Three Chord Thursdays

Since lockdowns cascaded across Europe and America, I have been hosting an online, interactive song session called “Three Chord Thursdays.” Each Thursday, we ukulele enthusiasts (whether vocalists or instrumentalists) meet for an hour to share songs of a particular theme, category, or era. It’s entirely free to join by registering in advance for the login/password details. Volunteers submit their requests to perform in advance. We aim to fit up to 10 songs for the hour-long session in Zoom.

We welcome everybody everywhere in the world. Restated, that’s anybody anywhere in the world.

Makana plays my request

In my MUS107 “Music in World Cultures” cable TV class, I tell my students to consider many aspects of experiencing live music, not just the performer, the performance itself, the music (and lyrics), and the choice of instruments.

How you experience music has a lot to do with the space you’re in.

Requesting sheet music

I get requests for sheet music I have composed, arranged, played, or simply acquired. I usually don’t know how to answer these requests. Why?

1) I don’t have the requested sheet music at my finger tips. It’s not like I can just click on the e-mail address of the person who requested, open my mail, type a few polite words, attach the PDF of the score, and press . It’s far more complicated. I have to locate that PDF first.

2) The requested sheet music is not in a format that I can easily attach to an e-mail and send off. It could still be in Sibelius. I’d have to open Sibelius and print as a PDF, and repeat step 1 above. It could be a physical printout or hard copy. I’d have to scan it. Open it in Adobe Professional or other high-end software to check that it’s been properly scanned and repeat step 1 above.

3) The requested sheet music is not for me to share or send. Perhaps I bought it. Perhaps I borrowed it. Perhaps it was dedicated to me.

4) The requested sheet music is incomplete. I may not have all of it.

5) The requested sheet music is not what I have but I’d have to do work to what I have to make it available. For instance, it could be in a different key.

6) I don’t have the time to do any of the above. Of course, I even get requests to pay for the music I have. While it may be a motivator, I still have to make a conscious effort to set a price, get payment, and do one of the above. It’s much easier to say,”please order one of my solo piano CDs or my piano guitar duo CDs from CDBABY and let me know you have done so and then I will happily e-mail you what you want.” For some reason, people never respond to my request. They probably think “but I don’t want a CD much less pay for it. I want that piece of sheet music!”

7) Once upon a time, I have dutifully responded to requests positively and e-mailed the requested sheet music. I have stopped doing so because I usually don’t get a thank you, feedback, or any sort of follow-up or reciprocation.

8) When there is a piece of music I really want, it’s usually something I want instantly. That’s when, out of desperation, I too will email to request for the piece of music. And usually I get dead silence. Perhaps the person who has what I want is also struggling with one of the above.

9) One of my students asked me to find the score for “Lean on Me.” I did a little search and found no free sheet music that’s really easy to play. So guess what? I arranged it for his level. Now, maybe there is a value proposition in customizing music to suit a person’s level.