Music to welcome the New Year

Help us celebrate the New Year with some traditional music associated with the mfiles home of Scotland. Each version is available in different formats and can be played by a variety of instrumental combinations.

• Amazing Grace for Guitar - an arrangement by Glenn Jarrett
• Amazing Grace for Piano
• Amazing Grace for Flute and Piano
• Auld Lang Syne

Lots of Sheet Music for Christmas Carols

As we move closer to Christmas it's time to start practicing those Christmas Carols again. Our sheet music is arranged for a variety of instruments including violin, viola, cello, double bass, oboe, flute, piccolo, recorder, bassoon, clarinet, cor anglais, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, french horn, bass tuba, guitar and tuned percussion. Open up the "play" version of the sheet music to access the "print" versions for different instruments. If your instrument isn't catered for, let us know and we'll include it as soon as we can. Here are our Christmas Carols for piano:

• Cradled in a Manger Meanly Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Joy to the World Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Silent Night Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Away in a Manger Play, Print, MIDI, or MP3
• The First Nowell Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Deck the Halls Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• A Coventry Carol Play, Print, Midi or MP3
• The Holly and the Ivy Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Once in Royal David's City Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• What Child is This? (Greensleeves) Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Oh Little Town of Bethlehem Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Good Christian Men Rejoice Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• God rest you Merry Gentlemen Play, Print, MIDI or MP3

And don't forget Auld Lang Syne, the traditional song for New Year celebrations.

Christmas Carols - Sheet Music and Audio Files:

Here's a selection of Christmas Carols all arranged for guitar by Glenn Jarrett. It includes some very familar Carols such as "Silect Night" and "I Saw Three Ships" in some very special arrangements, and also some not so familar Carols such as "Cradled in a Manger Meanly" and "Gabriel's Message". You will find arrangements of Carols for other instruments on our main Christmas Carols section page.

Elite Syncopations by Scott Joplin :

Scott Joplin is the undisputed King of Ragtime, and we have added another of his famous Rags to our catalogue called "Elite Syncopations". As is our normal practice, you can view this piece while playing it online, download it to print and play yourself, or alternatively download MIDI or MP3 file versions. Our complete catalogue of music by Scott Joplin now consists of the following works:

Elite Syncopations - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files The Easy Winners - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files Swipesy (with Arthur Marshall) - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files The Chrysanthemum - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files Solace - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files The Entertainer - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files Maple Leaf Rag - print sheet music or play MIDI or MP3 files

Popular Wedding Music :

Although Weddings take place all year round, the summer months are a popular time in the hope of sunshine and flowers and a chance to spend time outdoors. If you are planning or arranging a wedding remember to consider appropriate music for the occasion. We propose a few traditional pieces for the event in our Wedding Music page, including the following classical favourites:

• Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn
• Bridal Chorus by Richard Wagner
• Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel

Church Music and Hymns

Our recent theme is the influence that the Church has had on the development of music. To illustrate this we highlight the following:

• Article - The Church and Music summarising how the church has shaped music development for centuries.
• Classical/Religious Composers Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
• Hymns by Tallis: Tallis' Canon and Third Mode Melody.
• Onward Christian Soldiers composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
• Some hymns which we associate with early settlers in the American West: Rock of Ages, Shall we Gather at the River, Amazing Grace and Bringing in the Sheaves.

Military Bugle Calls

These are traditional pieces which have been used by the armed forces for centuries as a means of communication. The bugle can be heard over long distances, and is an effective way to communicate simple information and orders to a large number of people. The calls are frequently used to signal events requiring action, a familiar one being the "charge" of the US Cavalry as shown and heard in many Western movies. Perhaps the best-know of all bugle calls is the "Last Post". This marks the end of the day, and is also used as a mark of respect for the dead at funerals and commemorative ceremonies. To mark the start of the day, different forces from different parts of the world use different tunes. The "Rouse" is a short wake-up call, and the "Reveille" is a longer call used under similar circumstances.

• The Last Post Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Rouse Play, Print, MIDI or MP3
• Reveille Play, Print, MIDI or MP3

Powaqqatsi - Philip Glass

The striking image on the cover of the Powaqqatsi album shows a boy walking down the side of a dirt road with a huge truck advancing from behind bringing with it a storm of dust which is about to engulf him. This brief moment seems to sum up the film, which observes a range of third world countries moving rapidly from traditional practices of farming, fishing and crafts towards huge sprawling cities, traffic jams and junk food. The music by Philip Glass borrows a number of ideas from "world music" traditions, and weaves these ideas in his own inimitable style into a striking tapestry full of rhythms, soundscapes and themes which are as diverse as the cultures they accompany, yet united in their depiction of a world in transition leaving the observer to ask where is it heading. More...

Electronic Music

Whichever way you look at it, the creation and processing of music by electronic methods is a huge industry which grew from small seeds sown more than 100 years ago. Many engineers, musicians and composers have been caught up in the Electronic Music revolution which now permeates many aspects of different media and music genres. With his range of instruments from the Moog Modular to the MiniMoog, Robert Moog (who died in 2005) was one of the key players in that fascinating and complex history. In this article we pay tribute to Robert Moog and those other pioneers who have helped to shape electronic music into what it is today. We have also included mp3 downloads of some of our own electronic classical music. More...

What is Music?

Music is weird stuff. It is just sounds strung together, but it is everywhere - in our homes, cars, shops and restaurants. People build careers in music, popular songs sell in their millions, concerts are attended by thousands, music is played at all sorts of ceremonies, there are radio stations dedicated to playing music, television uses music during soaps, quiz shows and adverts, and films use music to heighten dramas. It is everywhere because we like music, we crave it, it is a powerful phenomenon and it affects our moods. But what is music and why does it affect us so? We try to answer this question in our article What is Music?.

More Christmas Music

Here are MP3s of some Christmas Carols sung by Stephen J Miller accompanied on guitar by his brother Philip Daniel Miller. Stephen holds two world records due to his phenomenal voice which can hold a single note steadily for a long time. The final track below demonstrates this talent, performed at a charity event.

• Angels We Have Heard On High
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• Silent Night
• You're So Perfect You Don't Need Me Anyway