Appreciation Books - Page 4

The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body

Steven J. Mithen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Yabba-dabba-do! Fred Flintstone would give this book two thumbs up!! 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

+++++

"The Neanderthals who inhabited Europe and south-west Asia had brains as large as those of modern humans but behaved in a quite different fashion, one that indicates the absence of language...So, what were the Neanderthals doing with such large brains?...Answer: the Neanderthals used their brains for a sophisticated communication system...[that I call] `Hmmmmm'...
'Hmmmmm'...proved remarkably successful: it allowed them to survive for a quarter of a million years through dramatic environmental change in ice-age Europe, and to attain an unprecedented level of cultural achievement. They were 'singing Neanderthals'--although their songs lacked any words."

The above quotation comes near the end of this fascinating book (and explains its title) by Dr. Steven Mithen, Professor of Early Prehistory (at the University of Reading, England), archeologist, and leading figure in the development of `cognitive archeology.'

What is the aim of this book? Mithen explains:

"We can only explain the human propensity to make and listen to music by recognizing that it has been encoded into the human genome during the evolutionary history of our species. How, when, and why are the mysteries that I intend to resolve [in this book]...This book sets out my own ideas about how music and language evolved, and evaluates the proposals of others by exposing them to the archaeological and fossil evidence...The result is a complete account of not only how music and language evolved but how they relate to the evolution of the human mind, body, and society."

As one who thoroughly enjoyed this book, I can validate what Mithen says above. He does examine a large array of data and proposals from many others and critically analyzes this information. Be aware that to understand the book's conclusions (one of which is quoted above), you have to carefully read and comprehend all the material presented beforehand. Mithen proved (at least to me) that he was well-adept at sorting through all the neurological, linguistical, psychological, biological, and archeological information (to name just some disciplines he delves into). (Don't worry! Mithen explains everything quite well so you're not expected to be an academic with a Ph.D.)

The book itself is divided into two parts. The first part (excluding chapter one which is an introduction) is concerned with what we understand about music and language today. Part two uses those features presented in part one to explain the evolutionary history of language and music.

To give the potential reader an idea of the breadth of this book, I will give the sub-title of each chapter:

Part I: The Present

(2) The similarities and differences between music and language
(3) The brain, aphasia (loss of using or understanding words), and musical savants
(4) Acquired and congenital amusia (inability to recognize or reproduce musical sounds)
(5) Music processing within the brain
(6) Brain maturation, language learning, and perfect pitch
(7) Music, emotion, medicine, and intelligence

Part II: The Past

(8) Communication by monkeys and apes
(9) The origin of `Hmmmm' (an acronym) communication
(10) The evolution of bipedalism and dance
(11) Communication about the natural world
(12) Is music a product of sexual selection?
(13) Human life history and emotional development
(14) The significance of cooperation and social bonding
(15) `Hmmmmm' communication by "Homo neanderthalensis" (Compare this acronym to that of (9) above)
(16) The origins of "Homo Sapiens" and the segmentation of `Hmmmmm'
(17) Modern human dispersal, communicating with the gods, and the remnants of 'Hmmmmm'

There are twenty figures peppered throughout this book. These are interesting and aid the discussion.

Finally, did I agree with everything I read in this book? Of course not. What Mithen is attempting to do is extremely difficult. There has to be some speculation and there is much of it in this book. However, it is reasoned speculation and I was impressed with how Mithen put everything together into a coherent whole.

In conclusion, this book attempts to explain the mystery of "the origins of music, language, mind and body." If you like mysteries like I do, then you should thoroughly enjoy this fascinating book!!

(first published 2005; 17 chapters; main narrative 280 pages; notes; bibliography; picture acknowledgements; index)

+++++

Editorial Review:

Along with the concepts of consciousness and intelligence, our capacity for language sits right at the core of what makes us human. But while the evolutionary origins of language have provoked speculation and impassioned debate, those of that other aural and vocal communication system, music, have been neglected if not ignored. Like language it is a universal feature of human culture, one that is a permanent feature of our daily lives and one that is capable of both expressing and inducing intense emotion. In The Singing Neanderthal, Steven Mithen redresses the balance, drawing on a huge range of sources, from neurological case studies, through child psychology and the communication systems of non-human primates to the latest paleoarchaeological evidence. The result is a fascinating and provocative work, and a succinct riposte to those, like Steven Pinker, who have dismissed music as a functionless and unimportant evolutionary byproduct.

Opera for Dummies (Book and Audio CD)

David Pogue, Scott Speck

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not What You'd Think... 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book. But there's nothing "dumb" or "for dummies" about it. Any person who is bright and has a sense of humor and who is just beginning to be interested in opera will find this funny, clever, irreverent book to be fascinating. Plus, the included CD is of high quality and has a great selection of tracks.

In sum, this book (while being not as hefty or as chock full of information as competing introduction-to-opera guides) is an intelligant, useful, user-friendly welcome to the universe of opera. The genuine passion of the authors shines through, a trait not found in many of the more traditional guides. All in all, "Opera for Dummies" is not at all for dummies, and is a "must-have" item for the opera beginner.

