{"data":[{"id":1293,"title":"Foundational Sight Singing","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2022,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Sight reading music can be a daunting endeavor for aspiring, and even experienced, musicians. Foundational Sight Singing was created to provide a systematic approach to learn to read, hear and perform music. The ordered presentation of both melodies and rhythms in this text helps students develop accuracy and fluency in sight singing which is a fundamental skill for all musicians. It is a text for developing proficiency in reading and sight singing that can be used in a variety of contexts from individual practice to choral or instrumental ensemble rehearsals to college ear training courses. Multiple exercises are provided for drilling and practice at each level throughout the text to grow the students’ fluency and proficiency in reading and performing pitch and rhythm. This text will help students build a solid foundation upon which they can establish mastery.","contributors":[{"id":5993,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Tobin","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Stewart","location":"Montana State University","background_text":""}],"subjects":[{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":1271,"url":"https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/17099","year":null,"created_at":"2022-12-06T10:59:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-06T14:16:16.000-06:00","name":"TRAILS"}],"formats":[{"id":3217,"type":"PDF","url":"https://scholarworks.montana.edu/items/75f2b90a-7bff-4baf-866b-d75ea5e5270e","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":35493,"first_name":"Dr. John","last_name":"Shiu","position":"Part-Time Lecturer","institution_name":"Bridgewater State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Stewart's sight-singing book is very comprehensive with listening, drone, and notation skills being implemented.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This OER textbook is accurate as one could get.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book could easily replace any other sight-singing book.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Nothing too complex as the components are explained and exercised well.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology is spot on.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The structure makes a lot of sense and is comprehensive.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This book is well-organized for students to focus on skills that need to be worked on.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no navigation issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar and sentence structure is simple.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This doesn't necessarily address any particular background.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is great resource which should be utilized in a OER format.","created_at":"2025-05-27T12:58:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-27T12:58:58.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/foundational-sight-singing","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:35:39.000-06:00"},{"id":283,"title":"Music and the Child","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts? This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.","contributors":[{"id":3760,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Natalie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Sarrazin","location":"College at Brockport, SUNY","background_text":"Natalie Sarrazin, PhD, is Associate Professor of Music at the College at Brockport, SUNY. She holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master’s degree from Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in music education. Natalie is the author of books and articles on both Hindi film music and music education. She teaches in the Department of Theatre and Music Studies and Arts for Children programs at the College at Brockport, and is a co-director of the Hunter Institute on Young Children."}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":172,"url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-15T13:39:29.000-05:00","name":"Open SUNY"}],"formats":[{"id":326,"type":"eBook","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/music-and-the-child-2/?tmstv=1672257817","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":327,"type":"PDF","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/music-and-the-child/?tmstv=1672257817","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":328,"type":"Online","url":"https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/music-and-the-child/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2128,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1942341709","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":12,"reviews":[{"id":622,"first_name":"Lewton","last_name":"Jones","position":"Music Teacher B.S. Arts/English","institution_name":"PCC","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Natalie Sarrazin sums up her twelve chapters of the many facets of the book with the statement~\"Children's creativity is the heart of this book and is the most important factors to consider when creating pedagogical material\"\nIn each chapter she does box diagrams with two sides and multiple songs to address. She also has a definition of terms- and documents her sources after every chapter rather than at the end of the book.\nEach chapter is a condensed version of what could be a book in itself. She summarizes numerous methods and scientific and cultural. linguistic and historical idioms as good as one could with these topics.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"It is accurate and already documented information for the most part. She is promoting a holistic approach interweaving old and new theories with social, and the physical activity of music. I am not sure with her comment about Mozart only stimulating the IQ for fifteen minutes. I think comments like that need more documentation. Also the evolution of a child's awareness smacked of sociology rather than holistic possibility. In academia all her proofs are backed up by her choice of authors. She writes~\"If you can walk you can dance\"  \"If you can talk you can sing\" She uses the term of the mother tongue aka natural environment. Like many texts, it might not be totally true but it is accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The longevity of western music theory and historical timelines of change and and discovery are strong in this book. It can be a reference for curious readers and parents of young children. The ethnology and brain information will keep the book relevant for a while.As the globe shrinks and science keeps toppling old beliefs these are good topics. The use of holistic is a bit old school jargon and hints at Jung and Doctor Spock regarding a sky's the limit of possibilities ie. to conjure a musical connection to a computer ridden mindscape of micro minions.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is good for one chapter at a time and class discussion primarily because the mix of musical terms and child philosophy\nin  an altruistic methodical and highly organized fashion. She defines her purpose very well with statements like~\"In short, scientists say that nothing we do as humans uses more parts of our brain or is more complex as plating an instrument.\"\nShe is very clear in her purpose with another statement~\"Children's linguistic development is related to their musical development.\" Her documentation regarding these clarion calls is more than adequate.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in its structure regarding its context. It is not a ground breaking book but rather leans on things like the original person already knows what music is and is shaped by the rules and visuals they are introduced to. The theme of the child as our focus seems to turn into a recipe for contrasts in theories such as Dalcroze, Zoltan, Kodo'ly. Orff and Suzuki and like she is consistant in her summation of theses theories resting on what seems to be her preference Eurhthmics. She is consistent to the human child as being dancing with the sound be it scientifically proved or culturally proven.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is perfect for singular group discussions. Each chapter has a narrative, examples of forms and a dictionary of terms.. It is a good group text book. I would advise a prep book on certain subjects like the history music, audiology, speech therapy, music therapy and cognitive brain science. It is very condensed chapter to chapter with a barrage of information regarding the chapter's heading. As a novel it would fail.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Extremely well organized almost to a fault. The real gems are the assertions by the author about creativity and music outside the western lexicon such as the great section on Indian and Japanese scales and and phonetic annotations. The structure is very logical but I think the theme is scattered by including too many directions. Maybe three small books on the more grand topics could have worked better.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book could have been larger in its pages because of the vast amounts of clarification of ideas that followed the narratives. \nThere is no interface problems except for a better or larger print in the publishing.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is solid regarding language and research.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is progressive and spends the last chapter on ethnicity and the linguistic implications of being from other cultures and hearing and seeing different phenomena yet having a common denominator called music to integrates us..","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The author is very well read and gives a great peripheral scan of how children use music to include all facets of life making for a better world with smart empathetic people growing towards adulthood.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":790,"first_name":"Molly","last_name":"Weaver","position":"Professor of Music (Music Education)","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"In describing her work, author Sarrazin states “This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children’s lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.” Although this may seem like an ambitious goal for a single book, my review of Music and the Child confirms that it does indeed explore connections and applications, and guide instructors, childcare workers, students, and others to work with children through music. As a single volume it is very comprehensive. The 13 chapters comprise considerable breadth, and each individual chapter has depth appropriate for readers whose discipline may not be music education.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Book content is accurate and unbiased. The various chapters are supported with citations of eminent scholars in the arts, music education, developmental psychology, ethnomusicology, and other fields. The text does contain some misspellings, and some lists of resources and references are not fully alphabetized.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Book content is relevant. Much of it will remain so over time, especially regarding music fundamentals, approaches to music education, the child’s singing voice, song repertoire, classroom management, the roles of music in early childhood and lower elementary stages, and musical play. Necessary updates to content such as assessment, lesson planning strategies, music and the brain, musical cultures, creativity, inclusion, arts integration, multiculturalism, and diversity should not be problematic. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Text clarity is excellent. The prose is accessible by a range of readers, in particular by those whose discipline may not be music education. Each chapter begins with a Chapter Summary that functions as a concise overview of chapter content and organization. Technical terms have appropriate context, and throughout each chapter there is strong emphasis on vocabulary relevant to the topic(s) of that chapter. Moreover, nearly all chapters end with a Vocabulary section comprising a list of key terms and their definitions.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Text consistency is excellent. The theoretical framework is that children are inherently musical, and that those of us who work with children through music must continuously search for ways to tap into their natural enthusiasm for listening/moving/singing/playing in the interest of facilitating their physical, social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, and musical development. This is first articulated in Chapter 1, “Perspectives and Approaches,” and is systematically addressed in subsequent chapters. The terminology is consistent throughout. Each chapter emphasizes relevant vocabulary, and nearly all chapters feature a list of key vocabulary terms and their definitions.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Book modularity is excellent. Each chapter can stand as an independent work on its topic(s). Throughout each chapter there are activities that engage readers beyond chapter content as well as links to supplemental readings and videos. Each chapter ends with a list of resources to consult for greater depth, and a copious list of references to the literature. Individual chapters could be reordered within a course without compromising readers. Particular activities within each chapter could be reordered or omitted, again without compromising readers.","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"Two areas of book organization/structure/flow can be improved: chapter titles and chapter order. \n\nSeveral chapter titles could be edited as follows to better represent the actual content and order within each chapter:\n\nFrom \n1. Perspectives and Approaches \nto \n1. Arts and Educational Approaches and Perspectives\n\nFrom \n3. Assessment and Learning Goals \nto \n3. Discipline-Based Assessment and Professional Self-Assessment\n\nFrom\n4. Approaches to Music Education\nto\n4. Pedagogical Approaches in Music Education\n\nFrom \n5. Children Singing and Children’s Songs \nto \n5. Teaching Children to Sing: Methods and Materials\n\nFrom \n6. Creative Activity and Lesson Planning \nto \n6. Creative Approaches to Successful Music Lesson Planning\n\nFrom \n9. Music and the Older Child \nto \n9. Music in Middle Childhood: Methods and Repertoire\n\nFrom \n10. Children’s Musical Play: Musicality and Creativity \nto \n10. Children’s Creativity: Musical Play and Improvisation\n\nFrom \n12. Music Integration \nto \n12. Music Integration in the School Curriculum: Concepts and Strategies\n\nFrom \n13. Musical Multiculturalism and Diversity \nto \n13. Culturally Diverse Music Teaching: Rationale and Applications\n\nAs well, chapter order could be revised as follows to improve book organization/structure/flow:\n\n1. Arts and Educational Approaches and Perspectives\n2. Music: Fundamentals and Educational Roots in the U.S.\n4. Pedagogical Approaches in Music Education\n6. Creative Approaches to Successful Music Lesson Planning\n5. Teaching Children to Sing: Methods and Materials\n3. Discipline-Based Assessment and Professional Self-Assessment\n7. Music and the Brain\n8. Music in Early Childhood Development\n9. Music in Middle Childhood: Methods and Repertoire\n10. Children’s Creativity: Musical Play and Improvisation\n11. Music and Inclusion\n13. Culturally Diverse Music Teaching: Rationale and Applications\n12. Music Integration in the School Curriculum: Concepts and Strategies\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Book interface is excellent; there are no navigation, distortion, or display issues. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Text grammar is excellent.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The cultural relevance of the book is strong owing in large measure to content in several chapters, including Chapter 4 (pedagogical approaches from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, United States), Chapter 6 (classroom instruments from Western and world cultures), Chapter 9 (the section American Children’s Games and Game Songs), Chapter 10 (the section The Singing-Game: Children’s Musical Creativity in Play), Chapter 11 (addresses several types of musical inclusion), and Chapter 13 (entitled “Musical Multiculturalism and Diversity”). Also, the song repertoire throughout the book represents diverse cultures.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I recommend this book as an excellent resource for early childhood and elementary education specialists who teach music as part of their curricula.","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1223,"first_name":"Ann Marie","last_name":"Stanley","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Louisiana State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Sarrazin wrote, “This book is intended to aid those who have little or no background in music, in order to increase their comfort in integrating music into the curriculum.”  I have taught many of these students in various “Music for the Classroom Teacher”-type courses and I can agree that the musical background of many pre-service and practicing elementary school classroom teachers is quite limited. I have used several texts through the years and I can honestly say that Sarrazin hits the perfect balance here between “need-to-know” and “too much overwhelming information.” Her strength is in summarizing and codifying dense topics. The breadth of topics across the chapters is quite inclusive. Yet Sarrazin (thankfully) omitted much of the arcane how-to instruction that makes up a large part of competing texts: how to tune an autoharp, how to select between a flutophone and a recorder, how to teach solfege, etc. I would use this book in the future just because of this feature.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"While I liked many of the links to external material, I had some concern about the quality and longevity or stability of others. Some are very worthwhile: for example the link to the Kennedy Center for arts integration information, the link to another open text book for auditory science material and research. Some are really questionable: for example the Global Alliance for Transforming Education doesn’t exist any longer apparently, and the theory site for explaining texture takes one to a cached “wayback” site that doesn’t work well. In addition, care should be taken to examine the political overtones and subtext of other sites, as even the non-profit ones may have an educational reform agenda that may be seen by some as problematic. Not everyone in the profession is on board with the 21st century skill movement and its extensive list of corporate board members, nor the core standards, etc. Professors should check the links in each chapter before assigning the readings.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Other than the point above about the links that may not be as appropriate or functional as they could be, the book is highly relevant to its intended population. The classroom teacher who wants to learn more about music education will have many of her questions answered, and the book is quite usable.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is clear and concise. None of the chapters seemed overly long or padded. I liked the vocabulary words emphasized for each chapter as well as the glossary. The text boxes (“Try this” etc.) are a nice off-set to the larger amount of more scholarly text. For me this book reads really well.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This is a strength in the way she consistently chose multiple non-Western-classical music examples to illustrate musical concepts, and linked these to interesting videos (Qu’uran singing, Tuvan Throat singing, etc) In the text itself, she really pulled out some terrific children’s tunes from other cultures: (ex. several Indian counting games which were new to me and which I will try immediately with my own class). I found this broad and multicultural approach refreshing and contemporary.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter can be used on its own. I would imagine several chapters (such as the music cognition section) could easily bolster required reading in a class for music education majors. \nChapter 7 is particularly nicely done, in the way Sarrazin is able to summarize complex research. She also treads ethically around area of the question, “does music make kids smarter?” and points out the innate reasons to make music, not just the supposed extrinsic benefits. The arts integration chapter should be required reading for every elementary classroom teacher!!","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I read comments from another reviewer about changing the sequence of the chapters, and I concur. The order and the titles of the chapters could be edited for clarity.  Chapter divisions are fine, though.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Excellent, easy to read. I read it online using my laptop and had no issues. I wish that clicking on a link would open up a new window so I could click back and forth between the link and the text without having to use “back” button. Perhaps that’s how I have my browser set, rather than the interface; I'm not sure.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"See my points under “Consistency” above, for high praise. However,  the learning disabilities/Special needs music education section seems a bit dated already (e.g. the behaviorist positive and negative reinforcement for management techniques for students who experience Autism) and the tone is unnecessarily “label-oriented.” The categorization of student needs with specific techniques is good but seems a bit arbitrary. (Students with higher learning potential = offer advanced ability ensembles/acceleration? Not that practically helpful for the classroom teacher.) This section will need to be accompanies by a more nuanced classroom discussion facilitated by a knowledgeable instructor.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I recommend this text and I believe I will use it in the future.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1228,"first_name":"Mei-ling","last_name":"Lee","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Lane Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text book “Music and the Child”, written by Natalie Sarrazin, is well organized in its content. It covers a wide range of topics on teaching music for younger children. The whole book consists 13 chapters, and each chapter has its own clear subject, but also related to each other. Many music examples and charts are provided throughout the book. It is easy to read.\n\nI found it is very useful that the sections of Vocabulary, Resources, and References are placed at the end of each chapter. This make it much easier to explore more information. Through out the book, there are hands on activities listed in the book. They are very helpful and fun to do.\n\nThis book is a great resources for music educator. Most contents are related to younger child, but I also found there are many materials, suggestion can be used for order kids, even young adults.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of the book seems accurate, according to my knowledge.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"New music is written every day, every hour and every minutes. But there are some basic concept and ideas about music teaching will stay the same over years. This book covers a lot of ideas of how to make the music fun in younger children’s learning process. They can be very useful for a long period of time. However, it would be nice to see more current music repertoire.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in very accessible prose. At the end of each chapter, the Terminology section is very helpful to make all the concept to be understood easily.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The written style and structure of each chapter in this book are very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book has 13 chapters. Each chapter can be used as a stand along module. Each chapter is focus on one stand along subject related to music teaching in early childhood. \n\nAlso, having the information of references at the end of each chapter also make each chapter to be it’s own module easily.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure of the book is very well organized. The print is clear. All the charts and pictures are large enough to be seen clearly.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I see no problem of the interface issue. the whole book is very easy to navigate. The diagram and charts are printed large enough for easy navigation.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"As non-native English speaker, I found this book is very east to read. I see no errors on the books grammar. Personally, I really like the writing style of the book. All the information can be digest easily and the ideas are delivered clearly.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"This book is mainly written for music educators to use in US. All of the music examples are based on Western culture. It will be very nice if some of the music examples can drawn from other culture / country.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"No","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1464,"first_name":"Tinamarie","last_name":"Ivey","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Linn Benton Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a good resource and guild for anyone choosing to work with children whether in an academic environment or other setting. And though it focuses on how to teach music, It also offers the reader the advantage of knowing more about how to apply music (without being a 'music major')  to an academic lesson in order to enrich a child's cognitive abilities while building on a 'process' rather than a 'product' objective.  Though each chapter builds onto the next, a reader is not required to read from cover to cover in order to utilize the information and to have direct application in an educational setting.  The author has consolidated a remarkable amount of information and direct application opportunities yet it is not overwhelming to the reader, very organized and concise.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Every author has some opinion upon the subject matter they write and therefore cannot be completely 'unbiased'.  That being said, any perceptions made by the author are well supported by citations and offer the reader an opportunity to reflect upon the thoughts shared by the author.  That being said, I took exception to the section that indicates that a teacher should discourage a student from singing in their chest but rather ask them to sing in their head.  There is little evidence that this technique is helpful to insure good singing in the future though I understand why the author has come to this conclusion.  The text has minor misspellings but does not deflect from the content.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics explored, activities offered, and sited materials is more relevant than ever and will continue to be so as western schools battle the ever present decline in students' love of learning.    It is especially helpful that the author lists the '21st Century Skills' which identifies particular areas of focus which are essential for  future learning as identified by the Kennedy Center, The Partnership for 21st-Century Skills, 21st-Century Schools and the Global Alliance for Transforming Education.  This text helps a teacher know how to make learning fun, to allow students to become leaders, collaborators and corroborative learners.  The arts are often narrowly defined as part of an elitist community. This excludes the arts from a consideration of their multiple contributions to our daily lives and the role they play in discourse regarding social/cultural issues. The evidence of this is in the consistent funding cuts to local and national arts agencies and for arts education in elementary and secondary school settings. This disjuncture suggests that the common perception is that the arts are outside of the normal boundaries of daily living and problem solving and are instead reserved for extra-ordinary components of life related to special events associated with rites of passage as well as national and religious celebrations.  Because of this the text is enormously relevant without risk of becoming out of date anytime soon.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clear, easy to understand and accessible.  The technical terms and terminology are presented in a way that the reader is not required to be a music aficionado - clearly defined with direct application opportunities. I especially like that the author has included the key terms and definitions, as a vocabulary section, at the end of each chapter.   There is a warmth to her writing, a true love of the work and a thorough understanding of the importance of music in a child's life.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework of the text is excellent, comprehensive and consistent terminology used throughout.  The author takes the reader on a journey through guided probes in how music connects all of us as human beings, with consistent opportunities for direct application.  Each chapter is similarly structured, making it easy to navigate each topic.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text offers the reader easy access to smaller categories of material by well defined sections.  The smaller sections are consistent along all the chapters, with blocks of text clearly identified with subheadings.  This text can be utilized as a companion text to courses such as Creative Drama for the Classroom/Teacher.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The chapters could be organized a little differently and rather than list every chapter and where it should be placed I will add just this: The reader may be better served by having Chapter 11, 12, 13 offered earlier in the chapter order.   And consolidate the Lesson Plan development later in the reading.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is of free of significant navigation issues, charts and examples are very easy to decipher.  The links for further reading and resources within the chapters are especially helpful to the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text has minor grammatical errors mostly due to spaces between words.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The author pays close attention to cultural sensitivity and awareness.  Many examples, philosophies, resources and materials are provided within the chapters.  These cultural samplings include teaching approaches and philosophies of Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Hungry.  I also appreciate that the author offers a chapter 'Music Inclusion', which touches on Gender, Therapy \u0026amp; Healing, Special Needs and her chapter: Musical Multiculturalism and Diversity.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The author states, \"understand the role of music in children’s lives through play\", which is what first captured my interest in this text.  I believe children learn best through play, through physicalization and collaboration.  This text is a perfect fit in any early education training.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1994,"first_name":"Erin","last_name":"McKee","position":"Online Instructor","institution_name":"Concordia University Portland","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text, Music and the Child,  is a comprehensive overview of understanding the developmental connections between music and children. The author Sarrazin states, “children are inherently musical.” Sarrazin guides the reader to understanding the importance of music education in the classroom setting, regardless if there is a formal music program present or not. The text covers an overview of musical concepts and vocabulary and easy to implement activities and lesson ideas. The author helps readers find joy in musical education and recognizing the many benefits of learning music. \n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Sarrazin supports her text with citations and references to a variety of well-known musical scholars, and pedagogical approaches to education. There are some minor misspellings throughout, though it does not deter the reader from comprehending the text. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is up-to-date and relevant to educators today. Many concepts of the text will remain relevant overtime, such as the song repertoire, history of musical education, and musical concepts and vocabulary. Concepts such as assessment, approaches to lesson planning, multicultural learning, and lesson ideas could be updated without any concern. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The author presents the text in a way that is easy to understand. The text is primarily written for educators without extensive musical knowledge. The author concludes each chapter with helpful musical definitions and vocabulary terms, helping readers to understand more technical musical concepts. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is written in a easy to follow format. The chapters begin with a summary and end with resources, references, and vocabulary definitions. There are also embedded activities to try out to help with understanding or as readers learn about lesson ideas and activities.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The 13 chapters are easy to navigate and do not overwhelm the reader. The chapters could be assigned at different points in the course, and rearranged in an order that would be applicable to different reading purposes. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The overall organization of the book is sequenced in a way that is clear and logical. As other reviewers noted, it may be more relevant to move the last few chapters up in the sequence, particularly the last chapter on multiculturalism and diversity,  and allow for the integration chapter to be at the end.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is easy to read, free from any significant interface issues. The links embedded in this text are readily accessible, as well.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is free from grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text does a nice job highlighting the cultural relevance of music and music education. There are several references to pedagogical approaches from different cultures, and instruments and songs from diverse cultures. The author provides relevant resources and ideas to incorporate multicultural music lessons in classrooms. