How to Read Music: Fundamentals of Music Notation Made Easy

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 112 pages
• Published by: Three Rivers Press April 25, 1995
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0517884380
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0517884386
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Weighs: 3.2 ounces

Product Description
A basic primer for anyone without musical training who wishes to learn to read musical scores when singing or taking up an instrument. The book explains how notes are named and written; how to read melody, interpret time signatures, keys, sharps, flats, and naturals; how to read tempo; and how to play chords.

Inside Flap Copy
A basic primer for anyone without musical training who wishes to learn to read musical scores when singing or taking up an instrument. The book explains how notes are named and written; how to read melody, interpret time signatures, keys, sharps, flats, and naturals; how to read tempo; and how to play chords.

Reader Reviews
...not so great for trying to learn from scratch! I had been playing the keyboard/piano for years (learning songs by ear and making my own compositions) before I decided that I wanted to give a shot at learning how to read sheet music. Back in '04, this was the first book I got on music notation. The statement on the outside cover about "challenging exercises" is right! This book jumps right in to assuming that the learner will want to spend time pouring over each exercise repeatedly for extended lengths of time before moving onto the next one, without offering assistance in the way of memorization techniques. For instance, in one of the early sections, the author states: "As long as you can remember the name of ONE note, you can work out all the others." This isn't much help, being that the book introduces nearly all the notes at once, in rapid succession; first the ones on the staff, then all the notes above and below the staffs! The only song learned in between is a brief version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Not even E-G-B-D-F (Every Good Boy Does Fine) and G-B-D-F-A (Great Big Dogs Fight Animals) are thrown in as helpful mnemonics for the treble and bass cleff! Plus, this book only includes eleven practice songs! While covering a myriad of complex areas, there is little chance to practice and whole lot of imformation to memorize for a complete beginner. The attitude of this book is comparable to the situation where you ask someone how to draw something, and they say "Oh, it's easy, you just do this..." and then proceed draw a masterpiece from scratch without telling you anything about method or technique! While claiming that it is "fundamentals of music notation made easy", Evans' book really presents the material in a way which is more frustrating than enlightening. I had given up on learning how to read sheet music for awhile, until I came across Adult All-In-One Course: Lesson-Theory-Technic : Level 1 (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course), which is fantastic. Unlike Roger Evan's book, I was able to progress through a new section and song every few days in Alfred's, and it took me about 3 1/2 months to finish. There are two other levels in the course that I plan on moving onto, since I can now play all the songs in that book, a few songs in other sheet music books I've gotten, and I have a pretty good understanding of the principals that the book covers (what key a song is in, chords, etc.). However, I should note that I have actually used Evans' as a reference on occasion For being such a pretentious book, its 'Directory of Musical Signs', 'Note Directory', and 'Short Musical Dictionary' are definitely useful for clarifying certain terms and notes. But, helpful in learning how to actually read music for the first time? Not for me! Comment | | (Report this)