Curated Music Resources
Here I’ll share the many free resources from Youtube and other parts of the internet that have helped me as a musician. Use the Control or Command + F shortcut to search for keywords!
Beginner-Friendly Music Resources
Guided Play-Along Youtube Playlist: Perfect for beginners and for practicing playing chords and songs fluidly.
2nd Play-Along Playlist: Focused more on songs
Class Guitar Resources: Good source of general advice for beginner musicians with a guitar focus.
The Playground (Ableton): Incredible introduction into making beats/music on a computer, hands-on and great for beginners to begin creating something.
Fingers to Frets: Visual chord tool for guitar.
Musical Drones (Youtube): A Youtube playlist with long audio recordings of a cello droning, one for each of the twelve notes, for practicing, ear training, etc.
Numbers in Music
How to play 1/4/5 on Piano: Helpful guide to visualizing these chords on piano.
Learnchordal.com: Dormant but useful resource to practice thinking in numbers in popular music. Has approx. 1000 number charts of all different kinds of music.
Nashville Numbers: Youtube Playlist explaining numbers.
Ear Training (All Instruments):
Functional Ear Trainer (Android) (iOS): Amazing ear training app in the style of a game.
Youtube Playlist (8 videos): Ear Training
Ear Training Practice: Youtube Playlist
Tonedear: Browser based resource, quiz yourself.
Musical Drones (Youtube): A Youtube playlist with long audio recordings of a cello droning, one for each of the twelve notes, for practicing, ear training, etc.
Reading Practice/Method Books:
Rhythm (all instruments):
Youtube Playlist (10 videos): Rhythm Reading
Great for developing rhythmic fluency, can play along with recordings of rhythms.
Ms. G’s Rhythm Book (PDF): Lots of good rhythms to read, general reading practice.
Metronome Fundamentals (Adam Levy): Great video on introduction to feeling time.
Classical Guitar Reading Material:
Youtube Playlist (38 videos): 1st Position Guitar Reading
Great for developing reading fluency, can play along with recordings of melodies, one string at a time in open/1st position.
Learn and Master (PDF):
Method book with useful, easy reading examples, beginner to intermediate.
Alfred’s Basic Guitar Method (PDF):
Method book with useful, easy reading examples, beginner to intermediate.
Classical Guitar Method Volume 1 (PDF):
Classical method book with useful, easy reading examples, beginner to intermediate.
Parkening Guitar Method, Vol. 1 (PDF)
Famous Classical guitar method. Has useful reading examples.
Guitar Basics by Brian Newman (PDF)
Great guitar method with lots of easy reading examples.
Guitar Notes for Beginners: by Bobby Kittleberger. Covers note names on the guitar.
Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1
Another great method with lots of easy reading examples, some popular music too.
Classical Guitar Music:
Sightreading Samples for Guitar, Grades 1-8: by Eythor Thorlaksson
Sight Reading Music on Classical Guitar (Werner): Helpful overview for Classical Guitar.
Classical Guitar E-Book (Grade 1): Around 10 pieces, great for reading or performing.
The Many Faces of Guitar:
Series 1: Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3 Vol. 4 Vol. 5 Vol. 6
Series 2: Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3
29 Guitar works for 1st and 2nd grade (Carulli) (PDF):
Solo classical pieces useful for reading or studying.
Carcassi 25 Etudes Op. 60 (PDF): Great Grades 1-2 pieces for performing.
Sor Studies (Op. 60) (PDF): Medium quality, good for sight-reading.
Sor Studies (Op. 35) (PDF): Good quality, great for reading or performing.
Giuliani 120+ (PDF): Studies that develop polyphony and the plucking hand.
John Wakelin Library: Huge collection of solo guitar music.
Tarrega Studies (PDF): Good for reading or performing.
Tarrega, 8 guitar pieces (PDF): Intermediate/Advanced grades.
Villa-Lobos, 5 Preludes (PDF): Intermediate/Advanced grades.
3 Dimensions for Solo Guitar (Andrew York) (PDF): Contemporary Composer for Guitar (Intermediate/Advanced)
8 Discernments for Solo Guitar (Andrew York) (PDF): Contemporary Composer for Guitar. (Beginner/Intermediate)
Time Pieces (Ren-21st Century) (PDF): Great solo guitar anthology that spans hundreds of years. (Beginner/Intermediate)
Guitarcosmos (PDF): Great set of themed and varied etudes modeled after Bartok’s ‘Microcosmos’ collection. Great for reading (often off the beaten path).
Guitar Ensemble Repertoire Library: Curated by Lou Warde
Guitar Ensemble Library: Curated by UK based Andrew Forrest
5 Pieces for Guitar Ensemble (Arrangements by Seth Escalante)
Popular/Rock Guitar:
Rock and Blues Guitar Book (PDF):
Lots of stuff here, beginner to intermediate
Essential Rhythm Practice for Guitarists (3 Metronome Challenges):
Great video for practicing rhythm w/ gtr. This channel has a lot of useful stuff to play along with.
