Music Books

I love the book and tape. I listened to it all the time when I was a kid back in the 80's. It would put me to sleep in a heart beat. I loved every single song and I still remember most of the words. I had the tape until a couple of days ago when my two year old daughter got a hold of it and ruined it. I hope I'm able to find another one for her and I to enjoy together. I had just recently found it and hadn't even got to play it for her yet. If I do find one I'll make sure it stays way out of her reach. I wish it wasn't out of production I'd buy one for every kid in the family.

My older child received this as a baby gift and listened nightly at bedtime. Ultimately, the tape wore out. When my son was born a few years later, a friend found it. Having not heard it for 2 years, my daughter's head began bobbing as she fell asleep in the car the minute she heard the beginning! Now, 9 years later, we got it again for our 3rd baby and it's still an all time favorite for. The book is cute, but the tape is really the winner for us!

My daughter, now 15, was very difficult to get to sleep and Lullaby River was such a joy to have that I actually looked forward to hearing it too...each and every time. We both loved all the songs and I am very disappointed to see that it's out print as my casette wore out long ago and I'd love to play the songs again for her.

Our family loves Lullaby River! The wonderfully rich sound of Maria & Linda Danly is intoxicating. Tucker the Turtle is so pleasant as he takes you on a trip down Lullaby River. I especially appreciate the way the music and dialogue reinforce the ideas of respecting and caring for the world around us. My neice and nephew were raised on Lullaby River. We are continuing the tradition of love for Lullaby River with our children.

Lullaby River is an enchanting book and cassette for both children and adults. Our son and daughter loved listening to the story and music and enjoyed singing the songs of Tucker the Turtle before naptime. The beautiful illustrations by Maria Danly compliment Linda Danly's lovely voice. Thoughtfully conceived and executed this is an engaging work which is a treasure to experience.

Lyrical Life is a classy, clever gift idea for any music fan and it would make a great stocking stufffer. The artwork is wonderful and the concept is a lot of fun - my friends and I have been quizzing each other on the songs that make up the storyline.

Every page has a wealth of tunes, puns and fun! I especially liked the sight gags. The author and the illustrator obviously collaborated well. What I can't understand is how they stopped laughing and got the tears cleared long enough to get this book written!

Music is always with you, when you drive, when you think, when you dream and when watch tv. Songs remind you of summers, lovers, moments and moods. This books will capture all of that. It will talk deep into your soul, showing you that the lyrics you know form a nice story, well narrated and illustrated. But this book is way more then that. This book is different for every reader, because each page will resonate in a different way for each reader. There are a thousand stories in this book, hidden among the lines.
You need to find yours!!

You've got the music in you!!! (new radicals)

What a wonderfully inventive idea....the illustrations are SO clever and they MAKE this book, without a doubt. Bold, great colors and textures, creative, very witty and artfully intelligent drawings...we should see more of Mark Malloy!! This book has great appeal to music lovers, and especially to those who grew up during the 70s and 80s. You will find yourself singing along! I bought a bunch to share with friends, and recommend you all do the same.

This is a must have for any music fan! Great stocking stuffer!!

Mr Fordin's a great writer with great taste in subject matter. I owned this one first in hardback as "The World of Entertainment". It's so fabulous I bought it again in paperback. One of the best researched and documented film books I know.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!!!

I love to know the behind-the-scenes of the days Gene Kelly made his magic at MGM, so Gene drew me to buying this book. Well, Mr Arthur Freed, if there could be more "bosses" like you today, the workplace would be a much happier place to be. Arthur and his "UNIT" or as I like to call them, "THE CREW" will have you laughing, maybe even crying and definitely astounded, amazed and so very happy that this man was the back bone and the money maker of this fabulous studio of the real movie days. His mind is one that could never be found again in any producer of today. They definitely cracked the mould when they made this man. So, I recommend that you buy this book, and even purchase the movie under the same title. Mr Hugh Fordin has done the most fantastic job on this book. You will feel like you are standing there in every scene that is described..

