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PRINT SEARCH HINTS
If you’d like to call or email us, we can do a quick search of our sources (and inventory) for the piece(s) you’re looking for. To have any chance of a useable result , you must at least have an exact title. (See below) Any other information you have helps--composer, arrangement, publisher, etc., because a title (unlike the content of a song) can't be copyrighted. If you have more than one or two items to search for, please email a request. You may be able to find more information by searching directly with publishers. We can steer you to a number of publisher databases on our Print Links page.
It's often helpful to know a few bits of background information. For example, the whole Beatles catalog is administered by Hal Leonard Publishing, and there will you find the most complete results to your search. We’ve placed a list of affiliations with Publisher links on the Print Links page to help.
Also, search engines are pretty unforgiving. Pachabel may sound right, but since the real spelling is Pachelbel, you’ll end up frustrated. The same goes for titles: Billy Joel’s Just The Way You Are might show up if you search for “The Way You Are”, but it probably won’t surface if you look for “Don’t Go Changin’,” as one person requested it from us. Non-human interfaces can’t hum along, either.
Perhaps in the future, you’ll be able to search on first line, chorus, title, artist, composer, and even a few bars played from a .wav or .mp3 file. But until then, the more exact you are, the more useable the result.
To help you with your search for music, here are a some questions we get almost every day. These are only the most common questions, and shouldn't be taken as a comprehensive answer to your publishing and copyright inquiries--but it's a start.
What do different arrangement codes mean?:
Here’s a quick key to some arrangement codes you’ll most often encounter. Most of these are piano designations, since codes like “tpt”, “clar” and “vln” are (we hope) pretty obvious.
BN, BN Pno: Big Note Piano. simpler that EZ, around level 1 or 2. Only the most popular hits justify the expense of printing a Big Note sheet, but there are many collections in this format.
EZ, EP: Easy Piano. Simplified arrangement, usually still containing lyrics and chord names. The piano part is approximately level 3-4 when compared with most piano methods. Only a fraction of the songs that are published in P/V/G format are available in easy versions.
Fake Book: the fake book format is essentially melody (usually with lyrics) and chord names. It’s so called because this format started out with jazz players, wedding musicians, and other performers required to play a vast number of songs on gigs. Since completely written arrangements were comparatively expensive (and sometimes unavailable), enterprising musicians compiled a “book” of melody/chord sheets for songs. Every player would read from the song sheet and improvise or “fake” their part as if it were a written-out arrangement. Originally handwritten and often passed or sold through an underground network of sorts, these illegal (since they ignored copyright laws) fake books were a mainstay in the jazz world for decades. The best known is The Real Book (the “fifth edition” has been around since the ‘70’s). It is so well known that legitimate publishers reference the name. For example, Sher Publications issues a clean, accurate, legal book called The New Real Book, and names like the Real Fake Book, The Real Little Book, etc. proliferate. Hal Leonard Publishing has even redeemed the Real Book, seizing it from its tawdry roots. They have released an accurate, copyright-enabled version as close as possible to the clandestine one of old. Why did fake books enter the mainstream? With the advent of “one finger chording” electronic keyboards in the ‘80’s, the fake book format proved suitable for keyboard players and lucrative for publishers, so the once tawdry fake book was legitimized, and seems here to stay.
5F, 5Fing: five finger, the simplest piano arrangements. Both hands stay in one position and split melody notes. Aimed primarily at very beginners. This format is seldom issued in single sheet form, but there are exceptions.
GTR/TAB: guitar tablature. Tablature is a system of music notation that represents the guitar strings by lines and adds numbers for the fret position of each note. While very specific and helpful to guitarists, it only works on guitar, although other fretted instruments like banjo and bass can have tablature written as well. Usually (but not always), you’re furnished with a transcription of a recorded guitar part in both notation and tablature. In most cases lyrics are included, along with the singer’s melody and chord names. If a listing doesn’t say (or a preview doesn’t show) TAB, you should assume only standard notation is provided, especially with classical and jazz arrangements.
PS: Piano solo. Often a more “pianistic” arrangement, utilizing the full range of the instrument. The designation is also used when the song has no lyrics (movie and TV themes, New Age selections, etc.). Difficulty could be anything from “EP” to advanced (often “EPS” or “Adv PS” is shown; assume advanced without specific information). Even if there are lyrics written, they’re usually not provided.
