Customer Reviews

Rudiments of Music (3rd Edition)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book will teach the practicing musician everything you they could possibly need to know about music theory and notation. As a beginner of music studies, I found it all a bit mind bending at first. My advice is to just hang in there and before you know it, the long words and scary looking notation sections will all make sense. I borrowed this book and am now trying to find a copy to purchase (that doesn't cost over $100 aus) as I know I shall be using it as a reference tool for many years to come. For the serious musician, it's a must have.

After teaching a course at the community college level using this book (which I inherited, on short notice), I can honestly say that there must be better options for learning music fundamentals. I am examining other textbooks for next year, and can guarantee that Ottman's will NOT be among them.

Ottman seperates elements that would be best be consolidated (i.e. rhythmic elements). While he suggests an organizational scheme to reorder the book and keep elements together, the way the text is written would obliterate any benefit from doing so. Ottman's writing style is dry, and tends to be overloaded with advanced detail that is best left to a 1st-semester theory class. At times, Ottman can also come across as condescending towards the reader, which irritated my students (and this instructor) greatly.

Ottman also makes the mistake of assuming that everyone who is learning music fundamentals is familiar with, or interested in, classical music. The musical examples included in the book tend to be as dry as his writing style. Some folk songs are simply labeled with the country of origin; without the lyrics, they are just boring. Many other textbooks successfully integrate examples from popular music with the classical examples; this book would benefit from such an integration.

Not all is lost, as Ottman does a decent job with the Appendix, which looks towards serious study of music theory. He also does well with repetition within exercises. The book also includes a detachable keyboard card, which visually links each key with its representation on the grand staff. But generally, these features alone do not merit a recommendation.

Book was here on time, actually maybe a day before they said it would be. Perfect condition, i see no flaws on or in the book.