Book Description
A time-tested classroom performer! In this text the authors place sight singing in the context of musicianship as a whole, offering readers a coordinated body of carefully graded melodies, duets, and short pieces for voice and piano while reinforcing their comprehension of tonal and post-tonal harmony. The flexible structure of this new Fourth Edition and the wealth of material it contains combine to make the book completely adaptable to the individual needs of today's developing musicians. A brand new chapter contains over 150 melodies from the standard classical and folk repertories, providing a transition from sight-singing exercises to the literature students will encounter throughout their careers in music.
Customer Reviews:
Order in advance.......2007-09-28
The item was perfect but the time it took to get here was a bit disconcerting. Be sure your not ordering this book from the UK. Delivery is a bit slow. No fault of the seller, just buyer beware to order it in plenty of time.
Not such a great approach to Sight Singing.......2006-05-23
I am a music student at the University of Miami and this has been the required text for three levels of ear training. I must say that I found this text less than helpful in teaching you how to sight read. It was full of complicated melodies--but no suggestions or hints on how to become a better sight singer. If you're looking for a book of exercises that make no sense--go for it. But if you're looking for a teaching tool--this is not the text to turn to.
A Not so New Approach to Sight Singing.......2005-09-14
The text is really quite old. I didn't see anything especially novel in it. In the end, if you want to learn something you have to exert an effort.
Too much money for an exercise book........2005-08-12
This book HAS ONLY NOTES IN IT. The instructions are just on a few pages. I think the author could have spent some hours more in writing (and this is true EXPECIALLY IF WE LOOK AT THE PRICE).
I'm at intermediate level in sight singing, and quite advanced in sight reading, I bought this book to improve my skills.
I'll try to study on this book, I won't just let it "rust" on a shelf, but I EXPECTED MORE INSTRUCTIONS. MAY BE THIS CAN BE A WONDERFUL BOOK IF YOU PRACTICE ON IT CONSTALNTLY, but in these days, where self-teaching is more important than in the past I think this book has an OBSOLETE-APPROACH.
THIS IS A BOOK FOR A SIGHT-SINGING CLASS IN SOME INSTITUTE. PERIOD.
Great book, but older editions better.......2004-12-04
I bought this book mainly because I was using an older
edition of the book I borrowed from library. Comparing
that to the available literature, I found it extremely
educational and well organized. It is a great book
that takes you slowly through different skills of
sight singing, with plenty of exercises for each one.
The exercises are sorted from easy to more complex
ones. The book is fit for people both singing in
chorus or solo. The rest of the book are exercises
that are more like music pieces (rather than
exercises) and come with piano accompaniment and one
chapter is dedicated to duos.
However to me it seems that this edition is a little
more simplified and less serious than the previous
ones. Also I think for the price you pay, you deserve
a more decent cover than plastic comb (the earlier
editions are hardcover).
Book Description
Using an abundance of meticulously organized melodies drawn from the literature of composed music and a wide range of the world’s folk music, Ottman and Rogers provide the most engaging and comprehensive Sight Singing text on the market.
Arranging its 21 chapters to study both pitch and rhythm, this book presents melodies and over 1200 exercises that enable readers to develop the skills of reading pitch, reading rhythm, and combining these two essential elements. The Seventh Edition contains 30% more rhythmic exercises and new structured improvisation exercises.
For professionals with a career in music, music education, and composition.
Customer Reviews:
Great service!.......2007-10-01
I received this book well before the due date which was fortunate as my class had already begun. Thank you for your prompt attention and action!
Great educational material!.......2007-05-01
This is a wonderful compilation of singable melodies from the folk and art music repertoires. Singing these melodies is far more appealing than just reading through purely made up solfege excercises. Each chapter contains melodies which are progressively harder and will help you, with practice and patience, to become a good sight reader, a skill any choral singer, composer, and musician in general should have.
Excellent, but what's the real excuse for the high price?.......2007-04-11
I agree with the reviewer who highlights the usefulness of the Ottman text; the additions and improvements (such as adding contemporary melodies) are indeed welcome. That's five stars for the book. Four for the high price.
However, I also understand the other reviewer's complaint about the very high price, particularly in the case of this particular sight-singing text. College book stores are frequently asked why their textbooks cost so much, and their current excuse is that "since textbooks often come bundled with CD-ROMs and other extras"--that is why the high price.
THIS price is just for a spiral-bound, soft-cover book. "1000 melodies," perhaps, but in a sight-singing text like this one most of these are simple and short (less than a page each). There are none of the above-mentioned "extras" bundled with it. This book, though excellent, has ALWAYS been, in my opinion, OVERPRICED.
