Since ’09, I’ve been keeping an eye out for miniature second-hand book fairs, a couple of which pops up every now and then in Singaporean shopping malls. The reason: these fairs almost always have old or used Yamaha Electone books for sale.
Walked into one this evening at HarbourFront Centre and immediately headed for the music section. As expected, there were pre-loved / used Electone books for sale. Compared to previous fairs I found, this fair had well over ten books on sale too, including textbooks and supplementary guides. In addition, there were also a couple of Hammond textbooks. These were from a series I have not seen before.
Many Electone players probably dislike such retro scores. Published before the HS-8 era, none of them come with pre-made registrations, and so to play them involves hours of tedious programming.
I do dislike this downside too. That said, many retro scores are still wonderfully arranged, and in my opinion, definitely worth a few hours of sweaty reprogramming. At the same time, simpler arrangements could be used for uncomplicated performances. In the case of the latter, the Electone Stagea’s many preset registrations are perfect solutions.
My Current Collection of Old Electone Albums and Other Organ Scores
Over the years, I’ve picked up quite a few of these retro books, including some that were not published for the Electone.
Special mention to the one above, which I found last year. While attending formal Electone lessons so many years ago, my class switched to using the newer Electone Study Course series of textbooks after Step 7. In other words, I’ve never even seen Step 8. Thanks to these book fairs, though, I finally have the complete set.
Where Could These Book Fairs With Used Yamaha Electone Books Be Found At?
For Singaporean Electone players who are keen on buying such pre-loved books, these fairs are held every now and then at places like Thomson Plaza, Velocity Novena Square, and Singapore Post Centre. Most of the books on sale are textbooks, but I’ve also encountered a couple of really difficult, Grade 4-3 collections. (I’ve ever seen one at Thomson Plaza that was so frightening, I literally backed away)
Alternately, you could check out the physical store of the company hosting these fairs. It’s located at Bras Basah Complex ground floor. I’ve bought a couple of books from there too.
My List of Downloadable Electone Scores and Stagea ELS-02C Registrations.
Check out my other Electone posts here!
Nice find.Any idea where u can purchase rom music books for 1986 Mr-700t i just purchased?
I’m looking for these electone mate books and they are just so difficult to find! Hope I’m as lucky as you are 🙂 I only have the electone mate 5, electone study step 6 onwards and electone playmate grade 7 and 6 while learning n-years back
Hi! Nice to hear there are others collecting these classic books too. They are really hard to find nowadays, with the Electone community so small and these books meant only for the Asean market. But they do pop up once in a while in 2nd-hand shops and book fairs. Good luck!
Whooa lucky you!!! I’ve been looking for that yamaha electone mate books. Will you make a copy of that? I will pay for some music sheet copy from step 3-4 book. Let me know if we can make a deal
Hi Henny, sorry, I don’t make copies of the books. Don’t wanna get in trouble with Yamaha! 😛