Next Level Guitar (PDF): Beginning Guitar Method by David Taub (popular music)
Guitar Chords for Beginners (PDF): Breaks down chords with pictures.
General Music 8 Guitar Packet (PDF): Great intro packet (22 pgs) for guitar, with valuable info towards the end.
Beginner’s Guide for Guitar: (Anthony Pell) (PDF) very easy to follow with many pictures.
Bass:
Bass Clef Sight Reading: Youtube Playlist (25+ videos)
Piano:
Progressive Piano Reading: Youtube Playlist (2 videos)
Schäfer Sight Reading PDF (50 Progressive Pieces)
354 Exercises in C Position for Piano PDF
Piano Skills Foundation (PDF) (Level 1) (77 pgs.): Great Reading Primer
Leila Fletcher Piano Course (PDF): Great Reading Primer
The Complete Pianist (PDF): by Marilee Leishman. Great piano method and quick-start reading course.
Classical Piano Music:
12 Easy Classical Pieces (PDF)
Great Piano Solos (from famous films) (PDF): Intermediate level arrangements.
Scarlatti Sonatas 145-160 (PDF): Great for sight-reading.
tonebase Piano: Great resource for general classical piano education.
Odds and Ends:
The Sight Reading Book (Jerry West): Easier Treble Clef Violin excerpts. Great for any instrument. Includes key signatures and other music details.
31 Horn Duets (PDF)
641 Fiddle Tunes Includes Bluegrass, Traditional, and Celtic tunes.
Double Bass Method (PDF): Beginner method with bass clef melodies.
6 Bach Sonatas and Partitas (PDF): For Solo Violin, but great intermediate/advanced reading for anybody.
Art of Playing of the Piano Forte (Clementi) (PDF): Great quality method with lots of reading material.
Piano
Tonebase Piano: Great classical piano Youtube resource.
Drums/Percussion
Drums Resources: Youtube Playlist
Basic Drum Patterns and Concepts (Dr. Richard Hemmings) (PDF): Great overall drum method and rhythm reading practice.
Basics in Rhythm (PDF): Focuses solely on rhythm reading.
Snare Manual (Packet with exercises for University of Tennessee)
Jazz (All Instruments):
Common Jazz Rhythms: PDF with 94 jazz rhythmic templates.
Common Jazz Comping Rhythms (Jens Larsen): PDF with 10 common comping rhythms to help you get started.
Jazz Guitar Resources: Youtube Playlist
Jazz Bass Guitar Resources: Youtube Playlist
Jazz Piano Resources: Youtube Playlist
Jazz Theory and Resources: Youtube Playlist (50+ videos)
Hal Galper Masterclass: Youtube Playlist with lessons from jazz educator/legend.
Overview of general theory concepts, tailored to help with improvised music and jazz.
Mr. Sunny Bass: YouTube Playlist featuring Italian bassist with recorded bass line backing tracks for 1000+ tunes.
iReal Pro- Software/App that gives you a backing band to play along with, endlessly customizable in any key, style, and tempo.
Open Studio: Youtube home of a St. Louis based jazz education platform. Here’s the podcast channel by the same people (I listen to it twice weekly).
Barry Harris Stuff
Barry Harris’ ideas were huge for me to really understand how to practice jazz and feel like I can always improve. These lessons have been immensely helpful to me:
Exploring the Diminished (PDF): Good Barry Harris Method teaching his concepts.
Things I’ve Learned from Barry Harris (Chris Parks) (Youtube channel, 130+ video lessons): Incredible lessons on Barry’s Method.
The Labyrinth of Limitations (Thomas Echols) (Youtube channel, many lessons): Incredible deep-dive guitar-focused approach on Barry’s method.
Barry Harris Misc.: YouTube Playlist
Transcriptions/Music:
Time to Read Music (Youtube channel): Incredible resource with beginner-advanced reading etudes and excerpts. Great for sight reading!
Jazz Transcriptions: Youtube Playlist with some great transcriptions (score/audio).
Monk Real Book: All of Monk’s tunes.
100 Jazz Etudes by Jacob Wise (PDF): Great for sight reading. Based on familiar jazz standards.
Jazz Piano School Transcription Library:
lots of incredible transcriptions.
Real Book (PDF): High Quality upload.
Kind of Blue transcription (all instruments)
Jazz Capacitor (PDF): Collection of assorted transcriptions (many instruments).
Charlie Parker Omnibook (PDF)
Jazz Sightreading Excerpts (PDF): Treble Clef
15 Easy Jazz Blues Etudes (Bob Mintzer): For Eb instruments, good for reading.
Jazz Duets for Treble Clef Fun original duets in a jazz style.
Chord/Scale Workbook by Craig Fraedrich
Method Books
Links to online copies are provided when possible, but I mainly wanted to list some great resources to get your hands on:
Jazz Theory (full textbook) by Dariusz Terefenko (Eastman)
Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns by Nicolas Slonimsky
Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony by Bert Ligon
The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
Guitar
The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick
Almanac of Guitar Voice Leading by Mick Goodrick
Bachman Chord Melody Method: Jazz solo chord melody method for guitar.
