In honor of both Valentine's Day and Black History Month, this month's free tab is an arrangement of the 20th century song “Old Fashioned Love”, composed by James P. Johnson in 1925. He originally wrote it to be included in the Broadway musical “Runnin’ Wild”.  Another of his compositions from that same production became  part of the essential soundtrack of the so-called "Jazz Age" of the 1920s and launched a new dance craze: "The Charleston".

Johnson’s innovative “Stride Piano” style played a key role in the transition from ragtime to jazz during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in the 1920s that celebrated African American cultural, artistic, and intellectual achievements.

Read More

"Ring Out, Wild Bells" is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, published in 1850 as part of his larger work, "In Memoriam A.H.H." This poignant poem was written in memory of Tennyson's close friend and fellow poet, Arthur Henry Hallam, who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 22. The verses of "Ring Out, Wild Bells" are a reflection on the passage of time and the hope for renewal and transformation. The poem's call to "ring out the old, ring in the new" embodies themes of letting go of past sorrows and embracing a brighter future.

Read More

Edward Caswall (1814-1878) was an Anglican clergyman who later converted to Catholicism. Part of his duties as a Catholic priest included writing translations of various Latin texts to be read, and sometimes sung, by the congregation. He soon began writing his own hymns and poems, including “When Morning Gilds the Skies”, “Sleep, Holy Babe”, and “Come, Holy Ghost”. In 1858, while preparing for the upcoming Christmas Eve service, he wrote an original poem titled “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow”. He used the concept of snow as a message of purity against the sins of the world.

Read More