Whether you are a veteran guitarist planning to master a new track or an amateur looking to improve your skills, sheet music provides you with the most effective way for you to increase your repertoire. Sheet music is packaged and sold in a several different forms--each of which is targeted at a slightly different audience. Let's assume you want to learn a Beatles tune on guitar--like "Ticket to Ride", let's say. You could buy the music for that song in variety of ways (as a songbook, as guitar tab, or in chord book form, for example). Which sheet music product should you buy? This short article takes a quick look at the types of music notation products that are available--including how to pick the right type of sheet music that will give you what you need. The Types of Sheet Music Music notation typically comes in the following forms: Lead sheet-- A lead sheet is a form of music notation that specifies the essential elements of a popular song: the melody, lyrics and harmony. The melody (vocal) line is written in standard music notation. The lyric is written below the staff that contains the melody line. The harmony can either be notated with chord symbols above the melody line or written out in standard notation on a staff below the melody line. This is a very basic kind of sheet music. Lead sheets are common with piano players and in recording sessions. They are great when songwriters want to communicate the basic song structure to session musicians. Lead sheets written out by composers for studio musicians often only have the lyrics with guitar chord symbols above them. However, when you buy lead sheets from a music store, the melody and harmony are written out in standard notation as well. Multi-song collections/songbooks--Songbooks come in many different styles, but they all have the score for more than one tune beneath a single cover. Songbooks can be grouped by band or artist (e.g. Beatles greatest hits), by style/genre of music (e.g. Classic Rock Songs for Guitar), or by album (e.g. Beatles Help! album). Guitar tablature--A type of notation designed for stringed instrument players (e.g. guitarists). Tablature has a line representing each string on the instrument (e.g. bass tab would have 4 lines; guitar tab has 6 lines). Numbers are placed on those lines to indicate which frets to finger to play the note. Tablature is recommended for guitarists--especially those who don't read music. All you have to do is to put your finger on the fret that matches the number in the tab. All you need is the tablature and a recording of the song to play along. Tablature is available on the Internet and in songbook form. I tend to steer clear of the Internet versions because they often contain inaccuracies and don't benefit the band at all (i.e. the band doesn't see any of the revenue for unofficial tablature given away for free). Chord books--A collection of songs in book form in which the chord changes are listed (and often the lyrics), but none of the harmony is scored in standard notation. (Note: Some chord books have the melody line notated; others do not.) Which type to buy? Now that you understand the types of sheet music products that are available, it's important to consider how you intend to use the sheet music product in order to pick the right type of music notation product that best suits your needs. For example, if you're an acoustic guitar player who wants to strum along to a song in your bedroom or with a couple of friends, pick up a chord book or some chord-based guitar tablature. If, however, you are a guitarist who wants to play the guitar part exactly like it was performed on the record, guitar tablature is the way to go. If you want to learn all songs by a particular artist or on a certain album, a songbook is the best way to go. Suppose you want to perform a song on piano that was originally arranged for a guitar-based band, look for the piano sheet music for that song. Also, you could consider a chord book if you are a songwriter who wants to study chord progressions. I learned a lot by doing this. Don't hesitate! No matter what your musical goal is, there is a musical notation product suited for you. Make sure you take a look at the available options before you buy, but do buy! You're missing out on too much fun to wait!
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