Reference Books for Singers

This is the place to go if you just know you know so little that you don’t know where to start! Dictionaries! Guides! Planners! How to’s of the very basic level abound here. But even if you’re past the basics, don’t skip this page – there’s always something new to learn, even for the most experienced of performers. Do you know how to sign your performances, opening it up to a whole ‘nother audience? How’s your diction? How fresh are you notation skills? What about your knowledge of copyright? And we also have a guide to walk you through the special magic of recording vocals.

Jay Warner: American Singing Groups

"American Singing Groups: A History 1940 to Today" is the definitive history of pop vocal groups, encompassing the doo-wop of Dion & the Belmonts, the Motown hits of the Supremes, the surf sound of the Beach Boys, country-rock of Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the slick pop sounds of 'N Sync. Each entry details the group's career, key members, and its influences. With extensive discographies and rare photos, this one-of-a-kind entertaining reference is filled with musical facts that will fascinate fans and collectors. Updated and freshly revised, American Singing Groups also chronicles the revival of the pop groups in the nineties and the new millennium. This is an essential and comprehensive guide to an evolving and ever-popular art form. New bands in this revision include Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Destiny's Child and many more.

6369 BOOK $19.95

Jerome Hines: Great Singers on Great Singing

Jerome Hines has interviewed 40 singers, a speech therapist, and a throat specialist to provide this invaluable collection of advice for all singers. This collection includes the commentary of Licia Albanese, Franco Corelli, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Gedda, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, Birgit Nilsson, Luciano Pavarotti, Rose Ponselle, Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland and many others.

6512 BOOK $16.95

Musicians Institute: Musicians Guide To Recording Vocals

In this one-on-one lesson, Recording Institute of Technology instructor Dallan Beck presents a well thought-out tutorial on recording vocals that all musicians and recording engineers can learn from. He explains microphones, mic placement, compression, equalization, tracking vocals, effects and more in a detailed, yet easy-to-understand way. The accompanying CD contains 80 helpful demonstration tracks.

1151 BOOK $14.95

Jimmy Kachulis: The Songwriter's Workshop - Harmony

Learn the fundamental techniques behind today's hit songs, with easy-to-follow exercises so you can immediately apply these tools to your own songs. Quit wrestling with writer's block, and learn to make the songwriting process easy, fun, and intuitive. Kachulis covers a variety of topics, including: colors of chords and keys • chord embellishments and progressions to enrich your palette of colors • dozens of ways to modify your harmonies and progressions • the most common chord progressions used in hit songs • and more. Practice your songs with an accompaniment on the play-along CD!

6450 BOOK & CD $29.95

Various Composers: Composers on Composing for Choir

David N. Childs
Rene Clausen
Libby Larsen
Morten Lauridsen
Kirke Mechem
James Mulholland
John Rutter
Z. Randall Stroope
Andre Thomas
Gwyneth Walker

Anyone who has ever wanted to delve into the minds of leading composers for choir will be enlightened by the commentary of leading choral voices in Composers on Composing for Choir. Conductors, performers, and composers will find valuable reference materials for their development and a treasure trove of inspiration to carry over into any choral endeavor. Contributing composers: David N. Childs, René Clausen, Libby Larsen, Morten Lauridsen, Kirke Mechem, James Mulholland, John Rutter, Z. Randall, Stroope, André Thomas, Gwyneth Walker

6471 BOOK $24.95

Varbara Harlow: How To Get Your Choral Composition Published

Prepare to Compose
Test-Poetry-The Words of a Composition
Creative Decisions
Pitfalls to Avoid - Guideleines to Follow
The Submission
Interacting with a Publisher
Business-like Organization
The Composer's Place in the Business of Music
Appendix

This is a terrifically valuable book for aspiring choral composers! Barbara Harlow offers very practical approaches and useful informaiton converning both the creative process involved in choral composition and guidelines to the process of publication.

