Musical Genres Books

A History of Western Music

Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca, J. Peter Burkholder

Amazon Price: $55.26 List Price: $76.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $55.26

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good book (if used with companion books and CDs) from greedy publisher 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is perhaps the most used textbook in the college music history class. It is a fine book, especially if used along with its companion anthology (2 volumes) Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 1: Ancient to Baroque, Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 2: Classic to Twentieth Century and recorded anthology (2 volumes with 12 CDs) Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition, Volume 1: Ancient to Baroque (6 CDs), Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition, Volume 2: Classic to Twentieth Century (6 CDs). I don't think one could learn much from reading through a music history book, without key listening material.

That said, I agree with other reviewers that this book (with companion anthology and CDs) is seriously over-priced. The total price of this book and its companion anthology and CDs is $76+ $45 + $45 +$82.50 +$82.50 = $331! It is reasonable for any publisher to make profits, but to rake it on students is robbery!

Recommended only to those with deep pockets.

Editorial Review:

Renowned for its comprehensive coverage of genres and styles in Western music from antiquity to the present, A History of Western Music has secured its place—through six editions and for almost half a century—as the definitive resource for every musician. In this latest edition, J. Peter Burkholder has renewed and updated the book to suit the ways in which instructors teach and students learn today, all while maintaining the authority and comprehensive coverage that has defined this classic text. In a shift of emphasis, this edition places people making choices at the center of the story. Linking historical and social context directly to musical practice and styles, this edition calls attention to what's important, where it fits, why it matters, and who cares.

Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001)

Don Felder

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $14.09

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Take it to the Limit 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I think Felder did a great job of putting his ego in the background and telling the story straight. Don and Glenn pushed the band from an equal partnership of five Eagles to the two Gods plus their hired hands Tim and Joe. Felder fought and lost. Yes he resents the heck out of them but at the same time is not so blinded by his anger (perhaps due to help from an able ghostwriter) as to present an unrealistically one-sided tale.

The book is clearly cathartic for someone who lost his marriage, his career and decades-long friendships to his fight against Henley and Frey. Anyone who's loved and lost -- or made major life mistakes -- can relate to the story of survival and determination.

It serves as a reminder that the Eagles are more like all the other reunion bands -- with a few originals and several interlopers -- rather than the myth of continuity presented by their PR machine. Of the best-selling rock album of all time -- their Greatest Hits -- only 2 of the original 5 contributors remain. That all seven were present for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is one of the few legitimate codas to the long soap opera of Eagles Ltd.

Editorial Review:

The Eagles are the bestselling, and arguably the tightest-lipped, American group ever. Now band member and guitarist Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles’ years of public silence to take fans behind the scenes. He shares every part of the band’s wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios and trashed hotel rooms to the tension-filled courtrooms, and from the joy of writing powerful new songs to the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with roaring fans.

1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (1,000 Before You Die)

Tom Moon

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $11.80

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The musical adventure of a lifetime. The most exciting book on music in years. A book of treasure, a book of discovery, a book to open your ears to new worlds of pleasure. Doing for music what Patricia Schultz—author of the phenomenal 1,000 Places to See Before You Die—does for travel, Tom Moon recommends 1,000 recordings guaranteed to give listeners the joy, the mystery, the revelation, the sheer fun of great music.

This is a book both broad and deep, drawing from the diverse worlds of classical, jazz, rock, pop, blues, country, folk, musicals, hip-hop, world, opera, soundtracks, and more. It's arranged alphabetically by artist to create the kind of unexpected juxtapositions that break down genre bias and broaden listeners’ horizons— it makes every listener a seeker, actively pursuing new artists and new sounds, and reconfirming the greatness of the classics. Flanking J. S. Bach and his six entries, for example, are the little-known R&B singer Baby Huey and the '80s Rastafarian hard-core punk band Bad Brains. Farther down the list: The Band, Samuel Barber, Cecelia Bartoli, Count Basie, and Afropop star Waldemer Bastos.

Each entry is passionately written, with expert listening notes, fascinating anecdotes, and the occasional perfect quote—"Your collection could be filled with nothing but music from Ray Charles," said Tom Waits, "and you'd have a completely balanced diet." Every entry identifies key tracks, additional works by the artist, and where to go next. And in the back, indexes and playlists for different moods and occasions.

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

Nikki Sixx

Amazon Price: $21.45 List Price: $32.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pocket Books Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $17.16

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 257 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In one of the most unique memoirs of addiction ever published, Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx shares mesmerizing diary entries from the year he spiraled out of control in a haze of heroin and cocaine, presented alongside riveting commentary from people who were there at the time, and from Nikki himself.

