ARTICLES BY HARRY GRIFFITHS

It's quite easy now to order most products through online retailers but for some reason, sheet music has been holding on tightly to its traditional channels Well, here’s something that will make you take note (sorry) – downloadable sheet music

One of the strangest things about children is how quickly, instinctively and downright enthusiastically they take to music You might struggle to make them do the things essential for life, such as eating broccoli or wrapping up in winter, but hand them a ukulele and you’re almost guaranteed to have an occupied child for long enough to clean your windows

The guitar in its various forms has to be the instrument that has made itself welcome in the most diverse array of musical styles Its distinction is that unlike the stringed instruments of the violin family, it is fretted, meaning that very precisely pitched notes can be played without requiring millimetre-perfect fingering as the gap between the frets can be pressed almost anywhere

Until the late 1980s, there were two options when it came to buying a piano: grand or upright The advice was always to buy the one that fit its eventual home the best, suited its purpose the most appropriately and satisfied budgetary requirements

Historical evidence points to the fact that the basic design of all brass instruments, namely a long tube with a bell-shaped front, has been in existence for well over three thousand years They probably started out as unwieldy straight lengths, but over time people realised that the tube could the bent into more manageable shapes