Hugh Fordin is an expert in his field. His detailed research is clearly evident throughout this work. His love of theater, film and particularly the Hollywood (make that MGM) Musical is revealed in the many interviews he conducted with people involved in every aspect of the productions he writes about.He shares small insights and many heretofore unknown facts about this disappeared genre of movie making. If this isn't a textbook at film schools, it should be. A superb work whose value increases over the years.

I was expecting this to be a straight biography of Arthur Freed with discussions on his films but instead I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire book is a blow-by-blow account of how the films were made (which to a movie buff is pure heaven) and, as the author says, Freed's movies were his life anyway.

I think it says something that the title of this book is "M.G.M.'s Greatest Musicals", since the truly amazing thing is that one man was more or less responsible for all of them. Great behind-the-scenes stories.

The text of this book is very interesting. It's more of a nuts and bolts of how the movies were put together than a critque of the movies themselves.

However, beware if you are replacing an older edition of this book. This edition is inferior to one that I had years ago. The pictures in this version look like they were photocopied from an earlier version of the book. Many are grainy and washed out. Also, a number of the pictures at the tops of pages are cropped so that tops of some of the heads are cut off. I know this wasn't how earlier versions of this book looked. Although a minor point, in the back of previous editions there was a list of much money each film cost, as well as the domestic and foreign grosses of each film. I found this interesting, and I was sorry to see it missing.

As a long time veteran of music lessons, I can attest to the importance of the instructor on the outcome of the lessons - for both the student and the teacher. Having had two so-so, "bored with the whole concept, but gotta pay the bills somehow" teachers, and one excellent, inspiring "be the best you can be and have fun doing it" teacher, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book as an excellent guide on becoming the latter.

Not all kids are prodigies, and not all students want to go on to win State competitions and have prestigious careers as soloists. Some do, of course, but some just want to be able to play well around the campfire or at their cousin's wedding, and have fun doing it. Some take up an instrument later in life because they are recovering from an injury and playing an instrument can improve their dexterity, or simply because they want to finally experience the joy of making music now that the kids are out from under foot, and they finally have the time. Ms. Blanchard offers a great collection of fun and creative ways to help every type of student, from the prodigy to the part-timer, meet their own particular goals, as well as excellent tips on setting up a teaching studio to be profitable and successful.

Ms. Blanchard demonstrates an intuitiveness in this book that reflects her years of teaching, and draws upon that experience to provide useful guidelines for the music instructor to follow to help achieve the best results for each student. Students come in all ages, skill levels and attitudes, and have widely variable family backgrounds, social and financial situations and personal goals. This book provides thought-provoking questions that instructors can ask themselves to help assess how each particular student can best reach their goals, and provides insightful ideas on how to make the learning process an enjoyable and positive experience for everyone - including the student, their family, and the instructor too!

The impact a great teacher can have on a student is undeniable. A great teacher can inspire, encourage, and motivate students to embrace life-changing principles which will affect not just their music but every aspect of their life. I would encourage all music teachers hoping to become that great teacher, to take advantage of this excellent collection of insights to become more effective at enriching their students' (and their own) music and lives.

Bonnie Blanchard's book "Making Music, Enriching Lives" is a joyful, fun and inspiring read, imbued with the author's enthusiasm and humor. The book is pleasantly personal, filled with many stories and examples, which go straight to the heart of teaching. The numerous suggestions offered are practical, rather than mechanical. For example, the book does not cover the physics of tone (the air hits here at this angle, etc), rather it offers ways to help students find and instill in themselves the motivation and desire to practice tone. I read the book, cover to cover, over a long weekend (away from my teaching studio) and was reenergized upon my return - this book is its own "mini-teaching spa/retreat"!

The book is unique, specifically because of its focus on the "human" side of teaching - drawing attention to students' varied abilities, personalities and learning styles. Ms. Blanchard presents many suggestions to help build and nurture the student/teacher relationship, as well as the teacher/parent relationship - both primary factors for student success. In addition, it not only encourages us to challenge and raise the bar for our students' playing skills, but to do the same for our own teaching skills.

