Well, to start off 2009, I thought it a good idea to let you know about our new sheet music releases.
Here’s a cute little video showing just a very few of our new releases:
We are proud to offer the largest selection of piano sheet music, guitar sheet music, beginner sheet music, and sheet music and music books for all instruments and vocals.
If you can’t find a piece of sheet music, give us a call. Our resources are plentiful and many times we’re able to find your special piece of sheet music or music book that simply can’t be found elsewhere.
Happy New Year from Don and Anne and all the staff at Rysons Music Centre
extending warm wishes and hoping all your dreams come true.
Where did the year go?
New Year celebration is one of the oldest holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon 4000 years ago. Babylon at first celebrated for ll days, as their king was stripped and sent away,so the people did as they pleased . On the eleven day the king returned in parade of grand stature wearing fines robes and garments, and the people then had to work hard and prepare for a new start.
Celts new year celebration was called Samhain which was at the end of Oct. At Samhain people put mistletoe to keep ghosts away, they believed this was the time the dead returned to haunt the living.
Rome: January was named for the Roman god Janus who had 2 heads one to look back and one to look forward to the New Year,The Romans changed New Year so many times that it was out of sync with the sun. In 153 BC Roman Senate changed New Years Day to January 1st. In order to get back in sync with the sun the previous year had 445 days.
Eqypt celebration: New Year celebrations were at the time of the flooding of the Nile which was at the end of September. Singing dancing and playing music continued for one month. Statues of Amon and family were put on a boat and taken down the Nile in hope of good crops in the coming year.
TRADITIONS OF SOME COUNTRIES FOR THE NEW YEAR
Robert Burn 1796 wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne ‘one of the most popular songs sung on New Years Eve made famous by Guy Lombardi from London Ontario . Guy Lombardi was a big band leader who always signed off with Auld Lang Syne.
Oshogatsu {JAPAN} The New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. Misunderstandings and grudges are forgiven and houses are scrubbed from top to bottom. At midnight on Dec. 31 Budhest temples stike the gongs l08 times to expel 108 types of human weakness . New Year day itself a day of joy and no work is to be done. Children receive small gift with money inside. New Year cards is a popular tradition.
Netherlands: Dutch burn bonfires of Christmas tree to plunge the old and welcome the new. Spain eat 12 grapes at midnight to secure 12 happy months. Greece; New Year and St. Basil are both on the same day. Traditional food is vassilopitta is a cake with silver and gold coins baked in the middle and if you receive one of these coins you will have luck all year so they say.
United States drop of the ball in several states is a popular custom. The ball in New York originally was made of wood and iron. Today the ball is made of Waterford crystal and weights about 1070 lbs. it is 6 feet in diameter. When the ball drops Auld Lang Syne is sung and many noise makers are played.
May all your New Years Resolutions be granted and have a very healthy and prosperous year.
Hope you enjoy our web site, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter. As a newsletter subscriber you are entitiled to a 10% bonus on any gift card purchase.
will be held on December 21st at the Silver Spire Church, formerly St.Paul United Church.
We hope you’ll join us as musicians of all ages showcase their talents through the seaonal sounds of Christmas Music.
Santa Claus himself is expected to arrive for the young ones around 12:30pm, and the Christmas Show will begin at 1:00pm.
This year our Christmas Concert will feature Christmas Carol Choirs, our own Christmas Band, The Golden Hammers with Natalie Vurro and Nikki Kent, and lots more soloists and instrumentalists.
Tickets are $10.00 per family and are available at Ryson’s Studio during the week. There will also be tickets at the door the day of the performance.
All proceeds go to “Out of the Cold”, a charity for the needy.
To get into the Christmas Season, the Downtown St.Catharines Association has provided Rysons’ with a supply of their Christmas pewter ornaments. These will be available at the Silver Spire as well on the day of the Christmas Concert.
For Christmas Carols, traditional Christmas music, and Cool Santa, come and be part of our 71st annual Christmas Concert. Meet and greet our professional music teachers and inquire about our music lessons. Who knows, you too could be performing at next year’s Christmas Concert.
