Customer Reviews

Music: The Art of Listening

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book was one edition old, but it was effective for me to take a class.,

I used this book for a 6 week music course. It had a lot of good, basic information within it, but I did have to do some of my own research for the course. This was definitely a good guide to lead me along through my class; I wasn't disappointed. If I had attended a semester long course, I probably wouldn't have been as pleased with it.

My daughter is using this book for a high school class, and it is unneccessarily difficult to read. Example (from page 279) "The first musician labeled an Impressionist--although he detested the term--showed his affinity for the new French style by replacing musical statement with suggestion in a kind of aural realization of the painters' ideals."

Really! As an English teacher, I do feel that this book could have been written in a much clearer, simpler style and still conveyed its great wealth of information without making the reader work so hard.

That said, the book does give a good overview of the elements and history of western art music, and the examples provided on the CDs are appropriate and helpful. I like the format of the descriptions of each listening example, which guides the student through each piece of music.

Perhaps this book is more appropriate for mature adult readers rather than for high school students. I know that I have enjoyed reading it. Perhaps the later editions of this book are more readable.

This book smelled horribly of smoke. I have set the book outside hoping that the smell would blow away. It has not worked. It's too bad that people that smoke don't respect that the fact that those of that don't, don't care to smell like a chimney.

i had a question about the book and the seller answered my question within 2 days and provided all info needed with my concern... i felt very safe purchasing from this buyer and feel he was honest in everything he said...

very very good transaction. seller sent the product immediately and the product was as described with the cd's being in perfect condition.