P/V/G or P/V: Piano/Vocal/ (Guitar). A two hand piano arrangement, with a separate line for the melody and lyrics. Guitar chord frames are usually positioned above the staff, and the melody is also incorporated into the piano part so no one has to sing. (It’s often difficult to convince some people they don’t have to sing, but the solutions are beyond the help we can give you!) This is the most common format for popular music. Some arrangements may stray from the recording you’re familiar with, while others are nearly note-for-note transcriptions. Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose.
Trans. Score: Transcribed score. All the parts, exactly as played, written in multi-line conductor’s score format. (Which usually means really small notes!) If you want it all, this is great, but if you only want the guitar part, for example, you’ll have to wade through a lot of extra stuff. Perfect, however, to ferret out all those vocal harmonies or to analyze the arrangement as a whole.
Voc/Sel: Vocal Selections. Usually refers to a Broadway show or movie musical. It contains all the main songs from the show, most often in the original keys (which can be somewhat remote, owing to individual voice ranges). The fuller version of this would be the Vocal Score--not always available and often expensive. Vocal Scores contain the selections plus the incidental music like the overture, entr’acte, scene change music and dance numbers. Dialogue (the “book”) is not included, because they don’t want you to stage the show in your uncle’s barn without paying royalties. For the same reason, some scores are available by rental only.
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Is an out-of-print work in the public domain?
Not necessarily. The owner or administrator of a copyright may have chosen not to offer copies to the public. That is the right of the owner--there is no requirement that copyrighted works be available for sale, rent or performance. Here are the common ways a work goes out of print. (This presumes that the work was offered for sale in the first place!)
POP Permanently Out of Print. It usually means just that: all copies have been sold, and the copyright owner has no intention of printing more. POP is done on a product-by-product basis. A sheet can go out, but the song itself may be contained in a collection, for example. “Permanently” is relative as well. Since the publisher has the right to issue a song as long as it holds the copyright, the decision can be (but seldom is) reversed. Also, a song can go out from one publisher, be sold to another, and the second company may issue its own version. While it happens, we don’t recommend counting on it. Contact publishers directly in the event you wish to buy an authorized copy of a POP title, which is almost as much fun as getting a zoning variance from your local city council. (See also our warning about unauthorized copies below.)
TOP Temporarily Out of Print. This implies that the publisher has sold all the copies that have been printed; it will be available again as soon as they print more. When will that be? It can vary, from as little as two weeks to several months, depending on the production schedule at the publisher. Be warned that TOP can become POP without warning. The publisher may be holding off production while the rights are being renegotiated-- and may lose the publication; they may be waiting for orders to build up enough to justify printing; or they could be selling off the property and unwilling to sink money into it.
Public Domain: See the U.S. Copyright Office for all the details, but in a nutshell, copyrights can expire. It is permissible to copy, alter, or arrange works that are in the public domain. The Copyright Act of 1909 originally defined the term of copyright at 28 years, with a renewal term of an additional 28. The system was in dire need of revision, since authors were seeing income-producing copyrights wiped out within their lifetimes. Revisions to the act (including provisions of the 1976 Copyright Act) gave any first term or renewed works an extension to 67 years for the second term. It's safe to assume that something published before 1923 is in the public domain. (Warning: a more recent arrangement of a public domain song may still be protected under copyright laws!) Unless you know a work was not renewed, published works from 1923 on are still protected till at least 2014. Among other changes, the Copyright Act of 1976 now defines the term for works created after January 1, 1978 as the life of the author(s) plus 70 years.
Finally, a word about out-of-print and book only titles. Much as we’d love to have everything available in every format, the reality is that publishers simply cannot keep everything in print. Maintaining paper inventory, and even server space, is based on return on investment. Simply put, if there isn’t enough demand to make it profitable, those holding the publishing rights will not make a song available, or they may publish it only in a collection. Again, whoever owns the rights makes the choice, until that work enters the public domain. There’s nothing that says we have the right to buy it if they don’t want to sell it, just like there’s no requirement for a restaurant to open up simply because we’re hungry at 1 am.