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I recommend this text to other readers. I would utilize this text in my music and movement course, for undergraduate students, studying to be early childhood educators. ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2239,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Burns","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is fairly comprehensive as a textbook for a music methods textbook intended for elementary education majors.  Some content knowledge is assumed: for example, certain elements of the fundamentals of music are taught while some are merely mentioned (staff, clefs, etc.).  More information about instruments, specifically orchestral and band instruments, listening experiences, and classroom management would be helpful.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Bias\n          “As an extension, the book also touches on some multicultural aspects of music, and considers the broad role of music and its importance to humanity, thus avoiding an insular and myopic Western Culture view of the musical child.” (p. 3)\n\nWhile it may reveal the personal attitude of the author, the last part of this statement (after the word “humanity”) could be removed and thus avoid bias.  The holistic, global content of the text contradicts this one phrase and renders it unnecessary.\n\nMany inaccuracies regarding musical/song examples were identified – missing time signatures (pp. 29, 30), uneven metrical phrasing (pp. 27-28, 93-94), chant with no lyrics (p.67), incorrect key signature (p. 70, 183), rhythmic lines with key signatures (p. 76), incorrect notes/rhythms (p. 95, 155, 160, 177), misplaced accents (p. 96), title does not match chant (p. 147), song phrases out of order (pp. 154, 155), unfinished songs (pp. 233, 234, 237, 269).  \n\nAttention to these and other musical issues would produce a well-varied song collection for the elementary education major.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Though this text occasionally tangents into areas beyond the scope of a music methods text for elementary education majors, its content is relevant to the intended audience.  Chapter 11: Music and Inclusion may need to be revisited from time to time to stay current with gender issues and recommendations for students with special needs.  Some of the folk song content may need to be edited or replaced in light of today’s changing attitudes.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is presented in a professional, conversational-style prose.  It is written as though the author is speaking to the reader with understanding of the reader’s experience and knowledge of the subject matter without appearing condescending.  Terms that may be considered jargon of the music field are promptly defined in the text as well as included in the chapter and end-of-text glossaries.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The consistency of this text is satisfactory throughout.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text has clearly defined sections though it would be helpful to have the subsections for each chapter included in the table of contents and a topical index at the end of the text. This would facilitate identifying subsections more readily.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"This text has clearly defined sections though the placement of some sections is problematic. For example, in Chapter 6 the classroom instrument section seems out of place in a chapter on lesson planning and the classroom management section just seems like an add-on without a place of its own.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This seems to be satisfactory.  It would be helpful to have links printed out for use with the printed form.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Very few grammatical errors were observed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"An entire chapter is devoted to Musical Multiculturalism and Diversity. This chapter offers a detailed to incorporating world music into the classroom with specific examples given from West Africa, India, and Japan. Song examples throughout the text represent a global collection of folk songs.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a thoughtful, research-based text with the undergraduate student in mind.  The content is presented in a reader-friendly writing style that is easily understood.  In addition to a collection of over 100 children’s chants and songs, this text includes scripted lesson plans which gives guidance for incorporating music into the elementary curriculum.  As a result, the beginning teacher can achieve successful music making in the classroom.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":4133,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Vernon","position":"Faculty, ECE Filed Supervisor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The author is clear in the content and gives context of the material through links to various Ted Talks, Youtube videos and articles to further dig deeper into the concepts discussed.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This textbook is thorough in providing unbiased information while keeping in mind how music is our sense of identity that provides contextual culture and self worth.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The activities provided throughout the textbook are relevant and provide the reader to take an active role in the information provided through hands on learning.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the textbook was clear and concise without the use of jargon while providing fundamental definitions along the way.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook build upon itself through each chapter. Beginning with the fundamentals and continuing on chronologically with age and development.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I found the author provided multiple ways for the reader to learn the material. The activities where in colored boxes to break up the reading and the videos proved more context for the content. There were multiples ways in which to learn the concepts.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization was presented clearly and concisely as a reader to follow and engage in the content.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the interface engaging and easy to navigate while all of the links were working and free of problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found this textbook free of grammatical errors, professionally written and well edited.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I truly appreciated the inclusion of various conversations and topics of multiculturalism and diversity throughout the textbook as music is so intrinsic to our own identity.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I am planning on using this textbook to support my students understanding music and the brain with a cultural understanding.","created_at":"2020-06-29T13:11:21.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-29T13:11:21.000-05:00"},{"id":4282,"first_name":"Lisa","last_name":"Maynard","position":"Associate Professor of Music Education","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"“Music and the Child” by Natalie Sarrazin provides a thoroughly comprehensive, well-written, researched and referenced, overview of Music Education history, practices, planning, procedures, and possibilities in relation to creating meaningful music learning experiences for children of all ages in pedagogically-appropriate ways.  The wealth of content is impressive, as is the thoughtfulness of planning that went into the inclusion of resource and vocabulary lists associated with each chapter. In addition, multiple links are included throughout the text of each chapter with the purpose of offering more in-depth study  of certain topics, as well as access to a large number of incredibly useful related resource links for each chapter. The musical examples and diverse repertoire included in the book are a huge resource in and of themselves. While targeted for classroom teachers teaching music classes, I think this book also would certainly be appropriate to use in an introductory class for Music Education majors as well.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of this textbook is remarkably error free, especially given the large amount of material included in it. The influence of the author’s own background both as a music educator and ethnomusicologist are clearly seen in the selection of ethnically diverse musical examples.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"While the topics covered in this textbook span a wide time period, covering important historical developments and approaches in the field of Music Education (both around the world and in the United States), one of the author’s stated outcomes is to prepare teachers of music classes for successful 21st Century teaching. She certainly does this by providing such a wealth of  information and including the resources necessary to create positive learning experiences for all students in music classes. The layout of the text and instructions provided in relation to actions and movements associated with many of the songs included in the book make it accessible and practical.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"While Dr. Sarrazin’s textbook is both research and practice based, her writing style is easily accessible while not overlooking the relevance and importance of specific terminology that is clearly defined in each chapter’s vocabulary list.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The overarching framework used for this textbook was consistent throughout, with each chapter following a similar format despite the change in topic. This added continuity for the reader. I found myself looking forward to reading the glossary of terminology at the end of each chapter, and also found it hard not to click on the links embedded throughout the chapters. I can imagine my student’s wanting to do the same thing in their thirst for further knowledge about the various topics included in the book’s content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While the order of the topics included in the various chapters are already laid out in a sequentially effective way, they could certainly be reordered according to the tastes of an instructor who is using the text for one of their classes. The subtopics within each of the larger topics could also lend themselves to discussion in smaller bytes for a class meeting multiple times a week. The inclusion of suggested class activities throughout each chapter provides additional embedded content and learning opportunities for meaningful student reflection, discussion, and collaboration.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The information and resources included within each chapter are logically presented and well-ordered. While some topics are understandably covered in more detail than others, those offering introductory information in relation to a subtopic tend to offer links to more information for those wanting to learn more. The reference lists and index of songs included in the book are also hugely valuable and well-organized content.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the links included in the textbook to be significantly free of navigation problems. While I did find a few links in the Resources list of Chapter 6 to no longer be working, I think this is not surprising given that they are outside links over which the author has no control. These could easily be updated in a future edition of the book. However, given that so many of the links worked without problem, this was a minor issue, and could be easily remedied with some internet searching by the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The written content of the text was free of grammatical errors. I did find one incorrect spelling of Shinichi Suzuki’s first name in a subheading but the correct spelling was used later on.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The author has included a diverse collection of songs from a variety of countries in the text which is commendable. Dr. Sarrazin discusses and emphasizes in detail the importance of including culturally relevant repertoire into the context of music classrooms so that the music learned is reflective of those who are the student stakeholders in each classroom. Revision of some of the American historical song content – specifically in relation to war songs included in the text – could be a consideration for the next edition of the book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Dr. Sarrazin should be congratulated on the huge amount of scholarly work and expertise that went into envisioning, researching, and writing this excellent Open Library Textbook resource. A potential chapter to add for the next edition could be one that provides a brief overview of instrumental music in the schools. I also think it would be good to include some content about the El Sistema method to the chapter on various approaches (e.g. Kodaly, Suzuki, Gordon etc..) in a future edition. Overall, I found this book to be a well-written and informative text that I believe university students would find engaging, interesting, and practical.","created_at":"2020-07-31T15:28:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-31T15:28:35.000-05:00"},{"id":4537,"first_name":"Melissa","last_name":"Ryan","position":"Assistant Professor of Music","institution_name":"DePauw University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text offers a research-based and practical approach to teaching children through music. The author provides an informed framework and rationale for music in education and for creating educational environments for children in which they can grow as humans. As a music educator, I appreciate the author's dedication to music in education as a vital aspect of a holistic approach to teaching young students. Sarrazin walks us through each chapter with clear and practical examples of how to accomplish this very thing.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is accurate, well-researched, and more than sufficiently referenced.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Most of the content is up-to-date. However, some of the links that the author provided for more detail are out of date and/or are no longer functioning web pages.  Additionally, some of the folk song choices and language used in the \"inclusion\" section may need to be reconsidered in light of shifts and changes in appropriate educational terminology and philosophy.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The author uses clear and accessible language throughout the text. It is appropriate for the targeted audience of teachers and professionals with little or no formal musical training or education.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent throughout with no glaring or distracting discrepancies.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The way the content is organized within each chapter certainly lends itself to stand-alone use of chapters or sections for any particular course needs.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"A university instructor could easily follow the text in the order it is written and use it as a guide to chronologically and pedagogically organize their course content.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface was easily navigable and very reader-friendly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no distracting grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While there is an entire chapter dedicated to music multiculturalism and diversity, it seems the musical choices in the text miss the mark on this goal. The author mentions that 21st century, progressive educational goals are broader than a Western-centric view, but the majority of the musical examples illustrate a bias in that very vein. The inclusion of minstrel songs (\"O Susannah\") also indicates a reevaluation is needed in order to reflect more current philosophies toward these historically problematic tunes. Multiculturalism and cultural relevance in education is much more than tacking on a chapter at the end of a text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-01-07T15:52:32.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-07T15:52:32.000-06:00"},{"id":33777,"first_name":"Sara","last_name":"Beck","position":"Assistant Professor of Psychological Science","institution_name":"Randolph College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"See complete review below.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"See complete review below.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"See complete review below.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"See complete review below.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"See complete review below.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"See complete review below.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"See complete review below.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"See complete review below.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"See complete review below.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"See complete review below.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I really enjoyed this book, and I think it provides an excellent introduction to the field of music education, as well as use of music in the elementary and preschool classroom to support learning more broadly. As a music psychologist who does research in the area of children's musical engagement, I was expecting more of a social sciences approach, and what I found was largely centered on practical classroom advice for teachers of preschool and school-age children. That said, I found the book extremely interesting, relevant, and easy to follow. In particular, Chapter 4 on approaches to music education was concise and would be useful for my psychology of music class as an introduction to how modern children are enculturated to music in the classroom. Additionally, Chapter 5 (entitled Children Singing and Children's Songs), provided a good introduction to musical milestones and also improvisation in the context of children's musical play. These are topics which are of interest within developmental psychology as well as musical education. \r\n\r\nAs a teacher of college students, I was intrigued by Chapter 6 in its coverage of arts integration, which was conceptually familiar to me, but not familiar as a pedagogical term. Overall, the ethnomusicological and pedagogical approach of the book offers many benefits to the teacher of music education and also offers some content to teachers of developmental music psychology, children's music perception, and the science of children's play (inclusive of musical play).  A major strength of the book is the practical suggestions throughout for lesson plans centered on music situated to achieve multiple musical and non-musical goals.  These are likely to be most useful to the reader who is already competent at reading and teaching music, however, despite a brief section that introduces note-reading and musical notation literacy to the novice. \r\n\r\nFrom my perspective, the major shortcoming of the book is the fact that in-text citations were used only intermittently. There were many claims made without accompanying in-text citations, particularly around music therapy and use of music for children with special needs. In general, Chapter 7 (on music and the brain) and Chapter 11 (on music and inclusion) needed to be more thoroughly referenced throughout since they largely rely on empirical research findings which are easy to overstate. A curious reader will want to know exactly where to go to find more detail on these findings, and it is not easy to map each claim onto the end-of-chapter references.\r\n\r\nI found this book to be consistent and informative, and I hope to use a chapter or two in classes moving forward. As a stand-alone book, I believe it would be best suited for a class in the field of music education or elementary teacher education.","created_at":"2022-04-06T14:58:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-04-06T14:58:35.000-05:00"},{"id":34086,"first_name":"Sharon","last_name":"Watkins","position":"Adjunct Music Education Instructor","institution_name":"Newberry College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is quite a thorough text, especially since the author states it is intended for general education majors studying how to include music. Each chapter ends with a comprehensive glossary, but there is no index. In ebook format words or phrases can be searched, but an index would be preferable, especially for the pdf or hard copy versions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is well-researched and appears to be accurate in all areas. The author’s studies in ethnomusicology have allowed her to offer a rich perspective on children’s unique musical backgrounds, especially in chapters 1 and 13. .","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant and mainly up-to-date. Suggested discussion points/activities are included in each chapter to involve students. Special attention should be given to the hyperlinks. They  are a wonderful tool for immediate access to additional resources, but I found some of them to be broken. Also, references to government education programs such as \"Common Core\" can easily change over time. My state has repealed those standards. Overall, these are minor changes and should be easily implemented.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and concisely. All technical terms, if not understood  thoroughly by the reader, are included in the end-of-chapter glossaries.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent. Each chapter is similarly organized and builds upon a common theme in a logical and organized manner.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is very clearly divided into thirteen chapters and each chapter is well organized by subheadings. This should easily accommodate student understanding if teachers prefer to reorganize class topics and reading assignments within the book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented logically, beginning with an overview of music education in America, how it has developed through history, and then some excellent practical songs, activities, and lesson planning advice. The last several chapters cover music education concerns for specific age levels, inclusion, music integration, and diversity.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I downloaded and read this text as an ebook. Navigation was flawless and all visuals and charts were in excellent form. My only frustration was that hyperlinks took me away from the text, and I had to re-access it each time. For a more professional presentation, it would also be nice to see all YouTube hyperlinks coordinated through a site that offers ad-free addresses.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were just a very few typos, but no noticeable grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is very inclusive and sensitive to the many differences students bring to the classroom. This is true not only as a text itself, but cultural sensitivity, diversity, and inclusivity are addressed as subject matter as well. (See chapters 1, 11, and 13.)","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I found this to be a very relevant, thorough, well-researched, and well-written textbook for teaching music at the elementary school level. In my opinion, it could be a valuable resource for both general elementary education students and music education students who are anticipating K-12 general and choral music certification.","created_at":"2022-10-24T17:29:57.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-10-24T17:29:57.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-and-the-child","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:58.000-06:00"},{"id":582,"title":"Music Fundamentals 1: Pitch and Major Scales and Keys","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2013,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This collection is the first of five dealing with the rudiments of music.","contributors":[{"id":4617,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Terry","middle_name":"B.","last_name":"Ewell","location":null,"background_text":"Terry B. Ewell, professor, Department of Music, Towson University Former President, International Double Reed Society B. M. University of Washington; Bassoon Performance, magna cum lauda M. A. University of Washington, Music Theory Ph.D. University of Washington, Music Theory Terry Ewell is Professor of online instruction and bassoon at Towson University Department of Music. In his 30+ years as a professional musician he has received recognition as a performer, teacher, scholar, and administrator."},{"id":4618,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Catherine","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schmidt-Jones","location":null,"background_text":"Catherine Schmidt-Jones graduated from Rice University in 1985, completing a BA in chemistry, a BA in music and a Master of Music in French horn performance."}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":553,"url":"https://cnx.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax CNX"}],"formats":[{"id":948,"type":"Online","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/iMlAzc-Y@1.10:xcqLKHh5@1/Introduction-to-Pitch-Notation","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":949,"type":"PDF","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/iMlAzc-Y@1.10:xcqLKHh5@1/Introduction-to-Pitch-Notation","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":11,"reviews":[{"id":2317,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Cruz","position":"Full Professor","institution_name":"Central State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I think all content was appropriate.  I appreciate the fact that there were hyperlinks to dive deeper.  At times, I think the information presented was more than necessary and pragmatic and would have been better served as information embedded in a hyperlink.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content looks good.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The arrangement of the material is satisfactory and makes sense.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I particularly liked the use of the terms \"twins\" and \"triplets\" to describe the groups of 2 and black keys on the keyboard.  That's an easily remembered concept and an accessible way for students to think of the keyboard.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistency is found throughout the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided in a way that makes sense.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are presented in a logical manner.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The figures that involve staffs or keyboards are less than desirable, specifically the labeling of note names.  At times, the note names either overlap the stems or are placed on the keyboard in a way that isn't easy to read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text was culturally sensitive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The content is solid, but the formatting looks ill-conceived.  In my opinion, the formatting found in a traditional textbook is superior.  ","created_at":"2018-09-14T11:31:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-14T11:31:38.000-05:00"},{"id":2751,"first_name":"Crystal","last_name":"Kim","position":"Adjunct Lecturer","institution_name":"New York City College of Technology","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Step by step guidance from basic note reading skills to relationships between intervals, scale degrees, and key signatures are explored and showcased very well.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not find any errors and all info is accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is up to date as it is just covering basic music theory.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is generally clear if the reader follows all information closely.  Some visual aids could be done better to understand certain graphs such as the circle of fifths.  Overall, still well done in showing specific details and clarity of the subject matter.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent with the terminology as it should give the reader accurate words used in music theory currently, and methodically tools to work with.  ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The breakdown of various subcategories were organized well for the reader so that they can thoroughly understand the relationships of the notes and key signatures.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book's overall organization was well done.   Just some visuals on graphs can be improved for a reader who is a beginner in music theory.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"No significant issues with navigating or images/charts.  The circle of fifth chart may possibly confuse a beginner if he or she does not follow the material closely.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is not offensive within the Western world of music theory.  It is possible that the way music theory present in this book and among other music theory books and taught in universities, may clash with the way music in other cultures is presented.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I highly recommend this book to many students who are looking to thoroughly understand music notation, relationships between notes and chords within Western classical music.  ","created_at":"2019-04-08T22:28:24.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-08T22:28:24.000-05:00"},{"id":2909,"first_name":"Bill","last_name":"Whitley","position":"Theory and Aural Skills Instructor","institution_name":"Chemeketa Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The writing is clear and concise, and is well within grasp of a first-year college student.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All points presented are in keeping with standard definitions.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The books relevance may be it's strongest feature.  Material that is often presented, in more traditional print textbooks, with unnecessary jargon, is here presented with facts and concise examples without the unnecessary jargon.  While 'necessary' jargon is explained and presented in a meaningful","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is so well thought out, and precise, that it could be understood in the first pass.  There is nothing superfluous or misleading","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each unit follows a consistent pattern.  The over-all flow is conducive to learning.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Because of the consistent teaching patterns used in each unit, I feel that parts could be used modularly.  I don't recall seeing any self-reference.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The over-all flow lends itself to a sequential presentation as well as a modular one.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I appreciate that the interface does not require special software, or plug-ins.  It is entirely web-based, and the mobile version works just as well.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is made up of concise, grammatically correct prose.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is a growing need for accessible music fundamentals materials, as students enter college courses to study music from a variety of backgrounds.  This is easily the most cohesive, accessible and clear textbook I've seen for music fundamentals.\r\n\r\n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"If I were to teach a music fundamentals course, I would use this book.  I would, however, like to have a companion workbook, as music fundamentals is as much a 'skills' class as it is a lecture class.","created_at":"2019-05-15T13:17:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-15T13:17:36.000-05:00"},{"id":2957,"first_name":"Danielle","last_name":"Cozart Steele","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is a decent general introduction to music terminology and symbols while not delving too far into complicated concepts. The Circle of Fifths is introduced, which seems unnecessary until students under stand major and minor keys, parallel and relative minor keys, completely. More exercises could be provided. This text is supplemental at best. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Although there is no creative pedagogy for teaching these materials, the information itself is accurate and will remain so.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The author runs into the perennial problem of which concept to introduce first - with so much necessary to understand to read music, sometimes it is difficult to discern whether or not to introduce scales or the concept of half-steps and enharmonic spellings first. Similarly, when do you introduce the concept of enharmonic spelling vs. major and minor key signatures? There isn't a perfect solution to the ordering of this content and the author makes a good effort, but through the eyes of a beginner, there are some concepts that are needlessly complicated which are introduced before they are useful (like the idea of a tuning system). For the most part, technical jargon is well explained, sometimes going overly in depth. I know that my first-year sight singing students would be overwhelmed and confused by portions of this text. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The author is consistent in style.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is easily divided into short readings. There are some exercises included with some chapters. It would be more beneficial with more exercises. However, the exercises provided have a self-check available, so that is handy. For the more complex concepts, an instructor could spend a couple of weeks on these, as the book is not long enough for an entire semester.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"As commented earlier, some concepts are presented in a confusing order. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is extremely basic. There are a few videos the students can download and these take a few minutes. Exercises within the chapters have a self-check option that they can click on without navigating to a new window, so this is convenient. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Fine. The syntax, however, can be clunky. It's as if the author is so concerned with the idea that students may know literally nothing about music that sometimes the author can be overly long-winded and a bit awkward with word choice when describing musical symbols and acoustic phenomena. