Resources


Recommended sight reading books for beginners

Finding good sight reading books is tricky. Playing arrangements of good music is better than slogging your way through boring pieces written for beginners - the difficulty then is finding good arrangements. When I was working in a sheet music shop these were the best ones I came across, but that's not to say that there aren't better ones out there. They all have things I disagree with in them and in time I'll write my own, but for the time being they're still very good.

For popular music I recommend the "Making the Grade" series (the link takes you to Musicroom.com where you can see song lists, but they're cheaper on Amazon). Don't be put off by the word "Grade" in the title - they're not published by the money-grabbing dinosaurs ABRSM - it just means that they're well graded, which is important. If you want to stay comparatively up-to-date go for the (more expensive) Revised Editions which feature Coldplay and Robbie Williams, etc. If you're a 70's child (or before) then go for the 3-in-1 "Complete Beginner's Programme" which has more 80's hits.

For classical music by far the best book is Piano Time Classics by Pauline Hall. (There are also More Piano Time Classics and Piano Time Opera, which are harder.) The book starts at a harder level than Making the Grade: Preparatory Grade and progresses to beyond Grade 1.

For jazz to be readable by beginners its rhythms and harmonies have to be simplified to the point where it no longer sounds like jazz. Christopher Norton's Microjazz series is probably the best written-for-beginners stuff that comes close but it sounds more like lounge piano than jazz, which is true of a lot of so called "jazz" books. Jazz, almost by definition, isn't written down.


Classical pieces for amateurs

I'm not keen on students playing boring classical pieces written for beginners so I've compiled two playlists of really great pieces in the concert repertoire that are playable by amateurs, split into easier and harder ones. (You'll need a Spotify account to open them.)

I'll add to them in time. (Beethoven's Für Elise is deliberately missing.)

You should be able to download all the scores for free from IMSLP.


Introducing Jazz

A lot of students tell me that they've never understood jazz but would like to try, so here's a list of good albums to start with and a playlist at the end.

Some essential classics, in rough chronological order (links take you the album's page on allmusic.com):

Start with "Kind of Blue".

Some classic vocal albums:

An overview of jazz piano:

Finally, if you'd like a 24-track overview of jazz in general try this playlist (again, you'll need a Spotify account to open it):

I've put it in the order: vocalists, big bands, saxophone, piano.


TED talks

Two great talks by Ken Robinson on education:


A conductor makes an (in my opinion successful) attempt to convince everyone that they're latent classical music fans:


And another one gives some insight into the methods of the great conductors:


Axis of Awesome - 4 Chords

This video is very funny but also gives a good insight into how to play chords by ear without even listening to the bass line. The progression they're playing is I - V - vi - IV, which they've transposed to E so it becomes E, B, C# minor, A. Now if you hear a song that has the same progression just work out what key it's in and - hey presto! - you know what the first 4 chords are.


Richard Taruskin on why so much modern art is rubbish

Okay, he probably wouldn't approve of that summary but I think the explanation is the chief value of the video. Essential watching for anyone who's studied music at university or at a music college, but possibly quite boring for eveyone else.


AllJapaneseAllTheTime.com

"Khatzumoto" is the pen-name an American who learned Japanese to fluency in 18 months without taking classes, reading textbooks or living in Japan. He was doing a full-time computer sciences degree at the time, working jobs after hours, and had a non-Japanese girlfriend. The lessons learned from his experience are not only applicable to Japanese but to any language, and have changed the way I think about teaching music. Plus, he's a very good writer, if you can stomach his style.



About Me

Contact Me

© 2009 BenedictWestenra.Com. All rights reserved.