Ethnic Music

Harlan Zachary, Ethnic Music R&R Chair

For many of us, the singing and teaching of black gospel music is second nature.  For others of us, we'd like do more, but don't know where to go to get resources.  For a large part of it's history, this genre was almost completely orally/aurally transmitted, meaning, very little in terms of printed sheet music.  Thankfully, there are several great resources for easy access to this great music.  

NTime Music. www.ntimemusic.com. 

NTime music offers a large array of choral transcriptions of black gospel, contemporary christian and hymn arrangements.  They also offer transcription services for any existing recording that is not currently available in their print catalog.  Many of their titles are available for immediate print on demand.  While this is a tremendously helpful resource, many of their titles are not "exact" transcriptions and many times will require editing of rhythms, text underlay or appropriate use of repeat signs (D.S, coda, DC, etc.).

MusicNotes.  www.musicnotes.com

Musicnotes, based on price per copy, is bit expensive.  However, very few outlets provide transcriptions of gospel choral arrangements as accurate as musicnotes.  I am a fan of their transcriptions mostly for the authenticity of the piano/accompaniment parts.  Whereas other transcriptions, often provide a basic chordal accompaniment, music notes will often take care to transcribe parts exactly as performed on the original audio.  It is also helpful that Musicnotes will often allow you to change the key of the printed music to better suit the needs of your ensemble.  

Word Music

I mention Word Music specifically for their Brooklyn Tabernacle series of arrangements and transcriptions.  The Brooklyn Tabernacle series is known for its accurate transcriptions of standard gospel pieces, such as "Total Praise," "For Every Mountain" and "Order My Steps."  While I am not a fan of performance tracks, Word also has these available for those who might find them useful or necessary.