Reference Books of Interest
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Reference Books of Interest |
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Music Theory |
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| Harmony - Walter Piston W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Ave, NY NY |
Fundamental stuff, one of the standard texts, like Harvard Encyclopedia of Music. Very classical oriented. I never found any of these texts particularly useful mainly because they assume genius level comprehension, but there are nuggets of information found no where else. |
| Writing Music for Hit Songs Jai Josefs Writers Digest Books Cincinnati, Ohio |
Now we're talking music theory that you can use no matter where your head is at. All the harmony theory is there based on modern pop music. The many layers of historically confusing labels for the same thing are missing. The approach is modern and direct. If you want to study how to write a motet this is not it. If you want to write music for the now and in the future, this is truly an good start. |
| Arranged by Nelson Riddle Nelson Riddle Warner Bros. Publications Inc. Hollywood, California |
This is a spiral bond edition that provides you with a lot of knowledge of instrument range verses useful range. It describes what instruments go together where and when. Nelson Riddle was a wizard at arranging music and his insights are in this book. Arranging for computer is made a lot easy by following Nelson's advise. Your MIDI tracks will be a lot better by using this type of book. There are many books like this, but this one is super. |
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Barbershop Arranging Manual |
Well, solid knowledge is where you find it. I have sung
Barbershop for years, years ago and this is a very good theory book,
albeit, everything is in 7ths. Lots of good relational diagrams and basic
easy to read theory. From Julliard to street music the theory is the same.
Sometimes it is easier to learn, if you can understand the language it is
written in. Besides I wanted to make sure you knew what S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A
(Sa-Peeb-Sqau) was. |
| Music History | |
| A History of Western Music Donald Jay Grout W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Ave, NY NY |
This is a ubiquitous music course that includes several additional volumes of music examples that has been around for years. It is a great way to learn about the classics all the way up to modern time. The example scores are the companion to recordings that provide for a good understanding of the text. I got a copy at an used book store and gathered up the associated pieces at various places. |
| Heritage of Music Oxford University Press Oxford, New York |
This comes in four large volumes (coffee table book size) and is a wonderful thing to look at. It is rich with pictures and the writing is excellent. I have read the set a couple of times and still enjoy looking at it. It is heavy on the history of Classical Music and the way the Church has guided it. The history of the Church is the history of western music. I guess we will never know the sounds of the pagan. Check it out from the Library. |
| The Symphony 1800-1900 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 fifth Ave, NY NY |
This is a book of scores. It is your job to go out a buy a copy of each of the pieces in it, then sit back and try to keep up with the music. It is a lot of fun and if you are a composer at heart, there is a lot of learning contained in this approach. What sound is associated with what note pattern and rhythm is gleaned from the experience. Noting the orchestration and instrument sonority is a valuable lesson short of having your own orchestra. |
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Bibliographies |
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| Bach Malcom Boyd Vintage Master Musicians Series New York, Y |
Good book about Bach. |
| Mozart Marcia Davenport Avon Books 105 Madison Ave, NY NY |
Good book about Mozart. |
| Bernstein Joan Peyser Ballantine Books New York, NY |
Good book about Lenny. |
| Tchaikowsky Alexander Poznansky Schirmer Books Simon & Schuster Macmillan, NY |
This is a deep and disturbing book about a deep and
disturbing person. This is a psych-book and the detailed story of the man.
His music was so great that the story of his life is hard to imagine, but
he was Russian - what can I say. |
| Encyclopedias | |
| Collins Encyclopedia of Music William Collins Sons & Co Ltd. Chancellor Press, London |
There are a lot of these and mostly way to fancy for my tastes. This one I found at a garage sale. It covered everything, so I use it from time to time. You need something to look up those strange musical terms you can't find anywhere else. |
