Music Inside Out

Rosen offers a track-by-track analysis of the stories behind the songs of one of the most popular and influential bands of the past decade, from world-wide hits like Losing My Religion to their most obscure early B-sides.

John Rahn's prolific activities as a composer-theorist-teacher, inventor of computer sound-synthesis software, editor of Perspectives of New Music during the 1980s and 90s, and author of an exemplary text on atonal theory are conspicuously in the foreground of the academic music-intellectual world. This collection of essays charts Rahn's progression from the construal of music's data structures to the articulation of its experiential structures, leading to the question of its moral infrastructures and its value systems of the internal and external worlds. This book shows Rahn's remarkable intellectual evolution, culminating in the recognition that the pressure bearing on discourse can only be contained by thought formulated in the non-referential language of the arts themselves. Also includes 18 musical examples.

Rob Kapilow has been helping audiences hear more in great music for almost twenty years with his What Makes It Great? series on NPR, at Lincoln Center, and in concert halls throughout the US and Canada. In this book, he gives you a set of tools you can use when listening to any piece of music in order to hear its “plot”—its story told in notes. The musical examples are available free for download to help you hear the ideas presented. Whether you are an experienced concertgoer or a newcomer to classical music, the listening principles Kapilow shares will help you "get" music in an exciting, fresh new way. "Kapilow gets audiences in tune with classical music at a deeper and more immediate level than many of them thought possible." —Los Angeles Times "Rob Kapilow is awfully good at what he does. We need him." —The Boston Globe "A wonderful guy who brings music alive!" —Katie Couric "Rob Kapilow leaps into the void dividing music analysis from appreciation and fills it with exhilarating details and sensations." —The New York Times "You could practically see the light bulbs going on above people's heads. . . . The audience could decipher the music in a new, deeper way. It was the total opposite of passive listening." —The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Brings kids inside the world of music by helping them understand what proficient listeners think and feel as they listen to music, and what musicians think and feel as they play music ... Students construct their own understandings of music, first through an exploration of their personal relationship to music, then through a series of listen and talk sessions, and finally, by composing their own pieces and exploring the connections between their lives and the works of music they create ... All lessons fulfill the National Standards for Music Education"--From publisher description.

Singing from the inside out : exploring the voice, the singer and the song' is a practical guide to singing technique, practicing, performing and auditioning in pop, jazz, rock and hard rock, R & B, country, folk, musicals, reggae, ska, and other styles. This handbook is essential for both beginners and advanced singers. The many exercises, valuable tips and clear explanations it contains make it a useful tool for singing teachers as well.

Popularly known during his lifetime as “The World’s Greatest Living Composer,” Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) not only wrote some of the twentieth century’s most influential music, he also assumed the role of cultural icon. This book reveals Stravinsky’s two sides—the public persona, preoccupied with his own image and place in history, and the private composer, whose views and beliefs were often purposely suppressed. Charles M. Joseph draws a richer and more human portrait of Stravinsky than anyone has done before, using an array of unpublished materials and unreleased film trims from the composer’s huge archive at the Paul Sacher Institute in Switzerland. Focusing on Stravinsky’s place in the culture of the twentieth century, Joseph situates the composer among the giants of his age. He discusses Stravinsky’s first American commission, his complicated relationship with his son, his professional relationships with celebrities ranging from T. S. Eliot to Orson Welles, his flirtations with Hollywood and television, and his love-hate attitude toward the critics and the media. In a close look at Stravinsky’s efforts to mold a public image, Joseph explores the complex dance between the composer and his artistic collaborator, Robert Craft, who orchestrated controversial efforts to protect Stravinsky and edit materials about him, both during the composer’s lifetime and after his death.

This book is a result of Eli Epstein's 18 years in the Cleveland Orchestra and 30 years of Conservatoire teaching. It breaks down into four parts, dealing with Technique, Musicianship, Warm up and Exercises and finally Applying the Method. It is both innovative and inspiring and presents his theories in a clear and understandable way, which gives the reader much to think about and practical ideas to help improve one's playing. An excellent addition to any horn enthusiast's collection.The third edition presents MRI images and data of an elite group of horn players, including Stefan Dohr, Fergus McWilliam, Sarah Willis, Stefan Jezierski (all of the Berlin Philharmonic), Marie-Luise Neunecker, Jeff Nelsen, and others. MRI films confirm that what we do internally, inside the mouth, pharynx, and thoracic cavity is just as important as what we do externally. And, just as there are hallmarks of healthy embouchures that most professional horn players employ, there are many consistent internal movement patterns among the elite group. Epstein presents tried and true methods to learn and teach these exemplary biomechanics. "Without a doubt the most physiologically correct book ever published on horn playing." ~John Ericson, Horn Matters

In this book the author examines the special nature of improvisation. Chase's approach to the subject is based on her conviction that we are all born with the ability to improvise, but for various reasons we learn to mistrust and even deny our capability. The book is directed as much to the beginner as to the professional. It gives simple suggestions and open-ended examples that can be expanded upon in unlimited ways. Improvisation focuses mainly on the piano, but most of the suggestions can be explored on any instrument. This book is a rich source of ideas and inspiration. --from back cover.

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, and numerous other groups put Britain at the center of the modern musical map. Please Please Me offers an insider's view of the British pop-music recording industry during the seminal period of 1956 to 1968, based on personal recollections, contemporary accounts, and all relevant data that situate this scene in the economic, political, and social context of postwar Britain. Author Gordon Thompson weaves issues of class, age, professional status, gender, and ethnicity into his narrative, beginning with the rise of British beat groups and the emergence of teenagers as consumers in postwar Britain, and moving into the competition between performers and the recording industry for control over the music. He interviews musicians, songwriters, music directors, and producers and engineers who worked with the best-known performers of the era. Drawing his interpretation of the processes at work during this musical revolution into a wider context, Thompson unravels the musical change and innovation of the time with an eye on understanding what traces individuals leave in the musical and recording process.

One of the most difficult challenges in wind instrument pedagogy is teaching what can't be seen. The external embouchure, hand positions, fingerings, posture, etc., are easy enough, but much of what happens to create saxophone tone is in the vocal tract (from the vocal folds to the embouchure). Through fluoroscopy (x-ray), endoscopy (probe camera), and other means, Dr. Watkins has revealed secrets invaluable to the serious teacher and student. His research into the saxophonist's vocal tract and resultant tried and true application has spanned over twenty years. This book is marvelously laid out with the explanations, exercises, illustrations, and over 100 video clips allowing the saxophonist a deeper understanding and greater flexibility. --