Classical music was never meant to be an art for snobs!In the 1700s and 1800s, classical music was popular music. People went to concerts with their friends, they brought snacks and drinks, and cheered right in the middle of the concert.Well, guess what? Three hundred years later, that music is just as catchy, thrilling, and emotional.From Bach to Mozart and Chopin, history's greatest composers have stood the test of time and continue to de...

Whether you want to participate in ballet or just watch it, the ballet experience can excite and inspire you. Ballet is among the most beautiful forms of expression ever devised: an exquisite mix of sight and sound, stunning, aesthetics, and awesome technique.Ballet For Dummies is for anyone who wants to enjoy all that the dance forms offers – as an onlooker who wants to get a leg up on the forms you're likely to see or as an exercise enthusiast who understands that the pr...

Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms, oh, my! The beginner's guide to classical music.Classical Music For Dummies is a friendly, funny, easy-to-understand guide to composers, instruments, orchestras, concerts, recordings, and more. Classical music is widely considered one of the pinnacles of human achievement, and this informative guide will shows you just how beautiful and rewarding it can be. You'll learn how Bach is different from Beethoven, how Mozart is dif...

Lots of piano books offer either in-depth analysis or quick gimmicks that don’t really teach music theory. But The Only Basic Piano Instruction Book You’ll Ever Need is different. For students who want to learn the basics and dive right into playing, this book skips all the unnecessary trivia on the history of pianos and avoids lengthy digressions on classical and contemporary musicians. Instead, it focuses specifically on piano instruction and includes: The basics of musical term...

As featured in the Telegraph and on Radio 4's Today programme.'A magnificent treasury . . . a fascinating tour de force.' Observer'Year of Wonder is an absolute treat - the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.' Eddie RedmayneClassical music for everyone - an inspirational piece of music for every day of the year, celebrating composers from the medieval era to the pr...

Music theory doesn’t need to be complicated, and this guide will show you how to make it simple.Idiot's Guides: Music Theory, Third Edition, is a concise and clear guide that teaches any budding musician or experienced musician how to read musical notation by navigating the basics of reading and composing music. Here’s what you’ll find:• The basics of tones, including pitches, clefs, scales, intervals, and major and minor keys

Make sure you hit all the right notesPlaying the piano is much more than just learning notes and reading music; having good dexterity, building independent finger strength, and learning proper technique is absolutely essential to mastering the instrument. Packed with everything a player needs to become a great pianist, The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Piano Exercises is the perfect companion to the best-selling The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Pla...

You have a passion for making beautiful music, but when it comes to understanding and speaking the musical language, you need a little help. The Complete Idiot's Mini Guide to Music Theory Must-Know Terms compiles dozens of the most important and commonly used terms in the musical lexicon - from notations and chords to modes and scales - explaining them all in clear, concise language.

MAKE A SOUND INVESTMENT IN CLASSICAL MUSICWho are the ten most important classical composers? Who in the world was Palestrina? Why did Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" cause a riot? Which five of each important composer's works should you buy? What is a concerto and how does it differ from a sonata?Maybe you don't know the answers to these questions; author Phil Goulding certainly didn't. When Goulding first tried to learn about classical music, he found himself buried in an ava...

This is the definitive guide to playing pop ballad piano for beginners, by the world-renowned author and educator Mark Harrison. This book is also ideal for singer-songwriters needing to accompany themselves in a ballad style! You'll get started right away, learning some essential pop ballad comping patterns to use on your next gig or "open mic" night. The material is organized and explained in the clearest possible way, and all of the twenty-three music examples are very authentic and fun...

If you enjoy great music but want to know more about how it came to be the way it is - without investing time in a graduate degree - here are the background stories of over 200 great compositions. If you're only just coming to experiment with great music, here are guideposts to help you understand and enjoy what you encounter. The stories and sounds behind the scenes: welcome to Classical Music Insights.

A preeminent composer, music scholar, and biographer presents an engaging and accessible introduction to classical musicFor many of us, classical music is something serious -- something we study in school, something played by cultivated musicians at fancy gatherings. In Language of the Spirit, renowned music scholar Jan Swafford argues that we have it all wrong: classical music has something for everyone and is accessible to all. Ranging from Gregorian cha...