Ms. Blanchard reiterates the importance of teaching the "whole" musician, rather than "a piece of music". She offers helpful suggestions for incorporating fundamentals and musicality within each lesson and provides many pointers to help students build their problem-solving and independent learning skills. The author includes a valuable list of suggestions to help students become creative and critical thinkers.

The sections discussing the varied learning styles of boys vs. girls, as well as the section specifically addressing the characteristics of adult learners are extremely informative and helpful. The author places important emphasis upon the learning process and the skills acquired and enhanced throughout, rather than placing the most important emphasis on what the author defines as "outcome goals" (winning the audition, something in control of the judges, not the student). Also unique is the Ms. Blanchard's "Music for Life Notebook System", which ultimately provides students with a personalized reference of all they have learned.

Overall, the book was a refreshing look at many aspects of teaching, offering a myriad of ways to lead each student to their fullest musical potential, through a balance of hard work and fun! One of the most memorable lines in the book is Ms. Blanchard's statement that, "Many musicians decide to become music teachers because the love music. A better reason would be because they love helping people". I believe this not only best sums up what teaching should be, but also the overall nature of the book - "Making Music and Enriching Lives" helps teachers, help their students develop skills to experience joy, confidence and success, in music and many other areas of their lives.

"Making Music and Enriching Lives" offers something for everyone - new teachers, experienced teachers, burnt-out teachers, teachers relocating or teachers of any instrument. The title is well suited to the book, as it will "enrich" the teaching of those who read it and in turn "enrich" the lesson experience of their students. I highly recommend this book to all teachers - keep it in your library, as you will undoubtedly refer to it often. If possible, for the first read, find a quiet spot, curl up with a good cup of tea and be inspired!

One of the best books on pedagogy I've read. Bonnie's work is positively brimming with ideas -- I found it difficult to get through the book in a timely manner; I was too busy trying to incorporate the ideas from my previous reading.

Bonnie's style is very conversational, making the book a fun and light read despite the heavy amount of content. She strives to make the work useful and full of examples from every instrument, making this the most comprehensive work on pedagogy I've come across. The helpful sections on methods of bill collection and marketing as a private teacher were sorely needed and filled in a lot of gaps in my conservatory education.

As a voice teacher of many years, it was a joy to read this inspirational book, with wonderful advice for all teachers (not even in the music field). It shows you're never too old to learn new motivational tricks and ways to be more organized as well. Hats off to Ms. Blanchard!!
Margaret Russell
Essen Germany

A number of people sent me the Amazon link for this book and indicated that it was the best book they'd read in this subject area. Mine arrived yesterday and I can't put it down. It really is excellent. I do think that the characterological makeup of pianists and string players is different than that of flute players (the book is written by a flute teacher and freelancer in Washington state), but nevertheless, the book is full of ideas and helpful recommendations, and is not to be missed.

Only Max Morath and his wife, photographer Diane Skomars, could have created this book. It's a beautifully designed time capsule, a portrait of a showman who, though he plays music from the turn of the century, is very much a man of the present. The iconography of the freeway -- lurid hotel, restaurant, and gas station signs -- is part of this story, as well as Max's pithy words on chocolate malts, where to sit on an airplane (on the aisle toward the front), and a thoughtful final essay called "Thinking About the Music" wherein Max tells us exactly where American popular music came from.

This is a non-fiction book you can actually read! It's funny, truthful, revealing, exciting and fun. Max approaches this book the way he approaches his music--with vigor and enthusiasm. The pictures have depth--you get to know Max through the photography. Would highly recommend it!

Max Morath and Diane Skomars have created a handsome book celebrating Max's career as a channeler of American popular culture. Max loves the American present as much as he loves its past. He's been stirring the melting pot for fifty years now, mixing musical styles, fact, fiction, humor, and social observation. This book is much like a Morath concert--that is, it is sweet, funny, and wise. Skomars' photographs gorgeously depict the world of "Present Max"--a world of fast food, lookalike motels, freeway signs--as he travels to take "Past Max" to audiences everywhere. A beautiful evocation of Max at work and on his way to work.

