Teach Yourself to Play Guitar: A Quick and Easy Introduction for Beginners


David M. Brewster - 2004
    Teach Yourself to Play Guitar has been created specifically for the student with no music-reading background. With lesson examples presented in today's most popular tab format, which also incorporates simple beat notation for accurate rhythm execution, Teach Yourself to Play Guitar offers the beginning guitarist not only a comprehensive introduction to essential guitar-playing fundamentals, but a quick, effective, uncomplicated and practical alternative to the multitude of traditional self-instructional method books. It also: covers power chords, barre chords, open position scales and chords (major and minor), and single-note patterns and fills; includes lesson examples and song excerpts in a variety of musical styles rock, folk, classical, country and more; familiarizes the student with fretboard organization, chord patterns, hand and finger positions, and guitar anatomy by way of easy-to-interpret diagrams, photos and illustrations; provides complete, concise explanations while keeping text to a minimum; and prepares the student for the option of further guitar instruction.

Robert Frost's Poems


Robert Frost - 2002
    Here are "Birches," "Mending Wall," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Two Tramps at Mudtime," "Choose Something Like a Star," and "The Gift Outright," which Frost read at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy." An essential addition to every home library, Robert Frost's Poems is a celebration of the New England countryside, Frost's appreciation of common folk, and his wonderful understanding of the human condition. These classic verses touch our hearts and leave behind a lasting impression.* Over 100 poems* All Frost's best known verses from throughout his life

Teaching Music with Passion: Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring


Hal Leonard Corporation - 2002
    Teaching Music with Passion is a one-of-a-kind, collective masterpiece of thoughts, ideas and suggestions about the noble profession of music education. Both inspirational and instructional, it will surely change the way you teach (and think) about music. Filled with personal experiences, anecdotes and wonderful quotations, this book is an easy-to-read, essential treasure! "One of the most 'real' writings I have read during my 35 years in music education." Mel Clayton, President, MENC: The National Association for Music Education Click here for a YouTube video on Teaching Music with Passion

The True Lives of My Chemical Romance: The Definitive Biography


Tom Bryant - 2014
    Inspirational, original, stunningly creative, they forged an extraordinary connection with their fans. Author Tom Bryant was given unparalleled access to the band over the years and now he draws on interviews with Gerard Way and his brother Mikey, Ray Toro and Frank Iero, as well as friends and associates, to bring their stories to life. In this unauthorized biography, he takes us behind the scenes from their very first gig in front of thirty kids in New Jersey - the Ways downing beer to calm their nerves - to international arena-storming superstardom. He sheds light on the personal demons the bandmates battled and the haunted recording session that resulted in the brilliance of "The Black Parade". He also explores the genesis of their music, the constant reinvention that culminated in the visual splendour of "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys", and the strains that led to their split in 2013.Insightful and revealing, "The True Lives of My Chemical Romance" is the definitive biography of the most adored rock band this century, a story of self-belief and the pursuit of dreams.

Fretboard Theory


Desi R. Serna - 2008
    Hands-on approach to guitar theory gives you total command of the fretboard and music's most critical elements by visualizing shapes, patterns and how they connect. Content includes: What scales to learn and how including pentatonic and major scale patterns Guitar CAGED chord system including inversions and arpeggio patterns Guitar chord progressions and playing by numbers (Nashville Number System) Roots, keys and applying scalesUnderstanding music modes and modal scales such as Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and LocrianPlaying and using intervals including thirds, fifths and sixthsAdding extensions such as "add 9," "suspended 4," and "major 7" Details to how hundreds of popular songs were playedNot only does Fretboard Theory teach guitar music theory in a refreshing new manner, but it takes things a step farther by associating everything to your favorite songs. This is the ONLY GUITAR THEORY RESOURCE that includes important details to hundreds of popular songs. Pop, rock, acoustic, blues, metal and more!This new generation of guitar instruction is perfect whether you want to jam, compose or just understand the music you play better. For acoustic and electric guitar players. At 9x12 and 150 pages, Fretboard Theory includes twice the content of ordinary books. Four chapters are also available on DVD (see Getting Started with the Pentatonic Scale, CAGED Template Chord System, Guitar Chord Progressions and Playing By Numbers, Guitar Modes - The Modal Scales of Popular Music).

Genesis of a Music


Harry Partch - 1949
    Having lived mostly in the remote deserts of Arizona and New Mexico with no access to formal training, Partch naturally created theatrical ritualistic works incorporating Indian chants, Japanese kabuki and Noh, Polynesian microtones, Balinese gamelan, Greek tragedy, dance, mime, and sardonic commentary on Hollywood and commercial pop music of modern civilization. First published in 1949, Genesis of a Music is the manifesto of Partch's radical compositional practice and instruments (which owe nothing to the 300-year-old European tradition of Western music.) He contrasts Abstract and Corporeal music, proclaiming the latter as the vital, emotionally tactile form derived from the spoken word (like Greek, Chinese, Arabic, and Indian musics) and surveys the history of world music at length from this perspective. Parts II, III, and IV explain Partch's theories of scales, intonation, and instrument construction with copious acoustical and mathematical documentation. Anyone with a musically creative attitude, whether or not familiar with traditional music theory, will find this book revelatory.