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Fine. The author nods to non-Western notation and tuning, which is important. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would recommend this as a supplement to my own materials if a student would like different wording in order to understand a concept (everyone learns differently, after all), but I would not make this my main text. ","created_at":"2019-05-29T11:05:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-29T11:05:58.000-05:00"},{"id":3259,"first_name":"Wesley","last_name":"Bradford","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As a “Music Fundamentals 1” text, this seems to cover expected topics, but sometimes includes extra information that doesn’t serve to improve content. Instructors would need to add explanations and examples from a repertoire of their choice to help illustrate ideas from the text.\r\nLinks to supplementary materials (“What Kind of Music is That?” “Triads” “Beginning Harmonic Anlaysis,” etc.) are only found in the body of the text. I did not find an appendix listed in the contents tab to indicate these resources as part of the text. \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Good information","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I felt this text generally stays on course for an introduction to theory basics, but occasionally emphasizes unexpected elements. For example, \"Introduction to Piano Keyboard\" dwells on the color of keys on a harpsichord.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Generally good – I like the colored examples that help to distinguish between concepts such as sharp and flat signs.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Very consistent - some unusual terms, but used consistently","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Concise sections and topics, with some issues of overlap or missing information in early chapters.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Possibly because of the attempt at brevity, the organization has lots of overlap: Chapter 1 is an “Introduction to Pitch Notation,” but includes clef and the piano keyboard while Chapter 2 is “Clef,” and Chapter 3 is “Introduction to the Piano Keyboard.” Chapter 3 introduces accidentals, but they are not explained until Chapter 4. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Clicking the “PDF” link in the Open Textbook Library didn’t actually link directly to the PDF, but instead to the online copy, which then had a PDF link. This could be confusing for students.\r\nGood search function that brings up specific pages.\r\nVideo links include older formats, such as RealPlayer (some also have youtube or Windows Media versions)\r\nVisually, the quality of the examples varies greatly, though they are effective at conveying the information.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Easy to read","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No issues","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"There is an inconsistency in the materials – some chapters have interactive worksheets or exercises with the answers included, while others simply present the information. ","created_at":"2019-11-05T15:47:21.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-05T15:47:21.000-06:00"},{"id":3407,"first_name":"Pamela","last_name":"Haynes","position":"Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Piano Studies, Instructor of Music Fundamentals ","institution_name":"Manchester University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The contents of this text thoroughly explore and explain the basics of pitch, major scales and keys. Extra content is available through hyperlinks embedded throughout the chapters. Here users will find detailed and accessible information for expanded study of this subject covering such topics as \"How To Read Music,\" \"Tonal, Atonal and Modal Music,\" and \"Transposing and Non-Transposing Instruments.\" An index of key terms is only available in the downloadable PDF.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information is accurate, error-free and unbiased, except for the following: \r\n\r\nCHAPTER 1\r\n•\tBelow Figure 4 - \"Description The grand staff is used for keyboard instruments such as piano, organ, and harpsichord.\" The organ primarily uses a grand staff with three staves. \r\nCHAPTER 2\r\n•\tMoveable Clefs – The treble clef with an 8 is not used because “many people are uncomfortable reading bass clef.” This is called an octave clef and is used primarily for tenor vocal lines. \r\nCHAPTER 3\r\n•\t“But musicians usually don’t want to talk about wavelengths and frequencies.” This is a generalization and not entirely true. \r\nCHAPTER 4\r\n•\tUnder Figure 3: using the term “note” instead of “pitch” when referring to letter names for pitches.\r\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is arranged in a format that can be easily edited, amended or expanded. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Most of the technical terminology is adequately explained within the context of each topic. As with any presentation about the fundamentals of music, the educator is faced with the dilemma of what order to present concepts. The chosen order in this text is adequate, but sometimes provides the reader with terms that are not explained until later on in the book. For example, in Chapter 2 the description “C4” is used, but this numbering system is not explained until Chapter 6. In Chapter 3 the author refers to the arrangement of black keys on the piano keyboard as “Twins” and “Triplets.\" This could potentially cause confusion when discussing the rhythmic term “Triplet.” The following terms are also used in Chapter 3, but not defined: whole steps, half steps, sharps and flats.\r\n\r\n","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistency is present with the presentation and explanation of terms. The textbook is inconsistent in the incorporation of exercises and opportunities to practice or assess understanding of the information. •\tChapter 2 is the only chapter which includes a worksheet. Chapters 2, 8, 10 and 11 provide the reader with a few exercises and solutions. \r\n\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"One of the best features of this text is that it can easily be divided into sub-units. This will be especially helpful when working with a class comprised of students with differing prior knowledge and experience with music fundamentals. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of concepts and topics is logical and supported by numerous hyperlinks to fill in possible knowledge gaps possessed by the reader. \r\n\r\n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There are several features of this text that are distracting and should and could be easily be improved upon:\r\n- In the section \"Beyond Triads: Naming Other Chords,\" Ars Nova Software – link not Found\r\n- An Index is not in the table of contents of the online textbook. In the downloaded, PDF an Index page is available. \r\n- There are hyperlinks to content in the online textbook … but no index or ability to browse through these topics\r\n- The use of color is interesting, but inconsistent throughout the text\r\n\r\nCHAPTER 1\r\n•\tBorrowed graphics that could easily be created. Citation clutters the page.\r\n•\tGraphics are pixilated\r\n•\tFigure 4. Description – colon needed\r\nCHAPTER 3\r\n•\tRed font letters are on top of note flags\r\nCHAPTER 4\r\n•\tDouble sharp is sloppy in appearance\r\n•\tDouble flat is crowded (flats overlap) \r\nCHAPTER 5\r\n•\tThe corresponding text for Figure 2, 3, 4 is further away than text for other figures = confusing\r\nCHAPTER 6\r\n•\tJagged / pixilated 8th notes Figure 2\r\nCHAPTER 7\r\n•\tHyperlink to “discussion at Opening Measures – server can no longer be found\r\nCHAPTER 9\r\n•\tFigure 3 and 4 should also have letters leading to the subdominant and sub-mediant\r\n","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few grammatical errors: \r\nCHAPTER 1\r\n•\t“Some of the clefs used in music notation matched the names given to voices…” Matched should be replace with match: these clefs are still used today. \r\nCHAPTER 3\r\n•\t“Under Figure 4 “E to F and C to B are half step.” Step should be replaced with the plural form: steps.\r\n•\t“Not all keyboards instruments...\" Keyboards should be replaced with the singular form: keyboard.\r\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is acceptable and does not offend or treat in cultures insensitively. There is a reference to France in Chapter 1 that could be expanded to include the other \"many countries\" that employ solfege syllables to designate pitches. \r\n\r\n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"\"Music Fundamentals 1: Pitch and Major Scales and Keys\" can be easily adopted as a textbook for a beginning music theory class at the secondary or collegiate level. Readers can easily navigate through the online text to obtain basic and in-depth information about the topic. There is also ample opportunity for further study and research if one uses the extra content. However, the textbook is lacking in providing pre-made worksheets and exercises to use for practice and assessment. This makes it less appealing for self-study or for an instructor who is looking for a streamlined ready-made option for their class. ","created_at":"2019-12-19T16:11:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-19T16:11:14.000-06:00"},{"id":3444,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Braverman","position":"Doctoral Student/Teaching Assistant","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, it does a decent job but there are a few missed explanations. The part I have an issue with is when the text all of a sudden throws in the words “interval” and “chord” without explaining what they are, nor does it bother to bold text those words. Those words don’t appear in the index either. Additionally, there are a few missed points, such as noting that pitch C4 is middle C (important) when discussing C1, C2, etc. on a piano. The text desperately needs a discussion of intervals when getting into the Circle of 5ths at the end and how that works together, and I did not feel that the explanation of keys/key signatures in the Circle of 5ths was adequate in helping someone figure that out. The index is alright but I'd like to see a glossary- students like a \"quick check\" section.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It is accurate for the content chosen to include.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"There is generally not an issue with this in music theory textbooks and I did not find problems with the book in this aspect.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Most terms are explained, but some are not (interval, chord, etc.) and runs right on from there. There are some wordy areas, while other explanations are missed (see Comprehensiveness). Not explaining terms will confuse a beginner.\r\n\r\n","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Consistency is my biggest problem with this book.\r\nTerms are sometimes bolded, in quotation marks, or nothing, but it is not consistent amongst all terms. I found this to be inconsistent in use of terms and definition format, which is difficult for someone learning this material for the first time to find those things. It’s easy to miss many terms because of this.\r\n\r\nRed/blue/green labeling on figures is also inconsistent—font size varies so much. It is huge in some places and small in others. In other places, colors aren’t used at all. I see a lot of issues with this. Diagram size is also inconsistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"It is divided into chapters, but only some chapters are thereafter divided into sections, such as 8.1, 8.2, etc. It would be nice if it was consistent for all chapters—either divisions, or not. It could use additional divisions/subheadings so that a student can easily skim back through to find the explanation for that part they just forgot what it said without getting frustrated in finding it.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I think the chapter order is fine, but there are some instances where I would change the sentence order to be clearer within some paragraphs in chapters. There are some topics introduced early on that are confusing to beginners (tuning or alto/tenor clefs).","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The shockingly bright red can be a little hard on some readers’ eyes. Additionally (as mentioned in the “Consistency” section), font sizes of labelings on figures are inconsistent and distracting. Staff figure sizes are inconsistent and distracting to the eye. The book needs to be more reader/learner friendly.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are some comma splices or other small grammatical errors and instances were a period was used rather than a colon, but nothing terrible in terms of being able to understand the information. However, it would be nice if those were edited and fixed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don’t see any issues in this category.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I found the practice pages to be useful for students, especially since they contain an answer key for the student to check. Overall, the book seems to be a decent introduction to the material. This would be beneath the level of a Theory I course, but could be used in a fundamentals course for students who are at a remedial level when entering college, or for high school students wanting to enter college as a music major.","created_at":"2019-12-31T00:31:08.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-31T00:31:08.000-06:00"},{"id":4117,"first_name":"Dr. John","last_name":"Shiu","position":"Part-Time Lecturer","institution_name":"Bridgewater State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This pretty much covers most of the basic material, yet it strays from simplicity and focus.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This is pretty much on target, yet I find examples of terminology that vary: diatonic, etc.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book is pretty standard, yet some of the links don't work at all which will need to be updated to a more 2020/2021 format.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"Terry's style of writing brings this textbook low, yet Catherine's style of writing is more straightforward and applicable.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Fairly consistent without too many inconsistencies.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"It is fairly laid our and structured, yet it needs reformatting and reorganization.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Overall, it is basic yet jumbled. The graphics need to be fine tuned.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Overall, it is basic yet jumbled. The graphics need to be fine tuned.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical flaws that are apparent.","cultural_rating":1,"cultural_review":"No offensive material present.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Overall, a basic music theory textbook that needs a some reformatting and updates to be very effective along with a great lecturer to make it above average.  Yet, it is a good start.","created_at":"2020-06-28T16:28:45.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-28T16:28:45.000-05:00"},{"id":4891,"first_name":"John","last_name":"Mery","position":"Music, Department Chair","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The hyper links to terms and concepts embedded in the modules are quite effective. A student is able to thoroughly explore a topic. Perhaps including basic information acoustics and sound (soundwaves, resonance, hertz etc.) might be useful to include with the tuning information such as equal temperament.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Accurate","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The rudiments of music do not change much, content included is up to date. Perhaps including alternate labels when applicable such as other octave designations that are commonly used. It is mentioned but none are cited.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Verbiage is clear. Some of the illustrations are clunky and could be improved by being made easier to read.\r\n Specifically the section 3 -  Introduction to the Piano Keyboard -on staff note reading and how it relates to the piano keyboard,  and section 9 Scale Degrees.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"This is really a single chapter from a larger book. Due to the nature of the subject there is a limited amount of modular flexibility with the sections contained here.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Structure of sections and flow of content are good.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Some illustrations are not as clear as they could be, note name letters seem too large and color coding could be confusing to some students.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is appropriate to the content.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Mention of non-western music practices such as gamelan in section on tuning systems is commended. Mention of non-western notational systems and graphic based systems such as the MIDI piano roll (something used by students) is also worth including.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This book is a really a single chapter or two from a larger collection. Only parts one and two of six are listed as available from this collection. Overall a good introduction to the topic of pitch notation as part of music fundamentals or intro to music theory.","created_at":"2021-05-05T17:09:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-05T17:09:09.000-05:00"},{"id":5106,"first_name":"Olem","last_name":"Alves","position":"part-time faculty","institution_name":"Lane Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book does a good job covering all areas of Music Fundamentals in regard to pitch and major scales. A small example of this is the way the author shows the treble and bass clef's as fluid systems of the musical alphabet directly followed by the traditional EGBDF (lines) and FACE (spaces) for treble clef. I think the book flows well and there is an appropriate amount of information covered in relation to the topic it is about. There are also a number of good hyperlinks that expand on an idea that the author is explaining. Very thorough.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and I did not find any errors in the information itself.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant to how music theory is taught today. Music theory doesn't change much in its rudiments. It all makes good sense.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The hyperlinks are very useful but it might have been better to include them as pages in the book instead of links as some of that information could be overlooked by the reader. For instance at first I didn't think there was any information on frequency but there is in a hyperlink if you look closer labelled middle C.  Furthermore, the hyperlinks should be in different colored text, bigger or stand out in some way so the reader can see and access them easier otherwise they get lost in the text of the book. The introduction to the piano keyboard video link did not work for me. I am not sure if it was my computer or a glitch in the book.  The audio worked but having the video would be helpful.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I think the text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course. The hyperlinks are used well to break things up in smaller particles of information.  I did tend to get lost in the hyperlinks and had trouble getting back to where I was.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion. But, when I click on a link it might be better to open the link in a new window so I can get back more easily to where I was before I clicked on the link.  It doesn't seem clear or consistent as to how to get back to my original spot.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I think for the most the book is free of significant interface issues.  As I said earlier I do think the hyperlinks should be clearer, stand out more and be accurate in their labelling as to what the link is really about.  For instance including the topic of frequency on the \"middle C\" link might not tell the entire picture of what the link is about.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I do not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way that I have found.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I recommend this book for those wanting to gain a solid foundation in the concepts of beginning music theory.  Overall the concepts are well presented.","created_at":"2021-06-15T15:15:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-15T15:15:09.000-05:00"},{"id":33982,"first_name":"Jeffrey","last_name":"Anderson","position":"Music Instructor","institution_name":"Allen Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The subject matter was presented in a very organized manner, and covered all concepts needed for an older beginner music student, or someone who needs a music theory refresher. What was lacking in some chapters were real-world examples from the repertoire. Information out of context is more difficult to comprehend and retain. When you can see and hear music, it makes it that much richer, and some of that was lacking here.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Everything stated was accurate. Music theory at this basic level doesn't leave much room open for interpretation.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content will be relevant since basic music theory never changes over the decades. However, there are other texts available with more examples that students would recognize and connect to. This is a relatively dry and boring presentation of the concepts.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The examples and text is presented very clearly. However, some of the graphics look unprofessional to my eye. For example, graphics with hand-drawn arrows and lines instead of professionally created.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"It was mostly consistent throughout. Some of the graphics used different typesetting of the music notation. It would have been nicer to have a consistent typeset throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter covers a different concept, which can be assigned on a different occasion. However, (as with all music theory textbooks), it definitely needs to be assigned in order from Chapter 1 to Chapter 11. It is a cumulative subject.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"It was presented very clearly with the exception noted above about the lack of consistency of musical notation typesetting. Also, some of the handwritten graphics, while east to understand, did seem distracting.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"All of the sound files I clicked on worked fine. The images were not distorted, and the text looked non-distracting.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar was impeccable. I did not notice any errors. The only thing they could have done is use the accidental symbols in the text instead of having to spell out sharp, flat, and natural every time.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text was not culturally insensitive. It is focused solely on music notation and music theory.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The most distracting thing for me was the inconsistent and sometimes unprofessional look of the graphics throughout the entire text. Otherwise, I would recommend this to the college-age student who is interested in learning the basics of music notation, and can be self-motivated to read through a dry, to-the-point textbook.","created_at":"2022-08-12T16:04:47.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-08-12T16:04:47.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-fundamentals-1-pitch-and-major-scales-and-keys","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:42.000-06:00"},{"id":583,"title":"Music Fundamentals 2: Rhythm and Meter","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2013,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This collection is the second of five dealing with the rudiments of music.","contributors":[{"id":4621,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Terry","middle_name":"B.","last_name":"Ewell","location":null,"background_text":"Terry B. Ewell, professor, Department of Music, Towson University Former President, International Double Reed SocietyB. M. University of Washington; Bassoon Performance, magna cum laudaM. A. University of Washington, Music TheoryPh.D. University of Washington, Music TheoryTerry Ewell is Professor of online instruction and bassoon at Towson University Department of Music. In his 30+ years as a professional musician he has received recognition as a performer, teacher, scholar, and administrator."},{"id":4622,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Catherine","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Schmidt-Jones","location":null,"background_text":"Catherine Schmidt-Jones graduated from Rice University in 1985, completing a BA in chemistry, a BA in music and a Master of Music in French horn performance."}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":554,"url":"https://cnx.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax CNX"}],"formats":[{"id":951,"type":"Online","url":"https://archive.org/details/cnx-org-col10716","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":952,"type":"PDF","url":"https://archive.org/download/cnx-org-col10716/music-fundamentals-2-rhythm-and-meter.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":953,"type":"eBook","url":"https://archive.org/download/cnx-org-col10716/music-fundamentals-2-rhythm-and-meter.epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":7,"reviews":[{"id":2418,"first_name":"Judith","last_name":"Ofcarcik","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Fort Hays State University","comprehensiveness_rating":1,"comprehensiveness_review":"While the book has fairly comprehensive coverage of rhythm and meter, this is never the only topic covered in a class. You will need at least another book to teach any music class. And since most textbooks cover rhythm and meter in addition to other topics, this book would only be useful if you were only going to use this book and the specific textbook paired with it on this site.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The book was generally accurate, but there is a significant problem with its coverage of compound meter that I address below.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Information on metric notation is unlikely to change.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"I think the book is generally not confusing, although I did not find it particularly engaging. At the same time, it is a very introductory book intending to address the most basic aspects of a limited topics, so I don't expect it to be exciting.","consistency_rating":1,"consistency_review":"A big concern that I have about this book, which only covers rhythm and meter, is that the author(s) provide conflicting information about compound meter. When the topic is first introduced, it says that compound meter signatures work just like simple meter signatures, meaning the top number tells you how many beats are in a measure and the bottom number tells you what note value is a beat (so, a measure of 6/8 has six beats and the eighth note gets the beat). However, this is not the case. Later in the book this is corrected, but I am concerned that students will be confused about this topic (which is already confusing to many students) because their first introduction to the topic is incorrect.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is divided clearly into small, digestible sections.","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"The organization generally makes sense, but sometimes topics are introduced more than once (and as I mentioned, sometimes conflicting material is provided in each appearance).","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I worry about this book being used on a computer--part of what students need to do when studying the topics covered in this book is to practice writing musical notation. You just can't do that on a computer. Perhaps if they are reading it on a tablet they could use a stylus to complete the activities, but otherwise they are going to have to print the pages to complete them.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Overall this looked good.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is nothing in this book that could cause offense.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":"This would be a decent quick reference for the studio instructor who wants a free book to suggest to students who are just learning to read music. However, its scope is very limited (by design, it should be said--this is not intended to be a comprehensive theory text). Further, since most books that address music fundamentals include many more topics than those covered here, I would prefer to send a student to one of those more comprehensive books, even if they had to pay for it. Finally, I am concerned about the presentation of compound meter in this text. Since this book is so limited in scope, problems here impact my feelings about this text much more than they would in a more comprehensive text--it only covers a few things, and one category of things is, in my assessment, confusing/inaccurate. ","created_at":"2018-11-29T10:55:57.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-29T10:55:57.000-06:00"},{"id":2937,"first_name":"Keith","last_name":"Cozart Steele","position":"Director of Percussion","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is a good beginners introduction to terms, concepts and fundamentals of musical rhythm and meter with bonus links to such topics as conducting patterns.  The overall layout works well with an understanding that the sections can be used in different order rather than sequentially.  The simple index links materials very directly.  Each section is easy to follow and is of digestible length for a beginning student.  Moderate to advance students would move through this material very quickly while gaining bits and pieces of new information, especially in regard to the section on simple and compound rhythm and time signatures.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall accuracy of the text is solid.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The study of Western notation rhythm and meter is and will likely not change much any time soon.  The text makes reference to non-tonal instruments, such as the snare drum, not always using standard note heads.  Percussion instruments have begun to standardize in this regard to notation, but this text has made general notes to inform of the possibility of such note head replacement occurring in written form.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Yes, the text is very clear in its delivery.  It has very little added detail.  It is direct and to the point, explaining or linking vocabulary that my confuse a beginning music student.  ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Overall the flow of the text remains consistent in terms of terminology and framework, although not all sections have the same weight of new information.  For example, section 2 \"Rests\" could include additional examples of rests with dots or in several other time signatures.  Section 10 \"Pickup Notes and Measures\" seems out of place in this text.  I regard this as a performers need rather than a specific use in a fundamentals course/text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Yes, this text really accomplishes the ability to use it in smaller or larger sections- while also being flexible to assign section out of order.  Very easy to reorganize- well done.  ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The textbook flows naturally for the most part.  I would not use it in its current order.  For example, I would teach section 4 \"Rhythm\" first.  Then thereafter begin note values from section 1.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"All links work well.  I particularly like the audio examples.  The visual examples are sufficient and simple.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammatically the textbook is free from any minor errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"This book takes a direct Eurocentric approach.  As far as other influence of race, ethnicity and background- there is none.  ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall I like the book from a Western Classical Beginning Rhythm and Meter resource.  I gained from preview its content.  ","created_at":"2019-05-22T12:48:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-22T12:48:41.000-05:00"},{"id":3501,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Berry","position":"Instruction Librarian","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"While this book serves as a great introductory source for basic concepts in rhythm and meter, it also brings in more diverse perspectives than some other, more watered-down introductory texts tend to do.  Whenever possible, the authors discuss how the concepts compare in other musical styles, such as in jazz, percussion, and non-western music.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I felt it was very accurate and straightforward.  This book contained very basic information and I have a Master's in Musicology, and yet I STILL learned new things from it!","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"There are great, approachable analogies used throughout that make learning more fluid and easy, and are more or less timeless.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This text is incredibly concise, and yet not so to-the-point that concepts aren't clearly defined.  Complex subjects are delved into enough that most misunderstandings can be clarified, but it's not too overwhelming.  That being said, there are a few times when concepts are explained in a way that seems out of order to me.  For example, the [important] paragraph explaining that metronomes with tempo markings are not 100% accurate comes before the section that explains what tempo markings are.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"While I feel that some of the ways in which the compound meter section is described could get confusing, I think it's overall pretty consistent.  Almost to a fault.