, there is so much variety among guitar straps that it may seem daunting. We hope that this quick guide takes some of the mystery out of selecting the right strap. When you're ready to shop, we have over 300 straps on our online store for you to browse.
Type of Guitar: Electric guitars have buttons for attaching the strap on both ends of the body, so nearly all straps will work. Acoustic guitars usually have only one button - on the bottom - so you'll need to either run a shoelace or piece of string through the eyelet to attach it to the neck (not recommended), or have an additional button installed. Our repair department can do this for $7 while you wait. Classical guitars often have no buttons, so you'll need to have buttons installed or select a strap made for classical guitars. For bass guitars, you'll need a stronger strap to support the weight of the instrument, and a wider strap to distribute the weight better across your shoulder; consider a leather strap that's 3" to 3.5" wide. Attaching a strap to a banjo, requires a specific banjo strap with clips on both ends. Mandolin straps are thinner and have one end that attaches to the bottom button and a loop to go around the next.
Size: Most straps are adjustable, but only adjust to a certain length. For those who need an extra long strap, some straps come in extra long, or you can purchase a strap extender. Children's straps are usually 38" when most extended and are about 1.5" wide. Due the size and weight of ukuleles, children's straps will typically work for these as well. Remember that the wider the strap, the better the weight distribution.
Material: This is mostly a matter of fashion and taste. Straps come in various materials, such as leather, suede, polyester, polyurethane, polypropylene, nylon, fur, cotton, jacard and other fabrics, even old tire. As mentioned above, choose a sturdier material to support heavier instruments. For extra comfort, try a padded leather strap.
Accessories: Some guitar straps include strap locks on them. Strap locks can also be purchased separately for extra security for your precious guitar. This is often a popular option for electric guitars. Back to Top

Caring for a Brass Instrument

Brass instruments are pretty easy to take care of, but here are a few things you must do to ensure peak performance from your instrument.

1. Oil your valves about once or week. Only apply oil more often if the valves are sticky or dry. Oiling too often is unnecessary and can create a mess.
2. Clean your mouthpiece once a month with a mouthpiece brush.
3. Be gentle with your mouthpiece; it only needs half a twist to stay in the horn. If your mouthpiece gets stuck, do not try to remove it yourself by force; bring it to The Music Store or your band teacher, as they have a special tool to remove it without damaging the instrument.

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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.

In honor of fathers everywhere, 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.)

A little on the video: "In 2004, Nona Gaye gave one of the most impressive performances at All-Star weekend - and she did it with a little help from her late father. Nona Gaye, the daughter of legendary singer Marvin Gaye, sang a stirring rendition of the national anthem during the All-Star Saturday festivities at Staples Center. It was a duet with her father, who changed the nation's perception of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' with his performance at Los Angeles' last All-Star game 21 years ago."

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Charles Newton, affectionately known as "Fig," has been part of The Music Store team since 1994. As our Public Relations staff member, Charles coordinates our annual Choral Reading Sessions, attends conferences and conventions such as NATS and Cellobration, and personally delivers music orders to schools and churches. His community activities include acting at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, singing with the ASU Choral Union, performing as the keyboardist for Rhythm Edition, and teaching recorder. His musical trivia knowledge is astounding, so next time you visit, bring your tough questions and see if you can stump him!

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Happy Birthday to the composers who were born in June!

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