Find your loudest amplified speaker, or use your favorite ear buds, then scroll down and listen to any of the tracks below to play along with your own instrument. There are extended solo breaks too, with background support, to help you practice your improvisation, as well as links to our charts for each song. It’s School of HONK anytime, anywhere, ready to go whenever you are.
You can listen to each song using the embedded player, follow the “sheet music” link to that tune’s dedicated page, and right click the “audio download” link to download a recording directly and listen elsewhere.
African Marketplace (sheet music, audio download)
Blackbird Special (sheet music, audio download)
Cariñito (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Enola Gay (sheet music, audio download) — No solo time, though there can be solos in this one.
Eye Know (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Ghostbusters (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time! And yes, yes that is a fire engine playing as if on cue.
Green Onions (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Groove is in the Heart (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Guaglione (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Lady (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time! And wait for the count-in…we had a bit of a false start!
Let’s Go Get ‘Em (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
La Murga de Panama (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Push It (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Respect (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Rock Lobster (sheet music, audio download) — Needs more ocean sounds!
Soul Bossa Nova (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Stay Human (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time!
Superstition (sheet music, audio download) —No solo time, though there can be solos in this one.
Track Suit (sheet music, audio download)
Uptown Funk (sheet music, audio download) — Solo time! But this time with friends…think of it as a duet!
Video Killed the Radio Star (sheet music, audio download)
This Playalong EP is a pandemic project of School of HONK. After meeting remotely through much of 2020, we found success dancing and playing games and hosting blinky light parties online, but not so much making music together. The closest we got was an improv-focused, online session in which we practiced soloing, with mics off, over an incomplete collection of bass-and-percussion-only recordings we’d made years earlier. This EP is an attempt at a higher quality version of those bass-and-percussion recordings, including all the parts for each song along with empty spaces to practice soloing over.
Our mentor group performed these recordings in parks, on cold winter afternoons, and the cold is sometimes audible! We also tried to give clear count-ins and transitions, and while we mostly succeeded, you’ll notice some imperfections—the stuff that keeps our spectacle fresh! We hope you enjoy playing along from a distance as we continue to find ways to be together and make music together during these strange times.
Special thanks to those who donated to our 2020 gofundme campaign, who supported much of our work this year and for whom this EP was originally recorded, as well as to Dana Colley, who stood in the middle of our circle during multiple, chilly recording sessions, capturing our brassy sounds. Also, photo credit to him as the images on this page are all stills from this “behind the scenes” video memorializing our false start to Lady.
And, a final note: While we’re psyched to release this version of the EP, there are recordings that maybe—just maybe!—have some room for improvement. If we update any songs on this page, we’ll add an asterisk* next to the tune’s name to keep you up-to-date. Thanks again, and enjoy!
