Book review

woof · Post by **woof** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:04 pm

I have been reading two books that others who are teaching
themselve might find interesting. 1. The first is a general music theory book.
It is very well written and easy to understand and I have learned quite alot in
a short period of time. I am a little less than half way through the book. It is
called "The complete idots guide to music theory" by M. Miller. I am impressed
with the writing style and ease with which information is presented. 2. The
second book is for fun, it is a complilation of 44 Celtic songs for the flute
called (oddly enough) "Celtic music for the flute" by Jessica Walsh. What a
great book, not only are there 44 pieces of music but there is a CD with the
book where all 44 are played. The music chosen is great because most pieces at
least start off relatively simply for us beginners, even if the second half is
beyond current abilities. The music selected for the book is great and will be
fun to have in the repetoire one day (hopefully). It also has guitar cords for
accompliment so it doubles as a book for those interested in guitar. The nice
thing about the cd is that you can listen to how the music should sound, and
this is great for those of us having trouble figuring out the difference in a
quarter note at 60 bpm and 120 bpm. The music is played in such a way as to make
it easy to accompany Ms Walsh either exactly (following the music score in the
book) or as an extempore duet. I have even managed to play duet by ear for some
of the easier pieces. This is one fun book. Some pieces would even challenge an
accomplished floutist or is it flutist?? So it might be a good book for all
levels- by the by it is not written as a book for beginners. Anyway my 2 cents
worth.

krichards · Post by **krichards** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:39 pm

[quote] ---------------- On 3/18/2004 3:04:12 PM The second
book is for fun, it is a complilation of 44 Celtic songs for the flute called
(oddly enough)Celtic music for the flute...The music is played in such a way as
to make it easy to accompany Ms Walsh either exactly (following the music score
in the book) or as an extempore duet. ---------------- [/quote] I love that book
too..it is one of my "just for fun books" when I've had enough of being
serious! Virtually all of the pieces include a variation on the melody, and most
of these variations can be played as duets along with the CD too. Woof, which is
your favourite piece in the book?

woof · Post by **woof** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 8:12 am

[quote] ---------------- On 3/18/2004 3:39:15 PM
---------------- [/quote] Woof, which is your favourite piece in the book?
---------------- [/quote] Right now it is the very simple piece I am trying to
learn to play "Suo Gan". I really like a number of pieces as Ms Walsh plays
them[:bigsmile:] but Suo Gan is working well for me at my stage of playing.
Another nice thing about this book is that the CD is so nice to listen to on its
own- lately I've become a headphones junkie around home. How about you
Karen-what/which are your favorite(s)?

krichards · Post by **krichards** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 11:57 am

I like virtually every piece in there...Suo Gan is
beautiful. If you like that one, try The Gentle Maiden or Blind Mary next. They
have the same sort of lamenting melody and are not too difficult to play.
Carpenter's Morris, Song of the Falcon Chief and the Butterfly are all fun to
play too. Have fun with it!