Customer Reviews

Workbook for the Study of Orchestration

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Each time I've taught orchestration I've used Samuel Adler's The Study of Orchestration book and CD. Although I have reservations about the text (which I've enumerated in my review here at amazon.com), I think it is the best available text and the accompanying CDs really make the set invaluable. I've never been comfortable with the workbook, however, and in fact have never used it for class. It is not entirely without value--for example, the passage on string bowings is very helpful (Worksheet 2), and for a teacher this provides material ready at hand for exercises in transposition, clefs, harmonics, and the like, which are generally satisfactory. Much of the workbook, however, takes an historical approach to the teaching of orchestration which I am uncomfortable with for most students. Adler uses "Listen and Score" exercises repeatedly, in which the student is instructed to listen to a passage (included on the CD set that accompanies the text) given in piano or short score and instructed to orchestrate it exactly as they heard it. While these can be helpful in the early stages, I can't understand why one would want to encourage a student to write for 2 horns in C and 2 horns in Eb as Berlioz did. Modern instruments have transcended many of the difficulties that earlier composers faced, and to learn to score for those instruments in the style of a particular composer may be of some historical interest, but little practical worth. There is the decided advantage for the teacher of answers being either right (the way composer X did it) or wrong (anything else)--but the nature of orchestration belies that duality. Often in orchestration many choices are equally right; but if a passage must be notated choices must be made. To make a particular choice does not invalidate the viability of an alternate choice.

Other exercises are downright quirky. Worksheet 14 calls for the student to transcribe a Bach organ prelude for four percussionists, all playing non-pitched percussion. While this might be a lot of fun, I doubt it is the best way to learn the use of non-pitched percussion for orchestrational purposes.

Missing almost entirely is any material on the wind band. Where winds are considered, they are considered only as the wind section of an orchestra. True, the set is not titled The Study of Orchestration and Band Arranging, but since most students (in the US, at least) will be much more likely to face bands rather than full orchestras in their professional life, such a section would be of great worth.

This workbook is a must-have for the serious student of orchestration and all musicians who would like to get familiar with the process of "sounds" in the orchestra(symphony/small ensembles).A great way for developing,through listening and writing practice, the "mind's ear and eye" relationship when scoring and getting music down in score paper.The workbook/text book/CD edtion combination is the next best thing if you can't get to a real live classroom instruction set up!And even if you can,it will surely enhance the studying process and would surely last a lifetime.Unbeatable.Essential.Get it!

First of all, I would like to say that the text and cds for The Study of Orchestration are excellent (with a few exceptions). However, this workbook is horrible. The exercises make no sense and the instructions for doing them are unclear and confusing at best. Often these exercises include things that were not present in the book or concepts are presented in a manner different from the text. There are a huge number of mistakes in the workbook, especially in regard to track numbers on the cds (sold separately). Avoid this at all costs. It has nothing to offer. Any competent teacher should be able to come up with their own exercises that would have much more practical value. Unfortunately, I am in an arranging and scoring class where the teacher seems to think this book is the best thing since sliced bread. What a moron.

I went online to buy the textbook that this workbook goes to and bought the workbook by mistake. I guess I was so excited by what I thought was a low price for the textbook that I leapt before looking. Now I can't afford the textbook for a while and the workbook is kind of useless without it. Caveat emptor.

I would have liked to know there were pages missing, because I would have bought it somewhere else.

This is a comprehensive book on how to write music with serveral different instruments. There is also 6 cd's and a workbook that is helpful. Good book and supplements. Another good program that would help is finale. This program lets you hear what you have written down.

While the actual book has a lot of good information, the workbook itself is mindless and silly. I don't learn anything from filling it out. It brings me back to junior high school.