If you’re still looking for the perfect Holiday Gift for a guitar student, here’s a little video about our great line of Beaver Creek guitars. These are perfect guitars for beginners and particularily those of an early age.
This is an acoustic guitar for beginners that’s worth checking out. These guitars are not toys. They’re real quality musical instruments that can be enjoyed for years to come.
Christmas gift giving is believed by many people to have originated with Jesus’ birth.
The Three Wisemen brought gifts of gold, frankencense and myrrh which at the time were all ordinary gifts for a king. No one was really giving elaborate gifts until late in the 1800s. The Santa Claus story, growing retailing, decorative settings and children writing request to Santa made gift giving a central part of Christmas tradition.
Gift giving should be done with consideration of the individual, cost and need; not just for the sake of buying. Gift giving should come with best wishes and a warm and fuzzy feeling for the person receiving them for the Christmas Blessing. They should be left knowing that you cared enough to honour them with a thoughtful gift. Remember it’s the most wonderful time of the year with the kids jingle belling, people singing and playing Christmas carols and everyone telling you to be of good cheer. To all repeat the sounding joy and wondrous love and gift of hope for the coming year.
Shopping for the perfect Christmas gift can be tedious taks.
May I offer the suggestion of music?
Music is a lasting gift that can have a life changing impact and is a gift that keeps on giving. There are countless music related presents and sugar plums for beginners, intermediate and professionals alike.
Musical Instruments such as:
Guitars, (electric or accoustic), drums,string instruments, (violin, viola, cello, bass, and mandolin) brass and woodwinds (flutes saxophones, clarinets, trombones, trumpets, trombones, oboe, bassoon and french horns) and all percussion. For the budding musician, these could represent the perfect Christmas gift.
Then there is a plethora of Accessories for the chosen instruments.
Musical instrument accessories such as:
Straps, drum sticks, cymbals, mouthpieces, pitch pipes, pedals, piano lamps, amplifiers, cables, slides, lyres, strings for all instruments and cleaning supplies.
Santa gets many request for metronomes from teachers for their students to keep time to the music. Santa also gets request for music lessons which is a great gift that last a lifetime and brings pleasure and education to many people.
Then there are even more gift ideas that you may not have considered.
A great gift would be to restore a instrument that belonged to a love one for a grandchild or for sentimental reasons to have as a keepsake. This is a wonderful gift that will be appreciated for a lifetime.
Read more about musical instrument repair and restoration here.
Santa has suggestions for stocking stuffers such as reeds, cleaning rods, guitar stings, violin strings, electrical musical instrument or microphone cords, musical instrument cases, drums stick, slides, capos, tuners and electronic pedals.
For that young guitar and bass student who wants to have a electric guitar we have many of the electronic pedals in stock such as triple wah, shift daddy, chorus, echo, heavy metal, egg salad, chili dog and many more pedals.
Gifts for Violin, Cello and Bass students might be bows, cases, rosin, a new set of strings and a variety of sheet music.
Piano requests on Santa’s list are usually piano lamps, piano benches, metronomes and a variety of music. Brass and Woodwind students request from Santa either a new instrumtent, reeds, cases, music stands, cleaning rods, metronomes and music books of classical music or popular music.
If you simply can’t decide, don’t forget about our Ryson’s Gift Card. We’re offering a Christmas Special on our gift card. Click on Rysons Christmas Gift Card to read about it.
Rysons Studios is all decorated for the Christmas Season. Students are singing Christmas carols, playing instruments and preparing for Rysons United Studios 70 year Christmas Concert on Dec. 21st. Call for details or email website for more information.
Our store hours for the holidays are:
Monday to Friday 9:00am-9:00pm,
Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday (in December) ll:00am-4:00pm.
MAY ALL THE MAGIC OF THIS SEASON BE YOURs AND MAY YOU BE FILLED WITH LOVE AND JOY AS YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR.
If you just can’t decide on the perfect musical gift for Christmas, here’s an idea you might not have considered.
Have you got an old musical instrument stored away? Perhaps a family heirloom, maybe a vintage guitar, or grampa’s old banjo?
Well, your perfect gift may be closer than you think.
