Product Description
Soundbites has been produced to help children develop a greater understanding of the orchestra and its sections, instruments and the sounds made by the instruments. The series also provides information on how these instruments and sounds are used outside the orchestral context. Each book explains: - the place of the instruments within the orchestra - how the sounds are produced - how the instruments work and the sounds they make - the history and development of the instruments ... Read more

Product Description
Text and pictures introduce the woodwind family of instruments, such as flutes, saxophones, oboes, bassoons, and their relatives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent pedagogical resource
This book has an excellent overall pedigogical approach to brass.Goodhistorical outline of each instrument; good description of accessories;list of recordings for each instrument; group examples that can beperformed with the entire class.An added bonus is a section that includespictures of famous performers and ensembles.The only reservation that Ihave with this resource is that, in my opinion, the ensemble materialsprogress too rapidly.I would strongly recommend this book for universitybrass technique (music education) courses and for public/private schoolmusic educators. ... Read more

Product Description
The Tipbook Series books are handy, accessible, thorough and convenient guides for players who want to get the most out of their instrument. They are written in collaboration with and proofread by musicians, teachers, technicians and other experts - for beginners, students and advanced players. Features include: lessons, teachers and practicing * all jargon explained * basic background information * price indications * the history and the family of the instrument * and more. The flute and piccolo book covers topics such as selecting and play-testing flutes and piccolos, choosing headjoints, playing tips, maintenance and more."Highly recommended for flute players of all levels." (Matthew Bright, Flutewise) ... Read more

Product Description
The Team Series is suitable for use with both individuals or as a group tutor encouraging students to try ensemble playing from the very early stages. Team Woodwind is a flexible and adaptable course ideal for beginner woodwind players and can be tailored to suit the specific needs of each student. Each piece is carefully graded to ensure a logical progression at a sensible pace and students are introduced to a wide variety of musical styles throughout the book. Imaginative piano accompaniments have been provided to add variety in performance. ... Read more

Product Description
The Tipbook Series books are handy, accessible, thorough and convenient guides for players who want to get the most out of their instrument. They are written in collaboration with and proofread by musicians, teachers, technicians and other experts - for beginners, students and advanced players. Features include: lessons, teachers and practicing * all jargon explained * basic background information * price indications * the history and the family of the instrument * and more. The sax book teaches you how to select an instrument and provides helpful tips on buying mouthpieces, necks, reeds and more."(Tipbook Saxophone) does not assume that all saxophone players aim towards playing pop, rock or jazz; Excellent for either quick reference, trouble-shooting or top-up information for the most hardened saxophone devotee; Clearly marked chapters, very informative." (Winds)"This book is a really delightful surprise. The subject is thoroughly covered and illustrations are well rendered and informative ... Even advanced players may find some interesting tidbits, and the beginner and intermediate player will certainly profit from this book and its associate web site, as well as band directors and teachers."(Harri Rautiainen, Sax on the Web) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Very Helpful!
I found this book to be very helpful in learning how to harness my musical technique, & appreciation for the saxophone. This book was also very detailed in saxophone maintenance, & product care. 2 thumbs up indeed!

Tipbook
Gives a lot of knowledge to all areas of the instrument including different opinion's on various topics. if you want to get to know about saxophones start here!

Good but could be better
I expected more tips for sax playing. Instead, there is a lot of information regarding the instrument care and how it is made of. Anyway, it is good and useful. Therefore, I definitely recommend it.

A well of information for beginners
I fond the Saxophone Tipbook to contain a lot of valuable information for me as a novice saxophone player...

For Beginners+
The size of this book may puzzle you first; it resembles an airline timetable or a travel guide. However the 132 pages promise a lot of content. This book is a really delightful surprise. Besides the fact that the print quality and typography is superb, the subject is thoroughly covered and illustrations are well rendered and informative.

The author Hugo Pinksterboer has utilized well-known European and American experts. I find myself going back to various sections again and again. They briefly cover the history and development of the saxophone, playing tips for beginners and practical tips for maintenance and even for traveling with the sax. What is really useful is the saxophone selecting and buying advice with price indications in U.S. dollars.

The web site, www.tipbook.com ties closely to this book. The book contains a total of 29 numbered "tipcodes" referring to the respective codes on the web site. This is an excellent way to refer to sound samples of various pitch saxophones, video clips on attaching and adjusting reeds, etc.

Who should buy this book? This should definitely be the first book to land in the hands of a newcomer to the saxophone world. All the necessary information is there. A more experienced player planning to replace his/her rental instrument or inherited sax will also find the instrument core sections valuable. There are also some interesting "exotic" tid bits, e.g. an alternative for the neck strap for supporting a saxophone (page 94). To top it off there is as an excellent combined Glossary and Index and reference section including magazines, books, organizations and saxophone web sites.