The History of Jazz


Ted Gioia - 1997
    From the seed first planted by slave dances held in Congo Square and nurtured by early ensembles led by Buddy Belden and Joe King Oliver, jazz began its long winding odyssey across America and around the world, giving flower to a thousand different forms--swing, bebop, cool jazz, jazz-rock fusion--and a thousand great musicians. Now, in The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia tells the story of this music as it has never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history--Jelly Roll Morton (the world's greatest hot tune writer), Louis Armstrong (whose O-keh recordings of the mid-1920s still stand as the most significant body of work that jazz has produced), Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, cool jazz greats such as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, and Lester Young, Charlie Parker's surgical precision of attack, Miles Davis's 1955 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, Ornette Coleman's experiments with atonality, Pat Metheny's visionary extension of jazz-rock fusion, the contemporary sounds of Wynton Marsalis, and the post-modernists of the Knitting Factory. Gioia provides the reader with lively portraits of these and many other great musicians, intertwined with vibrant commentary on the music they created. Gioia also evokes the many worlds of jazz, taking the reader to the swamp lands of the Mississippi Delta, the bawdy houses of New Orleans, the rent parties of Harlem, the speakeasies of Chicago during the Jazz Age, the after hours spots of corrupt Kansas city, the Cotton Club, the Savoy, and the other locales where the history of jazz was made. And as he traces the spread of this protean form, Gioia provides much insight into the social context in which the music was born. He shows for instance how the development of technology helped promote the growth of jazz--how ragtime blossomed hand-in-hand with the spread of parlor and player pianos, and how jazz rode the growing popularity of the record industry in the 1920s. We also discover how bebop grew out of the racial unrest of the 1940s and '50s, when black players, no longer content with being entertainers, wanted to be recognized as practitioners of a serious musical form. Jazz is a chameleon art, delighting us with the ease and rapidity with which it changes colors. Now, in Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz, we have at last a book that captures all these colors on one glorious palate. Knowledgeable, vibrant, and comprehensive, it is among the small group of books that can truly be called classics of jazz literature.

Theory of Harmony


Arnold Schoenberg - 1978
    The heart and soul of the book is to be found in Schoenberg's vivid and penetrating digressions--they are the fascinating reflections of a great and humane musician.

The Inner Game of Music


Barry Green - 1986
    With more than 800,000 copies sold since it was first published thirty years ago, The Inner Game of Tennis became a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Now, the bestselling co-author delivers a book designed to help musicians overcome obstacles, improve concentration, and reduce nervousness, allowing them to reach new levels of performing excellence and musical artistry.

Justinguitar.com Beginner's Songbook


Justin Sandercoe - 2011
    Now you can learn to play 100 classic songs as your playing develops through the course. The book includes: · Complete lyrics and chords to 100 songs by artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Simon & Garfunkel, Jeff Buckley, Crowded House, Mumford & Sons, Kings of Leon, Nirvana and many more. · 10 songs for each stage of the Beginner’s Course, building up from easy three-chord songs through to more advanced tunes. · Tuition notes for each song by Justin advising you on strumming patterns and chord changes, with diagrams to illustrate all the chord shapes you need. Completely revised and updated, this really is the ultimate beginner’s songbook!

The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary


Ambrose Bierce - 1911
    There, a bore is "a person who talks when you wish him to listen," and happiness is "an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." This is the most comprehensive, authoritative edition ever of Ambrose Bierce’s satiric masterpiece. It renders obsolete all other versions that have appeared in the book’s ninety-year history.A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth.This new edition is based on David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi’s exhaustive investigation into the book’s writing and publishing history. All of Bierce’s known satiric definitions are here, including previously uncollected, unpublished, and alternative entries. Definitions dropped from previous editions have been restored while nearly two hundred wrongly attributed to Bierce have been excised. For dedicated Bierce readers, an introduction and notes are also included.Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a classic that stands alongside the best work of satirists such as Twain, Mencken, and Thurber. This unabridged edition will be celebrated by humor fans and word lovers everywhere.

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Lesson Book, Bk 1a


Willard A. Palmer - 1981
    Lesson Book Level 1A begins by teaching basic keyboard topography and fluent recognition of white key names in relation to black keys. It focuses on simple rhythms and prepares students for intervallic reading with entertaining songs that focus on same, stepping up and stepping down. It then introduces lines and space notes in treble and bass clefs, melodic and harmonic intervals of 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5ths, and graduates to reading on the grand staff. It also introduces the flat and sharp signs. This course is most effective when used under the direction of a piano teacher or experienced musician. Songs Include: Balloons * Batter Up! * The Donkey * A Friend Like You * Hand-Bells * A Happy Song * Horse Sense * Totem Pole Song * It's Halloween! * Jingle Bells! * Jolly Old Saint Nicholas * July the Fourth! * Just a Second! * Love Somebody * Merrily We Roll Along O'er the Deep Blue Sea * Mexican Hat Dance * My Clever Pup * My Fifth * My Robot * Old MacDonald * Old Uncle Bill * Play a Fourth * Raindrops * Rain, Rain! * Rockets * Rockin' Tune * Rock Song * Sailing * Sea Divers * See-Saws * Skating * Who's on Third? * Willie and Tillie * Wishing Well * The Zoo

NOT A BOOK: The Cheesecake Factory Menu


NOT A BOOK
    The standardized menu for the The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain.

What to Listen for in Music


Aaron Copland - 1939
    Whether you listen to Mozart or Duke Ellington, Aaron Copland's provocative suggestions for listening to music from his point of view will bring you a deeper appreciation of the most rewarding of all art forms.

Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements


Bob Mehr - 2016
    With full participation from reclusive singer and chief songwriter Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarist Slim Dunlap, and the family of late band co-founder Bob Stinson, author Bob Mehr is able to tell the real story of this highly influential group, capturing their chaotic, tragic journey from the basements of Minneapolis to rock legend. Drawing on years of research and access to the band's archives at Twin/Tone Records and Warner Bros. Mehr also discovers previously unrevealed details from those in the group's inner circle, including family, managers, musical friends and collaborators.