Music: An Appreciation, 6th Brief Edition [Paperback]

Roger Kamien (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007340134X | ISBN-13: 978-0073401348 | Publication Date: February 26, 2007 | Edition: 6

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.

The Online Learning Center for this text provides open access for all students to many activities and video instrument demonstrations in addition to quiz and study materials for each chapter..

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Kamien received his B.A. in Musicology from Columbia and his M.A. and PhD. from Princeton. Kamien taught for 2 years at Hunter College and for 20 years at Queens College, where he coordinated the music appreciation courses. In 1983, he was appointed to the Zubin Mehta Chair in Musicology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition to Music: An Appreciation, Prof. Kamien has written numerous articles and reviews, co-wrote A New Approach to Keyboard Harmony, and edited the Norton Scores. He is an accomplished pianist and, in recent years, has formed a two-piano team with his wife, Anita.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 6 edition (February 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007340134X
• ISBN-13: 978-0073401348
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance

More About the Author

Roger Kamien received his B.A. in Musicology from Columbia and his M.A. and PhD. from Princeton. Kamien taught for 2 years at Hunter College and for 20 years at Queens College, where he coordinated the music appreciation courses. In 1983, he was appointed to his current position. In addition to Music: An Appreciation, Prof. Kamien has written numerous articles and reviews, co-wrote A New Approach to Keyboard Harmony, and edited the Norton Scores. He is an accomplished pianist and, in recent years, has formed a two-piano team with his wife, Anita.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brief, but thorough, April 6, 2008

By 

Alex Parker - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Music: An Appreciation, 6th Brief Edition (Paperback)

I've seen the unabridged version of this book and it's as big as an encyclopedia. The Brief Edition does well to summarize the important points in music history; though the meat of the book is centered in the classical (Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Classical, Opera) and merely touches on the more modern componets like jazz and rock. Still, the book and accompanying CD are excellent for those wanting to get a light but informative immersion in the classic music world and learn a little bit about its most famous composers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too compressed., September 20, 2009

By 

K. Petti (Pompano Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music: An Appreciation, 6th Brief Edition (Paperback)

Ultimately this book serves its purpose, it covers the core concepts and gets the job done...but I have to admit, for someone who has little former knowledge with music studies it is a bit too concise. The point being that this is supposed to be music "appreciation" a social science (which usually relates to a lot of trivial information) yet this book only accomplishes the bare minimums (yes I do realize that this is the brief edition, that is why its a four not a three). Beyond that the book makes poor references to its dvd resources (a number or section would be nice), and like I said, pinpoint (perhaps examples or more elaboration on the detailed concepts). But to its credit, this book does have some nice organization and the index/glossary is fairly thorough.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So many to choose from, October 1, 2009

By 

M. Crenshaw - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music: An Appreciation, 6th Brief Edition (Paperback)

I expected it to have the CD's included, but the book is exactly what I ordered. It was hard to determine which one's had the CD's included. I wish Amazon was a little more in detail with the layout of the book and what is included with it.