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I feel that the text could be overly self-referential at times, as sentences are interrupted (sometimes MANY times) by references to which sections concepts were originally discussed in.  That being said, this could be helpful for new students to music, and otherwise the book is chunked very, very well.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very logical organization.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The exercises throughout the book are really great, and don't require anything more than a paper and pen (a student would not even need to print out the pages of the book).  The only criticism I have related to the exercises is that there probably could have been more!","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I noticed a few minor typos throughout the book, but nothing that got in the way at all.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book covers such rudimentary material that it would be hard to be offensive/insensitive.  That being said, as I mentioned earlier there are diverse perspectives brought in whenever possible, which I loved.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"As a former student of Dr. Ewell, I found this book to be just as engaging and straightforward as his musicianship classes were.  Glad I can keep learning from him even after graduation! :)","created_at":"2020-01-13T13:28:10.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-13T13:28:10.000-06:00"},{"id":4237,"first_name":"Allen","last_name":"Amy","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"California State University, Dominguez Hills","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is comprehensive and especially concise.  I appreciate that the text focuses on rhythm and meter because some subjects, such as dance, require music education, but don't need as much/any information on pitch, scales, keys, etc.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I believe the content is accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I don't see the text becoming obsolete any time soon.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"The text may be clear enough to more advanced readers, but for the true novice, much of what is covered will have to be read multiple times and very slowly.  More audio examples and worksheets will help clarify concepts and illustrate concepts in multiple ways.  I believe it would be especially helpful to hear audio examples of various rhythms and meters in their most straight-forward forms before linking to examples of the same rhythm as part of a complete orchestration.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text seems consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible.  The sections are very manageable and easy to navigate.  The text is somewhat self-referential, but since sections are so short, it's not a great difficulty to refer to the other section.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I would start with rhythm, then proceed to meter, then time signature, and then introduce written notes.  However, there isn't so much content that it would be difficult to rearrange the order of this text for one's own teaching order preference.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I did get a little \"lost\" at times and when I clicked the links to additional materials.  Also, music samples, sometimes showed up in another tab and sometimes a file was automatically downloaded.  I preferred them to open in a new tab.  I did not see how to choose this option.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did appreciate that Western music was identified, described, and compared to other music styles.  I would like even more instances of illustrating similarities and differences between musical styles including Western music.  Audio examples would be especially helpful.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, I appreciate that it is comprehensive and succinct.  Dancers do take music classes focusing on rhythm and I found this text to be probably too difficult to digest without many more audio examples and worksheets.","created_at":"2020-07-08T22:47:07.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-08T22:47:07.000-05:00"},{"id":4681,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Braverman","position":"Doctoral Student/Teaching Assistant","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"It’s a concise textbook in that it’s only 63 pages, but it is not thorough. It will mention topics but not thoroughly explain that a new student could understand. I can’t entirely tell what this is intended for, because you would not normally teach rhythm/meter without any reference/study in pitch and otherwise. I’m not sure if you’d use it alongside a more comprehensive book or what the intention was—there is no introduction or preface explaining this either. It is simple language but it will mention things without truly explaining, such as just using the staff suddenly without talking about it at all.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"There’s a few errors that are sometimes corrected later, but overall is accurate. Some topics are oversimplified/not fully explained.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I don’t see issues in this regard because this information doesn’t really change.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"It is not clear enough or thorough enough for beginners (as discussed under “comprehensiveness”) to gain a full understanding. I don’t think terms are fully explained in a way that someone new to the subject would gain enough.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"It is ok. The font sizes and types are consistently used and doesn’t bother your eyes/mind that way. The weight given to topics varies quite a bit. Formatting is the same, but also kind of dry black and white blocks of text. It could use some of those improvements but is overall consistent.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"It is divided into smaller subsections, which is good, but the smaller ones could use larger headings to make them easier to find. The text is very self-referential with footnotes, which got pretty irritating when they would occur multiple times mid-sentence and you lose your train of thought of what you are reading. A student reading this information for the first time would not be able to follow this well if they have to click on many footnotes to understand new terms.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization and order of topics are decent, with a few issues, notably in the sections on meter.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"Everything is clear on the page but it is a lot of black blocks of text and can be difficult to keep reading that. I don’t think the interface of the text keeps a student’s attention very well and could use more diagrams and more variance.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Very minor errors but nothing too bad.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"It is describing Western music notation and makes no reference of stating that other countries (or early notation) use different styles or use examples from other areas. But then again, there is no introduction or preface to tell us the author’s intention or goals for the text.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I think it explains the topics it does explain decently but misses some detail. However, it is very technical and very definition-based. This is not very practically usable in applying to music or teaching someone about counting/playing music. Even for a music theory textbook, someone should be able to get some sense of how learning this information would help them perform or teach this and it is just too definition-based as its sole presentation. I would like to have seen an introduction or preface stating the goal of the book or if it is intended to be used with another book or exercises at the same time.","created_at":"2021-03-07T22:01:26.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-03-07T22:01:26.000-06:00"},{"id":4895,"first_name":"Deanna","last_name":"Little","position":"Professor of Music","institution_name":"Middle Tennessee State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is concise and comprehensive in the areas of rhythm and meter.  It seems the book would be excellent for someone needing extra clarification in these areas.  It would serve as a supplement to a wholistic music theory text or for a student who plays music but does not read it well or a student in need of a 'reset' of rhythmic understanding from the ground up.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The material covered is accurate, although, in a few instances due to brevity it could be difficult to understand.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant and I do not foresee this changing anytime soon.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is clear but visually dull.  The information is consistently concise which helps keep the reader engaged.  The exercises are helpful but more would be nice. The links included are also helpful.  I like the use of colors and shades in the online version, there could be even more variety though.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in presentation of terminology and framework.  However, chapters 3 (Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions) and 10 (Pickup Notes and Measures) seemed to be in need of deeper explanation.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible into smaller sections that you can immediately refer to should there be a specific problem area for the reader.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of chapters are logical and clear.   Chapter 10 seems to be an odd fit within the whole text.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is very clear on the page.  All of the links work and are very helpful.  The audio examples are also good.  I experienced problems getting back to the spot I was at after clicking a link and it would be nice to click on the audio and have it play rather than download first.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-05-07T10:23:04.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-07T10:23:04.000-05:00"},{"id":35338,"first_name":"Scott","last_name":"Roeder","position":"Professor of Tuba/Euphonium","institution_name":"The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is very thorough.  It covers all the necessary information to understand all the elements of rhythm and meter.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate in its descriptions of the various elements of rhythm and meter.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is extremely relevant because the subject matter is at the core of music performance and understanding notation.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is well written in regards to the information.  I believe the structure of the book could be improved for students who are trying to improve rhythm comprehension.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes very consistent","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Ideas are presented in easy to discern sections.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"I think the organization of the book could be improved.  Not sure the progression of ideas was the most optimal.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Some text formatting could be improved.  Seems more like a masters thesis than a textbook.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"NA","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The information presented in the book is very complete and exhaustive.  However the presentation of the material could be rethought in a way that would make it more optimal for students to learn to comprehend the subject matter.  There was not a consistent flow from one topic to the next and it would be hard for a student to use this book as a way to develop the skillset it is trying to teach.  I think it is probably more of a treatise than a textbook to learn from.","created_at":"2024-12-11T09:06:23.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-12-11T09:06:23.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-fundamentals-2-rhythm-and-meter","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:43.000-06:00"},{"id":1067,"title":"Music in World Cultures","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2021,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This text provides just a small sampling of some of the various musical styles and traditions that might be found, though the skills developed in this course can be applied to any type of music.","contributors":[{"id":5512,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Matthew","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mihalka ","location":"University of Arkansas","background_text":"Matthew Mihalka joined the Music Department at the University of Arkansas in 2011. His research addresses the use of music in 20th/21st century American society, particularly during sporting events. His work has been published in The American Organist, Notes, American History through American Sports, and Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. He is the co-editor of Music around the World: A Global Encyclopedia, a three-volume music reference work published in 2020."},{"id":5513,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Justin","middle_name":"R.","last_name":"Hunter","location":"University of Arkansas","background_text":"Justin R. Hunter is an ethnomusicologist specializing in Indigenous studies, Japanese studies, and Ozark music of Arkansas. He received his PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and his BA and MM from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Hunter has served as a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology advisory council and in leadership roles for numerous special interest groups, sections, and committees for the society. He currently serves as the co-chair of the Japanese Performing Arts Special Interest Group and the secretary of the Indigenous Music Section. He has book reviews in Ethnomusicology Forum and the journal Notes. He is an alumnus of the Alpha Omicron chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda in 2009 at the University of Arkansas campus."}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":1045,"url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/","year":null,"created_at":"2021-09-20T00:24:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-09-20T00:24:22.000-05:00","name":"University of Arkansas"}],"formats":[{"id":2601,"type":"eBook","url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2602,"type":"Online","url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2603,"type":"ODF","url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2604,"type":"PDF","url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2605,"type":"XML","url":"https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":5,"reviews":[{"id":33500,"first_name":"Hillary","last_name":"Harder","position":"Program Director, Community School of the Arts","institution_name":"Goshen College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides snapshots of several styles of music from around the world. This sampling of musical traditions from around the world is fascinating and varied and I appreciated the organization of the book into different themes,  i.e. place, identity and politics, theatre, dance, religion and spirituality. However, this book is not terribly comprehensive - and I don't think it was necessarily intending to be. The title may be somewhat misleading: rather than giving broad overviews of the function of music in as many world cultures as possible, this book instead presents more in-depth examples of thirteen styles of music from different countries. These musical styles were not necessarily evenly distributed across different regions of the world: for example, three styles of music from Zimbabwe were included, but only one was included from all of Latin America.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of the book was accurate and highly interesting. It was refreshing to encounter a music textbook that did not center around Western Classical European music and instead prioritized diverse musical traditions from around the world.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The written content in the book is fairly relevant, as it discusses historical and contextual information about each style of music. I didn't find the information particularly up-to-date: for example, the chapter on hip-hop did not discuss any music written after 1982, which leaves out huge and crucial developments in that genre of music. Furthermore, while I appreciated the YouTube video examples linked in the text, I imagine these videos will quickly become out of date and could even be removed from YouTube in coming years, rendering the book far less useful.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book's introduction gives excellent and clear explanation of musical terms like timbre and dynamics.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book maintains consistency in its terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are of a manageable length and include subsections within them.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I appreciated the way that the different musical styles were grouped together by theme. I would have appreciated some subthemes as well: for example, religion/spirituality is a huge category that could include music for holidays, celebrations, mourning rituals, and more that could be highly different from one another.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"One mild obstacle was having to wait for the ads to play before viewing the videos on YouTube.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book did an outstanding job of highlighting rich and complex styles of music that are often ignored in scholarly music texts.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall this is a fascinating and worthwhile book to consider teaching from. This book's greatest benefit is its in-depth look into several specific styles of music from around the world (particularly the non-Western world). This is not a comprehensive text on the ways in which music is broadly used in cultures around the world; I wished for a more even representation of music from all broad regions of the world, and moreover I just wished for more content - more styles of music chosen, more details presented about each style of music, and more countries represented. However, the styles of music that are discussed are interesting and relevant, and they are effectively grouped by theme of function within a culture. The video examples are useful and bring these styles of music to life.","created_at":"2021-12-01T13:19:32.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-01T13:19:32.000-06:00"},{"id":33522,"first_name":"Man","last_name":"Yang","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Kapiolani Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As an OER textbook on world music, the first of its kind, this text offers a great selection of musical culture of the world. Instead of introducing music cultures based on geographic location, this book organizes its six chapters based on different issues relating to place, identity and politics, theatre, dance, religion and spirituality as well as  an introduction chapter. A great mix of traditional and contemporary musical cultures from Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Oceania, East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East are analyzed in a consistent format (including historical background together with music examples, followed by a brief listening guide). Some very helpful maps and images are also used.  As the authors point out themselves, “this text provides just a small sampling of some of the various musical styles and traditions,” and it serves as a strong springboard for future editions and related texts that will expand OER resources in this field.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content in the book is accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is most likely to be used in an introductory world music class together with other visual aids (image and video examples) and learning materials. Certain chapters could also be used in area studies classes, like Asian Studies, African studies, and American studies.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to read, concise and without any academic jargon.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The structure and terminology are consistent across all chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook can be used as a whole, or adopted by chapter in addition to other learning material.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters in the text are efficiently organized by topics.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the text easy to navigate.  The video links work great.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t find any major grammatical issues in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is written in a culturally responsive manner as it intends to build a better understanding of world music cultures.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The authors did an outstanding job creating this text! It’s well-organized, consistent, and easy to use. I have adopted some of the maps used in this textbook in my own courses (thank you!), and plan to include selections from its chapters in my introductory world music class. This is a really wonderful first edition, and I am looking forward to seeing a second edition that could extend the scope of the text’s coverage of world musical cultures in terms of both breadth and depth.","created_at":"2021-12-10T23:59:24.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-10T23:59:24.000-06:00"},{"id":33741,"first_name":"Bernadette Mondok","last_name":"Keller","position":"Adjunct Music Instructor","institution_name":"Southern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As established in the introduction of the text, Music in World Cultures offers a \"small sampling\" of traditional uses of music in ways that most hearing people are able to relate.  Other than using primarily Youtube as its multimedia platform, which itself encourages the viewer to dive deeper into a topic, the most comprehensive section of the book were the two chapters in the Introduction section. \r\n However, it would be difficult for the book to cover ALL existing cultures' music with the same amount of depth, so I appreciate the sorting of music into the five themes.  I would argue that there wasn't a big enough difference for me between the Place and Identity\u0026Politics themes.  I would have loved to see a specific Children's Music section, though I know there would again be crossover with other sections.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I enjoyed the detail in the book backed by news articles and webpages.  The book is painstakingly thorough especially in its listening guides; they include translated titles, artist names, year published, country of origin, by-the-second descriptions, and lyric translation where the text is important to the theme.  I also appreciated how it shows how samples of some world music has been adapted to other popular songs through direct sample or quote.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"My FAVORITE part of the text book was the deliberate multi-media approach, but this is also its Achilles heel.  Here are a list of youtube links that no longer exist:\r\n\r\n1. Orchestral cymbals\r\n2. The Message\r\n3. Tumira Vana Kuhondo\r\n4. Begin Japanology Kabuki (NHK Documentary). 2018\r\n\r\nThere was an image missing as well:\r\n(image: chinaculture.org)","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is enjoyably approachable!  My favorite chapter of the book was the Fundamentals, which did well to lay groundwork for the rest of the text.\r\n\r\nSome of the videos, vocabulary, and graphic choices I found only questionably demonstrated each topic:\r\nDynamics= Bob Marley and the Wailers\r\nHarmony= \"relaxed\" vs. \"tense\" vocabulary and the use of the word \"happy\" to describe Jarabi\r\nHomophonic= The Kossoy Sisters; maybe a video of multiple singers or instruments singing the same thing would be better","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I would have loved to have seen specific links to Eurovision performances referenced, and seen images/videos of instruments in the Jingju.  In that way, I find the book to be a bit inconsistent in level of detail.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text can be done in any order after the Introduction section.  It can be used or referenced in other classes, like Music Appreciation, World History, and other culture-specific classes.\r\nThere were three videos that were used twice:\r\n1. Etenraku\r\n2. I’ll Fly Away\r\n3. Dhol\r\nI think the book could have used other videos in the Fundamentals chapter instead of these OR referenced the dual use of the videos","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book adheres to its structure by theme, and is easy to follow.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Other than links that went nowhere, navigation was fluid.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The only questionable bit of text for me was in Fundamentals: “However, if the instruments are playing the same,...” The same what?  The listening guide for the youtube link clarifies this.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found the book's effort to find different terms for dynamics effective, not limiting vocabulary to Italian.\r\nOf course it is a lot of hard work to make such multi-media text about cultural uses of music inclusive for non/hard of-hearing and non/hard of-seeing people, so this is the only point where I find the text lacking culturally.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is my kind of text book; multi-media and user friendly!  I encourage the authors to stay on top of the media links, as they're my favorite part of the text.  I anticipate that future editions will take care of this, and will include more recent developments in the popular music world, as globalization brings us closer together.","created_at":"2022-03-11T21:47:55.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-03-11T21:47:55.000-06:00"},{"id":34767,"first_name":"Peter","last_name":"Schimpf","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The study of world music is impossible to cover \"comprehensively.\" In general, I found this book's concise approach to be both its strength and its weakness. The book gets straight to the point and delivers the essential information efficiently and with great clarity, which is often rare among textbooks, particularly those dealing with this subject. Yet at the same time, I was surprised how short this book is, and there were many instances where I would have appreciated more content, particularly a revisiting of the topics outlined at the beginning.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As mentioned above, the subject matter is delivered with great clarity and efficiency. It seems free of bias and errors, and leaves plenty of room for the instructor to get deeper into the issues surrounding the various case studies used throughout the text.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This book deals with issues in a broad, fundamental way that will certainly give it a long shelf life. Updates should be easy, and there is room for instructors to add and expand with their own materials. It is always a challenge identifying examples to demonstrate the concepts among the hundreds of millions of options around the world. I did like the mix of examples that might be commonly encountered (Mariachi, Hip Hop), mixed with less familiar, less commonly-encountered examples (Bhangra, Jingju). It's as good of a sampling as you'll find in any other textbook. As mentioned above, more examples, particularly from global traditions that students might encounter in their everyday lives, would be a welcome addition. Instructors, of course, can provide their own.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity is the main strength of this text. Complex ideas are delivered with a simplicity that doesn't demean the subject, but gives a strong, central definition from which discussions can start. The field of ethnomusicology is complicated as it is, with a host of ethical issues which can paralyze the discipline. This book manages to elegantly navigate these things and sidestep some of the thorny problems, leaving that to the instructor of the class.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The different voices of the two authors is apparent in the text, but not in an overly-problematic way. The presentation of examples and links to videos are sometimes laid out in different ways, and it wasn't always clear which link I was supposed to click on to get a video or to get a picture. Nothing too problematic, but something that could be reviewed and made more consistent by the authors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity is another strength of this book, and an element that is crucial to this subject matter. With so many options to demonstrate fundamental concepts, it is crucial that no one example is made to exclusively represent a concept. The concept section could easily be used on its own and an instructor could use their own case study examples based on their own area of expertise. It would also be easy for an instructor to augment any of the various case study topic areas (theater, dance, religion, and so forth).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is clear and unfolds in a logical, intuitive way. This is as straightforward and as effective an organization of a world music textbook as I have seen.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Overall the book is very easy to navigate. As mentioned above, the layout of video links is not always clear and consistent, but I did easily find my way to everything I needed. Using YouTube links is always risky as that platform is subject to changes so quickly, and in general is an unregulated mess. However, all but one of the links worked for me as I read through the book. The one that didn't work was, not surprisingly, one that utilized a popular song and was thus subject to copyright issues on YouTube. All instructors should know this about YouTube links and should be prepared for links that don't work and be able to search for new or alternate ones. Nevertheless, it could be helpful if the author's also created am optional playlist that could be used on Spotify and/or Apple Music if an instructor were to require that of their students. That would be more consistent and reliable, and it would also make the more popular commercial examples more accessible. Spotify does have a free version and a highly discounted paid version for students.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical problems.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As mentioned above, I thought this successfully navigates its way through the potentially problematic issues of representation. Its simplicity is its strength in this regard. The whole issue of a \"world music course\" is problematic, and the best we can do is identify the issues and discuss. This book sets up these kinds of discussions effectively.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The one thing I would like to see from this book is a more deliberate effort at showing the fundamental concepts addressed at the beginning of the book throughout each of the examples presented in the various case studies. The only way students will retain concepts such as timbre, dynamics, pitch and so forth, as well as the instrument categorizations, is to very explicitly and consistently use those terms in every examples. The authors do this in some instances, but many examples don't recall these fundamental concepts as thoroughly.","created_at":"2023-12-04T12:14:09.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-12-04T12:14:09.000-06:00"},{"id":35299,"first_name":"Brett","last_name":"Jones","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Wisconsin-Superior","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Within the area of musical traditions from around the world, it is impossible to be comprehensive.  The authors have chosen a good way to organize a survey exploration of some musical and cultural traditions.  I appreciate organization of the text by lenses through which to look at music and culture.  These lenses, or categories of dance, religion, place, identity, and theater are good ones to allow for an exploration of the music of the world.  The authors selected several examples from each of these category headings to serve as representative samples.  Certainly, the selections were connected with the areas of expertise of the authors.  However, as far as gaining a comprehensive understanding of musical traditions from around the world, this approach is fairly limited compared to a geographic/cultural view of musical traditions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"These short units were clear and accurate with good representative examples.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The authors did a good job of balancing traditional musical practices as they are still practiced and relevant with modern influences and blended styles.  The emphasis seems to be on more traditional musical genres as they connect with culture.  However, there are fusion examples that blend modern and pop musical influences that are relevant.  This balance allows for a good exploration of culture without the course feeling like a history course.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is generally clear and succinct.  I think that at times more depth could be given to some topics, especially introductory materials.  This could allow for more clarity for a general, non-musical audience.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, this is good.  However, I would like to see a little more consistency of form from one unit to the next.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Excellent!","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Good organization by topic.  That gives a nice sampling of musical and cultural traditions by topic.  The downside of this approach is that students might struggle to connect particular musical practices with certain geographical regions or cultures.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The chapters and units of the text load quickly and are easily navigable.  Musical samples link directly to YouTube within the same tab.  I would personally like them to open in a new tab because at first I kept inadvertently closing the tab of the text thinking that it would only close the video link but it would close the text.  