Hal Leonard Releases New Guitar Play-Alongs to Meet High Demand
Book/Enhanced CD Series a Huge Hit with Guitarists,
9 New NAMM Titles Now Available!

MILWAUKEE ­ With nearly 50 volumes now available, the Hal Leonard Guitar Play-Along series keeps going gangbusters. Exciting new book/CD packs featuring the music of Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, Bob Seger, Incubus, The Offspring and Greg Koch, plus collections of Acoustic Classics and Chart Hits will be available at NAMM.

Book/CD packs in the Hal Leonard Guitar Play-Along series help guitarists learn to play eight complete songs quickly and easily. The books include standard notation, tablature, melody and lyrics. The accompanying CDs let players listen to how the guitar parts should sound, then play along using the separate backing tracks. The CD is playable on any CD player, and is also enhanced so that PC and Mac users can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing pitch.

The company plans to further expand this series to meet retailers¹ demand for new Guitar Play-Along titles; a dozen more packs ­ featuring rockers such as Kiss and David Lee Roth ­ are currently in the works for release at Summer NAMM.

Comments Jeff Schroedl, VP of pop and standard publications for Hal Leonard, ³We launched this series on the heels of our Jazz Play-Along series, which continues to be an unqualified success for our company. The book/CD format has always been popular, but the Guitar Play-Alongs really take it to a new level.²

He continues, ³Signature Licks is one of our flagship educational guitar lines. We know from customer feedback that guitarists love our authentic-sounding backing tracks. They¹ve told us that they wanted a product that offers the same great sound-alike accompaniments, but for full length songs that they can have fun playing along with. The Guitar Play-Along series gives guitarists just what they have asked for: it consolidates multiple guitar parts into one practical and accessible one that they can play for the whole song, and the CD recordings match these custom arrangements exactly. The slow-down feature is a great tool that makes learning to play hit songs easier than ever before.²

Book/enhanced CD packs in the Guitar Play-Along series are a bargain at only $12.95 each. Complete song lists are online at www.halleonard.com.

Jazz Play-Alongs
link on Hal Leonard website:
http://www.halleonard.com/search_items.jsp?keywords=jazz+play+along+vol&catcode=00&type=product

Hal Leonard Expands Jazz Play-Along Series
7 New NAMM Volumes Let Musicians Play Blues, Beatles, Standards, Swing & More,
with the Best Accompaniment Tracks Available!

MILWAUKEE ­ The leader in play-along publications, Hal Leonard Corporation proudly presents at NAMM seven new Jazz Play-Along book/CD packs: Lennon & McCartney, Blues¹ Best, Jazz in Three, Best of Swing, All-Time Standards, Bluesy Jazz and Yuletide Jazz. These latest additions to this popular series bring the volume count to nearly 40.

The Jazz Play-Along Series is the ultimate learning tool for all jazz musicians. With musician-friendly lead sheets, melody cues and other split track choices on the included CD, these ten-tune packages ­ an incredible value at only $14.95 each ­ make learning to play jazz easier and more fun than ever before.

This new series goes head-to-head with other established play-along products on the market, but is rapidly gaining ground and daily winning new fans, novices and pros alike.

Jazz trombonist Steve Wiest, the Director of Jazz Studies and Trombone at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and former trombonist and arranger for Maynard Ferguson¹s Band, comments, ³The Hal Leonard Jazz Play-Along series is a fantastic addition to the jazz-pedagogy cannon! I love the energy of the rhythm sections, and the arrangements and recordings are first-rate. (This series) has become a staple in my teaching, and in my own practicing. I highly recommend this series to all educators and students of jazz.²

Dozens more Hal Leonard Jazz Play-Alongs are now in production; the company projects that by Summer NAMM, more than 60 volumes will be released. A complete listing of available titles in the series and song lists for all volumes can be found at www.halleonard.com.

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Bass Play-Alongs
no link on Hal Leonard website, products not yet in stock

Hal Leonard Announces First-Ever Bass Play-Along Series
New Book/CD Packs Feature Must-Know Bass Lines

MILWAUKEE ­ The newest member of the ever-growing Hal Leonard play-along family, Bass Play-Alongs make their debut at NAMM. Appearing at the show will be the first five of many planned volumes in this unique series.

Bassists can play their favorite songs in their favorite styles in notes and tab along with the terrific backing tracks on the accompanying CDs. These CDs can be played in any CD player, but are also enhanced so that Mac and PC users can adjust the recordings to any tempo without changing pitch. A fabulous value, these book/CD packs are only $12.95 each.

Hal Leonard editors carefully considered the song list for each volume, and selected only songs with the most prominent bass lines. Each volume includes 8 favorites, such as: Rock, Vol. 1 ­ Another One Bites the Dust € Come Together € Sweet Emotion; R&B, Vol. 2 ­ I Can¹t Help Myself € In the Midnight Hour € My Girl; Pop/Rock, Vol. 3 ­ Maneater € Peg € Suffragette City; ¹90s Rock, Vol. 4 ­ Give It Away € Hard to Handle € Jeremy; and Funk, Vol. 5 ­ Brick House € Higher Ground € Super Freak.