I own several saxophone instruction books and have reviewed a fair amount of them. The Tipbook: Saxophone stands out in its practical approach, covering various aspects of buying, owning and using the saxophone. As mentioned above, even it's size is practical. The book will travel in a tenor saxophone accessory box or inside the bell of an alto sax, if you want to bend it. Even advanced players may find some interesting tidbits; the beginner and intermediate player will certainly profit from this book and its associate web site as well as band directors and teachers. ... Read more

Product Description
With domestic music so much a part of everyday life, musical performance in Regency Britain served not merely to entertain but to convey the essence of taste in action. For men, perhaps above all social activities, flute-playing embodied taste and sensibility in the manner, tone, and expression of its executants.

Thomas Lindsay's Elements of Flute-Playing According to the Most Approved Principles of Modern Fingering (London, 1828-1830) provided the first synthetic treatment of the flute-playing technique of the 1820s. The method, by an otherwise obscure music-shop proprietor rather than by a famous performer, incorporates and quotes not only from earlier English works by Gunn (c1792) and Nicholson (1816, c1821), but also from influential French ones (including one published in London) by Berbiguier, Devienne, and Drouët. Lindsay s instructions amplify and add perspective to those in tutors by (in order of publication) Gunn, Monzani, Beale, Keith, Nicholson, Kuffner, Alexander, Weiss, Bown, and Dressler, as well as amplifying commentary in periodicals and other publications with a detailed view of exactly how Nicholson s contemporaries heard, evaluated, felt about, and imitated the highly distinctive styles vying for their attention. Lindsay's repertoire of exercises and examples. National Airs, arrangements, and original compositions by Lindsay himself, as well as by Berbiguier, Devienne, Drouët, Farrenc, Gabrielsky, Gebauer, Hugot and Wunderlich, Kuhlau, Mayseder, Mozart, Pasquali, Rossini, G.A. Schneider, Storace, and C.N. Weiss, are annotated with comments on tonality, accentuation, and sensitive intonation, as well as on particular applications of fingering and expression.

Richard M. Wilson's commentary on this facsimile edition examines the techniques most deeply implicated in contemporary English evaluations of judgement and good taste : articulation, including extensive coverage of accent and emphasis as well as the controversial double tongue; fingering, with special attention to modern techniques including harmonics and sensitive , or supersharpened, notes; facility in the most pathetic flat keys; and a full, bold, and commanding Tone . Ardal Powell's Introduction presents Lindsay s tutor as revealing modes of hearing and of feeling musical expression that cannot be gleaned from other sources such as musical notation and commentary on performance. The essay discusses Lindsay s acute awareness of the English flute world, the controversies over Charles Nicholson and the contrasting classical style of continental visitors, and the role of amateur flute-playing in the construction of British middle-class musical taste. ... Read more

Product Description
This method and resource handbook for music education students offers an overview of basic instructional techniques with relevant musical examples; discusses selection, care, and assembly of instruments; and supplies a complete bibliography of educational materials.Throughout the text's coverage of fundamentals, special emphasis is placed on developing ideas for innovative teaching strategies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Reference
Excellent overall information that is very helpful but misses some troubleshooting problems especially with flutes.

Best Available - Wish there were more
I use this text extensively in my woodwind class. The double reed sections are excellent. The saxophone section is fine, but a bit short on information. There are several inaccuracies in the flute section (scientific, historical), and our flute professor disagrees with the information on embouchure and technique. The clarinet section is also weak. The author has some strange ideas on teaching embouchure and other skills, and there are inaccuracies within this section as well.

I use this and have students make corrections and notes in their copies of this book since there is nothing better available. I would like to see an updated version with corrections made and more consistent organization of material for each of the woodwinds. I would also like to see the illustrations revised so that they are more accurate. (I like a lot of the information in the Westphal book that is its competitor, but the Westphal is dense reading and very, very old.)

Fine Overview, with few inaccuracies
Woodwind players are much like trumpet players' about their mouthpieces, or violinists' about their strings....each has an opinion.The separate authors who write the wwodwind chapters, also have their opinions, a fewtricks and techniques that are not mainstream, but clearly would work formost people.The best Woodwind Technque book on the market. ... Read more

Product Description
This definitive volume celebrates the harmonica's illustrious history, focusing on every musical genre that has felt the harp's impact. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

great for an enjoyable read and, you'll learn some stuff along the way
"A must" for any 'harp' player. Not only did I find this book enjoyable to read but,I pick up some names to model myself after.It covers: Blues, Jazz, Country, famous players, chromatic vrs. diatonic, you learn the history behind the 'harp,' and more!You'll find yourself lost in its pages, again, while learning some neat trivia while your at it.