In all of the mass of literature about American entertainment, there are only a few books that give you an accurate idea of what show business is really like -- ACT ONE, by Moss Hart, THE TROUBLE WITH CINDERELLA, by Artie Shaw, ALL OF MY BEST FRIENDS, by George Burns, and the occasional passage in a star's autobiography (Sophie Tucker, Billy Rose, Little Richard).

Now, THE ROAD TO RAGTIME has joined that select company. Thanks to Max Morath and Diane Fay Skomars, we have a document that shows what real American show business is like in the late 20th Century trenches -- the one-man show, the community concerts circuit, the roadhouses and honky-tonks, radio, television, and anywhere else there's an audience ready to be entertained.

Max Morath is one of America's greatest entertainers. He's one of those magical peformers who's able to get the audience in the palm of his hand the moment he takes the stage. What's extraordinary is that he's been able to be so successful without ever compromising the integrity of his music.

He's a national treasure -- and this terrific book helps us unlock it.

-- Murray Horwitz National Public Radio

Only Max Morath and his wife, photographer Diane Skomars, could have created this book. It's a beautifully designed time capsule, a portrait of a showman who, though he plays music from the turn of the century, is very much a man of the present. The iconography of the freeway -- lurid hotel, restaurant, and gas station signs -- is part of this story, as well as Max's pithy words on chocolate malts, where to sit on an airplane (on the aisle toward the front), and a thoughtful final essay called "Thinking About the Music" wherein Max tells us exactly where American popular music came from.

O-o-o-o-h! To hear VLM play is to hear bass at it's best. Surely he is in the Bass pantheon with Ron Carter, Jaco Pastorious, et al, but I do believe Vic is on a seperate plane of bass nirvana. From the first note, you KNOW you are hearing something special, something no one else can touch! How amazing to read what influences him, motivates him, makes him tick. From a tightly knit clan of brothers in a military family, you see how the youngest brother, Vic, reaped the reward of his older siblings' musical expression. He says that he learned to play before he really learned to talk, and that music is just another language to him. It is simple yet profound thinking like this that permeates all he sets his hand to musically. A languid sense of humor and the bond between him and other players is reflected throughout the book. But lest you think it is a sweet pastel of his life, rest assured that he is quite honest and truthful with both himself and the music business. The book is a wonderful 'conversation' with an old friend you never realized you had, but you realize after reading (and hearing) him that he has changed how you look at music. In my opinion, Victor Wooten can play no wrong. And he doesn't do bad at the written word either.

I never write reviews. NEVER. This book, well, I had to write about. This book rocks! It has any and everything you would ever want to know about Vic Wooten, music, the bass, the martial arts...all kinda stuff. I'm a bass player but this book would be good for anyone. I really like the way the writer worked it. It was really conversational. Felt like he was talking right to me. It was easy to read and I finished it in two days. If you are a musician, you gotta have this book. If you are not a musician, you still gotta have it. Gotta go. Hear ya on the bass line.

I never understood joy in reading non-fiction until I read this book. I thought Paul Hargett's approach to the book was totally you-neek and instead of just listing facts, he tells about every aspect of Victor's life in an informal way. When I've read biography's I normally drug through them, but I finished this book in two days! The story of Victor's life is fascinating already, and with a style of writing that reads like a narrative, it makes the book all the better.
P.S. I am a bass player, and recently saw the "Soul Circus" show and was COMPLETELY blown away.

The author's writing style really grated on me. It reminded me of an 8th grade reader. I almost felt the book should have been titled Me (the author) and Victor Wooten. The only chapter written more about the subject matter than the author's relationship to it was the chapter on Martial Arts. It seemed like the only topic he was so respectful of he didn't feel a need to inject himself into it. If only the rest of the book had been written the same way.

Sorry for turning this into a review of the author's writing style. I can't remember when a writing style irritated me so much, yet I give this book 5 stars! It is because the book is well layed out, quite complete and tells an incredible story about an amazing person.

Wish there was a book about Regi Wooten as well!

Yes - I play bass, saw Victor's band just last week :-) and even got him to sign my copy of the book.

