February 20th, 2019
When a car slid into the crossing light on Lancaster Ave and Chris from CJ’s Pianos had finished tuning our piano for a Common Time Music School recital in Calliope on Saturday night, I decided it was time to close up and head home. We are CLOSED and will reopen bright and early tomorrow morning. It’s a great time to practice…Debussy’s The Snow is Dancing (click to hear) from Children’s Corner. I love this old (OLD) recording by one of my favorite eccentric pianists, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Thank you and be safe!
January 14th, 2019
“These songs allow violinist to experience the emotional peaks of this irresistible music while exploring the new world it depicts. We also face the challenge of communicating such strong emotions and warmth in a manner worthy of a large orchestra. For me personally, the arrangements are a great enrichment of the violin repertoire.” Lisa Batiashvili, December 2017
Also new from our Austrian friends at Universal Editions:
January 14th, 2019
Otilie Sukova (nee Dvorakova) was born 6 June 1878, one year after the composer Antonin Dvorak and his wife Anna had lost all three of their previous children. Otilie was thus the oldest of Dvorak’s later children. She died of a heart condition in 1905 a year after the death of her father, at only 27 years of age. Though not a professional musician, she was surrounded by great music her entire life. She married the violinist and student of Dvorak, Josef Suk. Baerenreiter has published the four known piano pieces by Sukova in a beautiful, urtext edition. We also have Baerenreiter’s new Janacek, Beethoven, Saint Saens, Smetana, Sevcik and Joachim along with easy ensemble music!
August 30th, 2018
From time-to-time we have customers who want to sell their instruments for various reasons but mostly because the student has graduated or moved on to other things. Instead of letting the instruments waste away in their attics they smartly sell them and you benefit from the fair prices offered. Though we do not claim to be experts we are honest and the sellers we work with are good people. So if you are tired of gambling on Craig’s List or Ebay then give us a call to see what we have. In stock right now:
Go to our Instruments page to learn more.
Call or stop by to learn more or to see the instruments at any time. (610.649.8842)
August 30th, 2018
Do you need to rent an instrument for your child or even for yourself? We carry a good selection of band and orchestra instruments in stock and get regular weekly deliveries from Menchey Music, the company that we work with for rentals. These are good quality student instruments perfect for the student starting out in band or orchestra. With the insurance plan the instruments are taken care of if anything should go wrong including damage such as dropping the instrument out of the back of the car (yes, it has happened). Give us a call and ask for our rates. 
February 20th, 2014
Christine Carlson Cacioppo has been teaching piano to students of all ages for many years and out of this experience come self-published collections that all teachers can benefit from. How many times do you say “I really should put together my own repertoire anthology”? I stopped counting. While there are tons of collections out there very few have all of the requirements that I insist on like standard repertoire, good fingering, editing, and nice layout on the page as well as a binding that will stay on the piano. Christine has accomplished this in her two volumes of Treasures from the Piano Bench, a collection of original piano compositions that children love to play, and now a new title to help the older beginner: Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner.
In addition to her private studio, Christine teaches “Introduction to Piano” at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges and is a member of the piano faculty at The Haverford School’s Conservatory of Music. She holds degrees in piano performance (Kent State University) and musicology (New York University) and continues to study and perform. In other words, she has the experience and perseverance to put these volumes together. Stop by and take a look! It’s always good to support local musicians.
January 20th, 2014
Join us about once a month for a free concert of mostly local musicians who love to play and perform. Some of the groups are brand new such as Tempo Primo Trio and others are veterans who have been performing together for a long time. In all cases, we are honored and very flattered that these musicians and customers of ours volunteer to perform in the store as a part of our Calliope Events series. You can see a list of all upcoming Events on our homepage and you can receive email reminders, just give us your email address. We like to remind people that many of these groups are available for hire at parties, weddings and other special events.
And by coming to hear them you are supporting live music – a very good thing. Oh – and also…all ages are welcome! There is a back door so if you need to escape quickly we can let you out. We even have crayons for all you over 40 year olds.
June 3rd, 2013
The Musical Ukulele
by Colin Tribe – a tutor book for individuals, small groups or whole classes
Ideal for whole class teaching with ‘wider opportunities’ in mind.
Studying the ukulele is a very effective way for anyone to rapidly become a performing musician.
Through using this book you will learn to sing and strum, play single-line melodies, chords and be introduced to fingerstyle playing. Many different styles of music are included, from world folk song to classical music, including such titles as Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ and Dvorak’s ‘New World Symphony’ as well as children’s songs.
The book guides you through what you need to know about the language of music as each new element is encountered.
Each piece is written out in music and tab, with both chord symbols and chord boxes.
All the pieces are clearly demonstrated on the two companion CDs, which contain repetition so you can really get into each piece. The book is wire bound, so will open flat on the music stand for ease of use.
Highly structured. Learn to read music as you learn to play the ukulele. See and hear the author playing over 350 pieces on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/colinrtribe
May 2nd, 2012
Our friend, Jeff, repairs brass and woodwind instruments. Though he is not in-house most repairs can be done in 3 to 4 weeks. We can also replace strings on most instruments for a small charge. And we are always happy to offer help and advice. Just ask!
May 1st, 2012
For years we have resisted downloading music for many reasons mostly because the end product was not very good. Technology forges ahead and now we are able to provide you with decent copies of the latest singles, an oldie that your mother sang to put you to sleep, or the flute part to a band piece that went “missing”. And the best part is that it is legal – we pay a yearly membership fee with both Alfred’s Publishing and Hal Leonard to get access to their digital files. Though we still love the look of traditional music and the pictures of Lady Gaga on the covers, sometimes you need an audition piece today or a request for a wedding or funeral as soon as possible. We can help. Just ask!