6412 BOOK $12.95

Thomas Hemsley: Singing & Imagination

Readiness to Sing: The Raw Material
Posture
Impulse, Intention, and the anacrusis
Colour
The importance of Good Diction
The Singer's Ear
The Pitch-Intensity Effect
Breath
The Work of the Imagination: The Study of Vocal Music
Legato and Tessitura
Pulse

This book is written on the belief that the essential basic principles underlying good singing are in themselves rather few, and very simple, but that their application is amazingly varied in light of the individual's needs. It is not intended as a manual of voice production, and does not concern itself with medical matters, nor directly with anatomy, physiology, and acoustics. While not belittling the value of appropriate scientific investigation, Thomas Hemsley believes that modern methods of training have gone too far in the direction of the materialistic approach; that singing in all its aspects and at all times should be guided by the imagination, the feelings, and the intuition; that we have become so pre-occupied by voice per se and the vocal function since the advent of vocal science, that we too easily forget that singing is not voice, but modification of voice - "not only a language through which we understand the emotions of others, but also a means of exciting our sympathy with such emotions," (H. Spencer). This book can be seen as an attempt to redress the balance. Comprehensive and engagingly written this neccessary and welcome book will be a gift for singers and teachers of singing, as well as the general music-loving public.

6171 BOOK $29.95

Maria Hampton / Barbara Acker: The Vocal Vision - Views on Voice

Twenty-four leading voice experts speak out on the changing role of voice on stage. Among the essay topics include: Re-Discovering Lost Voices • Thoughts on Theatre, Therapy, and the Art of Voice • Finding Our Lost Singing Voices • Voice Training, Where Have We Come From? • Vocal Coaching in Private Practice • and more.

6353 BOOK $18.95

John Jacobson: Sign Language For Singers

Music is the universal language, reaching all races and all ages. Now you can enhance this universal language with the beautiful gestures of sign language. With Sign Language for Singers, you will learn over 160 beautiful movements most commonly used by singers. The gestures are alphabetized for ease of use, with easy-to-follow definitions and demonstration photos for further visual reference. The DVD features John Jacobson demonstrating each gesture and with the DVD submenus, you can go directly to the move you desire. Also included are 10 featured songs with John performing the sign language, so you can see first-hand how these beautiful hand movements add meaning and depth to any musical performance. Add another dimension to your performances by incorporating the beautiful art of sign language into your movements with Sign Language for Singers.

6271 BOOK $34.95

Gage Averill: Four Parts, No Waiting

Four Parts, No Waiting investigates the role that vernacular, barbershop-style close harmony has played in American musical history, in American life, and in the American imagination. Starting with a discussion of the first craze for Austrian four-part close harmony in the 1830s, Averill traces the popularity of this musical form in minstrel shows, black recreational singing, vaudeville, early recordings, and in the barbershop revival of the 1930s. In his exploration of barbershop, Averill uncovers a rich musical tradition--a hybrid of black and white cultural forms, practiced by amateurs, and part of a mythologized vision of small-town American life. Barbershop harmony played a central -- and overlooked -- role in the panorama of American music. Averill demonstrates that the barbershop revival was part of a depression-era neo-Victorian revival, spurred on by insecurities of economic and social change. Contemporary barbershop singing turns this nostalgic vision into lived experience. Arguing that the "old songs" function as repositories of idealized social memory, Averill reveals ideologies of gender, race, and class. This engagingly-written, often funny book critiques the nostalgic myths (especially racial myths) that have surrounded the barbershop revival, but also celebrates the civic-minded, participatory spirit of barbershop harmony. The text is accompanied by an audio CD.

2838 BOOK & CD $34.98

Geoffrey Forward: American Diction

Introduction to Diction
Exercises for the Articulators
Speech Sounds
Vowels
Tongue Vowels
Lip Vowels
Other Vowels
Diphthongs
Consonants
Fricative Consonants
Plosive Consonants
Affricative Consonants
Glide Consonants
Semi-Vowel Consonants
Nasal Consonants
Pronunciation
Pop Pronunciation
Inflections and Intonations
Expressive Singing

Geoffrey G. Forward, acting coach and leading expert in American diction, clearly illustrates for the singer how to gain control by eliminating vocal tension and poor diction and replacing it with clear pronunciation. Put the finishing touches on your singing not only with the excellent diction you will gain by using this text, but also through the concepts of phrasing, identifying key words and singing with emotion, which are brought to life in this book. Learn how to pronounce all vowels, dipthongs and constanants clearly and how to link sounds together to form easily understood words and phrases.This 270-page book is an essential addition to the library of every singer, voice teacher and vocal coach.

