Customer Reviews

Understanding Music

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

 

 

I've used this book for three years and am eager to trade it for something else. Why? 1) Musical examples are chosen seemingly because Yudkin got tired of the tried-and-true favorites (Bach Brandenburg Concerti are not on the student CD set, but the St. Matthew Passion is. As a result, the students may get to hear Bach Brandenburg Concerti in class but can't listen on their own). Same is true for Verdi: Otello is included, but not Rigoletto or La Traviata? 2) This text is written for the average music major (not stellar, just average), rather than a music appreciation student. He assumes much greater knowledge of instruments, timbre, texture, and familiarity with general musical terms than any introductory student will have. 3) An exasperating dilemma: many works on the instructor CD set are not on the student set, despite those being the better selections. Why not put the obscure works on the instructor CDs, and let students have access to really great works? For example, when he selected a recording of a madrigal, he picked one that has two females singing a verse, then two males singing a verse...nothing at all like 95% of all madrigals students would ever be likely to hear. The reason? He knows the performers on the CD! Students never get to hear real text painting as every "real" madrigal illustrates. It's hard to build on that when asking students to understand the concept of text painting.

Anyway, I'm not Yudkin-bashing, but there are definitely problems with this text that need to be addressed.

This book is abysmal. I have used it this semester for an "Art of Listening to Music" course. The glossary is a whole 4 1/2 pages for a 500 page book; it includes maybe half of the vocab in the book. The index is even worse. It may have the term you are looking for, but the chances are it will not refer you to the context you want it in. I also found this book to be very vague over all. This could be for one of two reasons. First it's an introductory book, secondly I'm a math major and I demand very thorough proofs. However, neither of these reasons are an excuse for not defining a word that is only used in the musical world (Scherzo for example. The book uses it throughout, yet never says anything more then it means "to joke" in Italian. Yeah, thanks, very helpful) and continually using that word throughout the text. Horrible book, avoid at all costs, and if you have a class that uses it don't take it!

This book does not come with the CD's that most college students will need. I returned the book because it did not have the disks with it and was able to find a book locally thru my college book store that came with the 3CD student disk set for less money than I paid for it with out the disks thru Amazon.com

This book is a nicely done introduction to music appreciation for Western audiences. It includes an overview of musical genres and traditions from the Gregorian chants through Hip Hop rap. The book is organized into chapters according to musical era with chapters for the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque era, the Classic era, Nineteenth Century, and Twentieth Century. Beethoven receives a chapter of his own. There are also chapters on World Music, music theory, listening techniques, jazz, and popular music. Within each era, there is a general description of musical development of the times, and then several well-known representative composers are profiled. Yudkin goes out of his way to include information about the contributions of women and minorities to music. Interspersed with the text are listening guides with notes for active listening for specific pieces of music to exemplify the prose. The listening guides include such information as instrumentation, lyrics and translations, short segments of notation, as well as comments keyed to specific time spots for the selection on the student or faculty CDs (sold separately). The book is amply illustrated with black-and-white reproductions of paintings and photographs. Each chapter also includes a section of colored plates with artwork or scenery typical of the era and location. At the end of the book are a glossary and index.

One aspect of the book that I particularly liked was the fact that it began with World Music, describing aspects of music that are found the world over. Instead of approaching the topic as if all classical music is from the Western tradition, Yudkin explains that Western classical music is simply one kind of music found in the world, and there are other classical music traditions that are quite different. Only after he has established this point does he turn to an in-depth description of the classical tradition most familiar to his audience, the Western tradition. Throughout the book, I was quite impressed with Yudkin's global rather than ethnocentric approach to Western classical music.

The layout of the book is exceptionally well done. Although there numerous short articles for special topics inserted in the text, as well as the listening guides, and images with captions, the text is neatly cut so that sentences are rarely left hanging or continued across page turns when such items are included. My only complaint is that quotations about composers are printed in the margins in light yellow ink, which can be extremely hard to read. Also, a few of the listening guides in the popular music section contain nothing besides lyrics; they could benefit from a few additional words of analysis as found in the listening guides earlier in the book.

Overall, the book is quite accessible and interesting to students of with varying musical backgrounds. Although I've been exposed to classical music all of my life, there was much about the tradition that I remained completely unaware of. After reading Yudkin's explanations, I find that there is a lot more to listen to than I had noticed before.

Beautifully illustrated. Each type of music is traced back to its beginnings--how and when it first was developed. Explains what specifically makes this music different from other types of music. Very interesting and useful information! A very good reference manual that gives you an excellent foundation to music.

I need the CD and they don't included or make it clear. Don't buy from them.

Condition of the used book was better than expected. Delivery on time as promised.

I received the book quickly and it is just what I needed for my class for school.

What a great collection of music - from classical to international to opera to jazz. There's something for everyone, but I personally enjoyed all the genres. The selections were representative of the styles of music, and were enjoyed by all.

no CD's with this!!!!!!!! cd's are necessary for college course, and virtually unobtainable by themselves. item description needs to notate that cd's are NOT included. overpriced for incomplete item.