Customer Reviews

Music (Eyewitness Books)

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DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful photos of all things related to music, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about instruments, parts of music, and everything related to music, all augmented by stunningly beautiful museum-quality photography.

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by music, then you must introduce them to this book! It's a great lesson about music, and a beautiful book.

The Eyewitness Books series is the gold standard for young readers. This volume focuses on "Music." The subtitle provides some context: "Discover how music is made in close-up--from the most primitive to the most modern instruments." Neil Ardley is the writer for this volume, and deserves much credit. And, as always, the illustrations are top notch.

The first segment, "Seeing sound," provides a brief introduction as to why different instruments sound differently. There are several examples showing how (Page 6) "The sound wave from each instrument makes its own kind of pressure changes. These can be shown by curved and jagged lines that are called waveforms. . . ." So, kids will learn a little physics by the side door! The examples are nicely illustrated on page 7.

Thereafter, the book explores each family of instruments, one by one. From wind instruments to pipes/flutes to brass to strings (early and later) to harps to guitars. Later the book examines electrifying music and the rock guitar! The final section focuses on "Machine music," such as synthesizers. Again, the examples illustrated on pages 62-63 will make this discussion "real" for youth who read this volume.

One nice feature is the consideration of older instruments. For instance, pages 28-29 looks at "early and unusual strings," including fiddles from Norway, the Middle East, and the Mongols. Other examples are also provided.

So, all in all, another nice book for young readers. I congratulate myself that I was wise enough to buy this and many other works for my son a decade and a half ago, even though I'm not sure that I put that much thought into acquiring these wonderful works.

This is a beautiful book chock-full of photos, illustrations, and information, packed into the pages in fascinating ways, designed to teach and to provoke thought. I love this book's organization, the way things are explained, and the little extras all over the place, diagrams that label parts and convey a wealth of information. A book to be used again and again, not just for information, but for pleasure.