Customer Reviews

How to Read Music: Fundamentals of Music Notation Made Easy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In the first part, the book covers the basic notation in detail, step by step. Author asks you to do a review and make sure you know all the previous material before attempting musical sight reading exercises. The second part of the book covers the more complex notation found in the classical pieces. It is more fast paced because the author assumes that a reader has accumulated the knowledge from the first part. At the end, there are: a directory of musical signs, a directory of all notes on the piano and guitar, and a short musical dictionary. Very handy reference.

Are there better books on the topic? I do not know. I'm not an expert. In my opinion the book does what it advertises. You'll certainly learn how to read the music. Price is really acceptable. Check out the reviews for other books of Roger Evans. Rather impressive. Then judge for yourself.
I'll give it five stars.

I was able to see this book in person before purchasing it online. It is easy to read and understand, especially when you wonder if you're too old to learn to read music. I haven't applied the techniques yet, but I understand what I'm reading. I looked through several other books and they were more confusing - keeping in mind that I have never read music.

One definition of "stave" is "a musical staff" (American Heritage Dictionary). Beware of know-it-all critics who happily trash a book based on their limited knowledge of English but who are too lazy to actually pick up a dictionary. What else did they get wrong?

The book fills a niche and I found it quite useful.

I hate to think of the trees felled for these "popular" exploitations. If you aren't learning to read music as you learn to play your instrument, you've got the wrong primer and the wrong teacher. In any case, a good non-instrumental treatment of this subject for beginners can be found in "The ABC of Music: A Short Practical Guide to the Basics" by Imogen Holst (daughter of the famous composer Gustav Holst). To learn how to write down music--a different thing than learning how to read music--see "The Norton Manual of Music Notation" by George Heussenstamm.

...not so great for trying to learn from scratch! I had been playing the keyboard/piano for years (learning songs by ear and making my own compositions) before I decided that I wanted to give a shot at learning how to read sheet music. Back in '04, this was the first book I got on music notation. The statement on the outside cover about "challenging exercises" is right! This book jumps right in to assuming that the learner will want to spend time pouring over each exercise repeatedly for extended lengths of time before moving onto the next one, without offering assistance in the way of memorization techniques. For instance, in one of the early sections, the author states: "As long as you can remember the name of ONE note, you can work out all the others." This isn't much help, being that the book introduces nearly all the notes at once, in rapid succession; first the ones on the staff, then all the notes above and below the staffs! The only song learned in between is a brief version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Not even E-G-B-D-F (Every Good Boy Does Fine) and G-B-D-F-A (Great Big Dogs Fight Animals) are thrown in as helpful mnemonics for the treble and bass cleff!

Plus, this book only includes eleven practice songs! While covering a myriad of complex areas, there is little chance to practice and whole lot of imformation to memorize for a complete beginner. The attitude of this book is comparable to the situation where you ask someone how to draw something, and they say "Oh, it's easy, you just do this..." and then proceed draw a masterpiece from scratch without telling you anything about method or technique! While claiming that it is "fundamentals of music notation made easy", Evans' book really presents the material in a way which is more frustrating than enlightening.

I had given up on learning how to read sheet music for awhile, until I came across Adult All-In-One Course: Lesson-Theory-Technic : Level 1 (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course), which is fantastic. Unlike Roger Evan's book, I was able to progress through a new section and song every few days in Alfred's, and it took me about 3 1/2 months to finish. There are two other levels in the course that I plan on moving onto, since I can now play all the songs in that book, a few songs in other sheet music books I've gotten, and I have a pretty good understanding of the principals that the book covers (what key a song is in, chords, etc.).

However, I should note that I have actually used Evans' as a reference on occasion For being such a pretentious book, its 'Directory of Musical Signs', 'Note Directory', and 'Short Musical Dictionary' are definitely useful for clarifying certain terms and notes. But, helpful in learning how to actually read music for the first time? Not for me!

Since many students are no longer taught how to read music in school early in elementary school, this book is a good starter for those who want to not just play music, but how to understand all the different areas that sheet music covers. Basic explanations are used, and then examples are shown. If you have an older child or teen that wants to learn to read sheet music for choir, this is a good guide.

After reading some of the foolish comments by some of the "reviewers", here's the honest truth. This is ONE GREAT LITTLE BOOK! It's amazing that so much can be packed in such a short package, but this one does it. Forget about the staff/stave BS. It's irrelevant. I may say quaver or semiquaver half note or whole note. Who cares? If you are this picky then you shouldn't be learning to read music in the first place. I have been teaching all my student using this and earlier editions for about 10yrs now. NEVER had a complaint.
BTW, I do agree. It's a GREAT lil reference too. Buy it! Own it!

I have'nt throughly looked through it but seems to be in good condition even though it's used love the simplicity of using it. And how it goes in depth and how you can practice with it using other instruments if u have one. So that's a great feature of the book.

Book is very clean and in great condition, just as described. It arrived quickly in the mail also. Thanks, will do business with again.

I ordered this book to place in our elementary library; however, upon reviewing the book, I find that it covers a great deal of information that would be great with a private instructor, but is too difficult for placement in a library for a student to read on their own. It's a very good fundamental book to use with a private music student as a supplement. When I saw that it covered so many aspects of music, such as the C movable clef, I knew that it was beyond self study. I will be using it with my piano students, however, as reinforcement in their lessons.