Elementary Training for Musicians (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Paul Hindemith (Composer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1984

Originally published in the 1940s, Paul Hindemith's remakable textbooks are still the outstanding works of their kind. In contrast to many musical textbooks written by academic musicians, these were produced by a man who could play every instrument of the orchestra, could compose a satisfying piece for almost every kind of ensemble, and who was one of the most stimulating teachers of his day. It is therefore not surprising that nearly forty years later these books should remain essential reading for the student and the professional musician.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Schott Music Corp.(division of B. Schott's Sohne); 2nd edition (October 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0901938165
• ISBN-13: 978-0901938169
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A challenging classic manual of basic musicianship, June 9, 2000

By 

Christopher Bonds - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elementary Training for Musicians (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Paul Hindemith was one of the 20th Century's preeminent composers, and was also known as a superb teacher. This book is not a textbook on harmony or composition. Rather, it is a collection of exercises intended to develop basic musicianship skills, including note-reading, and rhythmic and melodic sight-singing and dictation. The exercises start off deceptively simple and increase rapidly in difficulty. For example, a typical rhythmic exercise might have two separate rhythmic lines to be performed by each hand tapping, or by singing one of the lines and clapping or tapping the other. Melodic exercises are often accompanied by a contrasting rhythm line. Exercises are presented in alto and tenor clefs as well as the more usual bass and treble. Determination is the key to success with this book. Many of the exercises must be practiced assiduously--slowly at first, then faster as skill improves. Anyone who completes at least half the book will have improved his or her musicianship level significantly.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Month Per Page, December 18, 2000

By 

Mark Wieczorek (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Elementary Training for Musicians (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I'm taking music lessons - one hour a week. We started on this book a little over a year ago, and I think I'm on page 14. In that year, I feel that my eyes have opened up finally (or more literally, ears). My sense of rhythm, harmony, melody, and pitch, all have improved to probably double if not triple where I was last year.

I'm nowhere near god-like status, and not quite a professional level musician (though I imagine that's not far off if I keep working, which I will), but then - I'm only on page 14.

One caveat, with this, as with all music books, it helps tremendously to have a teacher to point out your mistakes & do the exercises with you. My music teacher keeps telling me that a lot of teachers don't do this method because *they* have to work too with this book. They can't just sit back & watch you read the notes, nor can they give you hour-long dissertations on whatever theory they think is relevant. They have to listen, work, and there are dictations that are meant to be done with this book as well where your teacher sings or plays or taps a part & you write it down or repeat it.

I work hard every week with this book, and so does my music teacher. If I master one exercise in that time great, if I breeze though 5 (yeah right!) fine - I know I'm getting the skills I need, and Hindenmith doesn't skimp, so I know I'm getting *all* the skills I need.

The book is broken down (if I remember correctly) into 3 repeated parts - action, time and action-in-time. Or, pitch, rhythm, and pitch with rhythm. A fourth part is the dictations.

The exercises are also inherently musical, not mindless. My teacher is constantly pointing out "that's an important interval for you to know - see how he's making you sing it?" or "that's an important rhythm for you to know..."

I wouldn't reccomend this book to someone who thinks they can sit at home with a book & "get it". Though the excercises can, technically be done alone (the dictations can't), how can you HEAR something your skill level doesn't allow? How can you practice singing intervals if you yourself don't hear them? Who will bring you to the next level?

Someone needs to write a computer program based on this book - tap the space bar in the appropriate way, sing into the microphone, etc. While it couldn't replace a teacher, it could give you something to work with between lessons.

Interested in talking about music? Write me at [e-mail]

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Concise, March 10, 2003

By 

William Kostenko (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elementary Training for Musicians (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is by far the best book on its subject that I've ever worked with. For some reason it wasn't used until the second year second semester of Ear Training where I went to school, and I wonder why the college made us waste time and money on previous texts when this one had it all.

That being said, it's definitely written without self-teaching in mind. From Hindemith's mindset, and that of many pedagogues both living and deceased, the idea of teaching oneself musicianship is about as nuts as teaching oneself surgery or carpentry. Even if it were possible, the same results could be achieved with less time and effort through proper instruction, which Hindemith sought to facilitate with this text. So if you're looking for a self-teaching text, look elsewhere - you are outside the scope of this book.

My only concern about this book, and this could be simply the edition I have, is that it's in desperate need of a facelift. Taking advantage of computer layout techniques could make the exercises easier to read and the pages easier to navigate. Other than that, it's a teacher's dream for working on the nuts and bolts of musicianship.