When Mötley Crüe was at the height of its fame, there wasn't any drug Nikki Sixx wouldn't do. He spent days -- sometimes alone, sometimes with other addicts, friends, and lovers -- in a coke and heroin-fueled daze. The highs were high, and Nikki's journal entries reveal some euphoria and joy. But the lows were lower, often ending with Nikki in his closet, surrounded by drug paraphernalia and wrapped in paranoid delusions.

Here, Nikki shares those diary entries -- some poetic, some scatterbrained, some bizarre -- and reflects on that time. Joining him are Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Bob Rock, and a host of ex-managers, ex-lovers, and more.

Brutally honest, utterly riveting, and shockingly moving, The Heroin Diaries follows Nikki during the year he plunged to rock bottom -- and his courageous decision to pick himself up and start living again.

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Nikki Sixx, Neil Strauss

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperEntertainment Amazon Marketplace: 69 new & used starting at $6.20

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 366 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The most influential, enduring, and iconic metal band of the 1980's reveals everything a tell-all of epic proportions.

This unbelievable autobiography explores the rebellious lives of four of the most influential icons in American rock history.

Motley Crue was the voice of a barely pubescent Generation X, the anointed high priests of backward-masking pentagram rock, pioneers of Hollywood glam, and the creators of MTV's first "power ballad." Their sex lives claimed celebrities from Heather Locklear to Pamela Anderson to Donna D'Errico. Their scuffles involved everyone from Axl Rose to 2LiveCrew. Their hobbies have included collecting automatic weapons, cultivating long arrest records, pushing the envelope of conceivable drug abuse, and dreaming up backstage antics that would make Ozzy Osbourne blanch with modesty.

Provocatively written and brilliantly designed, this book includes over 100 photos, many never before published, for the most exciting and insightful look ever into the Crue.

Tonal Harmony

Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne

Amazon Price: $62.88 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $62.88

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Editorial Review:

For nearly two decades Tonal Harmony has been the leading text for the two-year theory curriculum for music majors. Used at nearly 800 schools, Tonal Harmony has been consistently praised for its practicality and ease of use for student and instructor alike. The straightforward approach is supported by well-chosen examples and thoughtful exercises, and the total presentation is compatible with differing teaching styles and theoretical points of view. In addition, a set outstanding ancillaries, which include a collection of audio examples on CD (for both the text and workbook) and an extensive Instructor's Manual, round out the comprehensive teaching package.

Clapton: The Autobiography

Eric Clapton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 302 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“I found a pattern in my behavior that had been repeating itself for years, decades even. Bad choices were my specialty, and if something honest and decent came along, I would shun it or run the other way.”

With striking intimacy and candor, Eric Clapton tells the story of his eventful and inspiring life in this poignant and honest autobiography. More than a rock star, he is an icon, a living embodiment of the history of rock music. Well known for his reserve in a profession marked by self-promotion, flamboyance, and spin, he now chronicles, for the first time, his remarkable personal and professional journeys.

Born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents, Eric never knew his father and, until the age of nine, believed his actual mother to be his sister. In his early teens his solace was the guitar, and his incredible talent would make him a cult hero in the clubs of Britain and inspire devoted fans to scrawl “Clapton is God” on the walls of London’s Underground. With the formation of Cream, the world's first supergroup, he became a worldwide superstar, but conflicting personalities tore the band apart within two years. His stints in Blind Faith, in Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and in Derek and the Dominos were also short-lived but yielded some of the most enduring songs in history, including the classic “Layla.”

During the late sixties he played as a guest with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, as well as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and longtime friend George Harrison. It was while working with the latter that he fell for George’s wife, Pattie Boyd, a seemingly unrequited love that led him to the depths of despair, self-imposed seclusion, and drug addiction. By the early seventies he had overcome his addiction and released the bestselling album 461 Ocean Boulevard, with its massive hit “I Shot the Sheriff.” He followed that with the platinum album Slowhand, which included “Wonderful Tonight,” the touching love song to Pattie, whom he finally married at the end of 1979. A short time later, however, Eric had replaced heroin with alcohol as his preferred vice, following a pattern of behavior that not only was detrimental to his music but contributed to the eventual breakup of his marriage.
In the eighties he would battle and begin his recovery from alcoholism and become a father. But just as his life was coming together, he was struck by a terrible blow: His beloved four-year-old son, Conor, died in a freak accident. At an earlier time Eric might have coped with this tragedy by fleeing into a world of addiction. But now a much stronger man, he took refuge in music, responding with the achingly beautiful “Tears in Heaven.”

Clapton is the powerfully written story of a survivor, a man who has achieved the pinnacle of success despite extraordinary demons. It is one of the most compelling memoirs of our time.