Many old musical instruments that might look like they’ll never be played again can in fact be restored to their original beauty and playability. In fact, some instruments may play better than they did when they were brand new.
As many of you know, Don, at Ryson’s, has decades of experience in the fine art of musical instrument repair. What you might not know is that he’s also very skilled at bringing those old vintage musical instruments back to life. Who knows, you might even have a very valuable instrument in your attic.
What a great Christmas gift this could be for your children or grandchildren. Christmas is a time of reflection of past Christmas memories. Imagine how appreciated grampa’s old banjo, looking like new, and playing even better could be. Truly a gift that would last a lifetime.
Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the musician in your life?
How about Christmas sheet music or music book?
Here at Ryson’s we have a great selection of Christmas music. Many fine artists young and old from all genres (rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country) If we don’t have what you’re looking for, there’s a good chance we can still get it before Christmas.
Music books are available in all skill levels from beginners to experts, for all instruments.
Let nothing you dismay; even the newest student can play Christmas Carols such as ”Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” “Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer” and the favourite, “Silent Night.”
We also have a great selection of Traditional Christmas books such as: “The Readers Digest Merry Christmas Songbook,” “A Family Christmas around the Piano,” “Key for the Kingdom,” and “Handel’s Messiah” just to name a few.
There are some hilarious holiday songs as well: “Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake,” “Grandpa’s going to sue the pants off Santa,” “The Chipmunk Song,” “Santa Claus on De Coconut Tree” and many more.
Come on in, or give us a call to see if we have your favorite Christmas sheet music or music book in stock.
Our store hours for the holidays are:
Monday to Friday 9:00am-9:00pm,
Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday (in December) ll:00am-4:00pm.
MAY ALL THE MAGIC OF THIS SEASON BE YOURs AND MAY YOU BE FILLED WITH LOVE AND JOY AS YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR.
If you still haven’t decided on a musical Christmas gift for the musician in your life.
A Ryson’s Gift card can bring tidings of comfort and joy.
Our Ryson’s Gift Card can be used to purchase music lessons, musical instrument repairs, musical instruments, musical instrument accessories or a new music book.
Ryson’s Gift Cards are available in all denomations. A great idea for that collection of guru music book that your son wanted all year long; now you can give him the card to purchase his dream.
As a Christmas Special: Your Ryson’s Gift Card will be redeemable for 10% more than you pay for it. All that you need to do is sign up for our Ryson’s newsletter, “The Rysons Reflections” which will be offered in January at Santa’s request.
Simply provide us with your first name and valid email address to qualify.
A Ryson’s Gift Card is a great Christmas gift idea for any musician.
Our store hours for the holidays are:
Monday to Friday 9:00am-9:00pm,
Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday (in December) ll:00am-4:00pm.
MAY ALL THE MAGIC OF THIS SEASON BE YOURS AND MAY YOU BE FILLED WITH LOVE AND JOY AS YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW
YEAR.
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in Niagara. Frosted window panes, dancing snowflakes, beautiful music, flashing decorative lights, colourful decorations, and children smiling with anticipation of the arrival of Santa. There are many Santa Claus parades in the Niagara and surrounding areas. They are as follows:
Toronto November 16
Pen Centre St. Catharines November 2
Niagara Falls November, 29
St. Catharines, Nov. 30
Grimsby December 6 starting at 5.30
Niagara On The Lake, December 13
Thorold December13 at 5.30
And don’t forget the Golden Hammers. This time the boys will be performing in the food court at the Pen Centre in St.Catharines. The date is December 5th at 7.00 P.M.
Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Pere Noel and Kris Kringle are a few of the names given over the years to this jolly man. The popular image of Santa Claus was created by German -American cartoonist Thomas Nast (l840-1902) who drew a new image annually. By l880, Santa evolved into the form we now recognize.
Christmas sheet music and music books have arrived at Ryson’s Music Studio. We now have a great selection of Christmas music; some of which include Cds.
Many of our music students are now playing and singing Christmas songs for their music lessons.
