We’d like to introduce to you our first sheet music contest for all Violin players. We’ve received considerable demand (mostly through Facebook) for violin sheet music, so this contest is for you! Below is a list of all the sheet music we will be giving away. The winner will be able to choose ONE of the sheet music pieces. The piece will be sent to the winner through the mail. In order to enter into this contest, you must leave a comment which includes:
Your Name
Email
A reason why the Violin is the best instrument out there
Good luck! Enter yourself, or tell all your friends who play the violin! The winner of the contest will be announced on January 5, 2007. If you blog about this contest, this constitutes as an additional entry to this contest (just make sure you state this in your contest entry). So to summarize, commenting gives you ONE entry, and blogging about the contest gives you ONE entry (so the max is 2 entries).
Easy Violin Duets - 1st position By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), edited by Waldemar Twarz. Easy violin duet book for violin duet. 12 pages. Published by Heinrichshofen Verlag. (PE.N04074) See more info…
P.S. The winner of the Carly Comando Sheet Music Contest will be announced tomorrow. You may stay enter into the contest if you wish here.
Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Sorry that this message was a bit delayed - I know I promised 3pm. Regardless, the link for all of you to download the sheet music is here: http://freemusictutor.com/happyholidays/. The password was sent through Facebook. Enjoy the free sheet music! The downloads will be made available for 72 hours (3 days). After you download the sheet music, please ensure that you:
Sign up for the RSS and Mailing List. We also give away many of our sheet music downloads, and resources through the mailing list, so make sure you join!
Come back! We have many contests, downloads, and informational articles available on the blog on a daily basis, so make sure you come back!
I hope this sheet music does you well. Leave a comment and let me know how it is!
1. Frank Zhu
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan
3. Some TV shows and movies featured songs from the band.
4. I’m going to a homecoming party for a friend who moved away last year, but other than that I’m staying home this holiday, enjoying the break from school and work.
Frank, check your email for more information in the next few days.
It’s currently 7:30pm here in Toronto, meaning that we’re a mere 4.5 hours away from one of the biggest days of the year - Christmas! I spent most of my day at home, but did leave the house at around 4:30pm for a drink at the local Starbucks with my friend. For those who have been following some of the latest posts of TheMusicBlogger, you know that December 25th is a big day. Below is a list of some of the contests which will end on December 25th:
Happy Holidays from Free Sheet Music: I own a group on facebook called Free Sheet Music. For all the Facebook users, you may visit the official event invite here: http://utoronto.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6226829753. On December 25th, I’ll be sending a link to everyone “Attending” the event on Facebook, which will lead to downloads of some of the hottest songs, including artists like Coldplay, Usher, Vanessa Carlton, Westlife, and Frank Sinatra.
The Fray Song Book Contest: Check out the contest by clicking here. You may enter by leaving a comment, and the winner will receive the full songbook by the band The Fray. This is a hot contest - over 150 people signed up. The chances, however, are still pretty decent! You have a 1/150 chance of winning, which is better than any lottery out there
I hope you’re all enjoying your holidays. I have another awesome piece of sheet music to giveaway. This time, it’s by an artist called Yiruma. For those who havn’t heard of him, he’s an amazing Korean piano player who composes heart warming pieces on the piano. Below is a video of me playing his song called “Maybe”. I have the sheet music to this song, but I played this piece by ear, so when I played it, it was in a different key from his original. I also didn’t play the whole song - just a bit of it. But, if you’re interested in playing this song, leave a comment with your email, and I’ll send it to you! Happy holidays!
P.S. Make sure you sign up for the RSS Feed, or the Mailing List, to receive updates and sheet music!
After doing some thinking to myself, I think I’ve started to pinpoint the reason (well, some of them at least) why Marie Digby got so big in such a little span of time. For those of you who don’t know, I study business in University. I’m in a Co-op program, so I had some experience doing some marketing for Microsoft. Although marketing technology is quite different from marketing a musician or a band, I think there are some commonalities which may be applied to music as well. Even though today’s technology makes it increasingly easier for people to create ‘buzz’ over the internet, not many people make it BIG. Marie Digby is an exception. For those who don’t know exactly who she is, you can check out the video that made her famous here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=589Mvlz6LWE. Clearly, it’s a very amateur video…but as soon as it was released into YouTube, stardom struck, and she soon received a huge signing deal with a record company. However, the controversy which still strikes me today is that she actually HAD a record deal before this video - but she wasn’t going anywhere with it. It was this video which made her famous. The video was uploaded on May 29, 2007, and by today (December 23, 2007) she has appeared on various talk shows (i.e. Carson daily) and her songs are being played on TV shows like “The Hills”. Anyway, here’s my take on why she got famous so fast:
She was an average girl, with a not-so-average voice. If you examine her video closely, you’ll soon realize how amateur it really is. She’s sitting in her living room…maybe on a Sunday afternoon…and that’s when she probably thought to herself “hey, maybe I should start video taping myself singing”. Many musicians who make it BIG on YouTube do it with a very ‘down-to-earth’ attitude. Another example is an artist called Passion (check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yeWGfU-H9A). He has an amazing voice, but he’s really humble about it…and that’s what viewers dig. By doing so, it makes the public think to themselves “wow, they’re really good…why aren’t they famous yet?” and that’s when the VIRAL spread begins. Joe spreads it to Bob, Bob sends it to James, James sends it to Linda, and so on. The next thing you know, the whole world has seen it.