Editorial Review:

You don't need Opera For Dummies in order to enjoy opera -- but if you do read this book, you can enjoy opera a great deal more. This complete book and CD package raises the curtain on a brilliant, passionate art with a long, rich history. Multitalented authors and music professionals David Pogue and Scott Speck

• Introduce you to the words, the music, and the singers
• Prime you on operatic history and the lives of the great composers
• Take you to the opera house and on a backstage tour of this magical realm
• Offer in-depth synopses of the world's most-beloved operas
• And even share with you ten great opera jokes, opera terms to throw out at cocktail parties, and more

Best of all, Opera For Dummies features an enhanced CD, complete with over 60 minutes of opera classics (compiled especially for this book) and a multimedia software demo that you can run on your Macintosh or your Windows-based PC.

Music: An Appreciation, 6th Brief Edition

Roger Kamien

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Whether from a concert stage or at the front of a classroom, Roger Kamien knows how to reach an audience--blending intelligence and passion to lift music from the page and bring it to life. His unique combination of artistic and teaching skills makes Music: An Appreciation, Brief Edition an invaluable tool for students wanting to learn more about music..

. This best-selling textbook introduces students to perceptive listening and provides an engaging introduction to musical elements, forms, and stylistic periods. It is organized chronologically, but individual sections can be addressed in any order, for a variety of teaching approaches. Musical notation is included but is not required to understand the popular listening guides featured in the text, which focus students� attention on musical events as they unfold. .

. This edition moves most of the content of the companion multi-media CD-ROM to the Online Learning Center providing open access for all students to the many activities and video instrument demonstrations. .

Guitar Total Scales Techniques and Applications: Lessons for Beginner through Professional

Mark John Sternal

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The #1 Bestselling Guitar Scale Course (also available for Bass Guitar & Spanish), GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications. You Can Be Better! The Easiest and Fastest Way to MASTER YOUR GUITAR. The 1st & Only Method To Expertly teach you every scale, every trick & technique, in every musical key, anywhere on the entire fretboard! We turn Beginners into pro's & make the pro's even better! ***BOOK & CD LAYOUT ***Pages 1-11 BASICS: All the basics a beginner needs to know to read and understand guitar music. Includes TAB explanation, basic notation, the musical alphabet and the guitar, tuning, finger & hand position. ***Pages 12-16 THE FRETBOARD: The entire fretboard, (guitar neck), presented in TAB and standard notation. 3 simple finger positions and 7 patterns are used to teach scales on the entire fretboard of the guitar. ***Pages 17-88 TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS: Every trick and technique that has ever been invented is introduced to the different positions. Starting with the most basic, progressing through intermediate and advanced, these pages introduce every tool of the trade for making music with scales. ***Pages 89-102 MODES & KEY CHANGES: Thoroughly explained, giving you a full understanding of scales, key changes, and modes. Every key of music is presented in TAB and standard notation for the entire fretboard of the guitar. ***Pages 103-176 EXOTIC SCALES FROM ALL CULTURES: Pentatonic, Balinese, Bob, Minor scales, jazz scales, gypsy scales, Spanish scales, ...they are all presented in TAB and traditional notation for the entire fretboard! ***CD SUPPLEMENT: The entire book is narrated and performed on the "GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications" audio CD. ***FREE BOOK TECHNICAL SUPPORT: With the purchase of "GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications" you also gain the author, Mark John Sternal, as a teacher. If you ever have any questions pertaining to the book you can contact MJS Music Publications online. All book questions ar

Time Out 1000 Songs to Change Your Life (Time Out Guides)

Editors of Time Out

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

=3 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 27 people found this review helpful.

The book got here by the date it said would get here. It's not that great of a book, but the condition and delivery was all perfect.

Rollicking, readable and fascinating 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Time Out guides are all first-rate. This is one of the best of the proliferation of "Best of..." books that are out there. Some of the very best music journalists available contributed to this stellar collection.

Editorial Review:

Music can shock and soothe, amuse and appall, but above all move the listener. In more than 30 essays and features, a variety of writers, critics, and musicians explore those songs that made a difference to their lives, to society, and to music history itself. Illustrated throughout with full-color posters, album covers, and photographs, the book is organized by theme and features informative sidebars. Sampling everything from folk songs to fugues, hip-hop to hymns, Time Out 1000 Songs to Change Your Life includes musician interviews and complete discographical details.

The Mysticism of Sound and Music (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

Hazrat Inayat Khan

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The wave-like aspect of Life, not just about music 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 25 people found this review helpful.

Other reviewers already dealt with the music side of the book, so i won't elaborate on that. There is in addition the purely sound-related aspect of reality. All words, thoughts, and emotions, carry on some power due to their vibratory nature. Everything, whatever it is can be seen as a wave. So don't think it is just about what you hear. All there is can be described in that way.