6036 BOOK $29.95

Michael Kennedy: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music

When The Oxford Dictionary of Music first appeared, it was hailed by Music and Musicians as "without question the most comprehensive, detailed, reliable one-volume reference work on music now avaiable in the English language." Extensively revised and expanded for this new edition, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Fourth Edition is a rich mine of information for lovers of music of all periods and styles, providing over 10,000 entries on musical terms, works, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras. The dictionary's coverage is exceptional, providing comprehensive work-lists for major composers, detailed entries on living composers and performers, important choral works as well as descriptions of musical instruments and their histories. Written to appeal to general readers, musicians and musicologists alike, this volume is an indispensable addition to the reference shelf of the concert goer, the record buyer or anyone involved in music, whether amateur or professional.

1152 BOOK $17.95

Howard Shanet: Learn To Read Music

Notation Of Rhythm
Notation Of Pitch
Combination Of Rhythmic And Pitch Notations
Supplementary Symbols And Devices
Tonality
Scales And Key Signature
Vocabulary Of Some Important Foreign Terms Used In Music
The C - Clefs

In two hours, absolute novices can read through this book and understand the principles involved in reading music. In two evenings, they can learn to read practically any melody and pick it out on the piano by doing the clear and simple exercises provided. Howard Shanet has taught thousands of people to read music in four hours of classwork with his proven method and exercises! A practical classroom text and a helpful reference for singers.

6351 BOOK $12.95

Mark McGrain: The Berklee Guide to Music Notation

Sound Envelopes and the Notational Grid
Fundamental Rhythmic Description
Fundamental Pitch Description
The Notational Grid: Conclusion
Time Signatures, Meter, and Tempo
Rhythmic Subdivision of the Pulse
Rhythmic Subdivision of the PulseL Concluded
Holds, Pauses and Repeats
Chords, Voiceings and Divisi Parts
Dynamics
Articulation
Ornaments
Appendix I: Names of Instruments with Abbreviations
Appendix II: Score Layout
Appendix III: Instrumental Transpositions
Appendix IV: Glossary of European Musical Terms

Learn the essentials of music notation, from fundamental pitch and rhythm placement to intricate meter and voicing alignments. This book also covers the correct way to subdivide rhythms and notate complex articulations and dynamics. This guide will teach you how to create professional manuscrpits and is an excellent resource for both written and computer notation software!

6203 BOOK $19.95

Linda Lusk / Tom Gerou: The Essential Dictionary of Music Notation

348 page guide will clearly explain and illustrate notation, for the amateur or professional! This pocket-sized dictionary presents current and correct notation practices in an easy-to-use format. Generously illustrated and concise, this book is essential to any musician looking for a handy reference for the correct notation of music. A most welcome and beneficial source for every musician, whether using a pencil or a computer.

5852 BOOK $6.95

Frank Pooler: New Choral Notation

Choral music appears to be in a state of transition. Previous periods of transition placed a premium on originality, and often the commonly held melodic-harmonic vocabulary was temporarily abandoned. The same sort of thing is happening now. Today and increasing number of choral composers are more or less inventing their own musical language and the means of notating i. This "new" notation is usually defined, often in a great detail, in a preface to each composition. e have examined a body of this material and extracted the notational symbols which appears with greatest frequency. To clarify some of the illustration we added phonemes where none existed in the original or replaced the composers' phonemic notation with letters from English alphabet. While the symbols included here are only sample of those in current use, we hope that the collection may help bring choral conductors an increased awareness of what is happening in their profession. Young composers may also find it helpful. Hopefully their use of this collection may serve as part of an initial step in the standardization of an expanded choral national system.

6218 BOOK $5.95

Dan Fox: Write It Right

Designed to give guidance to arrangers, composers, copyists, songwriters and teachers on how to prepare music manuscripts the right way, this book is a definitive, up-to-date summary of the general practice of music notation. Proper drawing and placement of clefs, stems, chords, lyrics, meters, phrase and slur marks, as well as how to notate chord symbols, lead sheets and TAB are all covered in this volume. A companion workbook to the Write It Right! manual is also available.