The publisher is interested in profits, THAT IS their business, and that goal is in itself is not necessarily bad, when pursued honestly. We sometimes are oblivious that THAT is the main reason that standard college textbooks are constantly being revised (read: slightly altered) every couple of years. Older editions of the same textbooks would be just as effective, for instructive purposes. But business is business.
Addendum: Making money, in itself, is not a sin. In fact, isn't that one of the main reasons most people attend college, so that that they can become more effective at "making money"? Music majors have to recognize this fact, that their art has a business side. A great book on that subject is Angela Beeching's "Beyond Talent: Create a Successful Career in Music."
Finally, check out the comments about the business of music and art, made by the fictitious composer Richard Halley in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel, "Atlas Shrugged."
--Majok
An excellent resource for developing an essential musical skill.......2007-01-27
Typically, music students resist their music theory courses and enjoy the sight singing exercises associated with them even less. My experience as a student and as a teacher leads me to believe that this is usually because by the time the students first get around to learning this skill, they are already confident musicians on their instruments or have learned to sing some other way. To have to learn a new skill from scratch is disturbing and seems unnecessary to them. However, learning to sight sing brings many benefits.
Singing music helps one internalize the music more fully. One also develops a greater confidence with pitch than having it done in an instrument. It also helps one learn to sing through one's instrument - that is, to play even more musically. And by developing strategies to sing chromatic music, one has to think through the relationships within the piece. Once the skills are more fully developed, one can learn to come to terms with a new piece of music quite quickly. Therefore, one becomes not only more professional, the whole of one's musical experience deepens.
We used the second edition of Ottman's book when I was an undergrad in music in the late seventies and early eighties. This seventh edition is a much richer and more useable book. There are more than a thousand melodies, all nicely arranged to teach something specific. They are actual melodies from the literature rather than some abstract theoretical nothing. And there are lots of rhythmic exercises, so the student can gain skills in becoming more precise in rhythm and especially in rests (you know, letting the silence be silent). A new chapter with melodies from the 20th century is also a nice addition. The new edition also adds some exercises with structured improvisation for the student to experiment with his or her own melodies.
The spiral binding actually makes the book more durable and useable. It lays flat on your piano or music stand and the spine won't break and the pages won't be falling out. The print is crisp and clear which makes reading easy. This is important for a book you will be using in your theory courses for several terms.
Not only is this great for college students, I think high school and private music teachers would do well by their students to use this as part of their regular music lessons. Their students might fight it a bit (they always seem to), but they will become better musicians and more musical students if they develop the skill to sight sing.
Rip-Off.......2006-09-26
This review is not a review of the book (which, I guess, serves it's purpose just fine), but a review of the price. $70 for a spiral-bound book!?!?!?! As if college isn't expensive enough already.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent text for really learning to sight-sing.......2005-12-24
I teach sight-singing and ear-training to enthusiastic community singers, and this is the best book I've found. Many other texts have occasional helpful bits. With this text, my students can start at the beginning and work through to the end, in the process both learning and cementing a skill that will stay with them for life. For any community or church chorus working to improve the sight-singing of their group, this is THE book to buy.
Not great for going it alone.......2004-03-14
If you want to learn sight singing on your own this is not going to be of great help. This is possibly a good text for the classroom when you are guided by someone very familiar with the subject but it is not ideal for home study. Look at the contents and you will see that this is in fact organised as a reference book as opposed to a step by step approach to conquering the subject.
If you want to sight sing then you are probably already an amateur singer of some description who would like to have this valuable skill. So you are starting with some basic music sense: a sense of key, familiarity with scales and melody. The book doesn't build on that. It starts by asking the student to sing the whole tone scale which is extremely difficult for those of us familiar with the major and minor scales... it's not intuitive and is effectively a chromatic alteration of what you've been using for years. This creates a huge stumbling block as the starting point.
Perhaps, as another reviewer comments, this is a good approach if you will spend most of your time dealing with atonal music. However most singers, from choral to karaoke, largely sing tonal music.
What I like about this book is that there are many music extracts to practice on and it's not hard bound so you can use it at the piano with ease. I therefore use this as a reference and exercise book but not as the basis of a systematic approach to sight singing.
Sight singing for the real world.......2000-07-28
OK so we've all had plenty of books that start out sight singing based on a single scale, say the major scale. And you sing through about 100 exercises thereby learn all 12 kinds of intervals. Then they add non-harmonic tones and eventuall you get into a little chromaticism and modulation. However, modern composers do not limit themselves to such simple melodies.