Our Christmas concert will be Dec. 21, 2008 at Silver Spire with all proceeds going to the “Out of the Cold” fundraising. Tickets are $l0.00 per family. Come one, Come all! Join our CHRISTMAS Festivities and meet Santa. Take pictures of your children with Santa in a beautiful yuletide setting.
Please remember Santa’s favourite cookies are frosted sugar cookies with a drink of milk or egg nog. Don’t forget carrots for the reindeer and please leave a note. Sometimes, if Santa’s not busy, he will write back.
Christmas movies will also be shown and advertised as well.
Our movies include A Christmas Carol, The Nut Cracker, Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, White Christmas, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and many more!
For those little drummer boys, we have a craft for you! Here are instructions on how to make a drum:
Here’s what you’ll need:
an empty oatmeal box with a cover
yarn
pen
two pencils
2 spools
construction paper
crayons
Before you start, to make your musical drum, you can decorate oatmeal box with construction paper, crayons to make a colourful effect.
Place the cover on the box, and use a pen to make a hole in the center of the cover and the center of the bottom. Through these holes pull the yarn long enough to hang around the child’s neck and down to the waist. For the drum sticks, place the spools at the end of the pencil and secure with glue if necessary. Drum away!! If you want cymbals, two matching pot covers, yarn and ribbon. Tie the ribbon or yarn around the handles of the pot covers. Strike together to play.
Happy Holidays, and have a Musical Christmas. Remember our concert for “Out of the Cold” December 21, 2008 at 1pm, at the Silver Spire and visit Santa.
Almost 30 years following the break-up of the Beatles, they are still having an influence on music lessons and continue to be popular with young music students.
The Beatles were formed officially in 1960 in Liverpool England. At first they were called Quarrymen, then John Lennon was inspired by Buddy Holly whose very popular band was called the Crickets. From this he came up with Silver Beetles and then the ‘beet’ became The Beatles. Popularity of the Beatles is still very prominent today amongst music students and musicians alike.
The Beatles made their first appearance in America on Feb. 9, 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show. The show was viewed by 74 million people and caused quite a stir. Music stores couldn’t keep musical instruments on the shelf in the sixties; order waiting lists would be about six months for guitars or ‘Beatle’ basses. Movies that the Beatles made were A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Yellow Submarine, and Let it Be.
Can’t Buy Me Love was the fourth United Kingdom single record in 1964. This song was unusual for The Beatles and musicians for it was based on twelve-bar blues, begins with the chorus and features only one singer (Paul). On the ‘B’ side of the record was You Can’t Do That. This song was written in Paris on a Grand Piano. Can’t Buy Me Love reached number one ratings in both the U.K. and the U.S. The Beatles held all top 5 slots on the billboard chart which had never been done before.
1) Can’t Buy Me love
2) Twist and Shout
3) She Loves You
4) I Want To Hold Your Hand
5) Please Please Me.
Can’t Buy Me Love was featured in the movie A Hard Days Night. Musicians credited with the Beatles were John Lennon [acoustic rhythm guitar] [Paul McCartney Double tracked vocal and bass, [George Harrison-electric rhythm guitar] and Ringo Starr the drummer.
To many young music students over the years and even to-day the Beatles music is still very popular to play. There are even tribute bands that spend a lot of time and money to dress and play like the Beatles. The Beatles broke up as a group Dec. 31 1979, but continued to perform solo and to set their own records of success.
Here’s a video featuring a young group called the Golden Hammers whose members have been taking music lessons at Rysons Music.
They have been playing for one year and were formed as a group in May of this year for the Kiwanis Music Festival.
The members of the Niagara group who range in age from eight to ten years old are;
Evan Dim: Lead guitar and vocals
Dexter Sonier: Rhythm guitar and vocals
Lucas Venneri: Drums
Tyson Spiering: Guitar
Trent Gilmour: Rhythm guitar
Jared Gilmour: Bass
Natalie Vurro: Lead Singer
The Beatles increased the sale of musical instruments and amplifiers, here in Niagara, and around the world during their reign, and helped thousands of young people gain an interest in taking music lessons.
Their impact on the music industry can still be felt.
I’m thankful that the Beatles were around during my lifetime and enjoy watching our music students as they keep “Beatlemania” alive.