Harpers' heaven
Previous reviewers have said it all - "savour every word"... "hats off to Kim Field" etc - but my enthusiam makes me want to throw my hat into the ring. I've been writing about music for newspapers and magazines for 25 years, as a sidelight to my job as a journalist, and I'm in awe of the job Field has done with this book. It's exquisitely written and packed with entertaining information. The 20th century harmonica world was populated by all manner of rascals, hobos, eccentrics and maestros (often all wrapped up in the same person), and Field tells their stories in a clean, organised fashion that captures the magic while never resorting to sentiment or hyperbole. While it's very much a book for harmonica nuts, I've been reading plenty of laugh-out-loud sections to my partner, whose passion is more in the classical piano mold. Over the years I've collected a number of compilations of obscure harp players, but they're not obscure anymore. Having them expertly set in the context of their colourful lives has made the listening immensely more rewarding. Bless you, Kim, for putting in the research in the nick of time, before many of these people were dead and unable to speak for themselves. And bless you for your highly professional yet heartfelt approach.

Essential Reading
I found this to be a very enjoyable read and was disappointed when it was over.This should be recommended reading for anyone who plays or is a fan of the harmonica.

Must have for Harp players
If you want to know something of the history of the instrument you are playing, you should have a copy of this book.Well written, entertaining, and loads of material.I especially like the interviews.

Important Unique Work
Very inspirational to me and others who keep trying to swipe my copy. This is so well written and organized that I keep reading much of it over and over again. It is one of those books that you savior every word. It is very inexpensive for such a valuable, meaty, entertaining resource. Mr. Field, thank you for this tremendous read. This material would make a great PBS Ken Burns type documentary. ... Read more

Product Description
Well-researched history by noted authority traces evolution of trumpets, trombones, bugles, cornets, French horns, tubas and other brass wind instruments. The text is supplemented by over 140 black-and-white illustrations as well as 48 music examples. Corrected and updated by the author, this book remains an indispensable resource for any brass player or music historian. New preface. Bibliography.
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Customer Reviews (2)

THE MUST-HAVE OF ITS FIELD
Every field has its classic work, and this is it for brass instruments. Not definitive, because nothing could be, but the linch-pin of the library as far as brasswind instruments go.

Great book for brass history
When I ordered this book I was expecting something that closely followed the form Baines had used in his Woodwind Instruments and Their History.This was not to be the case. Instead, it is a detailed history of the brassfamily from prehistoric time to the modern valved era.This is not quiteas exhaustive of a book as I was looking for (something that dealt withmodern valved brass).With all that said it is still a marvelous book andfull of usefull information. ... Read more

Product Description
Contents: Allegro from Concert in A Major (C.P.E. Bach) ¥ Allegro Moderato (Boccherini) ¥ Sonata XI in d minor (Frederick the Great) ¥ Allegro (AndrŽ E.M. GrŽtry) ¥ Adagio (Jean-Marie LeClair) ¥ Adagio and Gigue (Jean-Baptisti Loeillet) ¥ Sonata in F Major (Johann Christoph Pepusch) ¥ Allegro spiritoso (Pergolesi) ¥ Arioso (Johann Jaochim Quantz) ¥ Concerto in G Major (Karl Stamitz) ¥ Concerto in G Major (Giuseppe Tartini) ¥ Concerto in D Major, "Il Cardellino" (Vivaldi). ... Read more

Product Description
In this children's guide to musical instruments, you andyour child will follow along with Jerod and Mr. Melody as they tour amusic store, exploring the qualities and quirks of instruments rangingfrom the triangle to the trombone, the guitar to the glockenspiel.It'sall explained in clear child-friendly terms that take the mystery outof the magical world of music. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Too many directions at once
After borrowing a fried's alto sax and messing around for a bit, I rented a clarinet and got this book. I had never touched a clarinet before and was looking for a book to help me get started before I pursued lessons. I had piano lessons as a kid, so I can read music.

This book rushes through fundamentals like assembling the instrument, cleaning it, holding it and blowing on it correctly. It provides a fingering chart without explanation--this took me hours to decipher. It offers a short history of the instruments and an introduction to musical notation. The bulk of the book is a survey of music history, touching on different classical composers and offering sample sheet music from each. The music selections are NOT for beginners.

I honestly can't figure out whom this book is for. For teaching myself rudimentary clarinet-playing, I found some video tutorials on YouTube much more helpful. ... Read more

Product Description
Exploring the parallel development of the brass band movement and religious fervor in late 19th-century America, this work includes illustrations from original materials as well as scores for 22 works. While the choral tradition has remained strong in churches, in this earlier period both choral and instrumental forms were equally popular. This study begins with solo cornet parts, used by men like George Ives to lead the singing at revival meetings, and ends with an extensive band arrangement of Pleyel's Hymn. Extensive historical notes, old-time illustrations, and sacred music make this a most interesting and useful reference book. ... Read more