Once I got used to this set-up, it was fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Excellent.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"A good variety of cultures are represented.  The authors do a good job of exposing the readers to cultural traditions from around the world in as inclusive a way as possible given the limit nature of the survey text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"A great open resource!  Thank you for putting this together and making it available as an OER.","created_at":"2024-10-31T17:38:32.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-10-31T17:38:32.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-in-world-cultures","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:33:46.000-06:00"},{"id":879,"title":"Music on the Move","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Music is a mobile art. When people move to faraway places, whether by choice or by force, they bring their music along. Music creates a meaningful point of contact for individuals and for groups; it can encourage curiosity and foster understanding; and it can preserve a sense of identity and comfort in an unfamiliar or hostile environment. As music crosses cultural, linguistic, and political boundaries, it continually changes. While human mobility and mediation have always shaped music-making, our current era of digital connectedness introduces new creative opportunities and inspiration even as it extends concerns about issues such as copyright infringement and cultural appropriation. With its innovative multimodal approach, Music on the Move invites readers to listen and engage with many different types of music as they read. The text introduces a variety of concepts related to music's travels—with or without its makers—including colonialism, migration, diaspora, mediation, propaganda, copyright, and hybridity. The case studies represent a variety of musical genres and styles, Western and non-Western, concert music, traditional music, and popular music. Highly accessible, jargon-free, and media-rich, Music on the Move is suitable for students as well as general-interest readers. Citable link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9853855","contributors":[{"id":5224,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Danielle","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Fosler-Lussier","location":"Ohio State University","background_text":"Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Ohio State University"}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":858,"url":"https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/m613n040s","year":2020,"created_at":"2020-07-07T16:48:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-09-03T14:24:57.000-05:00","name":"University of Michigan Press"}],"formats":[{"id":1539,"type":"Online","url":"https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/m613n040s","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"9780472901289"},{"id":1540,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/m613n040s","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1541,"type":"eBook","url":"https://www.fulcrum.org/ebooks/4t64gq185/download?locale=en","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"9780472126781"},{"id":1542,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.press.umich.edu/9853855","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"9780472074501"}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":4,"reviews":[{"id":4438,"first_name":"Joice","last_name":"Gibson","position":"Affiliate Faculty","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"While it is impossible for any music textbook to cover all areas and ideas of any subject (unless that subject is very narrow), Music on the Move nonetheless provides a wide and varied coverage of music as a mobile art. The Table of Contents provides an easy-to-read overview of each part’s general focus and each chapter’s particular focus. There is a comprehensive index, and (most/all) bolded terms are given descriptions or definitions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is well-researched, with endnotes provided extensively throughout the book and a rich bibliography of sources is provided. Part of the purpose of the textbook, as I read it, is to help readers (students or otherwise) to break down or set aside their own biases in order to better understand music as part of culture and cultural groups as it moves, with or without people, from place to place.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"First published in June 2020, the textbook includes an extensive selected bibliography of source material from 1967 to 2019, including several that can be considered “state-of-the-art” in terms of content and currency. Given the topical nature of the parts and chapters, it will be relatively easy for the author to update the content and related resources.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is engaging, accessible, and provides context and/or descriptive definitions for any jargon or technical terminology.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework of the textbook is consistent throughout, not only in terms of organization but also in terms of content and terminology.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Presented in three parts with 2-3 chapters per part and sub-sections within chapters, the text is clearly intended to be presented as written, as each part and chapter builds upon what came before and could be easily divided into smaller reading assignments. Parts could conceivably be assigned in a different order than presented (although probably unwise) as long as the Introduction comes first.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Beginning with an introduction that expertly and thoroughly sets the stage for the content and purpose of the textbook’s approach, the book is presented in three parts: migration, mediation, and mashup. Migration makes clear sense given the thrust of the book—music on the move—and considers colonialism and diasporic movement in Europe and the United States, i.e., the movement of people and their music. Mediation focuses on the media and technology through which music moves—is presented, recorded, and distributed—including how geopolitical relationships can cause music to move across international boundaries in the service of groups of people (such as states, nation-states, nations, etc.). The last Part, Mashup, guides the reader to consider the impact of easy transmission of and access to music (addressed in Part 2) as a possible force in transforming people—how they think and behave, their preferences and opinions—as well as issues of ownership, including mixing (blending, sampling, borrowing) in new local uses with newly formed ideas of cultural property.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is available in multiple formats, including web and pdf, with easy navigation of the web-based version making a good case for its use. The pdf version does not have live anchor links, making it more unwieldy to navigate. The images, including maps, are clear on computer and tablet screens. YouTube video links, links to images (such as maps, score examples, charts, tables, etc.), and links to streaming audio examples are all embedded in the text of the online version. The web-based version includes easy access to these same Resources, all presented in the order encountered in the text and labeled accordingly, including the source chapter. For my own use, I would recommend students use the online version, with a pdf saved for offline work.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is beautifully written and presented in engaging and readable prose. Given that the author worked with other college-level instructors to “test drive” the textbook, it is likely that it benefited from multiple eyes contributing to its accuracy.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Given that the textbook presents a variety of races, ethnicities, and background and deals with their responses, reactions, uses, transmissions, and changes, the cultural representation is very sensitive of issues of tradition, heritage, and ownership. The Conclusion (in fact, probably better labelled as the last chapter) addresses “Violence, Difference, and Peacemaking in a Globalized World,” providing an apt capstone to the entire textbook’s explorations.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As a contingent faculty member (having “retired” from full-time teaching), I don’t always get to choose my courses. I can say, though, that I hope to use this textbook at some point in the near future, most likely for “Musics of the World.” In the past, my approach to that course has been to guide students to explore traditions and origins, look at music’s movement (diaspora and via transmission), and consider cultural, social, political, etc. forces at work. This text does all that and more in a beautiful, carefully written and presented, and well-research package. The fact that it includes extensive documentation of sources also makes it appropriate as a source for research papers, which cannot be said of most textbooks.","created_at":"2020-12-04T16:18:25.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-26T15:09:56.000-06:00"},{"id":5145,"first_name":"Ryan","last_name":"Bazinet","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Berkshire Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Assessing this text's comprehensiveness is a bit tricky, because of its theoretical underpinnings: it is a work rooted in globalization theory, with heavy attention to themes like cosmopolitanism, appropriation, assimilation, and nationalism. Given that theoretical focus, perhaps the content is arbitrary, and multiple examples could be used to explore any given theory. But there are problems. On the one hand, the discussion of recorded music and national \"invented traditions\" in Chapter 4, which includes examples from Turkey, Great Britain, and Bulgarian women's choirs, seems quite strong. On the other hand, the U.S. focus in Chapter 3 perpetuates common U.S.-centric tropes about the African diaspora, in which scholarship and popular media routinely frame African Americans primarily as passive victims. If Fosler-Lussier broadened the discussion to include some of the the many vibrant neo-African traditions performed throughout the Caribbean, readers would have a much stronger sense that autonomous Africans have actively and intentionally shaped the culture of the New World. Such a view would make for a much more interesting discussion of theories like appropriation and assimilation.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I didn't find any content errors.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Some examples in this book (like Paul Simon's collaborations with South African musicians on his album Graceland) have been important in the literature on world music for decades now, and probably will continue to have relevance (though perhaps not in the way framed here). Other examples, like the 2017 Eurovision performance by Romani Hungarian singer Joci Papai, may soon feel dated.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Theoretical terms are helpfully offset in bold and clearly defined as they are introduced in the text, but a glossary of these many terms would improve accessibility.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of this book is one of its greatest strengths. While I can't imagine the utility of assigning the entire text in a college class, given its shortcomings, certain excerpts -- either entire chapters or subsections -- could prove useful.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is fine.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The absolute best thing about this book is the seamless incorporation of the many musical examples. They are numerous, they guide and enrich the discussions in the text, and they are all easily accessible. On the other hand, some of the maps in this book are quite hard to read, for instance the map of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Voyages, in which it is impossible to see which countries or historical kingdoms were the origination points of enslaved Africans.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text is mostly well written. There are a few errors (the final paragraph includes the oxymoron \"a musicians' strategy,\" p. 240). Some points needed more editing, such as in Chapter 4 when the word \"rather\" is used three times in the same short paragraph (p. 118).","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There is a heavy reliance on Western classical/art music in the examples, belying the author's training in Euroamerican concert music (which is stated openly in the Preface as a potential source of bias). Readers in classical music departments may appreciate the many \"New Music\" and avant-garde examples. Many other readers may not. For example, while Paul Simon's Graceland is criticized by the author (but not by the musicians involved in the project), it is an undeniably good record that most readers will find accessible and enjoyable. Simon's record is juxtaposed with a more positive discussion of several obscure art music examples, like Barbara Benary's \"Braid,\" which readers may find less relatable. Perhaps an example from the world of popular music would have helped enrich the discussion by providing a more meaningful comparison to Paul Simon, for example, the appropriation of reggae music by Trinidadian soca musicians.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-06-25T07:18:23.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-25T07:18:23.000-05:00"},{"id":33371,"first_name":"Benjamin","last_name":"Bergey","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Eastern Mennonite University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"It depends on what subject this book is used or evaluated for comprehensiveness. As a book for an average World Music class, it would not be comprehensive enough. However, it is adequately comprehensive for its scope and thesis. It also would make a wonderful companion text to many different types of music topics courses. While it is not broad enough to illustrate all movements of music from each corner of the world, when a story or region is used for illustration, the depth of detail is more significant than other world music texts.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any inaccuracies in content. The author provides endnotes and selected bibliographies which aid in further research for the reader.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is overall up to date. Some examples of popular music, while appropriate at this point, are generally in places that would make it easy to update in the future if desired.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The prose is quite accessible, with a storytelling style to weave together terminology and concepts. Notes, selected bibliography, and index are easy to use as well. I hope a glossary will be added for a second edition to easily house all the bolded keywords that are defined throughout the book. Not only would it make it more accessible, it would also allow better use for courses that adopt only portions of the book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is a solid consistency at all levels--from sensitivities in discussing various cultures, to use of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Being well organized, this book has good modularity allowing for the possibility of using chapters or sections easily. Some key concepts and terminology would be lost by skipping certain sections, but it may fit various course contents with proper planning by the instructor.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of this book is strong. The overarching thesis is woven in each section, with each section having a focus, and each chapter within showing specific regional examples. It flows together well, yet can be excerpted if needed as well.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This book is available on the web, tablet, or PDF, making it extremely accessible and versatile. The myriad musical examples and links work well across platforms, enhancing the experience. Images are well used and easy to read. Again, a glossary of terms in the back would strengthen this book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book was free of major grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Given the scope and intent of this book, its cultural relevance is broad, inclusive, and sensitive. The author is transparent and notes inherent bias in the preface.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I wanted to note the strength and quality of the introduction and conclusion, including giving limitations through transparency, good questions to consider, and tying together the framework of the text. It should be required reading for all musicians and lovers of music alike.","created_at":"2021-08-20T12:35:34.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-08-20T12:35:34.000-05:00"},{"id":35657,"first_name":"Jingyi","last_name":"Zhang","position":"Assistant Professor of Musicology","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Great way to structure the book into three large sections: Migration, Mediation, and Mashup. Fosler-Lussier does an excellent job in addressing the subject of Colonialism in particular, something that's often left out of the discussion. But engaging in a deep dive in several topics necessarily leaves out important issues integral to music majors in an institution like JMU, which has a School of Music. More suitable for a Music Appreciation course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Very accurate portrayal of Western music history that reflects nuanced way of thinking.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Very relevant to most students of music, though the exclusion of music scores or music theoretical discussion might make this resource less relevant to music majors.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Excellent in clarity. In-depth discussion of music-historical topics.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Great consistency overall!","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"These smaller modules that the book divides into—Migration, Diaspora, Mediation, Propaganda, Copyright, Hybridity—make it easy to assign to students as weekly reading assignments.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Great organization that is easy to follow though I could easily imagine alternative ways of organizing a music history textbook.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Excellent interface, and she further offers a repository of additional useful materials, like an example syllabi that demonstrates how the textbook is used in a class.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Free of mistakes. Proof-read intensely.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Culturally nuanced presentation of music history. For instance, under Part 1: Migration, she goes into the concept of colonialism and its impact on music-making in Indonesia, and how those relationships trickle out into the world. She discusses the music of Indonesia (tanjidor and kecak), genres that have shown lots of influence from Dutch colonizers who occupied Indonesia. She also brings in the gamelan, an artform shared by Indigenous and Dutch colonizers. She also accounts for the other side of the exchange: Indonesian music influencing European composers in the case of Debussy who heard gamelan music at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris and imitated the sounds in his piano works. \r\n\r\nSo she doesn’t just describe the exchanges in a neutral way, but reflects on the colonial dynamics that shaped the Exposition, why Indonesian music was featured, how it was presented, and what it meant for Debussy at that time. So students learn about how music becomes part of this complex global story. And this is the kind of nuanced thinking we require in a textbook today.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Wonderful resource to students interested in music history (such as a music appreciation course for non-music majors), but perhaps less suitable for music performance majors who would prefer a more music repertoire, more notations, and draw on music-theoretical knowledge.","created_at":"2025-10-23T15:32:47.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-10-23T15:32:47.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-on-the-move-fosler-lussier","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:18:46.000-06:00"},{"id":1010,"title":"Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Free Documentation License (GNU)","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Music Theory for the 21st–Century Classroom is an openly–licensed online four–semester college music theory textbook. This text differs from other music theory textbooks by focusing less on four–part (SATB) voiceleading and more on relating harmony to the phrase. Also, in traditional music theory textbooks, there is little emphasis on motivic analysis and analysis of melodic units smaller than the phrase. In my opinion, this led to students having difficulty with creating melodies, since the training they are given is typically to write a “melody” in quarter notes in the soprano voice of part writing exercises. When the assignments in those texts ask students to do more than this, the majority of the students struggle to create a melody with continuity and with appropriate placement of harmonies within a phrase because the text had not prepared them to do so. In Music Theory for the 21st–Century Classroom, students learn about motive, fragment, phrase, and subphrase, as well as types of melodic alteration like inversion, intervallic change, augmentation, diminution, rhythmic change, ornamentation, extension, and retrograde. By understanding motive and subphrase (also known as “phrase segment” or “phrase member”), I believe students will better understand the logic and construction of melodies, which will aid them in creating their own music. This text is meant to take the student from the basics of reading and writing pitches and rhythms through twelve–tone technique and minimalism over the course of four semesters. Whenever possible, examples from popular music and music from film and musical theater are included to illustrate melodic and harmonic concepts, usually within the context of the phrase.","contributors":[{"id":5431,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Robert","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Hutchinson","location":"University of Puget Sound","background_text":"Robert Hutchinson, University of Puget Sound"}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":989,"url":"http://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/","year":null,"created_at":"2021-06-26T13:02:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-26T13:02:38.000-05:00","name":"Robert Hutchinson"}],"formats":[{"id":2492,"type":"Online","url":"https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Music/Music_Theory_for_the_21st-Century_Classroom_(Hutchinson)","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2493,"type":"PDF","url":"https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Music/Music_Theory_for_the_21st-Century_Classroom_(Hutchinson)#:~:text=picture_as_pdf-,Full,-Book","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":4,"reviews":[{"id":5159,"first_name":"Geoffrey","last_name":"Cunningham","position":"Adjunct Music Lecturer","institution_name":"Holyoke Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is very comprehensive. Each chapter is concise and clear, without being overly verbose as some music theory textbooks can be. The index is very effective, in that you can just click on the link next to each term or topic and it will give you the section being referenced with also a link to navigate you right to the location in the book where it is cited for full context. In a way, this index functions as a glossary as well by giving such quick access to descriptions and definitions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"There are 35 chapters in this book, and I have yet to find any errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is up-to-date and relevant. It covers all of the traditional topics usually covered in music theory courses 1-4. Anything that needs updating should be quite easy to implement, as the chapters are all organized and divided into neat and tidy subunits.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"As I had commented before, the writing is clear and concise without using any unnecessary language. The book does a good job of including great visual graphics and charts, along with several imbedded musical examples in every chapter to help illustrate the concepts.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes, terminology is consistent from chapter to chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This books seems to have been structured with modularity in mind all along. Each chapter is divided into smaller sub chapters that would make it easy to divide and reorganize topics and subjects within. I plan on using this textbook in the coming year, but will likely change the order of chapters to match the order I usually present these topics in. Thankfully, there is not much cumulative/chronological overlap between chapters, so it makes it easy to do things in a different order. For example, the part-writing section which is covered later than usual (Ch 26) doesn't include practicing the chromaticism covered in earlier chapters (Ch 19 - 23) until the very end of the unit, so it makes it easy to use that chapter earlier in the semester.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is very clear, logical, and easy to navigate.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Interface is clear and without issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar is clear without any glaring errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I am very impressed with the cultural and stylistic diversity presented in the musical examples throughout this textbook. Too many traditional theory books lean so heavily on the music of 18th Century European classical composers. This book will illustrate a concept equally with examples from Bach, Mozart, the Beatles, Bruno Mars, and Cee Lo Green, all in the same chapter!","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-06-28T16:08:13.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-28T16:08:13.000-05:00"},{"id":33986,"first_name":"Cherise","last_name":"Leiter","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, this text is quite comprehensive, including the topics generally covered in a 4-semester theory sequence. There are a few instances where there is not as much detail as I am used to (for instance, I couldn't find mention of the Phrygian half cadence), but the text includes a significant amount of pop and jazz music theory which many texts do not cover. Both the index and glossary are easy to use and by using links, send one immediately to the correct place in the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The accuracy is very good. I did not see any obvious mistakes.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text had a nice balance of examples from art music, popular, and jazz music styles. Personally I would have liked to see a few more examples from the musical theatre genre, since at our school music theatre majors have to take two semesters of music theory.  More examples from female composers would also be a relevant element.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text utilizes succinct explanations of concepts and employs clear language overall. The examples are easy to follow and relate clearly to the topic under discussion.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text employs consistent language, style, and layout in each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is well organized into modules that can be re-ordered quite easily. In some cases, the modules for certain topics occur later than typically found, but are presented in their module in a way that would allow an instructor to utilize it earlier. However, some modules would need to be broken up, but the subheadings generally make that possible.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is fairly well organized. There are some instances where I would prefer a topic be separated out or placed in a different module (for example, modes, whole-tone scale and octatonic scales are only listed in a chart in the jazz theory chapter) but overall, the text flows in a logical manner.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not notice any interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text was well written and contained no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Overall I appreciated the breadth and variety of musical examples used in the text and homework assignments. As stated above I would like to see more examples by women and other underrepresented groups, particularly when giving examples of art music.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I very much appreciated the ancillary materials such as homework assignments and practice tests. Not all OER music theory texts include them, and these were in-depth and creative. I also found the practice exercises at the end of each chapter helpful, with answer keys at the end of the text. There were also several chapters included in this text that are not normally found in music theory textbooks that I thought were a good inclusion, such as the chapter on Accompanimental Textures.","created_at":"2022-08-17T22:56:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-08-17T22:56:52.000-05:00"},{"id":34639,"first_name":"Alek","last_name":"Palmersmith","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Old Dominion University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is detailed, with a lot of information, with a clear index, but it's missing a glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is clear and accurate.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"While the fundamental concepts of music theory have stood the test of time, I believe this book could have included more modern examples from various genres to make it more relevant to students learning music theory now.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"It is concise, which is helpful. It does however use some jargon that can get in the way of easy understanding and real-world application.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"It's very consistent in formatting, content, and terminology.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It's easy to jump from one section to another to get the information you need. In fact, it is probably best used as a reference guide instead of read cover to cover.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"It's well-organized with clear chapter and sub-chapters.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"It's pretty clean, but could be a little more visually appealing.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no errors while reading this book.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Nothing was offensive and it is inclusive. However, I think it could include examples from more styles of music.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Solid overall book, helpful for learning the concepts of music theory.","created_at":"2023-07-27T09:50:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-07-27T09:50:16.000-05:00"},{"id":35477,"first_name":"Ion-Alexandru","last_name":"Malaimare","position":"Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook offers an extensive curriculum, covering fundamentals through advanced topics such as jazz theory, set theory, and serialism.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The theoretical explanations and examples are precise and professionally presented, with strong alignment to scholarly norms. Numerous real-world excerpts (e.g., Debussy, Ravel) support accurate interpretation of musical concepts.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The inclusion of jazz, popular music, musical theater, and minimalism speaks directly to the 21st-century classroom. The textbook responds to the College Music Society’s call for progressive change, encouraging improvisation and arranging alongside traditional analysis.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Generally well-written, with clear explanations. Some advanced sections (e.g., jazz scale-chord relationships or post-tonal analysis) may require guided instruction or more scaffolding for students with less background.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Terminology and structure are applied consistently across chapters. Concepts build logically, and recurring themes such as phrase-level analysis provide coherence.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are mostly self-contained, with defined sections and exercises, making it easy to reorganize or excerpt content. However, some later modules assume completion of earlier topics, slightly limiting full modular independence.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The progression from basic notation to advanced theory is logical and pedagogically sound. Each chapter includes practice material and examples, reinforcing learning.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The LibreTexts platform enables interactive access and hyperlinking. However, formatting and navigation can be slightly less intuitive in offline PDF versions. The embedded YouTube links with time stamps are a notable advantage.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is grammatically correct and professionally edited throughout.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The author makes efforts to incorporate diverse genres, including jazz and popular music. Still, further integration of global music traditions or composers from underrepresented groups would enhance cultural inclusivity.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-05-13T14:33:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-13T14:33:09.