Solfege, Ear Training, Rhythm, Dictation, and Music Theory: A Comprehensive Course [Paperback]

Marta Arkossy Ghezzo (Author), Mel Powell (Preface)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0817305785 | ISBN-13: 978-0817305789 | Publication Date: August 30, 1993 | Edition: 2nd

Solfège has become one of the most highly acclaimed resources for the study of ear training in music education today. This revised and expanded third edition includes a multitude of new musical examples and dictations covering the entire continuum of musical development from classical to modern. For the first time, Solfège also includes definitive audio performances on CD of each of the 51 musical dictations, keyed by track number to the musical notation in the text. As students progress from the simple to the complex by following these carefully interrelated lessons, the results are, according to Mel Powell, "akin to miracle-making."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Marta Árkossy Ghezzo's well-written and highly-organized volume presents a comprehensive system of interrelated musical disciplines intended to aid in the acquisition of general musical skills. Useful as a classroom text, it has considerable value as an academic reference work in music because of the number of excellent musical examples that illustrate tonal, chromatic, modal, and atonal systems, and because of an extensive series of graphic symbols frequently encountered in the notation of aleatory music."--Choice

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Book Description

Solfège has become one of the most highly acclaimed resources for the study of ear training in music education today. This revised and expanded third edition includes a multitude of new musical examples and dictations covering the entire continuum of musical development from classical to modern. For the first time, Solfège also includes definitive audio performances on CD of each of the 51 musical dictations, keyed by track number to the musical notation in the text. As students progress from the simple to the complex by following these carefully interrelated lessons, the results are, according to Mel Powell, "akin to miracle-making."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: University Alabama Press; 2nd edition (August 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817305785
• ISBN-13: 978-0817305789
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,585,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intuitive and Systematic, March 14, 2004

By 

Robin Rheaume (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solfege, Ear Training, Rhythm, Dictation, and Music Theory: A Comprehensive Course (Paperback)

This book isn't aimed at teaching music theory. Is about learning to sight sing and acquiring all the skills associated with that (pitch recognition, music dictation, etc.). The step by step approach is systematic. It starts with recognising and singing simple patterns first in major then in minor keys. The recognition of pitch is covered in tandem with learning to cope with increasingly complex rhythms. I've tried a few books and I find that the approached used here is the most intuitive I've come across. It's possible that different systems appeal to different people. I'm a choral singer with a basic grounding in music theory but my sight singing skills were poor. I don't think you need much music expertise to use this book other than the ability to read notes and key signatures. Ideally I would like to see this published in a workbook format (instead of a hard bound book) which could be left open easily on a music stand or at the piano.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solfege,Ear,Training,Rhythm,Dictation...is great!, October 28, 2008

By 

Tito (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solfege, Ear Training, Rhythm, Dictation, and Music Theory: A Comprehensive Course (Paperback)

I am a music education major at Florida Christian College...I purchased this book because my teacher switched over to it in the middle of the semester even though we were originally using a different sight singing and ear training book. The director of our music department who is a Julliard School of Music graduate recommended the change. The main reason being that the lessons in the book are so well structured were you get a ear training,rhythm,dictation, and music theory in a progressive fashion in every lesson. It's helping me a whole lot because I started working on my theory really late in life... so this book is perfect for a person like me who is not so good on sight singing and ear training but needs to get up to speed in a relatively short period of time. Again, "if you stick to it", due to the well thought out structure of this book anyone can learn how to sight sing and ear train a whole lot faster. As a result I am now enjoying my "Sight Singing Ear Training" class a whole lot more.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book of its Kind, September 28, 2009

By 

Grady O'Rourke "Grady O'Rourke" (campbell, california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solfege, Ear Training, Rhythm, Dictation, and Music Theory: A Comprehensive Course (Paperback)

I have used this book before with a private tutor to study the the "G" and "F" clefs. Later I wanted to learn the "C" clefs and I have found that the alto and tenor solfeges further back in the book are excellent for self-study. I have taught myself to read the alto clef with the help of Dr. Ghezzo's book, and I'm starting on the tenor clef. There are also solfeges for change of clefs. I don't know of any similar book that is as thorough and comprehensive, and that works as well as this one. I hope that possibly in a future edition she will include a chapter on the soprano clef, but all-in-all this is an excellent book. I'm unsure of the distinction between "solfege" and "sight-singing;" you would have to be a graduate student or professional musician to sing some of these solfeges at sight. But they are all musical; some are quite nice, even beautiful, which does a lot for one's motivation. Dr. Ghezzo offers sensible, helpful advice for practice, such as "Practice the solfeges in small fragments, then connect the fragments." I agree that the book is systematic and intuitive. You just cannot help learning with this book. The exercises increase in difficulty gradually so that you are never overwhelmed and you end up going beyond what you thought you could do. Mel Powell says in his preface, "The results invariably have seemed to me akin to miracle-making." I do not think that is an exaggeration.