Guitar, bass, vocals, drums, piano…the makings of any good pop record, right? For our patrons out there who are looking to rock out to some pop music, we’ve got you covered. In a post from last September, my colleague Mary Dell Jenkins discussed our series of “Popular Music Lead Sheets,” which offers popular music selections […]
With the help of one of our dedicated transcribers and patron Audrey Joy , we have received a steady supply of Motown hits every week ready to go in the embossing queue. When I read through these titles, the melodies come to my ears immediately, and I don’t think I EVER heard anyone say they […]
Recently, I discovered that September is the birth month of Blind Lemon Jefferson, a tried and true guitar player and singer who is celebrated in the American folk-blues world. It’s been awhile since I’ve celebrated a musician’s birthday on this blog, by writing a post about their career and lasting accomplishments. I can’t resist the […]
The following is a guest blog by Gilbert Busch, Braille Music Specialist in the Music Section. We braille music readers, knowing that many scores will never be in braille, are sometimes surprised when a work we need has already been transcribed. This is just what happened to me a few months ago. It was […]
Today (September 10th) we celebrate Henry Purcell’s 356th birthday [Note: this date is actually disputed as no official baptismal record has been found. However, we will use this commonly accepted date, as it gives us a chance to talk about his music!]. Purcell’s contribution to Western classical music is indispensable, as it has influenced numerous other […]
September signifies many things to us–cooler temperatures, leaves starting to turn, and…back to school! I would like to showcase some of the items requested with increasing frequency as the semester begins. We have some new titles and some that would be helpful if you’re looking for a guide. Most of these are intended for college […]
As part of a continuing series introducing blog readers to facets of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), I recently spoke with NLS Senior Staff Engineer and music enthusiast, Lloyd Rasmussen. By interviewing Lloyd, I hoped to answer two questions: 1) What does an engineer do in a library? 2) […]
This is the second post announcing the availability of free braille scores. The response to our first offer was good, but modest. So, in this post, not only are we offering a larger number of titles, but we are also trying to encourage more requests. These are scores that have been received over the years […]
Continuing our series of interviews with narrators from NLS’s own studio, I got a chance to sit down and talk with narrator Julian Thompson. Recently, Julian has recorded the liner notes for one of our Smithsonian Folkways books, Richmond Blues (DBM 03642). In addition, he has also narrated a number of books about music and musicians in […]
Summertime, and the living is easy… …Except here at the NLS Music Section where we use the time to update our catalogs and circulars. In the near future, we will be offering a new version of the former Instructional Cassette Recordings Catalog. But because of the growth of the collection it will be divided into two separate catalogs. […]