The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Redemption, from Asbury Park to Magic (Gospel According To...) (Gospel According To...)

Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks By: Westminster John Knox Press Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $10.16

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Deeper Look at the Springsteen Canon 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I have just finished reading this book, and will soon go out and buy several more copies for friends and relatives-- longtime Springsteen fans and newcomers alike. Symynkwicz does an excellent job of laying out before us in a clear and coherent manner so many of the themes that we always knew were there in Bruce's work-- themes like hope, redemption, the power of love, and the yearning for social justice and real patriotism. Because this book is so well organized, one album at a time, and because the author lays out the lyrics and main ideas of particular songs so clearly, it can be used both by those who have an expert's knowledge of everything Springsteen has written, as well as those who might just be curious, or just passing fans. The book also is a nice balance between the popular and the scholarly, and a nice blend of Springsteen's ideas and the author's. It's full of very interesting & pithy insights that will get the reader thinking further into the meaning in Bruce's wonderful lyrics.

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 239 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of Bach, the artwork of Escher, and the mathematics of Gödel. It also looks at the prospects for computers and artificial intelligence (AI) for mimicking human thought. For the general reader and the computer techie alike, this book still sets a standard for thinking about the future of computers and their relation to the way we think.

Hofstadter's great achievement in Gödel, Escher, Bach was making abstruse mathematical topics (like undecidability, recursion, and 'strange loops') accessible and remarkably entertaining. Borrowing a page from Lewis Carroll (who might well have been a fan of this book), each chapter presents dialogue between the Tortoise and Achilles, as well as other characters who dramatize concepts discussed later in more detail. Allusions to Bach's music (centering on his Musical Offering) and Escher's continually paradoxical artwork are plentiful here. This more approachable material lets the author delve into serious number theory (concentrating on the ramifications of Gödel's Theorem of Incompleteness) while stopping along the way to ponder the work of a host of other mathematicians, artists, and thinkers.

The world has moved on since 1979, of course. The book predicted that computers probably won't ever beat humans in chess, though Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997. And the vinyl record, which serves for some of Hofstadter's best analogies, is now left to collectors. Sections on recursion and the graphs of certain functions from physics look tantalizing, like the fractals of recent chaos theory. And AI has moved on, of course, with mixed results. Yet Gödel, Escher, Bach remains a remarkable achievement. Its intellectual range and ability to let us visualize difficult mathematical concepts help make it one of this century's best for anyone who's interested in computers and their potential for real intelligence. --Richard Dragan

Topics Covered: J.S. Bach, M.C. Escher, Kurt Gödel: biographical information and work, artificial intelligence (AI) history and theories, strange loops and tangled hierarchies, formal and informal systems, number theory, form in mathematics, figure and ground, consistency, completeness, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, recursive structures, theories of meaning, propositional calculus, typographical number theory, Zen and mathematics, levels of description and computers; theory of mind: neurons, minds and thoughts; undecidability; self-reference and self-representation; Turing test for machine intelligence.

Tonal Harmony

Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne

Amazon Price: $75.80 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $59.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Excellent Harmony Text 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent introduction, covering most aspects of theory thoroughly. It is also MUCH easier to read than Walter Piston's Harmony. The problem is that this book is much more abstract than piston's book, breezes over inversions of chords much too quickly and is a tad lax in the rules of voice leading. I do suggest you consider that text as well.

It's still a good introduction that you will ACTUALLY READ. It covers all triads, seventh chords, chord functions, chromatically altered chords like Neapolitan and Augmented sixth chords, covers non-harmonic tones, and even goes off onto other (more abstract) topics.

As to the reviewer below who pointed out that it neglects counterpoint and focuses too much on the vertical aspect of music (for example, in the exercises EVER note is a different chord and almost no non-harmonic tones are employed): this is an ELEMENTARY HARMONY text. Counterpoint is generally approached after the student has mastered all that is contained in this book. The exercises are meant to teach voice leading and chord functions. Fux's treatise on Counterpoint from Gradus Ad Parnassum clearly states that what is learned in the "first part" on Harmony still applies in writing counterpoint. The horizontal aspect of music can be taught better if the the vertical aspect is understood first. Multiple times Fux also says that exercises, whether those in the book on counterpoint or those in this text, are designed to instruct and make future writing of music easier, but aren't the same as writing music.

Editorial Review:

Designed to meet the needs of the two-year theory curriculum for music majors, this straightforward market-leading text emphasizes practicality and ease of use for both the student and the instructor. Its outstanding ancillaries, which include a collection of audio examples on CD (for both the text and workbook), Finale Workbook Software, and an extensive Instructor's Manual, round out the comprehensive teaching package.