The Everything Reading Music: A Step-By-Step Introduction To Understanding Music Notation And Theory (Everything® Series)

Bought this for my husband, showed up a day early. Excellent condition. Wrapped up nicely with cardboard so pages wouldn't bend. Very pleased.

-----I've been reading this book now for well over a year and have been using it as a supplement for (self-) studying the piano. "The Everything Reading Music Book" is really two books in one. The first nine chapters (125 pages) cover reading music notation. The second part of the book covers music theory. This is an added bonus. I also have the same series "Music Theory" book and the information from both books tend to compliment each other. Currently I am on Chapter 17 (see below).The beginning of the book contains an interesting explanation of the differences between 'cognitive' and 'experiential' learning as well as including the author's goals and approach in making sure the reader gets the most out of the book.Here is a breakdown of each Chapter:1. The Written Note2. The Elements3. Beating Rhythm4. The Long and Short of Rests5. Meter and Time6. Conquering Rhythm7. The Language of Music8. Expression Markings and Other Music Symbols9. Instrument Specific Notation10. Keys and Key Signatures11. Major Scales12. Minor Scales13. Musical Intervals14. Triads, Chords, Arpeggios and Seventh Chords15. Basic Harmony16. Major Scale Chord Progressions17. Advanced Chord Progressions18. Other Scales19. Transposing Instruments20. Reading Lead SheetsAppendix A: Scale and Chord ReferenceAppendix B: Ranges of Common InstrumentsAppendix C: Solutions to Exercises---This book is an excellent resource and gets a lot of use. I have found that reading, initially, was very difficult but that it becomes easier with time. This experience is perhaps best summarized with the author's own words:"This book is not just about "reading" music, it's also about the information you can learn when you have the ability to read music. Theory, scales, modes, arpeggios, composing and arranging are all tied into reading and documenting music."also:"The general parts about reading music are just that - general! It is not a substitute for methods and manuals that train you to play a particular instrument. Studying music symbology here will make your experience using any other music book easier and more rewarding."---Besides devoting the second half of the book to Music Theory, there is a large section on Rhythm. It includes Thirty-Four (34) playing exercises (Tracks 1 - 34 on the CD) over the course of four chapters (Chapters 3-6, see above) or about fifty pages. For example:Track One starts with an exercise of counting quarter notes.Track Five explains eighth and sixteenth note beaming.Track Eight counts eighth note triplets.Track Twelve covers quarter, half and whole note rests.etc.The topic concludes with a four-exercise test (see Fig. 6-17 through 6-20 : tracks 31-34), entitled "Practicing Common Rhythms" which is designed to familiarize the reader with the most frequent groupings encountered.The author also thoughtfully includes additional resources (see page 74) for those interested in studying Advanced Rhythm.*HINT* If you have difficulty with any of the rhythm exercises, for example on Tracks 20-22 (see page 62-63) there are combined eighth and sixteenth note groupings, just break out your metronome and set it to the slowest speed (40-60 bpm) working your way forward. Once you reach 100 bpm, compare your work with the CD recording.ADDITIONALLY:· The book CD includes 99 separate playing exercises.· The first 34 are rhythm accompaniments (snare drum & metronome)· The rest are performed on digital piano.· It is important to read each section carefully and complete each exercise.· All exercises are meant to be played as well as listened to.· Playing and reading music is a lifetime activity. Enjoy the process!CONCLUSION:Music is a Language and learning a new language is not easy. However, if one is sincere about wanting to learn then there is no barrier (including yourself!) that can stand in your way. In short, learning to read will increase the enjoyment and possibilities for you. This book will help explain your notation questions in an easy-to-understand manner and was written with the beginner in mind.-----~

I love this book with the included CD! All books of this type absolutely MUST have the cd included. Very thoroughly explained-every track recorded. There is a uncompleted section on track 29. He only completes one measure. Recommend.

Great book, but I wish the audio tracks were available online. I don't know how many people still own a CD player, or even a disc drive on their laptops...

I'm only part way into this, but the writing style and layout of the book, as well as the author's excellent teaching approach, give me true hope that I CAN reach my goals with the author's help. The accompanying CD has about 70 examples (if I remember correctly) to assist learning. A much more pleasant and useful approach than my old books from childhood!

This is a good and thorough introductory book that maintains a higher level than the books for dummies or idiot's guides. It covers a lot of the topics and individual aspects that a beginning student will encounter in music. I bought this for a refresher, so as to touch up upon what I had stored in the back darkly lit files of memory from college and reel it back into the forefront of my brain. It served very useful in that sense, as I was able to confidently remember what I had learned through so as to tackle an arrangement of compositions in the Ragtime genre of music. With that being said, I feel that it is well fit and suited for anyone wishing to tackle a start. It even provides useful knowledge on musical theory in history dating back to the notation being a foreign language to most if anyone wanted to try and tackle antiquated pieces without a migraine meddling in too much academic theory.

This book is well laid out. It assums you know nothing about music and starts from the most basic and builds from that. The explanations are thorough yet written in simple terms so that even a total novice can understand the concept being explained. I have several other music books, but this one does the best job of starting the "story" at the begining and going form there to the "end." I am a late-comer to the world of music reading, and this book has been a great resource. I have been studying it and will, I'm sure, come back to it for reference in the future. I highly recomend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to read music and understand all the basic concepts in a well laid out and understandable form.

The Everything Reading Music Book is simply the best book I have ever read concerning the subject of learning to read music, and I have read many others! Marc Schonbrun lays out the information in an easy to understand and logical way, yet remarkably in-depth as well. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for beginners like me who want a truly user-friendly introduction to this often intimidating topic. This book and included CD was a revelation, and provided a quantum increase in my understanding. Bravo, Mr. Schonbrun!!!

Item as advertised. good delivery

used every day

Fantastic!

The book explains some difficult understanding of the different notes for different instruments well. Everything is concise and well balanced. Well written that enables the non musician to grasp the detail.

Really good Music Theory Book , Fair condition. Great deal