6048 BOOK $9.95

Dan Fox: Write It Right - Workbook

A companian workbook to the Write It Right manual. By working through the exercises in this workbook in conjunction with the manual, the aspiring arranger, composer, songwriter or music student will learn how to set up a manuscrpit properly. Featuring pages of typical musical exampls to be filled in, problems to be solved, questions to be answered and arrangements to be completed, this workbook offers a unique opportunity for any student of music to learn how to prepare music properly and professionally.

6062 BOOK $7.95

Molto Music: Musician's Practice Planner

An innovative weekly lesson planner custom tailored for the practicing musician! Use this spiral bound planner to meet goals and speed progress in the practice room. Students will practice more, learn more, and remember more! All styles. Any level.

6330 BOOK $6.95

Paul Schmeling: Berklee Music Theory, Book 1

Introduction
Rhythm Notes And Rest
Eighth Notes, Dots, and Ties
Notation And Time Signatures
The Staff Accidentals And Key Signatures
Half Steps And Whole Steps
Major Scales
Minor Scales
Harmonic And Melodic Scales

Learn music theory based on over 40 years of music theory instruction at Berklee College of Music. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn music theory or are looking to expand the depth of their musical knowledge. This essential method features hands-on and "ears-on" practice exercises that help you explore the inner workings of music, presenting notes, scales and rhythms as they are heard in today's music styles. The included CD will help reinforce lessons as you begin to build a solid musical foundation. CD with lessons and examples included

6455 BOOK & CD $19.95

Paul Schmeling: Berklee Music Theory, Book 2

Introduction
Triads And Chord Symbols
Inversion And Voice Leading
Seventh Chord Types And Symbol
Seventh Chord Inversions And Voice Leading
Harmonizing And Accompaniment Patterns
Melody
Melody Writing
What's Next
About The Author

Berklee Music Theory 2 features hands-on exercises and ear-training activities to help you use chords effectively. You will learn basic triads and seventh chords, inversions, voice-leading, how to use chords to accompany melodies, and how to create melodies that grow out of chord progressions.

6410 BOOK & CD $19.95

Lee Wilson: The Copyright Guide

Copyright Protection
Copyright Ownership
Copyright Duration
Determining Copyright Status
Copyright Registration
Copyright Infringement
Other People's Copyrights
Getting Permissions
If You Want to Sue
Licensing and Selling Copyrights
Protecting Your Ideas
Recapture of Copyrights
Copyright and the Internet
Appendix A: Copyright Office Services and Publications
Appendix B: Form Permission Request Letter
Appendix C: Form Nonexclusive License of Copyright
Appendix D: Form Exclusive License of Copyright
Appendix E: Form Assignment of Copyright
Appendix F: Form Work-for-Hire Agreement
Glossary

What is copyright? This seemingly simple question often causes confusion with its complex answers. In Music Copyright Basics, professor and Expert Copyright Witness Joel Leach answers frequent questions in a straightforward, easy-to-use format. Whether you are searching for a simple answer to a common question or want a general knowledge of the copyright procedure, this book will quickly provide you with the information you want! Music Copyright Basics provides - convenient question-and-answer format - Easy-to-understand answers to all your copyright questions - Coverage of copyright basics - copyright submission process, copyright ownership - copyright and earnings potential, and international copyright - Compact and portable design that keeps information easily at hand.

6163 BOOK $19.95

Joel Leach: Music Copyright Basics

Copyright Basics
Copyright Submission Process
Copyright Ownership
Copyright and Earnings Potential
International Copyright
Glossary
Forms
Circulars
Public Domain Information

What is copyright? This seemingly simple question often causes confusion with its complex answers. In Music Copyright Basics, professor and Expert Copyright Witness Joel Leach answers frequent questions in a straightforward, easy-to-use format. Whether you are searching for a simple answer to a common question or want a general knowledge of the copyright procedure, this book will quickly provide you with the information you want! Music Copyright Basics provides - convenient question-and-answer format - Easy-to-understand answers to all your copyright questions - Coverage of copyright basics - copyright submission process, copyright ownership - copyright and earnings potential, and international copyright - Compact and portable design that keeps information easily at hand.

6049 BOOK $5.95


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