She had the “look”. Yes, I know it’s shallow, but I think it’s true. It’s a proven fact that better looking people get better jobs…and of course, in the music industry, most musicians have a certain “look”. Take a look at all the female singers out there. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think looks matter. Since her video was the only thing we could judge her by, it was clear that she had the look…and this caused the video to spread faster (especially by the guys out there…I speak from experience).
She Used YouTube. YouTube is probably one of the best ways to showcase your music, whether you’re an independent musician, or a band. It provides a way for you to aggregate all your performances and videos, so viewers are given a ‘one-stop-shop’ to see your potential. If Marie Digby had her own website, I’m not sure if her stardom would have come so fast. YouTube gave her a way for viewers to ’stumble’ upon her page, and make comments. In Psychology, it’s proven that if you want to effectively persuade someone, you can do so by proving that you’re an “expert”. For a doctor, this can be done by showing your diplomas on the wall, and your certifications. Because Marie had none, she had to rely on her viewers, through comments. If more and more people post and say “You’re Awesome!!!” other viewers are more easily persuaded to think that way as well.
Those are my 2 cents about Marie Digby. I think to myself everyday “wow, can you REALLY get famous on YouTube?”. Many people, after hearing about people like Marie Digby and Passion, are trying to get famous like them. But as I said before, only a bare minimum of people actually make it. So here’s my question to you. Why do you think Marie Digby made it famous so quickly?Do you know of any artists on YouTube who deserve to have their music showcased? Post a comment…if you have a link to their video, post it, and I’ll put up their video for everyone to see!
I know many of you out there are independent musicians, and want to create a ‘brand’ or ‘image’ for your music, or your group. Well, as you all know, this site is here to help you facilicate that. We do our best at TheMusicBlogger to provide you with the resources, tools, and information to succeed. With this being said, I want to let all of you know that we’re opening up the site for you to advertise. If you take a look at the right navigation bar, you’ll see a new section called “Check These Out”. If you want to build awareness for your music or website, this is a perfect way to do it. Check out http://www.themusicblogger.com/advertise for more information. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at derrick@themusicblogger.com.
For all the people out there who have their own website or blog, listen up! We’re currently trying to promote TheMusicBlogger.com through various websites. We’re giving out access to our library with hundreds of sheet music downloads to users if they do the following:
Post a link to TheMusicBlogger.com on your website or blog
When linking, please use the description: “Musician’s Resource for Recording, Performance, Marketing and Equipment” or “Free Sheet Music Downloads for Musicians”
Post a comment here with your name, email, and the link to your website/blog.
Once this is done, we’ll email you with a link to our library with hundreds of sheet music downloads. You will have access to our sheet music library for 1 day, where you can feel free to download whatever you wish.
Want to be updated when the latest sheet music downloads are made available on TheMusicBlogger? Sign up for the RSS feed. Here is a batch of sheet music for download. Feel free to print them out and play the music.
If you have any suggestions for sheet music, feel free to leave a comment. The next Sheet Music Batch will be posted in the next few days - keep checking back. Happy playing!
Hope you’re all enjoying your holiday. I’d like to tell you all about some of the exciting things happening at TheMusicBlogger.com. As you can tell, we’re doing a huge ramp-up for the holidays. There are a couple of big contests going on, so I’ll fill you all in (for those who are new).
1) Carly Comando Sheet Music Giveaway - On December 26th, we’ll be doing a draw for a winner of Carly Comando’s Everyday song. This is the official sheet music, purchased from Carly Comando. You’ll receive the official version (very rare) and will be able to play the song and impress your friends and family. Please see here for more information: http://www.themusicblogger.com/carly-comando-everyday-sheet-music-contest/
2) The Fray Song Book Contest - For all the fans out there of The Fray, we’ll be giving out their official Song Book, with all their latest songs, including How To Save a Life, Over My Head (Cable Car) and She Is. You can find out more about this contest here: http://www.themusicblogger.com/the-fray-songbook-contest/
3) Sign up for the Newsletter! On your right, you’ll see the sign-up in the navigation. Everyone who is on the mailing list will receive exclusive sheet music, resources, and information. I highly encourage everyone to do so. Also, if you’re tech-savy, sign up for the RSS at the top of the page, and receive all updates from the site.
4) Support the site! We work long hours to provide you, the musicians of the future, with quality sheet music, resources, and information. We don’t charge, so everything is free. All I ask is that you support the site by commenting on posts when you enjoy them, tell your friends, and help spread the word. Thank you, and Happy Holidays!
Want to be updated when the latest video tutorials are made available on TheMusicBlogger? Sign up for the RSS feed. Here are some awesome piano video tutorials. Feel free to watch them, learn the song, and perform it! If you want to see your video tutorial up here on the site, email me at derrick[at]themusicblogger.com. Also, please note that we have 2 contests going on. One for Everyday by Carly Comando and The Fray Song Book. See the posts below!
Dear Musicians,
After doing some thinking to myself, I think I’ve started to pinpoint the reason (well, some of them at least) why Marie Digby got so big in such a little span of time. For those of you who don’t know, I study business in University. I’m in a Co-op program, so I had some experience doing some marketing for Microsoft. Although marketing technology is quite different from marketing a musician or a band, I think there are some commonalities which may be applied to music as well. Even though today’s technology makes it increasingly easier for people to create ‘buzz’ over the internet, not many people make it BIG. Marie Digby is an exception. For those who don’t know exactly who she is, you can check out the video that made her famous here: 