Victor Wooten has to be the most phenomenol, world changing bass player since Jaco. I love fiction more than any other genre and normally find non-fiction extremely boring, but this book is written in a different way than any other biography I have ever read. It is a captivating story that will capture and absorb any type of reader regaurless of age or social status. Vic Wooten is honestly a more intresting a person than a bass player. He is a family man, a magician, a soccer player, a basketball player, a juggler, a gymnast, and can do just about anything you can imagine. This is a must read for anyone who can.

Been playing out of this book for a short time and I learned so much from it already!!! This Cookbook really does teach you to cook!!! The CD helps compliment the material in the book!!! A definite must have for all drummers!!!

I have only been playing drums for a couple of years, but I really like the beats in this book. They are basically pretty simple to understand but are just challenging enough to play. It really gets me thinking about how many ways I can rock a beat, which is what you need to get used to doing when you're first starting. I can also see it being useful for more experienced drummers who want a fun way to exercise and stay sharp. The CD helps if you're not really used to reading music like me, but experienced musicians won't likely need it. An excellent buy.

I used this book when I first took lessons, and it's still a great way to get really comfortable with almost every imaginable variation of the basic 4/4 rock beat. The grooves in here are fun to play and can be used in real playing, it's not just for learning.

I've only been playing for a couple months but this book has been amazing in helping me improvise with different beats. There are hundreds of beats based on basically two beats and while that seems redundant, it really teaches all the different ways you can mess with a simple beat, giving you the tools to do the same to any other beat. I don't think this would be very beneficial for an advanced drummer or somebody who wants to learn jazz because it's all in straight eigths...for everybody else, it's essential!

This is a great book because it builds varations over a given rhythm unit and shows you that subtle changes can lead to interesting variations.

Once you know a rhythm and can make variations on it, it becomes yours in a way that most music instruction books miss with their examples.

Really great book! I used to play all of these songs when I played cello. It's nice to play these songs again on bass. I would reccomend any serious bass player to get this book. They might not be show music, but it is real relaxing playing through these timless songs.

Any bassist, or any musician for that matter should take the time to study J.S. Bach. These studies help improve left hand dexterity and open your eyes to a whole world of runs you might have not thought about before. A must for a beginner, great challange for intermediate, great maintenance for experts.

This stuff is challenging, but not impossible, and Bach was such a genius and his music flows so naturally (don't know how else to explain it) that it's fun to improvise after getting the patterns down. The tab, along with standard notation, is handy for fingering.

Pretty Sweet book. If you are looking to breathe some fresh air into your repertoire, or perhaps step outside styles. This may be the book for you. I found it gave a different perspective on an instrument I've played for twenty+ years. Classical style music may not be your cup of tea, but given a chance, Bach's compositions transcend styles and time. Simply good music, that is both fun and challenging.
Comes with both Standard notation and tab. As with all tab, you'll have had to have heard the piece beforehand to make sense of it. Highly recommended

These arrangements are simply beautiful. Challenging, but very rewarding. Great for personal enjoyment or private study. As a teacher, this is one of the materials I use with my students in their private lessons.

Awesome
Any pianist aspiring to improve must read this book. It has lots of information and theory in a condensed way. Also it includes 2 sections on harmonization. ¡Awesome! Your ideas will flow right away. You will be soaring high very fast. I also recommend The Jazz Theory book by Mark Levine. The Levine book is a complete course on Jazz that can be applied to any instrument. A Jazz player can't be considered a Jazz player without reading these 2 books.

"Jazz Piano Chords" is a well-thought-out and equally well-layed-out book for the beginning as well as the more experienced jazz pianist. There are many chord dictionaries on the market, but this one is specifically designed for jazz pianists, and it goes into detail about how chords are structured and when to use and not use specific types of chords. Preceding the chord charts are about twenty-five pages of text with explanations of the basics of what intervals and chords are and how they function in different musical settings (solo piano, as an accompanist, in a combo, etc.). The text then moves into voicings and a thorough exploration of the various kinds of chords with many charts to illustrate how these chords are built and used. Next follow the chord charts for all keys, charts of chords used for harmonizing in all keys, and charts of quartal harmonies in all keys. The final chart is spelling suggestions for the various chords. An award-winning jazz pianist as well as a composer of many different styles of music, Misha Stefanuk shares a wealth of knowledge in a concise and very readable fashion. An easy-to-use reference book as well as an excellent textbook, it is recommended for any pianist who wants to learn how to play jazz and to understand the fundamental structure of jazz piano.

