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The Traité de l'harmonie of Jen-Philippe Rameau is one of the most important books in the history of Western music. Written while Rameau was still a relatively obscure organist and music master at Clermont-Ferrand, the book received but one printing during Rameau's life, in 1722, shortly before he settled in Paris. The Traité was immediately recognized as a profound advance in musical theory, however, and it established Rameau's reputation as a theorist. His book was the first to codify those principles of tonality that were to dominate the music of the West for almost two centuries. Even today the theories of Rameau remain the basis for the study of harmony.Rameau's Traité de l'harmonie is divided into four books, the first of which presents the mathematical basis from which Rameau sought to derive his theories. Book Two may be considered the most important section of the Traité; in it Rameau generates his entire harmonic system from fundamental principles, explaining intervals, chords, and modes — everything, in fact, essential to musical composition in tonal style. Working from the principles developed in Books One and Two, Book Three treats the practical rules of composition, including such topics as harmonic modulation and chord progressions. Book Four concerns the practical art of accompaniment on harpsichord or organ, including the realization of a figured bass. Corrections added by Rameau in a supplement are included in the text, and all the musical examples have been reset in modern musical notation. In addition, two pages from a unique copy of the first issue of the first edition are given in facsimile. The translator's introduction discusses the history of the work, Rameau's mathematics, and his place in the history of music theory.
Of the many piano transcriptions Franz Liszt made of the works of other composers, those he made of the songs of Franz Schubert are among his most inspired. This volume contains the legendary pianist's twelve transcriptions from Schubert's great song cycle Winterreise, along with the four songs of Geistliche Lieder and the beloved single songs «La Rose,» «Lob der Thränen» and «Die Forelle.»These rare transcriptions offer a unique blending of Classical inspiration with Romantic virtuosity. Here, Liszt retained the intense lyricism and emotional impact of Schubert's songs as he transformed them into dazzling compositions for solo piano. For generations, pianists and their audiences savored the rich rewards of Liszt's memorable achievement, even as the long-awaited publication of this Dover volume, nineteen rare gems of the keyboard literature are once more available, reproduced from extremely rare early editions.
Among Franz Liszt's many brilliant compositions for piano, few have been so admired and performed as the Sonata in B Minor, long considered one of the greatest piano compositions of the 19th century. A work of consummate structural ingenuity, it combines and transforms four distinctive themes in one long movement, in the free, rhapsodic development characteristic of the symphonic poem.A great favorite of pianists and their audiences, this piano masterpiece is reprinted here from the authoritative Franz Liszt-Stiftung edition published by Breitkopf & Härtel. Included with it are a number of other well-known Liszt compositions. Among these are the six beautiful pieces entitled Consolations; all ten works in the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, including the popular «Funérailles»; the two Ballades, larger-scale works which require considerable technical prowess; and the two Légendes, «The Sermon to the Birds of St. Francis of Assisi» and «St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves.»
Classic study comprises two parts. The first is a comprehensive historical survey of writings on the fugue from the beginning of fugal teaching (c. 1350) to the present. Part Two explores in depth four 18th-century studies which are its classical presentations: Steps to Parnassus, J. J. Fux (1725), A Treatise on Fugue, F. W. Marpurg (1753–54), Fundamental and Practical Essay on Fugal Counterpoint, Padre Martini (1775), A Manual of the Fundamental Principles of Composition, J. A. Albrechtsberger (1790). Translations of texts, introductions and critical commentary, and many musical examples. Index. Bibliography.
The greatest Renaissance creator of liturgical music, the revered sixteenth-century composer known as Palestrina wrote works that served for centuries as models of counterpoint. Until The Style of Palestrina and the Dissonance, theoreticians seldom closely analyzed the composer’s work to discover its fundamental elements, including the handling of rhythm, line, and harmony.Beginning chapters discuss the standard use of rhythm and mensuration in Palestrina’s time, the ecclesiastical modes, and treatment of words. Author Knud Jeppesen proceeds to explore Palestrina’s music in terms of the elements that constitute his personal style, isolating unusual vertical lines and establishing common and uncommon interval skips and rhythmic accents. The heart of the book presents a modern empirical treatment of dissonance. Palestrina's contrapuntal technique forged new harmonic devices, placing dissonance on unaccented beats and highlighting text in very unorthodox ways for his time. These new uses of dissonance and resolution are explored in meticulous detail. In addition, Jeppesen includes a complete history of the evolving concept and treatment of dissonance before Palestrina, including quotations from the earliest theoretical works and numerous musical examples that illustrate the practices of Palestrina’s predecessors.
This exemplary new edition of the vocal score of an enchanting operetta — which has delighted audiences for over a century with its catchy melodies, its witty lyrics, and its madcap tale of tender-hearted pirates, timid policemen, and the demands of duty — was prepared by musicologists Carl Simpson and Ephraim Hammett Jones, who returned to original manuscripts and early sources to produce handsome, newly engraved plates closest to Gilbert and Sullivan's original intentions. All of the voice parts appear here, in addition to a piano reduction of the full score and the complete libretto. Introduction by the editors. Contents. Instrumentation.
In the course of his long career as the outstanding pianist-composer of his time, Franz Liszt was a tireless champion of music by other composers, especially those whose works he felt deserved greater recognition. Beethoven's symphonies, Wagner's operas, and Schubert's songs were among the compositions Liszt chose to promote by transforming them from their original scoring into new conceptions for solo piano.This volume contains twelve great Schubert lieder in Liszt's brilliant transcriptions, including such well-known masterpieces as «Ave Maria,» «Der Wanderer,» «Die junge Nonne,» «Gretchen am Spinnrade,» and the unforgettable «Erlkönig.»Reproduced from extremely rare early editions, this unique volume of transcriptions brings to pianists and music lovers the familiar beauty of Schubert's melodies in solo piano arrangements that reflect Liszt's incomparable mastery of the keyboard.
Fifty first-rate musical compositions document the development of musical style from the early Middle Ages to the Middle of the 18th century. Among the selections are a Gregorian hymn, an English lute piece, operatic arias, instrumental and vocal motets, a French ballad, as well as works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Buxtehude, and other masters. Commentary evaluates style, form and historical setting, and complete compositions or sections of compositions are supplied when possible.
Jacques Offenbach (1819–80) ranks among the greatest composers of lighthearted operettas, and his famous songs continue to charm millions who know neither their names nor their composer. This volume features the sheet music for 38 popular songs from 14 operettas. All are reproduced from the original sheet music — a few from the original piano-vocal scores, and some with lively pictorial covers. Contents include four songs from Orpheé aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), five songs from La belle Hélène, four songs from La vie parisienne, six songs from La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, seven songs from La Périchole, three songs from La fille du tambour-major, and more. The complete French texts appear on the music pages, and a separate section offers English translations. All songs were chosen by Antonio de Almeida, a renowned conductor and authority on Offenbach, who also provides an informative Introduction.