This page contains examples of lessons I've created for my music students including repertoire I've arranged, some recordings I've made, and pieces I composed.
• Most links open a score that you can hear and interact with—you can even adjust the playback speed. Once you've opened a score you'll find controls to play it, but not always in the same place.
You'll also find a link beneath the score that transports you to its location on MuseScore.com where I've often added comments (in the right hand column) about the origin of the piece or the purpose, provananc, and creative process of making thearrangement.
• You'll likely be surprised to hear piano on pieces I've scored for guitar, violin and other instruments, so I've explained below. Also note that some features function and sound best on a desktop or laptop computer—you'll likely experience some compromises and differences when playing the scores on a mobile device.
• You can print my scores (and rate them, one to five stars) if you're a MuseScore.com subscriber—in other words, if you're a member of MuseScore's file sharing service. More about MuseScore below.*
• I've included a collection of audio-only examples of a few of my compositions. That section is located near the bottom of this page, above the section of Christmas Music.
I hope you enjoy the scores and audio recordings below.
John Blasquez, of singingwood.com, Walnut Creek, CA
Andante Grazioso (K. 331) Mozart — Violin and piano
Bourée No. 1 and No. 2 (BWV 1009) J.S. Bach — Solo, treble clef
Minuet (Hob XII, Haydn) — Trio for three violins
Romance, Adagio non Tanto, Rosetti — Violin and accompaniment
Andantino, Mazas — Trio score: 2 violins, and a cello part by John J. Blasquez
North Carolina Breakdown - audio only
Tumwater - Treble clef and mandolin tablature (Don Rich)
Pigeon on the Gate — Treble clef
Wabash Cannonball — Treble clef and mandolin tablature
Cold Frosty Morning - audio only
Lament for Terrence MacDonough — Violin/Mandolin (T. O'Carolan)
Kilnamona Barndance — Treble clef
Lady of the Lake — Treble clef
Samba Calamari — Uke tablature (John Blasquez)
Southwind — Uke tablature (Traditional)
Luna Luau — Ukulele finger-picking (John Blasquez)
Here another version of Luna Luau I recorded with ukulele and acoustic guitar
Inis Oirr — Uke tablature
Bourée (Lute Suite No. 9) Sylvius Weiss — Uke tablature
Lord Inchiquin — Mandolin tablature (T. O'Carolan)
Hot Off the Press — Mandolin tablature (John Blasquez)
Eleanor Plunkett — Mandolin tablature (T. O'Carolan)
Bourée, BWV 820.4 — Mandolin tablature (J.S. Bach)
Con O'Leary's Lament — Mandolin tablature (T. O'Carolan)
Between the River and the Road — Guitar finger-picking tab (John Blasquez)
Steel Rail Boogie — Guitar flat-picking tablature (John Blasquez)
I Had A Notion — Guitar finger-picking tablature
B Street Boogie — Guitar tablature (John Blasquez)
Nine Pound Hammer — Solo finger-picking. Just audio
Red Peony Moon — a short piano score, written by John J. Blasquez
Allemande (BWV 837) J.S. Bach — unfinished "fragment"
Though I rate my piano skills at a mere "data entry" level I thought this unfinished piece needed a second half, so I decided to write one myself. After doing so I found that this lovely Allemande—though long attributed to J.S. Bach—was written by Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni, according to a source manuscript held in the Cardiff University Library, and that manuscript contains Sandoni's full second half.
You can hear Sandoni's Allemande in its entirety here ... with its original second half starting here. Makes me want to listen to more Sandoni!
Bourée - Weiss Lute Suite No. 9 — Kalimba tablature
Luna Luau — Kalimba Tablature
Introductory Rhythm Exercises — Clapping exercises
Muir Soundtrack (AE) 4/4 to 7/4
Nocturne — piano solo
Darius Quartet — This started as a simple phrase a student wrote.
Between the River and the Road
Muir Soundtrack (C) — clarinet and orchestra
Max Blues — fasten yer seatbelt
Setting Sun — a little out of tune, but you'll get the idea
Red Peony Moon — a short piano score
Muir 1000 Mile Walk
Christmas Music 2022
Christmas music for various instruments (at www.singingwood.com)
When you go to my page of carols (linked directly above) playback options differ if you're viewing on a mobile device or on a laptop/desktop computer. Everything is more easily viewed on a laptop/desktop and additionally you'll find that less features are fully functional on mobile.
When you follow the link above you'll be at a page on my site that has several carols. To move from song to song use outer scrollbar. Use the inner scrollbar for navigating within individual songs.
You can tap or click on any measure to set the start point of playback. Then simply locate the play button and press play.
Christmas music I've uploaded to MuseScore.com
This is a differently organized group of my carol notation and you'll find some additional tunes and additional arrangements here.