LACK OF AVAILABILITY DOES NOT MEAN IT’S OK TO COPY THE SONG, OR TO POST OR SELL YOUR OWN ARRANGEMENT SOMEWHERE.
It’s illegal, just as it would be illegal to break into the aforementioned restaurant and start cooking for yourself or for customers that happened by. Start your own restaurant, and see the government copyright info.
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Is it OK to copy something for educational purposes? Isn't that "fair use"?
Possibly, but the guidelines for educational usage are very specific, and far more involved that we can cover here. We can give you a little advice about fair use that may apply to many users.
FAIR USE is an often-misunderstood provision of the Copyright Act. Fair Use does not mean that it is acceptable to copy anything you want as long as it's for ”educational” purposes. Fair Use allows you to excerpt copyrighted works (percentage guidelines apply) for illustrative purposes, but it is never meant to replace the sale of a work. Here’s the touchstone:
IF COPYING A WORK SIMPLY AVOIDS THE PURCHASE OF AN ADDITIONAL PUBLISHED COPY, IT IS NOT FAIR USE.
Making a “judge’s copy”, an extra for your duet partner, or duplicating enough for the whole choir is a violation of fair use. Some publishers will expicitly give you permission to make copies under certain conditions, or may actually include an extra solo part for a judge in some literature. You can be certain that they will not give you permission and forget to tell you. If it doesn’t explicitly say it’s OK on the publication, it isn’t.
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I need a song arranged for a (wedding, pep rally, corncob festival, etc.) but I don't find a listing for anything but piano. How can I get the arrangement I need?
The short answer is, you can't. Only the copyright owners or their administrators can decide what products will be offered for a particular song, and that is based on return on investment. In other words, the question they ask isn't, "Does anyone want this?" but rather, "Do enough people want this to make it profitable to release it?" Even then, they're guessing, but if they guess wrong enough, they go out of business--so they tend to be conservative.
Many people with strong musical backgrounds have been known to write their own arrangements when needed (although categorically, this is a violation of copyright unless you have gotten permission from the owner of the rights). But you wouldn't be asking this question if you planned to do that, anyway.
One note, though: if you have found the song by searching the publisher's catalog and you can't find, say, a concert band arrangement, you may be out of luck. But searching at online or local music stores sometimes reflects their inventory or specialization, and may not indicate absolute availability, particularly when it comes to properties that are available only as rentals (like some orchestral works or Broadway shows). If you can find the publisher, search their database to be sure.
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I hear this song on the radio and TV, so there must be sheet music available, but why can't anyone find it?
Assuming you have your title and other information correct, it may not be available--but that's not the only possiblity. Here are a few others:
It could be in the process of being printed. While hits by established artists often hit print as you hear the song, sometimes there is a "wait and see" attitude before a publisher makes a big print commitment on a newer artist. It's also not unusual for a major artist to have sign-off rights on the final print, particularly when their image is on the cover. Until they OK it, it doesn't go out.
It could be a hit from the recent past that's had its day in the sun. If the initial print run didn't sell as well as expected, the publisher may take it out of print when the existing copies have finally been sold. (More info on out-of-print titles above). You may find an old copy at a store, a flea market, online, or at the library if it was once available as a sheet.
It could now be available only in a collection (book). Many hits are compliled in collections by artist, decade, year, genre or some other category, and live on for years this way. The only catch is, you have to buy a book that contains it. It is the publisher's right to determine how it is offered, and the decision is based on economy, demand, and profitablility. (For the same reason, your local supermarket doesn't carry every brand, size and variety of salad dressing, either.)
Finally, the fact that a piece was recorded doesn't imply that the sheet music is available. The arrangement may have been done specially for the recording (in that singer's key, adapted from an orchestral work, remixed, etc.) and there is no plan to release it to the public (their choice, remember). The fact that musicians played it doesn't absolutely mean they were reading from published music, either. Many recording sessions are done by professionals working from only the most basic information. They construct their parts "on the fly" and they may never be written down. Even when the arrangement is fully notated, it may be for instrumentation impossible to recreate with ten fingers on a piano, so no attempt is made to do so.
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