Joe Pass Guitar Chords (PDF): Wellspring of guitar voicings.
The Guitarist's Introduction to Jazz by Randy Vincent
Acoustic Music:
641 Fiddle Tunes (PDFs)
Advice on Practicing
Kenny Werner’s Learning Diamond: Indispensable method of how to have productive practice. Here is a bit more on this method.
The Truth About Practicing: Guitarist Rotem Sivan discusses effective practice.
Advice on Practicing: Youtube Playlist with multiple perspectives on effective practice.
Incredible jazz musician Dan Tepfer’s example of effective practice:
More on his YouTube channel. Though practicing for us mere mortals will look different, this is a great example. There are several more of these on his channel.
Practice and Study Tips (PDF): UMBC Music Dept. Good general advice on practicing.
31 Days to Better Practicing (PDF): by Dr. Chris Foley. Really great advice on building a good practice ethic and routine.
Music Philosophy:
“The Why and How of Music”: Youtube Playlist (20+ videos)
This playlist is full of useful philosophy and varying approaches to music making. Essential for improvised music, developing artistry, and one’s relationship to creating music.
Article on Right/Left Brain Music
Blog no. 1 on Right/Left Brain Relationship to Music (Firey)
Blog no. 2 on Right/Left Brain Relationship to Music (Firey)
Theory:
Music Theory Basics: Youtube Playlist (10 videos):
Overview of general theory concepts.
Music in Theory and Practice (Vol. 1) (PDF): Bruce Benward, Marilyn Saker. Full-fledged theory textbook with worksheets to practice concepts.
Circle of 5ths/4ths: Has several versions of this hugely important diagram and concept.
Musictheory.net: Quiz yourself on any theory concept for free (including guitar resources). This is a great way to practice. Tenuto is the app version of this site, only for Mac currently, and costs under five dollars.
Transposing Instrument Chart: For help with transposing between concert instruments (piano, guitar) to non-concert instruments (horns, woodwinds).
Diatonic Chords Chart: Lists all the diatonic (naturally occurring) chords in all 12 major keys.
Worksheets
Note Naming Worksheet for Guitar: Great worksheet to practice naming all the notes in the 1st position of the guitar (open to the 4th fret), plus naming all the notes (0-12th fret) on the two thickest strings.
Music Tech Stuff:
Chordie App: Great app that uses Midi input to display and correctly name notes/chords, Mac/Windows , 25 dollars. Great for learning and teaching. It’s the app I use in every virtual piano, and sometimes guitar, lesson.
Noteflight: In-browser notation software, and has free music for performing/practicing from a huge user community. Free accounts can create 10 free scores.
Intro to Music Tech: Youtube Playlist directed at the beginner musician.
Soundslice: Free browser-based resources to connect sheet music to audio/video recordings, for transcribing, teaching, etc.
Farplay: Free software that enables one to play music with someone else virtually, managing the latency and other issues that typically occur online with music.
Loopback: Mac based internal audio routing. A powerful application that lets you send audio from any source to any other source. A necessity for teaching music online.
Music Odds and Ends:
General Education
Music Documentary Playlist: Featuring music-themed documentaries on Youtube.
Music Interviews Playlist: Mostly Jazz interviews, but other perspectives are also included.
The Honest Broker: Substack based music journalist who has an erudite grasp on current music culture, business, and trends.
Music
Full Concerts Playlist: I collect full length performances that I dig and add them here. Leans towards jazz, but includes pop, folk, and classical too.
Live From Here (archive): A now defunct music-variety radio show (2016-2020) hosted by Chris Thile. This show was a unique genre-building celebration of music, featuring fresh songs penned by Thile for the show every week, impromptu covers performed by the house band, and musical covers based on old and current musicians’ birthdays. This YouTube channel houses all the old episodes and performances. This show is near to my heart, there was nothing else like it!
KEXP: Radio station with live filmed performances.
La Blogothèque: Intimate live performances across many genres of music.
Tiny Desk Series: Live, stripped-down sets from all kinds of artists.
Podcasts
Go With Elmo: Weekly Podcast interviewing music creatives, jazz musicians, etc.
The Happy Musicians: Podcast about musical enjoyment and well-being.
DIY Musician Podcast: Covers the many facets of the music industry for DIY creatives.
And The Writer Is…: Podcast interviewing songwriters about their craft, as well as industry specific music topics.
Song Exploder: Podcast breaking down the creation of songs by interviewing the writers behind them.
Broken Record: In-depth musician interviews.
Dissect: Long-form analysis of a specific album over a whole season (leans into hip-hop/rap).
Norah Jones is Playing Along: Intimate interviews and performances with a wide range of artists.
Websites
Fretboard Journal: Magazine/Youtube resource that features performances/interviews from a wide range of acoustic musicians.
Consequence of Sound: Music related content spanning genres- interviews, reviews, and podcasts. The podcasts alone are wide-ranging and geared towards creatives.