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-theory-for-the-21st-century-classroom","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:32:09.000-06:00"},{"id":446,"title":"Music: Its Language, History, and Culture","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2015,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Welcome to Music 1300, Music: Its Language History, and Culture. The course has a numberof interrelated objectives:1. To introduce you to works representative of a variety of music traditions.These include the repertoires of Western Europe from the Middle Agesthrough the present; of the United States, including art music, jazz, folk, rock, musical theater; and from at least two non-Western world areas (Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent).2. To enable you to speak and write about the features of the music you study,employing vocabulary and concepts of melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, timbre,and form used by musicians.3. To explore with you the historic, social, and cultural contexts and the role of class, ethnicity, and gender in the creation and performance of music,including practices of improvisation and the implications of oral andnotated transmission.4. To acquaint you with the sources of musical sounds—instruments and voices fromdifferent cultures, found sounds, electronically generated sounds; basic principlesthat determine pitch and timbre.5. To examine the influence of technology, mass media, globalization, and transnationalcurrents on the music of today.The chapters in this reader contain definitions and explanations of musical terms and concepts,short essays on subjects related to music as a creative performing art, biographical sketchesof major figures in music, and historical and cultural background information on music fromdifferent periods and places.","contributors":[{"id":4153,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Douglas","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Cohen","location":"CUNY Brooklyn College","background_text":"Douglas Cohen is an intermedia composer and often collaborator with film, performance and folk artists. He was an early advocate for digital media on the Internet. He organized the NewMusNet Conference of Arts Wire with Pauline Oliveros and later was arts wire systems coordinator. Cohen is a specialist in American experimental music and pays particular attention to the work of John Cage, Morton Feldman and Pauline Oliveros. He co-created and produced the evening=length intermedia work imusicircus at Experimental Intermedia in New York and LACE Gallery in Los Angeles (later with the California EAR Unit at the L.A. County Museum of Art) as City Circus events for the John Cage exhibition Rolywholyover a Circus. He received a bachelor of fine arts and a master of fine arts from the California Institute of the Arts, and a doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo."}],"subjects":[{"id":29,"name":"Arts","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"N85","visible_textbooks_count":56,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/arts"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":363,"url":"http://academicworks.cuny.edu/bc_oers/4/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","name":"CUNY Academic Works"}],"formats":[{"id":618,"type":"PDF","url":"http://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002\u0026context=bc_oers","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"3.5","textbook_reviews_count":17,"reviews":[{"id":1278,"first_name":"Alice","last_name":"Clark","position":"Professor of Music History","institution_name":"Loyola University New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The title and table of contents of this book appear to be comprehensive, but much of the contents are far too abbreviated to fulfill that goal.  It might well be able to write a book of this type in just over 100 pages (really only 64 if the appendices are pushed aside), but this to my mind is not that book.\n\nThe historical chapters consist of only a few paragraphs for each style period (which makes it hard to get beyond sweeping generalizations), followed by long lists of people and events (mostly outside of music—for the ninteenth-century section, nineteen “major figures in music” are listed, and over sixty “other historic figures”).  Not a single piece of music is discussed, or even named.  A separate chapter is given for western art music since 1900, where two pieces of music are mentioned (one a nineteenth-century symphony), but even here a page-long list of “major figures in music” (which is balanced mostly toward jazz, blues, folk, and rock musicians) is dwarfed by longer lists of “historic context” and “other historic figures.”\n\nThe chapters on “American vernacular music” and jazz are more substantial, but if they are the true focus of the book, then arguably too much space is given to the opening chapters.  Why bother with a cursory discussion of the history of western art music, or its instruments and ensembles, if that is the case?  \n\nThe world music chapter returns to the cursory discussions of the western art music chapters.  Nearly two pages are given to Africa, with a list of generally shared elements (such as the importance of music and dance), but no actual examples.  Similarly brief discussions are given to the music of northern and southern India, Indonesia, and China.  The Caribbean receives more attention, with some discussion of specific genres of music from Puerto Rico and Trinidad (including Trinidadian music in Brooklyn).  The chapter ends with a brief discussion of music in South America, a separate section on the Argentinian tango, and Klezmer music.\n\nA large appendix (over 30 pages, so over 25% of the entire book) gives musician biographies, and a short glossary defines terms, but neither is connected to the text.  I don’t understand why terms like “ritornello” or “tutti” need to be defined in a text that gives no examples of baroque music.\n\nI don’t see a good audience for this book; certainly it is not a book I could use even as a skeletal foundation for any class I teach, either for majors or non-majors.  The level of information it would take to make this book make sense for someone who didn’t already know the material would be equal to that required without it, so the book is of no help whatsoever.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The book is general enough that it is hard to find large-scale errors, but there are many small errors and potentially confusing moments.  To give just a few examples:\n\n* The first phrase of “Jingle Bells” does not end with a half cadence (though the second one does), and a contratenor (not contra tenor) is not the same as a countertenor (not counter tenor).  \n\n* It is fair to say that the fact that the modern flute is made of metal but classified as a woodwind instrument, but it’s confusing to leave that statement without explaining that there are in fact historical reasons for that classification—without that, the reader is left wondering why such a classification error exists.  \n\n* The so-called “Heiligenstadt Testament,” a letter Beethoven wrote to his brothers in 1802 when he realized his growing deafness would not get better, was not a will.\n\nI am also troubled by the fact that the biographies in the appendix include substantial quotations for which no source is given.  This encourages students not to cite sources in their own work.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"The excessively cursory nature of much of this book makes it difficult to use.  If the focus is on “American vernacular” music and jazz, then much of the rest is not relevant, while even those sections are too telegraphic to be useful.\n\nAs I've said elsewhere, I don't see how I could use this text in any class I teach.  The amount of work it would take to make the book make sense to a reader who did not already know the subject would be the same as that required without the book--which means it effectively serves no purpose.  It's not so much that what is here is truly bad, as that it is not helpful.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"What prose there is is not bad on the whole, but it’s too sketchy to be clear to a reader who doesn’t already know the topic.\n\nThe lists of dates in the historical chapters are not always in chronological order, and there are catch-all categories with wide date spans (such as the “establishment of major European cities” in the medieval section, which goes from c. 450 to c. 1250), which makes them very difficult to use.","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"Much of the opening chapters are entirely focused on western music (such as the introduction of the elements of music, save only a mention of the pentatonic scale), including a section on “western categories of instruments” with no mention of other instruments, which makes it seem out of place when, for instance, the gamelan is brought in as an example of an ensemble.  This is followed by the historical chapters, again focused on western art music but so cursory as to make them appear insignificant.\n\nIt becomes clear that “American vernacular music” and jazz are the real interest, but that makes the opening sections make less sense—and the final chapter on world music again doesn’t seem to fit the true focus.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The book is suitably modular, but the modules are often too cursory to be helpful.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The basic organization is typical (elements, western art music, jazz and popular music, world music), but they are not well balanced.  It would be more effective if it were better focused on the apparent true interest, which is jazz and popular music, preceded with a chapter (or set of chapters) on the elements of music that is better focused toward the true goal.\n\nOpening with physics rather than music I expect is offputting to many students; the material is adequate, but I think it would work better to draw in the reader with music, then provide the physical explanations.  I also find that opening chapter out of balance:  half a page on rhythm (treating rhythm and meter as different elements, not meter as one aspect of rhythm), followed by slightly more on pitch (which seems to include harmony, though the term appears as part of texture), melody, and texture.  That means the entire discussion of the elements of music gets about 3-1/2 pages, which I think even music majors would find too telegraphic, unless they already knew the material (and therefore did not need the book at all).","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"The potential problems created by pictures and links in an electronic text are not an excuse not to have them.  This book has no links, and no pictures beyond those opening chapters—even when specific instruments are introduced.  After the opening section on physics, there are no diagrams or figures, only plain text.  That would be difficult to justify for a print book on music; for one that lives on the internet, it is unacceptable.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The writing is generally decent.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book does not include any examples of cultural insensitivity.  By trying to do too much in too little space, however, it does not give sufficient value to any culture.","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"I think this book is simply trying to do too much in too little space.  A book on US vernacular musics, with an appropriately pitched elements section, would have room to discuss specific styles and examples, and it appears this author would be able to do such a thing.  In this form, however, I don’t think it works—certainly it could not work for any class I teach.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1369,"first_name":"Lew  (Lewton)","last_name":"Jones","position":"PT Faculty","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a timeline of terminology, historical facts, and music genres. It reads like several books albeit four authors. By the time the glossary shows up the reader has traveled through different periods such as The Renaissance, The Baroque or Romantic period and modern music with a nod to Bartok and others in the Classical movement. Initially the book talks about audiology, linguistic phonics and electronic sound.. It 's comprehensiveness is in its peripheral narrative and its bibliographies after chapters end. You can buy a dictionary type glossary at book stores better than at the end of this book however. The composers of high merit  mentioned seems to be  historically bias. The Beatles are never mentioned , jazz great Chet Baker or Bill Evans, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors etc As a beginner's book Music:Its Language, History and Culture works.One of the best chapters is on the American Vernacular A strange line from the book however is: \"The sentimental and tragic themes of Anglo American ballads, along with the high-pitched, \"whiney\" vocal style, have survived and flourished in 20th century popular country music.\" \n      Religion and its roots in Blues , Classical and Jazz is delved into but Jazz gets most of the ink. The idiosyncratic nature of composers like Duke Ellington and Beethoven are nice novelties to explore. I found the book a little fragmented and seemed to rely on here say as much as historical truth.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The accuracy about language, audiology and historical influence is accurate. The need to express music and how it was invented to fit each period was well researched. The footnotes are accurate. It leans towards certain players as vanguards of a certain sound but really misses people like Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins to name a few. For a freshman who is curious about music there is an accuracy to details regards ensembles, instrument choice and World Music which pentatonic scales versus diatonic. Knowing this and information on syncopation and how modern music came to be is an accurate description of the human timeline regarding sounds and how form came to be. I thought doing a biopic of Handel and never mentioning his most famous religious piece \"The Messiah\" was a red flag regarding accuracy.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The fact that this is a historical narrative keeps it open to addition or a second improved pressing. THe second book could address many musicians not mentioned and could talk about the business side of music and the bands who maintained quality despite being commercialized. The freezing of time can be a problem for the book's relevance because Jazz has moved far away from the icons they gush over. The generalization of music as genre, nativity and intentional posturing is out of step with Rapp, Punk, Electronica. The book is a bit old timey in its clarion call to the arts.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The explanations of sound waves and pitch was easy to understand. The stories about the composers was good human history and its clarity to the common vernacular. It explained how many of the greats improvisers and not magicians. A young reader interested in the arts should  find this book inspirational by merit of its organized trajectory. Using bold print before explaining terms like Wave Form makes it clear rather than obscure.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The first half of the book was very consistent while the World Music and Appendix/ Biography sections could have been more concise. To never mention Reggae after going on about Calypso was not consistent with the  terminology and framework is one example.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The use of four writers make for groups of four in a classroom to explore the ideas. Math people will like the chapters on sound, while humanities people should enjoy the stories of the composers and their artistic drive that echoes on the timeline that leads up to their moment of fame and epiphany. World Music should create inclusion for those who are not in the western lexicon and its sounds and life expressions.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"In regards to organization the book basically looks like four manuscripts glued together to make a book. The topic is very dense and if it was a graduate class would need a book just for annotation. Luckily for the writers this is appropriate for early college students.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The historical context lists really should be in the back rather than after the chapters due to their very long lists. \nIts good to let chapters flow easily for comprehension.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammatical erors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The World Music chapter and the discussion of primordial sounds gave this book a cultural relevance. The PC correct need to patronize or exoticize other cultures actually was a little odd. Music is a very opinionated forum if you start declaring who the real genius's were etc. The idea that John Cage was so profound and never mention Derrida, James Joyce or DuChamp made the book seem a little naive at times.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The book is excellent for history buffs and curious beginners.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1711,"first_name":"Christopher","last_name":"Witulski","position":"Instructor of Ethnomusicology","institution_name":"Bowling Green State University","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"Deciding what goes into a music history class or textbook is a great struggle. This book is a cursory approach to many topics and, at roughly 100 pages, could serve as a starting point for a music appreciation course. The chapters on musical elements at the outset may be sufficient to support a class lecture or series of activities, but on their own (without examples) they may remain abstract. The waveform images certainly aid in this, however. I would worry about using it for online courses (which do not appear to be the goal of this reader) because of the lack of engagement with terminology once it is introduced. The discussion of rhythm and meter, for example, could prove to be so brief as to cause more confusion than they alleviate without in-class examples or, at least, specific references to listening from a playlist. (The use of written poetry makes an effort here, but forces a student to imagine rhythm and meter in a purely linguistic sense, for example.)\n\nWithin the historical chapters, brief outlines are followed by listings of important dates, both musical and otherwise. These do not always appear within the narrative, leaving the student or teacher to discern their relevance within the authors' described musical history. Genre listings and major historical figures appear within this listing as well, though they are formatted and read much like a glossary. Contemporary alternative textbooks focus on these narratives, wrapping the arts and history of a period into the musical innovations of the time while this reader appears to act as a reference point for students, though without the types of references that could prove more useful. In this sense, the text operates more as a study guide.\n\nThe move to non-classical genres appears to lean more readily on the authors' interests, or perhaps the course content. A chapter on \"American vernacular music\" covers \"folk music,\" ballads, African American sacred forms, the blues, rock and roll, and rap. These sections are roughly one page each, though the rap section is split into two halves (old and new school). Here the timeline and figure listings are gone, though I imagine that students would benefit from placing American musical history within a social, economic, and political context.\n\nA chapter on world music is similarly brief, with single pages addressing full regions and continents. Not unlike working through centuries within paragraphs, these have a tendency to overview (and flatten) deep individual styles under strident generalizations. The authors note this, mentioning the \"vast range of musical practices found throughout\" Africa, for example. Again, this may serve a live course well but would not effectively stand on its own as a comprehensive textbook. Each world region is covered in three to six paragraphs, though a segment on carnival in Brooklyn leaves the reader interested in how a book like this (an open textbook) could effectively localize a music appreciation class for a specific course in a specific place.\n\nThe narrative history concludes after 64 of the book's 100 pages. The remaining section is a listing of musical biographies. These range in length and depth but focus on major historical computers (Bach, Beethoven, etc.) and jazz performers (Coltrane, Armstrong, Ellington). There are occasional popular and world musicians mixed in as well (Shankar, Dylan). These appear to work in conjunction with the chapters as a reference for students to flip back and forth between. The final pages include a glossary.\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is largely accurate, though general. There are few (if any) citations to further reading for students or lecturers who are interested in stepping beyond the page-length discussions of musical eras or genres.\n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant and clear with sections on issues like music technology and globalization. Expansion would be a welcome addition that would help improve the relevance outside of its role as a reader for a specific class and allow it to stand on its own as a textbook.\n","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The brief overviews that comprise most of this text make for quick, clear reading. The lack of detail, however, can make certain leaps or generalizations more opaque.\n","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"The text is largely consistent within chapters, though the treatment of western classical eras and more contemporary genres are quite different. It feels like two different twenty page introductory papers.\n","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"The brevity really prevents any significant modularity. With European history covered in twenty pages, reading for an individual period (on the Middle Ages, for instance) would only take a student a few minutes.\n","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"The organizational logic is clear, just brief. Musician biographies might better serve the book within the chapters and narratives instead of (or in addition to) timelines would help to tell the history.\n","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"There is little \"interface\" other than the text, lists, and a photo at the opening of individual chapters. The study guide-like formatting of the classical music chapters could help or hinder readers, depending on how they are used in conjunction with the lectures.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The material is well written.\n","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The authors work to incorporate world music into a general music history text. The chapter on instruments, for example, includes examples from outside of the Western classical or American popular music traditions. The chapter on world music, however, is quite superficial.\n","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1778,"first_name":"Dorothy","last_name":"Bryant","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Ohio University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Covering music history requires a subjective selection of artifacts that represent the time period, genres, cultural context and significant composers and performers.  This collection of essays is not comprehensive but does touch upon the stated objectives of the work.  A glossary is included.\n","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I agree with another reviewer, Lew Jones:  “The book is general enough that it is hard to find large-scale errors, but there are many small errors and potentially confusing moments. To give just a few examples: * The first phrase of “Jingle Bells” does not end with a half cadence (though the second one does), and a contratenor (not contra tenor) is not the same as a countertenor (not counter tenor). * It is fair to say that the fact that the modern flute is made of metal but classified as a woodwind instrument, but it’s confusing to leave that statement without explaining that there are in fact historical reasons for that classification—without that, the reader is left wondering why such a classification error exists.”  The appendix includes several biographies that should have sources documented","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is segmented so would be easy to update.  The historical aspect would not need to be updated while more contemporary information may need to be enhanced or modified to represent changing times.\n","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"This text requires that the reader have basic understanding of music and history in order to comfortably read through the information.  Due to this, readers may not consistently have adequate context for the information.\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The collection is consistent with use of terminology.  Music terms are in bold and preceded or followed by a brief explanation.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The topics are treated separately so could be used in sections to enrich another course in music appreciation.  However, some topics may need additional text to provide complete treatment of the topic.  \n","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization does not flow or seem logical.  Chapter Four has a short paragraph related for each historical period; then contains 5 lists:  Historic Context, Milestones in Music, Musical Genres, Major Figures in Music, and Other Historic Figures.  The Historic Context sections have a plethora of listed items, some of which have little relevance to music.  Examples: “Pineapples imported into Europe, 1514.”  “Coffee introduced to Europe 1517.”   “Tobacco planted in Virginia, 1812.”  The Other Historic Figures section also has an extensive list for each time period, many of them listed would not be relevant to music.   \n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The navigation layout is confusing.  Example:  Handel’s biography does not mention The Messiah but the work is mentioned in other sections of the text.  For example:  A performance of The Messiah is listed in the “Milestones in Music” in the Baroque and Classical time periods.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors\n","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I would say that, in general, cultural relevance was met.  One omission was Hildegard van Bingen as a female composer in the Renaissance.  I consider her a significant early female composers and leader in the Catholic Church.  The text does address the cultural reasons for a lack of women as composers in Clara Schumann’s biography.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"This collection of essays was clearly designed for a specific course and would not serve as a textbook for my classes.  Parts of it could be used to supplement or enhance information.  ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2062,"first_name":"Jeffery","last_name":"Hutchins","position":"Artist/Teacher","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book aims to be quite comprehensive but is far too broad and general in its scope, with quite shallow chapters and arduous lists. While it was designed for a specific course, it would difficult to use this text in another setting as is and would require significant supplemental material to be effective in any sort of basic survey course. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This text is accurate, yet brief, and seems to be error free.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The text is up-to-date with historical information, and given the way the material is divided would be very easy to update over time. Given the brief nature of the material, any expansion would be a welcomed addition. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"This book is clear in its prose, but the formatting makes it difficult to read as each page is filled with nothing but text. Additional graphics would allow for better understanding of the material. ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The book seems quite consistent in both format and material within chapters, however the material in the appendix would be better integrated into the chapters themselves. ","modularity_rating":1,"modularity_review":"Given the brief nature of the text, this would be very difficult to use modularly. The chapter on European and American Art Music since 1900, for example, is two pages of prose, followed by four pages of lists only. This would not suffice on its own at all. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The material is well organized, yet brief and very general. The formatting is not great and would be better with incorporated graphics or pictures to enhance the material. ","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"There is no interface with this book. Given the short nature of the work, any links or pictures would definitely improve the quality of this work. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The prose is well written and grammatically accurate. ","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"This book is inclusive of various kinds of music from around the world, but is far to short to be inclusive in any meaningful way. There is nothing offensive. ","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"This book would be very difficult to use for any other class except the one for which it was created without significant additional material or revision. ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2292,"first_name":"Michelle","last_name":"Lucia-Ingle","position":"Music Instructor","institution_name":"Northland Community and Technical College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject, but because of the enormity of the subject, each area is shortened. The entire book is only 110 pages of a survey of music, including classical, American vernacular, jazz and world music.There are too many types of music spanning a large period of time to discuss much detail. The book does contain a comprehensive and helpful glossary featuring common musical terms.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the book to be very accurate in the content, error-free and unbiased. The author presented the facts in a easy to understand and readable format.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text will not be obsolete because much of the information is historical. Of course, as time goes on and music continues to evolve, additional updates will be necessary to stay current. The text is arranged in such a way in chronological order that updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. I believe continued updates to the book will help it remain relevant and usable for music survey type classes.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book's clarity is good. The author explains musical terms in a clear and concise manner with examples that help understanding and makes the technical terminology easy to grasp. Adequate context is also given historically and the prose is lucid and interesting to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent and every chapter is set-up in the same manner. After the genre of music is presented, historic context is presented which includes non-musical events from all over the world. This helps to put into perspective where the music fits into world history. After that, milestones in music are presented, which highlight the most important musical events or creations during the time. Musical genres are then featured. And finally, major figures in music and other historical figures are given. This consistent format helps to keep the information organized and to make the broader connections between music, history and culture all over the world.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible into small reading sections. Assignments, lectures and discussions could be easily created within the subheadings. A couple of the chapters could even be taught in a different order without disruption to the student.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization, structure and flow of the book are good. Music seems to lend itself to organization. Most music survey books start with fundamentals and then proceed in a chronological order. This makes sense because the music evolves and builds on the previous periods. I have two small suggestions in this area. First, the classical/art music from 1900 until the present is lumped into one chapter, which I have seen in many music survey books. Now that we have entered the 21st century, I believe a new chapter starting in 2000 would be better. There is too much music and too many changes for it all to be in one chapter. Second, the author places the Musician Biographies at the end of the book right before the Glossary. All musicians are lumped together here - Bach, Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan, etc. It's a bit weird. I believe it would be more helpful if a Musician Biographies section was added at the end of each chapter. This way the students can be familiar with them within their genre or time period.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface of the book is straightforward and accurate. The images are in the correct spots and add to the reading and understanding of the text. They are also clear of any distortion.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical errors that I saw. The text flowed in an understandable manner.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The cultural relevance of the book was not insensitive or offensive in any way. The author was respectful of the cultures,races and ethnicities that were referred to throughout the text. There are so many cultures covered in this text and they are discussed with dignity with respect to their musical contributions.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I believe this book would be an excellent resource for a general music survey class at the collegiate level.","created_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2373,"first_name":"Dawn","last_name":"Farmer","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"With a title including the words \"language, history, and culture,\" one might expect to have the text focus on those points. With this text, however, the authors fail to adequately address that content. For example, there are only two paragraphs on the Romantic Era, and there is a much longer list of important (non-music) Romantic Era figures. Major components of content for a Music Appreciation course are glossed over.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I do not think the book is inaccurate. I do think it is missing some important details about significant musical figures and events.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text could be updated, yes. Content is shallow, but up to date. