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You can buy the vocal selections for about $23: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0571529976/
Everything that can be bought, should be bought. Encourage the artists you like. This sub is (or should ideally only be) for "rental only" items that cannot be legally bought.
Yeah! that’s the one . And yeah it’s not complicated but totally drives that song. ive seen people debate if paul played it or not.
Have you heard of a lead sheet? It's a piece of music where only the melody is notated and the chords are noted above the staff. Jazz players use them all the time. They come compiled in "fake books". You could get a fake book and play along to them like you do the app. If there are chords you don't know you could supplement with a chord chart for reference. IMO, apps are a waste and will never beat some old fashioned pencil and paper work.
When I first started seriously studying music theory, I carried this book with me everywhere. I found it to be pretty straightforward and comprehensive, and I used it as a reference for years.
I'm going to second the recommendation of musictheory.net as well, as that was also a tool I found helpful.
But don't worry too much about your understanding of music theory! To be honest, I picked up the majority of my theory knowledge while I was in music school. Your teachers will know that every musician comes in with a different level of experience and they'll make sure that everyone learns what they need to know.
This is such a big question.
I suggest joining a choir, hiring a coach/teacher, or finding a method book to start working through (i like this one but there are zillions to choose from). There are so many things any of us could say that might or might not be helpful, but the best way to learn is to pick something with a little structure and go for it. From there you'll probably have more specific questions which will get you much more helpful answers.
> What is the best Beatles book for me (someone who knows very little and wants to learn more)?
There are thousands of books.
If you want just one to start, then Anthology is the best option. https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Anthology/dp/0811826848
The first thing to do is look for a copy of The Beatles: Complete Scores. Here's the Amazon link. That will help a lot with the other tips that have been given.
I've been taking lessons as a 30-something adult for 4 years now, and I sought out a teacher who could teach me jazz and the blues. I was also a brand new student of music so I am learning theory, using lesson books, and classical minuets and musettes. His process for the jazz stuff has been around learning the standards, which has tons of popular and familiar tunes from the last ~125 years. The old editions used to have Christmas and other holiday pieces, but they make a separate edition for that now.
Since this book only has lead sheets, you apply your own creativity for the left hand accompaniment, or in my case, the patterns my teacher is teaching me.
I've been in a similar boat for years, just now breaking free from it. Stuff that's helped me the most:
- Memorize all the notes on the guitar. I just went fret by fret for a few weeks (maybe there's a better way to memorize) but that helped me identify notes and chords infinitely better.
- I got this book and it has been a great help understanding basic music theory https://www.amazon.com/Leonard-Pocket-Music-Theory-Comprehensive/dp/063404771X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1499725981&sr=8-2&keywords=hal+leonard+music+theory
- mattwarnockguitar.com -- This site has a ton of great stuff and it's where i'm primarily learning from now. There's great sections on drop-2 chords, drop-3 chords, major scale, arpeggios, etc
I don't know about websites but here are two books for The Beatles and Queen that may be good for your purposes.
Beatles: https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Complete-Scores-Transcribed-Score/dp/0793518326
Queen: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/best-of-queen-transcribed-score-sheet-music/5679977
In addition to Barcelona_City_Hobo's recommendations, here's a good little book that will get you going on theory: Hal Leonard Pocket Music Theory
If you're really against lessons, order this book. It's by Seth Riggs, he taught Michael Jackson and a ton of other great singers. You should really look into getting an instructor though.
I really liked Pocket Music Theory. I've given away three copies of that book now. Nice that it's so cheap. It's not guitar specific, but it does a better job of covering the bases than any guitar-oriented theory book I've come across.
See this thread for why sheet music rarely matches what was originally played. However, some publishers are starting to publish accurate transcriptions of the originals for those people who want them. For the Beatles, someone in that same thread posted a link to The Beatles: Complete Scores which is supposedly quite accurate.
You could get something like this, but it might not quite be the era you're looking for.
Memory Lane is a fun song to play that took a little while for me to learn. The version I learned is from this songbook Elliott Smith Songbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/1423440137/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_A4I3wbV3DB693
Sorry about your teacher.
I was actually just recently made aware of the Lomax songbook while looking into the history of I Know You Rider... Trying to decide whether I want a kindle version or a $$ hardbound or both. I know what I am doing in 2016...
Yep, as mentioned, it includes just the melody and chord symbols. Another term could be a lead sheet. So, admittedly, you'd have to comfortable playing with chords, playing by ear, etc.
I would pick up something like this and go to town!
Very few of the musicians I went to school with studied music theory before college. Age is not as big of an obstacle as you might think. (Mind you, plenty of them were playing when they were younger.)
This will help: www.musictheory.net
I like this book because it is concise, mostly good information, and is pretty cheap: http://www.amazon.com/Leonard-Pocket-Music-Theory-Comprehensive/dp/063404771X
If you're feeling brave, pick up a harmony book and a counterpoint book. (Walter Piston's older editions are pretty good. Kent Kennan's counterpoint book is excellent, in my opinion. Don't know how either would be for someone without prior music theory education.)
Also, there is the occasional music theory course on https://www.coursera.org/. I can't say that I particularly recommend it, but it might work for you.
Like others have said, you don't have to do anything, but if you pick up the Beatles Complete Scores and take a look at how often they change keys and how it's notated, it's pretty rare.
If you are a musician, pick up a copy of the Complete Scores. It's about 80 bucks (53 on amazon!), and contains the sheet music for every instrument for every song they ever recorded.
As always it starts with playing something very simple and singing over that... playing quarter note chords on the piano with a few chords and figuring out a melody with your voice is a great way to start... watch some videos of people playing and singing at the same time, you'll notice that the parts they play will sometimes get simplified when they are singing, and then become more intricate when they can focus on just the parts.
I would like to point out that many piano books aren't actually the exact way the artist plays the song, in fact most of the songbooks include the melody line in the right hand that should be sung, and not played...
If you were to get the Beatles Score Book, you'll quickly realize that a lot of the melody lines are sung over a chord progression that is much easier than playing the chord progression and the melody line while singing the melody line as well...