This book is of interest not for its esoteric nature, but rather to give the reader an intuition of what mystics perceive of reality, which is everything but magic. Science is currently concerned with a part of reality, namely those frequencies that can be detected and thus measured through physical (material) instruments. But the vibratory nature of the world goes beyond that. You as humans have access to more than the physical realm (mental, emotional, and let's say "spiritual" to give a rough picture). This books hints at those aspects captured by the concept of "sound", that are of utmost importance for all humans to uncover the possibilities life has given them. Everything you think, say or feel has an impact on you and your surroundings, so reading this book can help you to realize how important every single event of our life has, through its wave-like aspect. This book is about your very life.

Editorial Review:

According to Sufi teaching, music is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the universe--and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. The Indian Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, the first teacher to bring the Islamic mystical tradition to the West, was an accomplished musician himself. His lucid exposition of music's divine aspect has become a modern classic, not only among those interested in Sufism but among musicians of all types.

I hate New Music the Classic Rock Manifesto

Thompson, Dave

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Editorial Review:

Uproariously funny and relentlessly thought-provoking, I Hate New Music is one man's crusade against everything that isn't what rock ought to be. Author Dave Thompson examines the sacred cows of the past 30 years - from U2 to Days of the New, from Radiohead to The White Stripes - and then slaughters them for their sins against our souls in this un-put-downable compendium of outrageous opinion, hilarious anecdote, and wild accusations.

The Joy of Music Leonard Bernstein

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Leonard Bernstein was one of the twentieth century’s preeminent American composers. This classic work, perhaps the maestro’s finest collection of conversations on the meaning and wonder of music, is now available in this special reprinting with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Washington Post music critic Tim Page. Nearly fifteen years after Bernstein’s death, The Joy of Music continues to be a must-have for all music fans—both inside and outside of the classroom—who wish to experience music more fully and deeply through one of the most inspired, and inspiring, music intellects of our time.

Employing the creative device of "Imaginary Conversations" in the first section of his book, Bernstein illuminates the importance of the symphony in America, the greatness of Beethoven, and the art of composing. The book also includes a photo section and a third section with the transcripts from his televised Omnibus music series, including "Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony," "The World of Jazz," "Introduction to Modern Music," and "What Makes Opera Grand."

Contemporary Disney

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

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This book has a very accurate selection of disney songs arranged to be played by an intermediate level piano student (includes vocals and chords as well). At first, some songs seemed difficult for me because of the amount of hand stretching, but I managed to master them quite quickly, in about 2-3 weeks, and I definitely feel the improvement in my playing. The good thing about playing disney songs is that as we might already know how they'll sound, it will be easier for us to play them. I would definitely recomend this book to anyone who likes disney songs and who has been playing the piano for at least 3 years to be able to enjoy it completely. Enjoy!

Editorial Review:

This exciting collection features 50 outstanding songs from Disney's most recent movies (from The Little Mermaid to The Emperor's New Groove), Broadway shows and theme parks. Includes: Be Our Guest * Beauty and the Beast * Can You Feel the Love Tonight * Circle of Life * Colors of the Wind * Go the Distance * God Help the Outcasts * Hakuna Matata * I Will Go Sailing No More * My Funny Friend and Me * Shadowland * Son of Man * They Live in You * Under the Sea * We Go On * A Whole New World * Written in the Stars * You'll Be in My Heart * Your Heart Will Lead You Home * and more.

Enjoyment of Music

Machlis. Joseph

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Response to "a reader" and "music teacher" 1 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

After having gone through nine editions, this text bears little resemblence to the original work published in 1955. That text, and the next few editions, were solid and informative. With the addition of co-author Kristine Forney, the work has definitely taken on a more modern perspective at the unfortunate expense of truly great composers.

Having been a serious student of music in earlier life, and a constant listener since birth, I have an avid appreciation of most genres of music. Having said that, I firmly believe the study of music appreciation should remain somewhat "high-brow". By this I mean that it should limit itself to what is considered, in common parlance, as "classical" or "orchestral" music.

Modern genres of music do display moments of true musical genius and originality. But, for the most part, the majority of the material is borrowed, ultimately from the "classical." Most popular musicians have little knowledge of musical composition, or even how to record their works in musical notation. Rap and electronic are the ultimate in this area, many times outright recording a piece of someone else's music and blending the cuts together to produce their own "song."

If one seriously wants to develop an appreciation of music, a solid exposure to and understanding of the "classical" composers is a must. Otherwise, as is the case with most modern and post-modern (whatever that means) teaching materials, a true understanding of the origins, history, and development of the subject is lost. Herbie Hancock and Michael Jackson may be interesting and enjoyable, but they are hardly groundbreaking from a musical perspective.

The authors should separate the "classical" from the "modern" into two texts. Both studies would greatly benefit. After all, with the proliferation of college students downloading music and playing it on every device that can produce a sound, does anyone really think students do not have an appreciation of "modern" music?

Editorial Review:

With three million copies sold over nine editions, "The Enjoyment of Music" is the best-selling music appreciation text of all time. Spanning the Middle Ages through the twenty-first century, the text offers a thorough introduction to the elements of music, a broad overview of the history of musical styles, and fascinating cultural contexts and perspectives. The Tenth Edition of this classic text features a stunning new design, exciting new repertory, and an unmatched emedia and ancillary package.