I hope you enjoy learning, playing and singing some of
the Christmas music I've compiled for various instruments.
John Blasquez singingwood.com
Musescore is a remarkable notation application ... and due to its open source licensing it's entirely free will always remain free. You can download the free MuseScore notation app at MuseScore.org.
However the overarching MuseScore project has two largely separate and significantly different branches:
• musescore.org develops the notation app, provides the product documentation, support, and manages the user forum.
• musescore.com is the file sharing subscription side of the organization. It's also the money making side of the equation, so you'll encounter subscriptions signup advertisements, and while the subscription will likely prove useful to a minority, it is NOT required for use of the MuseScore notation app.
Encompassing those entities is Muse Group (www.mu.se), the parent company which is growing and now manages products such as MuseScore.org, MuseScore.com, StaffPad, Audacity, audio.com, Ultimate Guitar, and more.
• Playing online here at singingwood.com
I've assembled a curated set of scores here on singingwood.com that shows a range of the repertoire that I've created and use in private and group lessons.
Why? When I was learning music I encountered decades of badly notated repertoire, particularly outside of classical and jazz repertoires. And because publishing is so often so far off the mark, I've often said that "What passes as music publishing borders on '"music fraud.'" Additionally I also found broad swaths of repertoire unnotated. So I've always notated about 99% of the notation that I use in my lessons. And to illustrate a) what happens everyday at singingwood.com behind the scences b) the quality of the lesson material I create and use in private and group lessons.
• Playing online at MuseScore.com
Many of my score are public/visible and playable on museScore.com public scores:
You can see all my public scores at my MuseScore profile here, and my organized "sets" here.
And with an inexpensive MuseScore.com subscription you can print my scores, download certain ones that I've allowed, rate them 1 to 5 stars, and comment. The subscription also allows you to print over one million scores sitewide and you can download many of those scores.
The Play button is prominent in the upper left corner at MuseScore.com, and you have options such as Speed Control and Looping—but those features are better supported in the free desktop/laptop MuseScore notation app.
Linked Audio: I've linked audio to some scores so you'll hear an actual recording during playback. Unfortunately, at present, this option doesn't work on mobile devices so you'd merely hear the score rendered with MuseScore's internal synthesized sounds.
Fortunately the linked audio feature works great when viewing in a desktop/laptop browser.
• Opening and playing scores with the MuseScore desktop app.
Those who share scores on MuseScore.com can designate them as downloadable. If you have a MuseScore.com pro subscription you download such scores. Once downloaded to your desktop or laptop computer you can open MuseScore documents, play them, change the speed, loop sections, and even edit the score for personal use.
And the app's interface is nicer and offers more features that elsewhere.
• Opening scores with the MuseScore Mobile app.
I don't know much about the mobile version of the MuseScore app ...and encountered difficulties when trying to use it.
That said, MuseGroup has acquired StaffPad's mobile app so we can probably expect StaffPad's features to merge with MuseScore mobile, resulting in something more useful and better aligned with the Laptop/Desktop GUI. And/or StaffPad will be updated to export to .mscz format (the museScore file format) and MusicXML (the popular interchange format) which user could open in either the desktop and mobile versions of MuseScore and StaffPad mobile.
You'll likely be surprised to hear piano on pieces I've scored for guitar, violin and other instruments. Here's why I've done so. At present, the MuseScore offers only a few realistic sounds, such as its grand piano. Since instruments like guitar and mandolin sound pretty cheesy I set playback to the piano sound instead, and I do so for most other instruments too. Soon musescore will include a better sound library and via VST I'll also have access to a wide range of very high quality sounds for a wide range of instruments. Once that occurs my scores will sound far more realistically!
In contrast, I've linked some of my projects—like "Between the River and the Road"— to a acoustic audio recording I made. And some scores, like Southwind, are a hybrid of synthesized sounds and real audio recording; for instance, the guitar accompaniment on Southwind is my steel string guitar performance played with a partial capo
Unfortunately currently, as mentioned above, linked audio does not play on mobile devices. To hear the intended sound open the score in a desktop or laptop browser.
Finally, since there are limitations with MuseScore's linked audio, I've provided some links that simply open an audio recording with no music notation.
NOTE: This page houses a truly small fraction of the notation and lesson material I've created over the years. You can view a larger collection of my lessons organized into "sets" of publicly viewable scores at MuseScore.com. The majority of my online scores at MuseScore are private and therefore not viewable by the public. For that reason some of my "sets" may appear to be empty, or nearly so, when actually they hold dozens of private scores only visible and accessible when I provide direct links.
Thanks for visiting singingwood.com
Links on this page:
Violin • Fiddle • Ukulele • Mandolin • Guitar • Piano
Kalimba • Rhythm & Timing • Compositions • Christmas music