BloG #47: Alpine Road Publishing...the road taken

This last year has seen a new publisher in town. It is called Alpine Road Publishing. Recently, new manuscripts have begun appearing in it's catalog of offerings. 

What started as an outlet to release and distribute transcriptions of piano solos has evolved further into an outlet featuring elementary musical scripts and other manuscripts related to music education, primarily of the elementary domain. 

This blog will preview highlights of the offerings listed so far. Several are still in the oven and will be added once they are released.

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Our most recent offering is titled Elementary Choir Handbook and Guide. It will soon see distribution at www.amazon.com and be available for circulation in other outlets as well, once it clears all the hurdles.

Elem. Choir Handbook/Guide

Take the fear out and step up to the plate w/ confidence! Whether just starting or continuing an already established choir, this handbook/guide provides a beneficial checklist. Included are a dept. mission statement, forms, letters to parents, warm-ups, rehearsal techniques and a simple fund-raising idea to inject necessary funds into your program. After directing his own choirs for 20 years, Jeff found that his routine was fairly well established. Armed with a truckload of past letters and forms, as well as tested strategies, Jeff decided to compile the ideas for the creation of this book. The footwork has been done. The strategies have been tested. Do yourself a favor and avoid the pitfalls of reinventing the wheel. Use Elementary Choir Handbook and Guide to your advantage. You won't be sorry. 
Scott Jeffries - JavaMusiK Publicist

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Our next offering is a script written to accompany the excellent Colorado song cycle by John Polinski. It is called Colorado History Songbook Script (Revised).

CO Hist. Songbook Script

This script is written to accompany the Colorado History Songbook I by John Polinski. Songs are available through Music For You Publishing. Written with character parts that can be customized to accommodate any size group and still include all your performers.
Published by Alpine Road Publishing, a division of JavaMusiK.
Written by Jeff Van Devender, 2009. Revised, 2010.

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In January 2011, the Colorado Music Educators Association Clinic/Conference will host Jeff Van Devender when he presents a session titled Write Your Own Musicals. Posted here are the notes from that session.

Write Your Own Musicals

Too often, music teachers purchase a collection of new canned musicals for the year and later observe little is left in their ever-shrinking budget for purchasing instruments. This session is not a suggestion to completely cut the tether to our favorite publishers. But with the average music budget shrinking, reconsideration of that norm may be appropriate. My own school music file contains more than one script good money paid for that is literally a direct reading of a popular children's book with familiar or very simple songs sprinkled throughout the script. Teachers are generally a creative, intelligent and clever bunch. Yet, they continually underestimate their own creativity with something so simple. This presentation is designed to address that apprehension.

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After writing and winning several grants for his program, it was decided to compile some general answers that have had a positive effect with many grant awarding teams. While success is never guaranteed, we think your chances will increase if you make use of the language and terminology highlighted in Grant Proposal for an Elementary Music Classroom.

Grant Proposal for Elem. Music

Write your next grant proposal with confidence! Written in a language with key curricular vocabulary that will sell your idea to the grant awarding committee. Written for music, but can easily be edited to fit other subjects.

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The musical program that typically brings more community members to the school than just about any other program often turns out to be the Veterans Day program. After having written several through the years, In Honor of Our Veterans highlights compiled into one cohesive script.

In Honor of Our Veterans

This Veterans Day musical is perfect for a school setting honoring those who have served. Script only. Suggested music is referenced in the script but can be edited. 

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Originally written as a masters degree thesis with a recital presentation to accompany, Using New Age and Contemporary Instrumental Literature as a Piano Teaching Tool has been posted as an offering for teachers who have intermediate or advanced piano students who may benefit from an alternative form of piano study.

Using New Age Music as a Tool

Have you ever struggled with learning or even teaching piano at the intermediate to advanced level? Do many of the available literature choices seem dull and dry? This booklet is compiled from a masters degree project detailing instructional strategies associated with piano education. Examples are presented with educational strategies for technical, historical and other applications to assist in enhancing anybody's piano lesson experience. Included is a notated transcription of Jeff Van Devender's composition 'After The Rain' from his 2002 JavaMusiK cd release Bending Chords. 

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Over the course of the year previous to his passing, longtime music educator and community steward, Bill Van Devender had the presence of mind to develop an autobiographical byline to assist in maintaining a sense of historical perspective regarding his life's legacy and body of work. We have Unimaginatively, My Life and Times here.

Un... My Life and Times

An autobiographical sketch of William R. Van Devender, written by him prior to his passing in 2008.

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Currently still in development, the 'tis the Season script is being written for primary grade level Christmas season performance.

Cover

Not Yet

Created

This particular script will be secular in character, keeping with typical public school needs. Songs incorporated are public domain Christmas carols easily found in any music library.

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The original intent for Alpine Road Publishing was to be a distribution outlet for piano transcriptions composed/arranged by Jeff Van Devender. While this stream will continue with further transcriptions eventually becoming available, After The Rain remains one of two currently transcribed.

After The Rain

Colorado musician Jeffrey van D, a.k.a. Jeff Van Devender, recorded After The Rain for his 2002 JavaMusiK release Bending Chords. Level of difficulty is moderate. Be sure to visit JavaMusiK for more information and a chance to listen to the original recording. Please note that while every effort was made to be accurate in the transcription some discrepancies may exist.

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This final listing actually finishes with where it all started. Way back in 1981, The Awakening was composed as a Music Theory project. This was Jeff Van Devender's first of currently 33 compositions written exclusively for the piano. It was eventually recorded for Jeff's debut JavaMusiK cd Ascend in 1998 and is now transcribed and published at Alpine Road Publishing.

The Awakening

Transcription of JavaMusiK artist Jeff Van Devender's very first composition, The Awakening. Originally composed as a Music Theory project in college, The Awakening was eventually used in Van Devender's wedding when his bride to be walked down the aisle. Just over 20 years later, it is finally available for purchase as a published piece. Just over 10 years previous to publishing, it was released on the JavaMusiK cd, Ascend. 

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Stay tuned for more as we're just getting started, and the creative juices seen to be a-flowin'! Be sure to set www.JavaMusiK.com as your Home Page and bookmark Alpine Road Publishing so you don't miss a beat! 

The JavaMusiK BloG appreciates you checking in for the most up-to-date coverage of all things JavaMusiK. For even more non-relevant information, be sure to find us all over Facebook at these locations: 
Jeff Van Devender-JavaMusiK
Alpine Road Publishing
Jeff Van Devender @ Facebook

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Cheers!