Hal Leonard is the hands-down leader in play-along publications. These multi-volume packs are the best in the business, and keep your customers coming back for more.

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Pro Vocal Series
http://www.halleonard.com/search_items.jsp?keywords=pro+vocal+cd+sing&catcode=00&type=product

Hal Leonard Releases More Titles in Better-Than-Karaoke Pro Vocal Series
8 New Songbook/CD Packs with Cool Pitch-Adjustment Feature

MILWAUKEE ­ Hal Leonard Corporation is pleased to present at NAMM eight new Pro Vocal book/CD packs. A better-than-karaoke product with many professional uses, Pro Vocal is an innovative series that lets male and female singers learn and perform fantastic songs in keys perfect for their particular voice type.

The new releases in the Hal Leonard Pro Vocal series are ¹80s Gold, Disco Fever, R&B Super Hits and Christmas Standards. Each title comes in a Women¹s Edition and a Men¹s Edition, which feature unique songs appropriate to the voice type. Hal Leonard Pro Vocal packs are a steal at only $12.95 each, and complete song lists for each are online at www.halleonard.com.

Whether singers are preparing for an audition, or are karaoke kings or queens, the Pro Vocal series is a must-have. The books contain complete lyrics, melody lines and chord symbols for eight of the best songs of the genre. The CDs feature fabulous sound-alike demo tracks (complete with vocals) for listening, as well as separate backing tracks for singing along.

The audio CDs are playable on any CD player, and as a special bonus, they are enhanced so that PC and Mac computer users can adjust the recordings to any pitch without changing the tempo. This innovative feature allows singers to transpose songs to any key to suit their voice type.

The Hal Leonard Pro Vocal series is perfect for rehearsing at home, and great for parties, auditions, corporate events, even singing gigs without a backup band. Watch for many more titles to come in 2005.
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Piano Play-Along Series
http://www.halleonard.com/search_items.jsp?keywords=piano+play+along+vol&catcode=00&type=product

Hal Leonard Presents Latest Volumes in Piano Play-Along Series
10 NAMM Titles in Series That Sets New Standard for PVG Sheet Music

MILWAUKEE ­ The leader in play-along publications, Hal Leonard Corporation will release ten new titles in its innovative Piano Play-Along series at NAMM: Pop Ballads, Favorite Standards, TV Classics, Movie Favorites, Jazz Standards, Contemporary Hits, Big Band, Worship Classics, R&B Ballads and Rock Classics.

Now numbering 22 terrific volumes, this series allows piano and keyboard players to practice and perform with professional-sounding accompaniments while playing from standard piano/vocal/guitar arrangements.

Containing eight songs each, the books in this series feature new engravings, with a separate vocal staff, plus guitar frames, so players and their friends can sing or strum along. The CDs feature two tracks for each tune: a full performance for listening, and a separate backing track that lets players take the lead on keyboard. The high-quality, sound-alike accompaniments exactly match the printed music.

Each book/CD pack features cream-of-the-crop songs of the genre, and retails for the bargain price of $12.95. A listing of all the volumes in the Hal Leonard Piano Play-Along series is at www.halleonard.com, with complete song lists for each title.

³It can be said that Oscar Peterson plays 100 notes when other pianists might use ten, but all 100 usually fit, and there is nothing wrong with showing off technique when it serves the music.²
­ All Music Guide

MILWAUKEE ­ Oscar Peterson is one of the greatest piano players of all time, known for his phenomenal technique. The leading jazz print publisher, Hal Leonard Corporation is proud to announce the NAMM release of two new Oscar Peterson songbooks in the acclaimed Artist Transcriptions series: Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson Trios. These are the first-ever transcriptions of this legendary pianist playing beloved jazz standards.

Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington features 17 songs, including such masterpieces as: Caravan € Don¹t Get Around Much Anymore € Satin Doll € Sophisticated lady € and Take the ³A² Train. Oscar Peterson Trios offers note-for-note transcriptions of 19 classics, including: Cheek to Cheek € It¹s Only a Paper Moon € Laura € Misty € Night and Day € Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars € Tangerine € Witchcraft € and more.

Songbooks in the Artist Transcriptions series also include a biography and discography. Two more Peterson collections are currently in the works: The Very Best of Oscar Peterson and Oscar Peterson Plays Broadway. There is no repetition of songs in the four volumes.

Other exciting new releases in the Artist Transcriptions series include: John Coltrane ­ Giant Steps, The Best of Thelonious Monk and the Thelonious Monk Collection, Bill Evans at Town Hall, The Kenny Garrett Collection and The Bud Shank Collection. Complete descriptions and song lists for all titles are online at http://www.halleonard.com.