Music : Musical Instruments

Tune in and tone down piano-shopping stress. Unfamiliar with manufacturers, manufacturing methods, materials, or price ranges, the piano buyer can still educate himself before making the big investment, saving time, money, and frustration. This is the first book written by salespeople that dispels myths and airs dirty tricks, making it an easy-to- use buyer’s guide for all the well known, and many of the not-so-well known, piano models. •How to choose from new or used, digital or acoustic, upright, grand, hybrid, or player pianos. •Nearly half a million pianos are purchased annually in the United States, with Americans spending nearly $1.7 billion a year on them. •Piano technicians and teachers require this accurate information to dispense advice on buying more...

Price: $16.95

William Melton and Randy Weinstein have succeeded in compiling an informative and well thought out guide to this frequently underestimated instrument, covering a vast range of topics and relating them to popular musical styles such as folk, blues, rock, country, or Celtic. Whether discussing basic playing techniques, or offering advanced tips on how to strut your stuff to your best advantage at a jam session or in a band context, this book is a down-to-earth, easy-to-understand, practical, and comprehensive teaching aid for anyone thinking of exploring the weird and wonderful world of the harmonica. The rest is up to you, so grab your harp and blow the back off it! more...

Price: $15.95

As a work of cultural criticism that recalls the concerns of Foucault, Hayden White, and others Decentring Music examines the struggle for the authority to speak about music at a time when the humanities are in crisis. A critique of musical scholarship as an institutional discourse, this book also goes beyond the limits of any single field. more...

Price: $41.00

Discusses a variety of issues involved in the performance of keyboard music from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Forms a useful introduction to historical performance issues for student performers or amateurs, whether playing on period instruments or on the modern piano. more...

Price: $20.00

Just as musical etudes focus on the development of skills and address the technical problems encountered in keyboard literature, the "etudes" in Stewart Gordon's new book also focus on ideas which prepare piano teachers for meeting the problems encountered in piano performing and teaching. This major new collection on the piano teacher's art opens with an assessment of the role of the piano teacher, and goes on to explore various types of students and the challenge each presents: the moderately talented, but ambitious, student; the late beginner; the unusually gifted. Drawing on thirty years of teaching and performing, Gordon then bring fresh ideas to bear on the often-discussed areas of inner-hearing, pulse regulation, improvisation, sight-reading, and collaborative music making. There are sections on performance procedures, memorizing, pedalling, and historical performance practices; a carefully-balanced consideration of the role of the piano student and teacher; and realistic looks at the problems facing the profession today, the dynamics of a performing career, and the stages through which musicians' careers often pass. Designed to open up new avenues of inquiry, to provoke discussion and creative thinking, and to challenge and motivate students, these essays will be vital reading for all serious piano students and teachers.  more...

Price: $35.00