Sheet Music/Charts for getting a teenage band started

blowin

My son is 15 and a decent 'bedroom' guitar player as well as playing sax in a school big band and studying music GCSE. He has friends on the course who play drums, bass, trumpet, piano and trombone(!) and he's keen to put a band together.

However... it feels like he's a bit unsure about how to start and part of that is not having music to put in front of the group. They're all pretty competent but are all used to playing from a score rather than by ear.

I realise that you can find pretty much anything on Google but I think that the 'anything' bit is the problem – too much choice!

Does anyone have any recommendations for sources of basic sheet music – whether free of paid? I don't know if there's a covers band equivalent of the Real Book, a decent 'Best X songs for Covers Bands', a site or whatever.

Would be great to get him something for Xmas to inspire him. Thanks in advance!

blowin

Okay. Having said 'is there a covers band equivalent of the Real Book' I have discovered that a quick Amazon search reveals that yes, there is. In fact there are four. But still interested in other suggestions!

Sporky

Musescore is a decent resource, and the associated software package is the least ornery score-making application I've tried. 

Roland

Sporky said:

Muses core us a decent resource, and the associated software package is the least ornery score-making application I've tried. 

Musescore?

EricTheWeary

blowin said:

My son is 15 and a decent 'bedroom' guitar player as well as playing sax in a school big band and studying music GCSE. He has friends on the course who play drums, bass, trumpet, piano and trombone(!) and he's keen to put a band together.

If that line up doesn’t say ska then nothing does…

Fez

Musicroom.com can be useful. I would pick 3 or 4 easy songs to get started on.

blowin

Thanks folks. The ska point is well made!

fretmeister

Perfect ska band.

And when you do find sheet music for it - it will almost certainly have been written properly rather than the shite most tab pages put out.


But, for the love of the holy goat, don't let them perform ska with sheet music on stage. They need to learn the tunes properly and give a high energy performance.

Sporky

Roland said:

Sporky said:

Muses core us a decent resource, and the associated software package is the least ornery score-making application I've tried. 

Musescore?

Yes. Afro courgette has really been doing a number on my posts recently. 

shufflebeat

If and when it comes to chords only then iReal pro is an app (iOS & Android) worth looking at.

Chris.B

I have seen some songs on Ultimate Guitar with tracks for various instruments. I suppose accuracy is sometimes less than perfect but may be helpful to help the lads make a start as a band. 

Stratavarious

+1 Get an ultimate guitar/Tabs HD app premium account..  gets the ‘pro’ score and charts for tonnes of popular tunes. 

Does he have access to software like Sibelius at school?  It will generate scores from midi keyboard input if arranging horn section charts,