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Different authors have different tone. While not cumbersome, I did not find the theory-related chapters to be as clear as I would desire in a text like this. There is too much given to the student in a distilled manner, with no chance to develop more than a cursory and temporary understanding.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"For most of the chapters pertaining to musical eras, the framework is similar. The other chapters, however, have more substantial content. The chapters on American Vernacular Music, Jazz, and World Music have significantly more content and more detail. The subchapter on \"Old School Rap,\" for instance, is longer than the section on the Romantic Era. While I have respect for those who teach vernacular music, one would think this text would be more equitable for all time periods, and it is not.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I do like this part of the text - I might use the \"chapter\" on Romantic Era as a pre-reader for more in-depth study. Also, the Jazz chapter is longer and more detailed than most Music Appreciation texts allow, and I would use this as a way to expand on another text. I like the possibilities this text has in pieces, just not as one single whole or solo text use.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chronological order of time periods followed by other topics makes sense.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate and scroll through. I do not like the font, personally, but I had no issues navigating the document or finding my way through the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I do appreciate that the text highlights music from different parts of the world and spends time describing and explaining those musics. It is not cursory and is respectful to those cultures.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Depending on what the focal point of a Music Appreciation course is, this book may cover information you would like to use. It seems to be quite limited in actual detail regarding the history of Western art music, but does cover the bases of multiple other musics.","created_at":"2018-11-09T13:56:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-09T13:56:35.000-06:00"},{"id":2507,"first_name":"Cynthia ","last_name":"Blough-Retana","position":"Lecturer in Music","institution_name":"Oakland City University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all areas of the subject, but not in as much detail as I would want in a primary course text.  I do, however, think this text would provide enough material to be used as a secondary reference text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text is accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I believe this text can be easily updated.  It tends toward many lists and biographies, to which material can easily be added.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written with clearly accessible language.  Chapters provide easily understandable composition, some almost to the point of seeming to be meant for a younger reader.  ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is not consistent in its framework.  Some chapters are lengthy, yet meaningful.  Other chapters afford only a brief overview, not allowing the reader more than a glimpse into the subject matter.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible so as to be read in small sections.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"For the most part, the text topics are presented in an organized fashion.  I do not think the long lists that appear throughout the book are necessary.  Some of the items in the lists do not even follow the topics.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of display issues and, as a result, is extremely easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is inclusive and free of examples that would be insensitive or offensive to any race or ethnicity.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I would not use this text as the primary textbook for any of the courses I teach.  I would, however, recommend it as a very good supplemental reading source.","created_at":"2019-01-09T20:47:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-01-09T20:47:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3060,"first_name":"Austin","last_name":"Okigbo","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"CU Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Ideas of the subject are covered, albeit without enough on non-western cultures. The text may be useful for introduction to musical styles and ideas, but not for world music.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Although the title of the text bespeaks of the general ideas about music, it privileged music of Western Europe and the United States. Information on other non-western music are scanty, and often did not add to knew knowledge about those other cultures. ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The content is mostly direct, and simple. I would say accurate in regards to American and Western European traditions. However, the author relied on old information that are erroneous with regards to African music. E.g. \"Western idea of sitting silently while a performance is taking place is an anathema\nto these traditions.\" This is a misleading sweeping statement about music in West Africa.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"It serves well for a high school introduction to musical styles and ideas; I am not so sure it fits as a college textbook.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is clear enough and used simple language.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is easy to adapt.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"They are logical enough and clear.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Images and diagrams are original and clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors noted.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text is neutral at least overtly on cultural sensitivities, however, the use of sweeping and biased statements that are based on old ethnomusicolgical conjectures such as that Africans privilege rhythm over melody and harmony where the reverse is the case in the west shows lack of understanding on the history of racial ideology that informed that claim when Eric von Hornbostel first stated in early 20th century.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-07-01T12:58:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-01T12:58:58.000-05:00"},{"id":3130,"first_name":"Tony","last_name":"Oliver","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The goals for the text, as stated in the introduction and implied by the table of contents, are comprehensive and ambitious for an appreciation-type text; however, at only 64 pages for the main body of the text, and with very few examples, the ability to deliver much depth is limited. \r\n\r\nThis lack of depth makes it feel like reading an outline or notes that someone has taken during lectures on the subjects presented. The broad strokes are there and it could be a great refresher or study guide for someone who already knows the material, but any examples and further context that might make it come alive for the reader new to the material have been stripped away. \r\n\r\nOne would need to add many, many examples to reinforce the concepts and people introduced in the text. If you like the flexibility to add a lot of your own material in addition to the text, this might be useful. If you need things complete with a lot of built-in examples, this book wouldn’t be for you. It would be difficult for the text to stand on its own for the average college-level general education student. Perhaps in its original context at Brooklyn College, the text was used by several sections of the same course, with each teacher able to add examples and further discussion to the basic text. \r\n\r\nIt contains a glossary of basic music terms and no index.\r\n","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"There are likely to be fine details where some would quibble, but all of the broader, basic information would fall within the spectrum of “correct.” Because of the summary nature of the writing with few or no examples, it sometimes isn’t that things are inaccurate, but rather that it seems like things are missing or simplified in order to keep things pared down. This can be okay if everyone knows what is going on and a little risky if they don’t.\r\n\r\nOne glaring issue is the lack of documentation for any of the quotations in the biographical sketches. The rest of the book similarly lacks documentation or bibliography, but there we are at least dealing with stock information for the most part—it’s a textbook. But in this cut-and-paste age, I worry that students using the sketches would learn bad habits from what is modeled. (I had to lower my score from a four to a three because of this.)\r\n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The main text was written in 2006 with updates in 2007, 2008, and 2014, and there don’t appear to be any topics where the substantive discussions go past the mid 1990s. For example, the discussion of “rock-and-roll” stops in the 1960s with a trailing sentence letting us know that there were later developments. Similarly, the discussion of jazz stops in the 1980s, and the discussions of rap, R\u0026B, and world music stop in the 1990s. This isn’t atypical for textbooks, which have a lag time in publication, but don’t expect discussions of the latest, greatest happenings within these areas. The text tends to focus on origins, and one would need to supplement a lot if recent trends were important. The chapters on musical elements and Western art music are a little more timeless.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Generally clear with some technical terms here and there that could be explained better by example or more in-depth writing than by having to look them up in the glossary. ","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"There is a big difference between chapters in tone and substance. They are unbalanced. For example, we have the first three chapters (elements, instruments, performance traditions) that read like normal prose with complete, if basic, discussions of the topics at hand. We then move to “outline mode” when we hit European and American art music. We get relatively brief and broad introductory paragraphs of each time period (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, etc.) followed by shopping lists—no details or examples—of events, places, musical developments, and people. Then when we get to chapters on American vernacular music, jazz, and world music, things dramatically slow down again with more depth to the prose.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Although brief, the individual segments of the book can stand on their own without needing to refer to other sections of the book. The sections could be assigned as individual units. The individual chapters could also serve as supplemental, alternative, or study-guide material for an existing course instead of serving as core texts. (The latter is how I would likely use the material in the book.)","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The presentation of topics follows a reasonable plan and anyone who is familiar with appreciation-type courses will be able to navigate what is a fairly traditional method of organization. The only oddity here is the appendix of musician biographies at the end of the book. At thirty pages, it is roughly a third(!) of the entire book. I really like that it mixes the people without regard to time periods or styles—one finds Mozart next to Presley—and I enjoyed the sketches, but I’m not sure what one does with it. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"If one is looking for plain text without examples or interactive features, then this would rate a five (5), because that is all it is. It is a PDF with clean and readable text. If one is looking for lots of color images, examples, interactive links, and other similar features, then this would rate a one (1). Given those two extremes, I’ve averaged it out to a three (3). ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The prose is fine in terms of grammar. It is readable.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"On the plus side, by giving a large amount of space to rock, rap, jazz, and world music, it elevates discussions of vernacular music and world music, which tend to include more discussions about persons of color, to the same level as discussions of Western European derived art music, which do not. However, the text is so spare overall in this book that any substantive discussion of the various cultures presented isn’t possible. Everything is overview without many details. There isn’t a problem so much with a lack of cultural sensitivity as there is with a lack of cultural depth. As I’ve stated elsewhere, one could add many examples to give context and content to support the text, and maybe this is the intent. ","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"My overall reaction to this book is that it comes down to what you need this textbook to do for you. If you need something very pared down to act as a scaffolding that you then add a lot of your own material to, it is short and flexible enough for you to do that. If you need something with everything wrapped up and complete that could stand on its own without much needed from you, then you won’t be happy with it.","created_at":"2019-07-31T09:32:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-31T09:32:16.000-05:00"},{"id":3548,"first_name":"Christopher","last_name":"Cook","position":"Lecturer in Music","institution_name":"Oakland City University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is fairly comprehensive, but its length is relatively short. This keeps the text from diving too deep into any one topic well enough to be considered comprehensive.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I noticed no errors in accuracy. ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"There are large sections of music history that occurred in the last 20 years, in many genres, which are not covered at all. While earlier sections of music history are covered, as well as information from areas around the world, the currency of the information keeps a relevance score low. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This text isn't too dry, which can be an issue with some music history texts. Rather, it felt pretty reasonable, with information presented alongside terms in an easy-to-read, flowing style. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I saw no issues with consistency in this text. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I believe portions of this text can easily be divided into smaller sections. However, the beginning of the text throws so many terms at the reader all together that it would be difficult to go through those besides doing it all at once. Later sections resolve this issue. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I saw no issue with the organization of the text. All topics flow logically from one to another. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There were a few blank pages between a couple chapters. I would have thought the extra page separating chapters was intentional, but I don't believe it was uniform throughout the text. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no glaring grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book does a good job at trying to present the information from as broad a perspective as possible. However, the book doesn't describe itself as a Western Music History text, but its inclusion of large sections such as the Renaissance, the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, and overall slant toward European music history can't quite keep it as broad as it seems to wish. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I think this text would be an excellent supplemental material text for a course. However, as a main text, I believe it falls short. I do not believe it contains enough information in great enough detail to warrant an entire semester's course. ","created_at":"2020-01-29T11:50:26.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-29T11:50:26.000-06:00"},{"id":3889,"first_name":"Jonathan","last_name":"Harvey","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Fitchburg State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is difficult to assess the comprehensiveness of this text as a whole, because it seems to be four differently-functioning texts that were later compiled. The first three chapters are quite thorough, although one could quibble about categories (for example, “rhythm” and “meter” are discussed as separate characteristics, but “scale” is only considered under the heading of “pitch”) and definitions (for example, “chorus” is defined as “twenty or more singers grouped in soprano, alto, tenor, and bass sections,” which is very precise but inaccurate), and the bias is unmistakably Western European. Chapters 4 and 5 are a breakneck race through Western art music history, with summary prose sketches of each period followed by lists of historical events, figures, and genres. These seem to function as a study guide or a review for students with previous thorough knowledge of the material. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 are well-organized discussions of genres outside of the Western art music tradition, but they are quite brief (although longer than the earlier Western period sections), and sometimes don’t do what they say they will (for example, the introduction to Chapter 8 states that it will discuss music of “Africa, India, Indonesia, and the Caribbean,” and then proceeds to also address music from China, Argentina, and Eastern Europe). Finally, the appendices include a long list of musician biographies, only two of which might be considered non-Western, and the glossary. There is no index (not as much of a problem with a searchable PDF).","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The information is generally accurate, but partial. There is a broad bias toward Western traditions, which is to be expected from a course like this, although the course objectives in the introduction do not make that explicit.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Very little after the 1990s is discussed, although the most recent publication date is 2014.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The prose is generally understandable, although there is often significant missing context. It would seem to be a difficult read for anyone who isn’t already familiar with the subject matter.","consistency_rating":1,"consistency_review":"This book seems to be four differently-functioning texts that were later compiled. The first is a prose discussion of music “fundamentals” (Chapters 1-3). The second is a study guide for Western art music history (Chapters 4-5). The third is a prose discussion of several musics outside of the Western art tradition, variously divided by geography, chronology, or genre (Chapters 6-8). The fourth and final section is a long list of musician biographies and musical term definitions (Appendices 1 and 2).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text could absolutely be divided without any trouble - that actually seems to be the original context, since different sections of the book function very differently from each other.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The topics proceed as one would expect in an introductory appreciation course like this one. The internal organization of each topic is less logical - sometimes genre based, sometimes chronologically based, and sometimes geographically based.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"There are no technical display failures, but the visual layout consists solely of large blocks of text, with one photographic image per chapter. Not a varied or engaging interface.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The inclusion of vernacular and international music discussion leads to more discussion of musicians from underrepresented groups, and there don’t seem to be any overtly offensive passages.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"This text could function as a very effective review tool or study guide. It could also be excerpted as supplemental readings. I would have a hard time using it as the textbook in an introductory music appreciation course, which seems to be the intent.","created_at":"2020-06-01T15:41:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-01T15:41:27.000-05:00"},{"id":3936,"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Dube","position":"Adjunct Faculty Visual and Media Arts","institution_name":"Bunker Hill Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Music: Its Language, History, and Culture provides a comprehensive review of the development of musical genres through the ages from early periods through the classical, baroque, romantic, folk, jazz and hip hop eras with historical references in each era to provide a better understanding of cultural timeframes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text is well research and accurate in it's description of musical styles, providing a basis in musical theory such as time signatures, diatonic scales, and thematic development without being too technical. It is readable for the novice delving into music appreciation for the first time, but dense enough to attract the accomplished musician. Chapters provide historical context without opinion as to validity of musical style or cultural acceptance.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Music: It's Language History and Culture separates musical genres by historical timelines up to the present day and can therefore be added to and updated without having to edit previous content.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Text content is well written and informative without being too technical, but the content and historic references would be more entertaining with the inclusion of more imagery. Each chapter opening provides only one visual image to set the tone of the genre-historic images of noted composers, musicians and cultural figures would provide more comparative context.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book's format and presentation of matter is consistent throughout and can therefore be easily researched and referenced by the reader.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is easily readable and follows on the style and presentation of previous chapters with good flow and narrative. The reader can pick and choose a genre or style to study without have read all previous sections for a complete understanding of a musical style or theoretical study, such as counterpoint, percussive effects, etc.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"All topics covered are presented in a consistent fashion without deviance from presentation. Historical references are clear and the inclusion of brief composer's biographies and a glossary or musical terms provides benefit to the reader when completing research.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Each section is easy to navigate and research without the inclusion of the use of too much technical jargon or sub texts.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors and is well written with good punctuation.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Each musical genre studied is respectful of the cultural norms of the time without providing judgement as to tastes, ethnicities or geographical regions.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As stated previously, the graphic style of the book is a bit dry and would be greatly benefitted by the inclusion of more imagery to entertain the reader and keep him or her focused on the content. Other than that, it is very readable and I enjoyed it enormously.","created_at":"2020-06-10T08:03:19.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-10T08:03:19.000-05:00"},{"id":4352,"first_name":"Elizabeth","last_name":"Macy","position":"Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The overall text provides very basic, introductory context for an introduction to music. The goals are broad and comprehensive, but the actual breadth feels limited (and the text is quite short). Some of the sections are more comprehensive than others, with a final chapter on \"World Music\" feeling tacked on.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The information contained within this text is generally accurate and error-free, though there is definitely a demonstrated Western bias.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The text has been updated (most recently in 2014), but discussions of popular music and more contemporary composers end in the 1990s.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is relatively clear and accessible overall.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The individual sections vary greatly in terms of consistency, with some chapters providing explicit explanations of terminology and musical examples, while others are lacking in details.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text could be easily adapted and divided for a variety of purposes.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization is clear, though I wonder why the musician biographies at the end (roughly one third of the text) weren't integrated into the text itself.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate, as it is simply a PDF document. Images are clear, though they are unlabeled and need contextual clues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No noted grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While the text embraces an introduction to music from a broad stance (and sections are devoted to American vernacular music, rock, rap, jazz, and world music), the approach gives rather surface-level information on music outside the Western cannon. It isn't culturally insensitive, but rather lacks depth.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-09-04T18:14:34.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-09-04T18:14:34.000-05:00"},{"id":4907,"first_name":"Heeseung","last_name":"Lee","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"University of Northern Colorado","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text attempts to cover a wide range of music-historical areas, from European art music, through America’s folk, popular, and classical, to world music. As a strength, it provides brief outlines for all these areas within 60 pages, with an emphasis on America’s music including jazz and latter-day musical traditions around New York City where the authors are based. Scholarly efforts are found in viewing music as language, articulating the practice of wind music as significantly as those of keyboard and orchestral music, and drawing particular attention to the intricate relationship of composer, performer, and audience in a separate chapter. However, with no detailed discussion about musical repertoire that would otherwise help greatly clarify the authors’ points in the text, from the musical elements to the characteristics of composers and genres included, this book alone falls short as a self-sufficient textbook in college-level introductory music courses. It roughly lays out historical and cultural contexts that surround numerous musicians, with a mere mention of their names only. It neither identifies the titles of the musicians’ representative works, so that the students could look them up for themselves, nor does it explain musical terms and concepts within a specific piece of music. It would allow the instructor freedom in choosing his/her/their own repertoire, if well-versed in all the areas of music. On the other hand, this book fails to encourage students to become independent learners and critical thinkers on their own. Without the instructor’s guidance, or without supplementary sources, it would be challenging for them to follow the text and retain its contents in a constructive way. Especially, those who do not have any institutional affiliation of higher education but want to learn about music at a similar level would not find the text of great use – missing out on a substantial part of the Open Educational Resources mission.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Historical facts in the text are mostly accurate. However, due to the authors’ overarching principle of generalization, and the avoidance of analytical discussion of music that might appear taxing on the likely audience – non-music majors – some of the musical elements and composers’ styles are superficially defined, and thereby to an extent inaccurately presented. Chapter 1 (“Elements of Sound and Music”) leaves out detailed explanations about the elements of music that could otherwise prepare better the students to understand the descriptions of diverse types and styles of music found in later chapters. The first chapter particularly lacks basic details in meter and harmony. Without such foundation, the author of chapter 8 abruptly introduces 2/4 and 4/4 meters, against which 3/8 and 9/8 meters are defined as “irregular meters” (p. 64); in fact, these are still regular meters of triple division in a large scheme – the former is a simple meter with duple subdivision, and the latter a compound meter with triple subdivision. In chapter 5, the author points out Schoenberg for his conception of serial technique but fails to associate it with its distinct aesthetic – a scientific and objective attitude toward music. Without a recognition of stylistic changes in his compositional career, especially crucial to the discussion of twentieth-century musicians, the author provides a wholesale description of Schoenberg’s style as expressionist (p. 33). The subsection of rock and roll in chapter 6 (“American Vernacular Music”), assigned to one and a half pages only, needs to expand its scope and depth, at least with a short list of select repertoire in order to provide accurate outlines of its history and stylistic varieties.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The contents of the text are up to date in general, and necessary updates would be relatively easy, especially in incorporating specific musical examples with the given general descriptions. However, the mode of presentation needs some significant change in referring to “Western European tradition” and “Western tradition” throughout the book. In many places of the book, the authors’ Eurocentric art-music-based canonic viewpoints cause them to become less specific about different spheres of music even within Western music – traditional, popular, classical, and jazz. The term “traditional” music also needs to be handled with care, with an awareness of diverse musical communities that have existed in America since its birth.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The prose itself is accessible and easy to follow. However, generalization without musical examples and simplification of concepts with an assumption of the granted instructor’s help obscure the authors’ valuable findings and evaluations.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework, but it needs to improve coherence in content between early and later chapters. The early chapters do not lay out enough foundation for the details that follow in the later chapters. The contents of chapters 1 (“Elements of Sound and Music”) and 2 (“Musical Instruments and Ensembles”) are largely constructed around the trajectory of classical and jazz music and thus do not correspond to those of chapters 6 and 8. Also, after chapters 1 and 2, terms and concepts are no longer emboldened. Bold typeface and visual image would help greatly draw attention to the terminology of musical traditions, genres, and instruments, especially in chapter 8 (“World Music”).","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text is readily divisible into smaller reading sections and in effect would work well in combination with other sources that include details about musical compositions and performances. It is handy to have a separate list of musicians’ biographies in appendix 1, so that the students can look up quickly and get familiar with the figures; whereas, a thorough integration of their stories, works, and contributions with the topics of the text would help the students absorb the contents better. The list is also in need of expansion to draw equal attention to musicians of rock and roll, rap, and world music.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, conventional fashion. Chapter 4, however, contains overwhelmingly long lists of historic events and figures, without direct association with the materials in discussion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issue is found.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No critical error is found.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"There is no offensive statement in the text: in effect, there is an effort detected to include as many areas of music and mention as many ethnic musical communities as possible. As the previous reviewers of this book have already noticed, nonetheless, the authors’ underlying tone and mode of presentation are heavily weighted on the canon of European classical music and American jazz. In many places of the textbook, the authors’ oversimplifying statements, if not insensitive, often mislead the reader to assume European music as Western music, and Western music as serious art music. With such Western slant of the past, some of the information merely repeats outmoded public assumptions and representations, not endeavoring to reeducate the reader with the most recent scholarly viewpoints and subtlety. The author(s) of chapters 1 and 2 limit the element of pentatonic scale to “music from China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian cultures” (p. 6) and a tight, nasal tone of vocal timbre to “many Asian and Arabic traditions” (p. 11). The inclusion of Asian and Arabic music traditions in the narrative, though in passing comments, is valid; however, the wording needs to be more accurate and nuanced, in that pentatonic scales are also found in British and other European folk songs, as the author of chapter 6 later indicates (p. 40), and blues scales are primarily based on pentatonic scales. Inclusion of non-Western music in the text and demarcation of its differences from Western music is an important step to make. Beyond this binary distinction, however, what is in demand is the author’s forthright identification of them as features not so unusual of Western music and America’s music. They also serve as stylistic choices in contemporary music-making, both regional and global. Without the author’s intervention of these renewed viewpoints, and multivalent discussions, non-Western music in general and Asian music in specific would be always viewed as “Others” to English-speaking readers. More importantly, the readers should learn better that not all music from China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries but music of their traditional spheres often involves pentatonic scales and nasal singing style. Non-Western musicians do operas and gospels, as well, experiment with various ideas and sounds, and create novel styles that influence other originators as much as their Western counterparts do, not separately but often collaboratively inside and outside America. Although the final, chapter 8 to an extent reaches out to multiculturalism in America and its music, after the long and firm setup on Western-European-American ground, it appears rather strategic than inclusive in a deeper level of understanding all music as fluid as language, history, and culture. There is neither mention nor passing comments on Spanish and Mexican contributions to early America in chapter 6 (“American Vernacular Music”). The text needs to articulate better that multiculturalism is not a latter-day invention but inherent in America’s history and cultural formation from its very beginning.