Much material in the book to be learned...this stuff will definitely keep you off the streets at night!

If you master the material in this book, you just may have the skills to earn a part-time (or maybe full-time) living playing jazz.

Hey! That would put you back in the streets performing gigs - all night! Hmmmmm....that could be fun!! Five stars!!

This book is a good resource for jazz players. I thought it would have the fingerings for the chords (for beginners). But if you can read treble and bass clefs its great!!!! It has just about every possibility you can imagine!!!!

This book is a great, valuable resource. As an aspiring musician, I would often find it frustrating to find the right chord to harmonize the melody note I picked. This book has an entire section on chords that will harmonize each melody note, so it is as simple is picking out the chord from whatever progression you want to use! Eperienced musicians will find this helpful and valuable . . . beginning musicans NEED it! Great investment, you won't regret purchasing it.

Author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Fiddle (Complete Idiot's Guide to)

What can I say? Chicago police chief Francis O'Neill collected these tunes in the late part of the 19th century. We can have it on our shelves today. Over a thousand tunes from the Irish tradition. Essential book on the shelf for any Irish musician for reference, reminding or discovering new tunes.

The ultimate book when it comes to Irish folk music and amazon.com is one of the few places that stock the full edition not the revised ed. which has many cuts

You really can't not have this book, if you're going to get very deep into Irish traditional music. I think most Irish musicians would agree with me on that, too. (I teach Irish traditional fiddle.) There is another version, edited by Miles Krassen, that I do not recommend (Krassen "updated" the settings in idiosyncratic and often not particularly helpful ways). But I do recommend the other "big" O'Neill's--"1001 Gems." The latter and "Music of Ireland" are *not* the same book, although they have considerable overlapping content, many tunes are in one but not the other.

Basically, while as a teacher and player I don't recommend actually *learning* tunes from tunebooks like this, this great tome is extremely useful for purposes of reminding yourself how tunes go, for acquainting yourself with tunes, for getting ideas about good settings, for practicing sight-reading, etc.

I purchased this for my father, who is a mountain dulcimer enthusiast. It's a nice thick book with soft cover, bound with the cheapness typical of most music publications. It's too big to sit easily on a music stand, so I imagine it's intended as a sort of Irish folk music dictionary. In this capacity, it is excellent. There are nearly two-thousand tunes, indexed by title. These are short- the vast majority only a couple of lines long. A tune consists of melody on a treble-clef staff (if you need tablature, this isn't a good place to start), embellished by 19th-century style ornaments. Each is given both its conventional Irish (Gaelic) and English names and the composer to whom it is attributed. There are no notes about the scholarship behind the collection or how these tunes might be approached in performance. The engraving is nice (done around the turn of the century), and fairly easy on the eyes.

Look no further. Of all the Irish tune books, this is the one to get. It goes by many names, "O'Neill's", the "big O'Neill's", the "1850", and the "yellow book". Like the Fiddler's Fakebook, I am on my second "yellow book", having worn out the first till the pages came out. This collection contains most if not all of the Irish tunes you will hear being played, and many hundreds more you will want to play.

I find it indispensable for several reasons -

It's a reference - when I hear an Irish tune that I like on an album or in concert or a jam session, I look it up in the "yellow book" to determine the canonical version. I'll probably end up playing it my way anyway, or the way I hear it played, but I like to at least see the "official" version.

It's a collection - most of the Irish tunes I have come to love and learned to play are here collected in one volume.

Its an exercise book - the "1850" serves as a seeming endless supply of sight reading material, after I have practiced scales and tunes I know.

It's a diamond mine - there are gems in there, just waiting to be learned. Amazing and uncommon tunes lying between the pages waiting for the curious musician to breath life into them. Grab a tune, take it to a session, set it free.

Get a copy of O'Neill's Music of Ireland, and the Fiddler's Fakebook. There are many other wonderful tune books, but these two are essential.