# Stupid music question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938 "2010-04-21T23:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/1 "2010-04-21T23:55:45Z")
(In case you can’t tell, I’m not a musical person) Okay, so there’s a song I like singing along to. The problem is that I’m not really very good at hearing the right places where my voice should go up and down, and how much it should go up and down on each note. So I want to get the music for it, so that I can sing along to it and not sound like a cat randomly yowling. You know, the bit with the lines across the page and the notes dancing across it. What do I look for? I’m hoping to find it online, because it’s a fairly obscure song so I don’t think I would find it in a songbook or compilation. Is it the sheet music I’m looking for? The score? The melody? The…what? What is the word for the lines and notes? Lots of lyrics sites have something called “tabs” but it looks like those are for guitar. I don’t need the lyrics, I have those, I just want to be able to sing along better. I feel really stupid that I don’t know this. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/2 "2010-04-21T23:57:14Z")
Sheet music. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/3 "2010-04-22T00:05:31Z")
Bleah. I was hoping that I was just googling for the wrong term. But no, it looks like it’s obscure enough to not be available. Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/4 "2010-04-22T00:11:53Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > Bleah. I was hoping that I was just googling for the wrong term. > > But no, it looks like it’s obscure enough to not be available. Bleah. Well, it may be available as part of some collection, or it might just be out of print - if you can tell us what it is and who recorded it, we might still be able to track something down for you… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/5 "2010-04-22T00:12:36Z")
Care to satisfy our curiosity and tell us what the song is? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/6 "2010-04-22T00:14:11Z")
It’s “White Dress” by Fairport Convention. Sandy Denny had such a beautiful voice…I just want to not mangle it when I sing along with her. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/7 "2010-04-22T00:22:09Z")
Can you read music? Would you be sounding it out on a piano, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/8 "2010-04-22T00:30:54Z")
A little bit, yeah. Enough to be able to pick it out on a piano, usually. Seeing the notes + playing them makes it easier to learn than just by ear. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/9 "2010-04-22T02:31:34Z")
Check your PM’s. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/10 "2010-04-22T03:23:04Z")
I have a feeling that you might have a PM answering your question due to the above post. But what you want, ideally, is something called a “lead sheet”. This is a simplified form of sheet music that only contains a single staff with the melody, and chord symbols that give an indication of the harmony. As to where you would find “White Dress”, I have no idea, but at least you will know what to ask for. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/11 "2010-04-22T20:30:52Z")
Do you want the music or not? I sent the PM but you haven’t bothered to answer. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/12 "2010-04-22T21:09:26Z")
Some of us occasionally go more than eighteen hours without logging in to the SD. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-music-question/536938/13 "2010-04-22T23:25:25Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Some of us occasionally go more than eighteen hours without logging in to the SD. Yes, I know. That’s why I checked her profile. She has posted today. But maybe she is busy.