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"What to include and what not to, as well as how deeply and how simply to describe and discuss, is a challenging choice for the author to make in writing an introductory music history text. Though it is understandable of the concerned authors’ editorial decision for scope and depth, the role of textbook in lower-level college music courses is to offer the readers not only historical and cultural facts in a concise manner but also various talking points that would lead to their own analytical and critical thinking, and application of it to personal aesthetic and emotional experiences outside the classroom. Music education in college can have a lifelong impact on a person’s intellectual and emotional growth not because of the memorization of isolated historical facts but because of the power of music resonating through the integration of scientific working-out of musical elements, musicians’ stories, and at times intricate discussions that would push to the limit his/her/their conceptual boundaries. Whether the students pick them up in the first place or later, or never, it is the author’s responsibility to endeavor to take them to a higher level of thinking and understanding in college-level music courses.","created_at":"2021-05-11T14:49:29.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-11T14:49:29.000-05:00"},{"id":4912,"first_name":"Jeff","last_name":"Kowalkowski","position":"instructor","institution_name":"Northeastern Illinois University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I would recommend this book for Musical Experience classes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The author covers the introduction to music and listening very thoroughly.  There are chapters on World Music and Jazz and some Musician Biographies.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It was first published in 2006, so I think it can use an update, but as a free reference tool it is very strong.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I enjoy the writing style, it is very concise and it covers the basic fundamentals thoroughly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Very consistent use of terminology, contains a glossary","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Yes, the book can be used out of sequence, focusing on the chapter of interest.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Extremely clear organization.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not notice any interface problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is sufficient.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Very Culturally aware text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This book was written by a composer who has taught music appreciation for decades, and that is why it is effective.","created_at":"2021-05-12T06:53:06.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-12T06:53:06.000-05:00"},{"id":5069,"first_name":"James","last_name":"Reddan","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"In terms of comprehensiveness, this text is comprehensive by way of the appropriate topics to be covered in a semester or quarter-long survey course in music history and appreciation. However, the chapters are not comprehensive and leave out a significant amount of important information. Rather, the chapters feel overly general and do not adequately give a decent overview of many topics leaving some to feel glossed over, but also that they needed to be \"on the page\" or at least mentioned in the chapter. Many chapters provide good points as an outline or supplement to in-class lecture instruction, but at times don't feel like they add much value to what the students really need.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is mostly accurate throughout. Some of the information could use some updating, especially related to terminology around music outside of the Western Art Music tradition. Further development of the music outside of the western canon and linked within the canon would provide for further accuracy and relevancy (an appear less biased) than other","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"In terms of relevance, this text could use some updating. This includes current unbiased cultural and gendered terminology, especially related to music outside of the western canon as previously stated. Additionally, music outside of the art music tradition could use significant development and linkage to music history to establish the relevancy and relationship of all forms, and not just forms that have been somewhat accepted into discussion of art music. Moreover, the term American Vernacular lends itself bias (unintentional) and unnecessary jargon. Generally, this book is similar to most other books on this topic that are available without the depth provided on each topic.  However, it is important to note that on the flipside of this is the fact that it would be very straightforward to use and highly supplement with more relevant an up-to-date material.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The text is generally very clear and easy to read. Terminology and jargon are generally defined, but the use of some jargon is out of date and/or unnecessary. It is not overly technical. Some topics need further development and refinement. Examples could be made more relevant. The depth of chapter 5 I felt particularly problematic as covering 600 years of music history in 16 pages, even in a survey course, is tough. It was a bit too general and some of the terminology and concepts do need further development. I do, however, appreciate the lists and general organization outside of the general summaries of each period as starting point of reference. What would also be helpful is links to historical milestones to provide context for the students adding to the clarity of the text. Another desire is for more visual content. There is a lot of text, but this lacks engaging visual content that could help with clarity in addition to relevant links to recordings and materials that could be directly accessed by students in real time.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent with itself in terms of terminology and framework; however, it is not always consistent with current terminology and other considerations about different topics. Additionally, the authors have not been consistent with the amount of attention given to each topic which can unintentionally apply a perception of bias judgement from the reader. Some chapters are given considerably more depth and focus than others that try to cover many topics quickly that also have important implications for contextualization of the material being discussed.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text, due to both its broadness and brevity, would be easily divisible into small section and used in a variety of different ways including out of the recommended sequence if desired.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical order and in a clear fashion, though overly broad and lacking detail at times. Topics feel a bit overly and unnecessarily siloed from one another throughout.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Generally, the interface has no significant issues except to say that it is not very visually engaging to the reader. There is nothing to distract the reader, but there is nothing to really draw the reader in either.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is generally well written and free of any grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"The text is not intentionally culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. In the attempt to over insights about the development of music outside of the traditional emphasis of the European Art Music tradition, some of the terminology that has been used in the past and fallen out of favor as a way to enable discussion is used. The authors do try and mitigate this within their discussion of music from different countries without also appropriating (which they do not do). However, the terms \"world music\" and \"non-Western,\" while having a true utility for how to describe musics from cultures outside of Europe (and most of North America), have fallen out of favor due to the unnecessary othering of cultures without also really offering enough information regarding colonization and cultural transformation as a result further detracting from contextualization and relevancy for many readers.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-06-09T21:18:05.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-09T21:18:05.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-its-language-history-and-culture","updated_at":"2024-03-25T08:05:36.000-05:00"},{"id":1019,"title":"The Bible and Music","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2023,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"The Bible and Music by Dr. James F. McGrath provides an introduction and overview of the various ways that music and the Bible have been and continue to be connected. Part 1 focuses on history, presenting what we know about how music in the Ancient Near East sounded, how markings in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible have been interpreted as musical symbols, how chanting of biblical texts has featured liturgically in synagogues and churches, the impact of the Protestant Reformation, and musical developments in North America as enslaved Africans encountered biblical texts and stories. Part 2 focuses on specific texts in Jewish and Christian scripture and looks at how they have been interpreted through the process of setting them to music, including the soundtracks of cinematic depictions of biblical narrative and allusions to the Bible in popular music. Part 3 focuses on composers from the Middle Ages all the way down to the present day. Throughout the book, musical examples are not merely mentioned but embedded so that reading and listening may be seamlessly combined. The book does not presume prior knowledge of either music or the Bible, and additional links within the text provide definitions and further explanations for those who need or desire them.","contributors":[{"id":5445,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"James","middle_name":"F.","last_name":"McGrath","location":"Indianapolis, IN","background_text":"Dr. James F. McGrath is the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis. A specialist in New Testament and early Christianity, he has also worked extensively on the intersection of religion and popular culture and the reception of the Bible in both music and film."}],"subjects":[{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"},{"id":51,"name":"Religion","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"BL1","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/religion"}],"publishers":[{"id":998,"url":"https://press.palni.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2021-06-28T16:18:03.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-02-02T14:36:23.000-06:00","name":"PALNI"}],"formats":[{"id":3333,"type":"eBook","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3334,"type":"PDF","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3335,"type":"XML","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=wxr","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3336,"type":"Online","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3563,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1956390162","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3573,"type":"Online","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3574,"type":"eBook","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3575,"type":"PDF","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3576,"type":"XML","url":"https://pressbooks.palni.org/thebibleandmusic/open/download?type=wxr","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3577,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1956390162","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":34440,"first_name":"Adrian","last_name":"Guiu","position":"instructor","institution_name":"City Colleges of Chicago","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The author seems to have a very general knowledge of the subject; although he is a scholar of religion, it seems he is not a scholar of music; his approach to music is rather general and amateurish. He seems to rely on secondary sources a lot: the book does a good job of sending students to these.\nIt skips Eastern Christianity  almost completely and overall it stays at a very general/superficial level.\nThere is no glossary or index provided.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Yes the content is overall accurate and unbiased but I am not sure how informative is it given that it is so general and paints in such broad strokes.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant but it stays at a very superficial level: it offers generalizations and broad observations about the influence of the Bible in music. \nI do not believe this is enough for a textbook.\nThe content is up to date and does connect to a variety of resources; in many ways this is what this book does best; it provides a plethora of resources in various formats.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written lucidly and clearly; it is easy to follow but it does not go into too much depth.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The book is not very consistent, rather it appears more random: it seems the author collects his ideas and comments about the subject. Some of these are interesting but it is not enough for a text book.\n A constant refrain of the book is ‘this is complex and we cannot do it justice.’ Thus the book stays at an overall superficial level.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text provides very good modularity; it uses a variety of divisions in order to enhance organization and clarity.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"It is overall good with one proviso: it skips from  early Christianity and Judaism to Protestantism; this hiatus is between chapters 3 and 4. This historical gap breaks the narrative; it will be hard for students to see the continuity.\nGenerally the organization seems a little random: e.g. part III, People and Genre: why not have separate chapters? As it is this part seems random and confusing. It talks about people and suddenly it goes into genres.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface of the text is excellent; it makes very good use of technology and of graphic features to enhance the accessibility; it includes many hyperlinks [maybe too many].","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive...to the contrary! Nevertheless it is focused on Western religion; one wished a little more branching out and discussions of Eastern forms of Christianity or Christianity in other parts of the world.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"To have a textbook connecting the study of the Bible and its influence is a great idea and this textbook is a very nice beginning; however it needs improvement: especially the first and third part of the book; in the first part, the historical continuity has to be developed a little more.\nBesides the part which focuses on people, a part which could focus on genre could be added.\nOne option is to have two authors: the current one as scholar of the Bible and a scholar of music who is aware of the historical, stylistic and genre complexities and is able to convey this to the audience.","created_at":"2023-03-08T09:53:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-03-08T09:53:35.000-06:00"},{"id":35110,"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Bempechat","position":"Visiting Lecturer","institution_name":"Massachusetts College of Art and Design","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is an excellent study but lacking in presentation of the early centuries of music history.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I took exception to the lack of emphasis on Josef Haydn's \"The Creation\" and to other important works which were neglected.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book must remain interactive as the historical literature on music and the Bible will inevitably grow.  The author is absolutely genuine and sincere in his devotion and commitment and I am certain will assure his tome's growth and success.  I view this contribution as extraordinary and indispensable, despite my criticisms.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Nothing to add other than a few typos and a misnamed Harvard organist!","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The material could be more technical, but this is not the book's intent.  It serves well the intended, relatively neophyte audience.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Ideal.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Excellent.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Excellent.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems.  British spelling is fine with me as I was schooled in Canada.  I doubt U.S. readers will mind (unless they vote for tRump.)","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book aims to enlighten the reader to the Judeo-Christian Good Books and fulfills its aim.  The scope being encyclopedic, not every aspect can possibly be addressed in depth, but the material informs and instructs as it is required and intended to do.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I would welcome more detail on the composers' spiritual lives and inclinations and more background information on the individual works cited, even in the final Appendix.  Here is my written narrative:\n\nBook review: The Bible and Music, by James F. McGrath (2023)\nBy Paul-André Bempéchat, Harvard University/Massachusetts College of Art and Design (June 2024)\nThe Bible and Music is as remarkable an accomplishment as it is an indispensable teaching tool for pedagogues of both music and Biblical studies. Its scope, assuredly, invites both commendation and controversy.\nProfessor McGrath (Butler University, Indiana) has created a textbook interactive and compliant with online media resources, accessible and instructive to professional academics of both disciplines and their students.  In fact, he generously suggests (as Appendix I) a semester-long course plan easily adaptable to undergraduate and graduate instruction.\nLearned yet never condescending (as many theologians and musicologists can be), Professor McGrath’s tone is inviting, insightful, and provocative. His historical expanse encompasses the earliest Scriptural writings and their musical intonations until the Modern Age. However, the Medieval and Renaissance eras are sorely lacking in presence, and the eternal significance of Josef Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation is understated. But this book’s strength lies in the breadth of his inclusiveness of genres and styles, most admirable for a study which, quite readily, can span several volumes, if not become an actual encyclopedia.  Professor McGrath meticulously intertwines the musical material with Biblical history and mythology, situating bibliographic, sonographic, and iconographic sources both online and at museums and institutes of higher education and research across the world.  This is a truly global, interdisciplinary study.\nThe Bible and Music guides one through both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament fluidly and aptly conjoins the two eras through well-chosen repertoires and styles. Professor McGrath has divided his study into three sections, History – Texts – People and Genres.  I would be happier with Peoples but this as this is an online forum, such nuances, if accepted by the author, are easily adapted. Each chapter begins with highlighted instruction as to what will be explored and in which contexts. Hyperlinks further and systematically guide the reader to online resources thus facilitating enhanced study.  Chapters conclude with detailed suggestions for yet further readings.  Each of these sections appropriately traces, simultaneously, the rise of sacred music through the chapters of the Hebrew Bible through to the Protestant Reformation, Spirituals and contemporary Christian repertoire (Part I).  Part II elucidates through analyses of the texts, the Biblical characters and families as projected in music, most notably King David’s.  Part III unites us with the composers whose inspiration led to the creation of some of the finest glories of our civilization. \nJewish and Christian cantillations assume an important and strategic position in Chapter 2 (“Chanting in Synagogues”). I question, however, the absence of Eric Werner’s monumental The Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy And Music In Synagogue And Church During The First Millennium (1959) which is indispensable as background material and should have been cross-referenced.  I also question the absence of discussion of the Italian rite (rito italiano) when discussing the branches of Judaism (p. 24), one which developed quite independently from the Sephardic and Ashkenazic rites. In contradistinction, many facts and figures elucidate the expansion of Church rites across the world (Ch. 3). We discover the Bay Psalm Book as the first to be printed in Colonial North America and that the first printed psalm book in the Americas was in Mexico.  In this chapter, Professor McGrath curiously points us to a recording by the Harvard University Choir (p. 39) conducted by my esteemed colleague Edward Elwyn, whose surname is, in fact, Jones.\nIn his chapter Spirituals we are guided to multifarious adaptations of the genres (and guided to audop links) through to the blues, jazz and rock ‘n ‘roll (p. 45). Respectful attention to U.S. history is afforded in referencing Eileen Southern’s research (p. 47); the Book of Job, its inspiration for the song “Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt and Beth Redman, reflects the trauma of September 11, 2001 (p. 51). \nAmong the main events of the Bible, Professor McGrath brings to our attention the adaptations of the Creation, not just by Haydn (understated, as mentioned) but also by Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Alexandre Tansman, Arnold Schoenberg (all Jews), and a host of others, including Igor Stravinsky.  The following Chapter 8, Psalms, brings to light, especially, the adaptations of Leonard Bernstein and Stravinsky, with appropriate links to online, historic performances.\nThe chapter devoted to Elijah is particularly ingratiating as it explicates the centrality of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio to ecumenism. Born a Jew and converted to Protestantism as a young boy for reasons more pragmatic than spiritual, Professor McGrath’s lengthy citation of the correspondence between Mendelssohn and Pastor Julius Schubring affirm the composer’s allegiance to ecumenism and sets the reader on the correct path to understanding Mendelssohn’s Quixotic quest for acceptance by both faiths.  Professor Jeffrey Sposato’s research is cited without mention of his controversial status among Mendelssohn scholars, notably Leon Botstein.\nAs enlightening is the chapter on the Song of Songs. Here, composers as little known as Romania’s Laurenţiu Ganea and Yehezkel Braun are introduced.  In the succeeding chapter on Salome, this iconic figure is elucidated through, naturally, Richard Strauss’s opera based on Oscar Wilde’s text; yet, no mention of the Franz Waxman’s extraordinary score for Sunset Boulevard (1950) which, through studying its stunning extrapolation of symbols, would have added a modern-day, cinematographic counterweight to the evolution of the Biblical legend. \n “Our Father” and its cross-cultural and multilingual adaptations are afforded meticulous attention.  The setting by the Latvian Peteris Vasks is truly prodigious and citing his personal reflections on religious life during and after the Soviet era are particularly poignant.  This section will be particularly appreciated, especially during these troubled times when the Baltic nations remain fearful for their prized independence.\nSynthetic to Professor McGrath’s study is Chapter 22 and its focus on Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem (op. 45) which I believe to be the spiritual and ecumenical successor to Mendelssohn’s Elijah (op. 70).  Insightfully, the excellent research by Daniel Beller-McKenna is cited (p. 181). \nPart III (p. 185ff.), People and Genres is truly ambitious as it may, for some, disappoint.  The sheer scope of the material available is daunting and, as the author aptly stresses, is truly encyclopedic.  Traversing the eras via subsections devoted to Hildegard of Bingen, Salamone Rossi, J. S. Bach (and beyond), the Bible as Musical, Oratorio and Opera, Handel’s Messiah, Lili Boulanger – truly a welcome inclusion, Arnold Schoenberg, the author’s countryman John Rutter, Christmas Carols, Arvo Pärt, Andrea Clearfield and Roxana Panufnik, Professor McGrath conspicuously omits very significant works, notably Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives, op. 85, and Joseph-Guy Ropartz’s setting of Psalm 136, 'Super flumina Babylonis' (1897) and Hugo Distler’s The Christmas Story, op. 10.  Though informative, the subsections are uneven in their depth.  \nAs mentioned, Appendix I, as a guideline for course preparation, is highly useful; Appendix 2 directs the reader to effective usage of modern online technologies.  By the author’s own admission, Appendix 3: “For Further Listening” is problematic.  Professor McGrath earnestly informs that “This book will continue to grow and expand, another advantage of its digital-first format… Any arrangement—alphabetical, chronological, by religious background composer, by text(s) set – offers an organizational system optimal to some needs while being inconvenient for others.  Eventually, it would be wonderful to have an interactive database of music related to the Bible, where all the information can be rearranged with a click or two.  Perhaps some reader of this book will be inspired to create that.  Perhaps one day I will find the time to do it.”  In my opinion, this study should not have been released without this mechanism already in place and kept interactive (as with Wikipedia) with the readers who could – albeit monitored – make further contributions.  \nWhile the General Bibliography is lacking – some of the most esteemed textbooks, notably by Andrew Hughes and Jeremy Yudkin, are missing - most useful is the Media Bibliography which offers Internet links to each cited work.\nAll told, Professor McGrath must be commended for his monumental research and interactive introductions. For an era often confounded by technologies, The Bible and Music represents an invaluably good start for putting these technologies to proper usage, and most especially, towards a more enlightened appreciation of the Biblical stories and their musical incarnations.\nRespectfully submitted,\nPaul-André Bempéchat\nCambridge, Massachusetts\nJune 2024","created_at":"2024-06-11T13:06:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-06-11T13:06:00.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-bible-and-music","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:37:17.000-06:00"},{"id":1343,"title":"Music Appreciation: History, Culture, and Context","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":null,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Music makes us human. Every culture on earth has music. In fact, every human society extending back into prehistoric times has had music. Most of us are surrounded by music. We use it to enhance our mood and to regulate our metabolism, to keep us awake and help us go to sleep, as background to accompany the work, study, exercise, and relaxation that fills our days. But it is precisely when music steps out of this background and asks for our attention, engages our memory and our expectations, that it becomes a fundamentally artistic endeavor. Music is a sonic response to a question that’s not really about sound at all, but rather is historical and social. The study of music is the study of human thought, experience, and history. This course is about the musical imagination. It’s how to think about music, but it’s also about music as a mode of thinking. (inspired by Michael Hays, Professor of Architectural Theory at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design: Welcome to The Architectural Imagination (edx.org). This textbook was created as part of the Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment project, facilitated by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network and funded by a $2 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant from the Department of Education. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. This project features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks technology partner, and workforce representatives. It will enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials will be released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others.The target audience for this project and this textbook are dual enrollment students. Dual enrollment is the opportunity for a student to be enrolled in high school and college at the same time. A dual enrollment student receives credit on both their high school and college transcripts for the same course.","contributors":[{"id":6092,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Bonnie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Le","location":null,"background_text":""},{"id":6093,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Francis","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Scully","location":null,"background_text":""},{"id":6094,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Steven","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Edwards","location":null,"background_text":""}],"subjects":[{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":89,"name":"Music","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"M1-5000","visible_textbooks_count":18,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music"}],"publishers":[{"id":1321,"url":"https://louislibraries.org/","year":2021,"created_at":"2023-02-14T14:51:30.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-02-14T14:51:30.000-06:00","name":"LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network"}],"formats":[{"id":3384,"type":"PDF","url":"https://louis.pressbooks.pub/musicappreciation/open/download?type=pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3385,"type":"Online","url":"https://louis.pressbooks.pub/musicappreciation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3386,"type":"eBook","url":"https://louis.pressbooks.pub/musicappreciation/open/download?type=epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":34758,"first_name":"Diane","last_name":"Phoenix-Neal","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I found the content effective and easy to understand in all areas. Following the timeline of Western European history helps the students to contextualize the music they are learning about. Sometimes the text appeared to overreach in its efforts to foster understanding. For example, in Chapter 4: It is clear enough just to mention that BCE and CE are \"secular designations.\"","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content was accurate and readability was excellent.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Content is relatively up-to-date.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The level of clarity of the material was very good. In Chapter 11 and the 20th/21st century art music content, the concept of ambiguity is used as a thread throughout the chapter to focus the student, can be combined for a deeper perspective with other 20th-21st century artistic concepts such as the rise of the perceptions/reactions/mirroring of perceived chaos (in art / in our world) and the rise of individuality. Additional aspects of Modern/Contemporary art music are explained succinctly- such as lack of repetition, unpredictability and absence of pulse.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistency: Objectives at the beginning of chapters and Summaries at the ends of the chapters are consistent throughout. The quizzes at the end of each chapter enrich understanding of the content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I enjoyed the easily accessible and divisible sections.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"YouTube videos are easy to access, embedded.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Very few grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I liked that the text is inclusive of a wide range of cultures and ethnicities, and that is sensitive to include female examples and used examples of composers and music of varied backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I enjoyed reviewing the content, organization, interactivity and  examples used in this text. The American Folk Music section, Chapter 16, is one of the best summary teaching texts on this topic I've read, and the American Folk canon is given the importance and comprehensive treatment that it deserves. The Western European Classical content is accessible, concise and supported by excellent short examples as well as longer ones. The title of the text seems outdated, and so it was a pleasant surprise to access the easygoing, colorfully written text.","created_at":"2023-11-27T01:55:25.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-11-27T01:55:25.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/music-appreciation-history-culture-and-context","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:36:49.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music.json?page=1","total_pages":3,"total_count":22,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/music.json?page=2"}}