Buy EXTREMELY Cheap Used Sheet Music for Endless Quarantine Fun

Image: @TheHappyTalent on Instagram

This is just a quick public service announcement that, while karaoke and open mic and musical theater and bar jams are all on hold right now... there is endless fun to be had, right there in your home, for less than the price of a beer.

All you need to do is buy the music used -- you'll be paying $3-8 per book instead of $18+.

Just click the little link below the first price you see -- the one that says "17 Used from $4.99" or whatever.

Just before the quarantine started, I ordered a like-new copy of The Last Five Years for just a few dollars, and that's been super fun. Challenging in a good way. There are only a few songs I can actually sing -- fewer I can play! -- and I'm still trying to develop the vocabulary to describe the structure of these songs, but they are so much fun. 

Last week, I added two of the top ten musicals ever written, A Chorus Line and Man of La Mancha, to my collection, also for just a few dollars each.

I was tickled when Man of La Mancha, a musical version of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, arrived on the very same day that I visited the tallest working windmill in North America -- what a happy coincidence! 

From: The Happy Talent on Facebook

It was awesome to end that day by playing "The Impossible Dream," "Man of La Mancha," and "Knight Of Woeful Countenance." But... that would also be a spectacular end to any day.

I also ordered a copy of Anything Goes -- I don't know if it's in the top ten best musicals of all time... but it might be in the top 20! And it's been literally impossible for me to go for a walk on a nice night without singing "It's De-Lovely" ever since I saw Anything Goes in San Francisco.

With the obvious exception of this night, when I was feeling a little less, "It's delectable, it's delirious, It's dilemma, it's delimit, it's deluxe, It's de-lovely"

Image: @EvaViaMusic

and a little more, "Bras dessus, bras dessous, En chantant des chansons, C'est si bon."

And obviously if there's a gazebo it's going to be "16 Going on 17." 

But otherwise, I've found that walking at night is always, absolutely​ De-Lovely. â€‹(See also: my thoughts on wind chime walks and chasing the moon, which are fantastic pandemic/lockdown activities -- and don't forget to pack a BSeen LED Glowing Pet Collar if you want to bring your best friend without worry.)

And now, I can finally play it on the piano instead of singing it a cappella in the streets.

Next on my list? Honestly, I think The Sound of Music (available used for $2.99) would be the most fun, and I totally love Dear Evan Hansen, but since it's new and popular, the cheapest used copies are still $15 (I kinda feel like it would be more fun on guitar, anyway, which I can get for free online). I've got Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof at home, but I might break down and buy second copies for my quarantine home.

I've written before that money does buy happiness, but most people are bad at spending money in ways that make them happy. The conventional wisdom, now, is that it's better to buy experiences than things.

Yes, music books are technically things, but they are things that enable an experience that keeps me happy for hours on end. They make me feel nostalgic, challenged, excited, and goal-driven. 

Here's my first stab at "What I Did For Love" -- yes, I hear the mistakes, and I'm going to keep working until they're gone. (Unlike love, which is never gone.)

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Rainy day -- perfect opportunity to play through some of my favorite songs from my new used music books. I've loved A Chorus Line since LONG before I had any idea what the line, "The worst thing in school was every time the teacher called on me, I'd be hard" meant. â–¡ I'll never forget the first time I heard "Nothing" at the @ParamountTheatreCR. It was literally life-changing, and I was hanging on every word. I'll also never forget the banter at the end of "Dance: 10, Looks: 3." But the song I've been hearing in my mind ever since tearing my #ACL (no pun intended) in August -- another life-changing moment, but in a super tragic way -- has been "What I Did For Love." Especially that most famous, powerful line, "Look, me eyes are dry / The gift was ours to borrow." This is just a quick, unedited, very imperfect practice session. I'm excited to keep working on it, learn those intervals, and make it better!

A post shared by Eva Via (@evaviamusic) on May 5, 2020 at 8:49pm PDT

What a fun, safe, and energizing way to spend this uncertain and socially-distant time.

All for less than the cost of a beer.