Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, Barenaked Ladies’ If I Had $1,000,000, Michael Bublé’s Everything, Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, Ruth B’s Lost Boy…. What do all of these songs have in common?
They’re all Canadian! And these (and more) are all in the new Canadian Pop Songbook published by Long & McQuade in partnership with Hal Leonard.
When I picked up my copy of the Canadian Pop Songbook from Long & McQuade in New Minas, NS, I knew I’d have to review it for my special Canada Day post. But wait! Do you have to be Canadian to enjoy this book? Nope! These tunes have topped the charts everywhere! It’s just really great music!
I had the chance to speak with Bob Kohl, Long & McQuade’s top print buyer and the mastermind behind the project. Bob is a super-fantastic guy. I hope that you’ll hear his passion for bringing really great print music to you. Before we get to the must-read interview, here are some quick stats and facts:
The Canadian Pop Songbook:
- 84 pages, including covers
- 26 titles printed in alphabetical order (easy-to-find)
- Different musical styles (Country, Rock, Folk, Alternative…etc.)
- Tunes in notation, easy rhythms, lyrics and fake book chords
- 5 decades of music
- Music by men and women
- Represents all Canadian regions from coast to coast
Bob Kohl gives the tour
Rebekah Maxner: Who did you write this book for?
Bob Kohl: We wanted to reach as many musicians as possible, so it’s printed to be versatile. The tunes are printed in notation with lyrics, easy rhythms, and with the fake chords above. So anyone, whether you play guitar or piano or flute, can use this book.
RM: Where did the idea for the book come from?
BK: Long & McQuade belongs to the Retail Print Music Dealers’ Association. Every third Saturday in August we celebrate International Print Music Day, and we’d been asking ourselves how Long & McQuade could contribute to that. I came up with the idea of creating a book of Canadian songs. I headed up the project through Long & McQuade, partnering with Hal Leonard. Their (HL’s) arrangers and in-house art team helped to make the dream of launching a new songbook series become a reality for us!
RM: What makes the book easy to use?
BK: Every song is in the key of C [or Am], so it can be a great tool to use as an intro to harmonizing.
RM: Also, for those who want to sing along, if they need to transpose for the range of their voice, it would be a great way to introduce transposing the fake book style of music.
RM: How can piano teachers use this book?
BK: Conservatory Canada has a keyboard harmony component in their exams. This book is an ideal resource for that. Fake book helps teach the skill of chording and harmonizing, and so it could be used for exams or recitals.
RM: Also, when Registered Music Teachers celebrate Canada Music Week nationally each November this is a treasure trove of Canadian content, not only for performances, but for the singing of O Canada at the opening of the student recitals. It would be great for a student to play the national anthem from their own harmonization.
RM: How did you choose which Canadian titles to include?
BK: Because we were working with Hal Leonard, we had access to their vast catalogue, and they took care of the licensing for us. The content represents a broad range of Canadian musicians – five decades from the ‘70s up to now. The book has Gordon Lightfoot to k.d. lang to Alessia Cara and Sean Mendez. I wanted the book to have content from all regions, like there’s Welcome to the Rock from Newfoundland’s musical Come from Away.
RM: It’s almost like an education in what actually is Canadian music. Like, I didn’t know that Lost Boy is a Canadian song!
BK: I also wanted the cover to represent all regions. It starts with the Parliament building at the top, the CN tower in Toronto, the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove, prairie farmland, Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, and the Rocky mountains. The book also has O Canada in both official languages, with the new gender-neutral lyrics.
RM: What’s your personal favourite song in the book?
BK: (Thinks.) They’re all my favourites, but I’d have to say O Canada. I’m from the USA, and I’ve been living in Canada for 27 years. In 2011, I became a Canadian citizen. At the citizenship ceremony, it was truly an emotional experience singing the national anthem. So, I think that makes O Canada my favourite.
RM: It says Volume 1. When can we expect Volume 2?
BK: Well, right now with COVID, the project has been on pause. Like me, many of the Hal Leonard musicians and team are working from home a lot of the time. But we’re hoping to release Volume 2, which will be a Christmas songbook, sometime in October.
RM: Any sneak-peek info on the titles in Volume 2?
BK: It’s going to have significant Canadian content, with secular and traditional selections, some Christmas tunes, some pop tunes, like Gordon Lightfoot’s Song for a Winter’s Night (also covered by Sarah McLachlan), and tunes from other Canadian artists like Michael Bublé. After this, we hope to continue to grow the series. There may be a camp fire songbook, a kids’ songbook, all in the same fake book format, and all with a Canadian emphasis.
RM: And where can musicians and piano teachers get this book?
BK: It’s exclusively available at Long & McQuade!
Here are the contents organized by decade:
1970s
| Song title | Year | Canadian connection | Role |
| If You Could Read My Mind | 1970 | Gordon Lightfoot (PEI) | Singer/songwriter |
| Takin’ Care of Business | 1974 | Randy Bachman (MB) | Singer/songwriter |
| The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald | 1975 | Gordon Lightfoot (PEI) | Singer/Songwriter |
1980s
| Song title | Year | Canadian connection | Role |
| Could I have this Dance | 1980 | Anne Murray (NS) | Singer |
| Hallelujah | 1984 | Leonard Cohen (PQ) | Singer/songwriter |
| Summer of ’69 | 1985 | Bryan Adams (ON), Jim Vallance (BC) | Singer/songwriters |
| Working for the Weekend | 1981 | Paul Dean, Mike Reno, Matt Frenette (BC) | Singer/songwriters |
1990s
| Song title | Year | Canadian connection | Role |
| Constant Craving | 1992 | K.D. Lang (AB), Ben Mink (ON) | Singer/songwriters |
| I Will Remember You | 1995 | Sarah McLachlan (NS, BC) | Singer/co-writer |
| If I Had $1,000,000 | 1992 | Steven Page (ON), Ed Robertson (ON) | Singers/songwriters |
| Insensitive | 1994 | Jann Arden (AB), Anne Loree (ON, AB) | Singer and songwriter |
| My Heart Will Go On (from TITANIC) | 1997 | Celine Dion (QC) | Singer |
| You Learn | 1996 | Alanis Morissette (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
| You’re Still the One | 1998 | Shania Twain (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
2000s
| Song title | Year | Canadian connection | Role |
| Everything | 2007 | Michael Bublé (BC) | Singer/co-writer |
| How You Remind Me | 2001 | Chad Kroeger (AB), Nickelback (AB) | Singer/songwriters |
| I’m Like a Bird | 2000 | Nelly Furtado (BC) | Singer/songwriter |
| Keep Holding On | 2006 | Avril Lavigne (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
2010s
| Song title | Year | Canadian connection | Role |
| Call Me Maybe | 2012 | Carly Rae Jepsen (BC), Joshua Ramsay (BC), Tavish Crowe (BC) | Singer/songwriters |
| Can’t Feel My Face | 2015 | Abel Tesfaye (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
| Despacito | 2017 | Justin Bieber (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
| Lost Boy | 2015 | Ruth Berhe (AB) | Singer/songwriter |
| Scars to Your Beautiful | 2016 | Alessia (Cara) Caracciolo (ON) | Singer/co-writer |
| There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back | 2017 | Shawn Mendes (ON), Geoffrey Warburton (ON) | Singer/co-writers |
| Welcome to the Rock | 2012 | Irene Sankoff (ON), David Hein (SK), plus it’s about Newfoundland | Songwriters |
This book will be versatile in any music setting, whether you’re jamming with friends (or piano students), or teaching keyboard harmony to your tween, teen and adult piano students. Get yours and enjoy!
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Rebekah Maxner 
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