How about a book that instead teaches you to hear 2nds, 5ths, 4ths, 3rds, and so on. Isn't that what its all about? Whenever you see a P4, sing a P4. You don't even need to keep track of scale degrees or worry about if you'll sing "re", "ri" or "icky-zipang". Adler, who is prof. emeritus at Eastman, starts off with exercises that teach you to sing a single interval, for example major 2nds. After you sing, slowly and carefully, through his exercises you will never confuse a M2 with a m2 or m3 again. Likewise through all the other intervals. Of course he includes plenty of melodies from the literature.
Furthermore, there is an entire section dedicated to the study of rhythm without involving pitch. This is typically the weakest area for most music students.
And now that the 2nd edition is spiral bound (what were they thinking w/ ed. #1?) there is no reason not to buy this book.
Sincerely, Salvador T. Pimienta
Book Description
Ideal for undergraduate courses in aural skills, Progressive Sight Singing introduces students to the underlying grammar and syntax of musical structure and prepares them to perceive that structure with both the ear and the eye. Working from the premise that students learn musical skills in much the same order as they do language skills, this book employs a unique pedagogical structure that introduces the concept of sound before sight. It trains the ear first--through hearing and imitating patterns--teaching students to hear and perform before they read and write. FEATURES: * Extensively and successfully class-tested at colleges and universities nationwide * Adds only one new element per chapter and incorporates components from previous chapters into examples and exercises, thereby continuously reinforcing learned skills * Integrates a rich variety of well-paced, graduated exercises covering rhythmic and melodic reading, dictation, audiation, musical memory, and error detection * Encourages students to actively participate (sing, chant, write, create, improvise) in the practice of each concept in order to become skilled musicians * Offers instructors great flexibility in that they can use the tonal and reading systems they prefer; the appendixes provide a brief overview of each system * Packaged with an audio CD that includes rhythm and tonal patterns introduced in the book; this connects the eye to the ear and helps student hone their aural skills * Supplemented by an Instructor's Manual that expands upon the pedagogy underlying the book, offers solutions to the exercises, and provides additional exercises and teaching tips
Customer Reviews:
The future of sight singing is here!.......2006-08-02
Carol Krueger has taken music learning theory and given it a practical application in sight singing. New skills are introduced one at a time and reinforced throughout the book. This book will become the next "standard text" in collegiate sight singing classes.
Fantastic book--a MUST!.......2006-06-22
I have recently used this book and it is fascinating! Dr. Krueger takes sight singing to a new, comfortable, and well paced level. She believes in training the ear before the reading and writing, instead of throwing multiple ideas at the students. I highly recommend this book for college-level or even high school music students. If you ever have the chance to meet or take a class from Dr. K at the University of South Carolina, DO IT!
Product Description
Fanatic's Guide differs from the myriad of other sight singing books in that it develops the ability to identify and name all twelve pitches within a key center. Through this method a student gains the ability to identify sound based on it's relationship to a key and not the relationship of one note to another i.e. interval training as commonly taught in many texts. THIS SPIRAL VERSION CONTAINS A CD WITH THE BOOK. All note groupings from one to six notes are presented giving the student a thesaurus of basic note combinations which develops sight singing and note recognition to a level unattainable before this Guide's existence. This book is a required text at the New York University and Princeton University Music departments.
Customer Reviews:
No Fluff, The Right Stuff.......2003-08-27
This method is excellent! If I could give it more than five stars I would. If you're willing to put in the time it pays off. I have been working on the exercises from this book for almost a year and my ear has improved tremendously. Follow Mr. Arnolds directions in the book exactly as spelled out and you will do yourself a big favor. He has put in the time learning this material himself and knows all the pitfalls of doing it wrong and has distilled a method that works. He learned from the pros and has published what he learned. If you want a nice glossy book with lots of cool pictures this isn't for you. If you want something that works get it, do it, and you'll be amazed. The bottom line is you have to the work for the results. I have noticed some reviews that note the starkness of Mr. Arnold's books. His books are all substance and no jive! He shows his dedication to the material he presents by providing a FAQ section on the museek Website. You can submit a question and he answers it right away, sometimes in minutes, never more that 24 hours. That really surprised me!
The "KEY" is the "KEY".......2001-05-03
I've been using Mr. Arnold's approach to ear training for about a month now. I have found it very challenging but on the same hand very rewarding. The main thing I have come away with from Mr. Arnold's Ear Training method is how damaging interval based ear training can be to your musical development. He believes that you must first understand how to hear the sound of all 12 notes against a key. I was a little unsure whether this all made sense but after working with this method I am seeing real progress. I'm currently using a combination of the (Ear Training One Note) and the Fanatic's Guide and I find it to be a winning combination. If you are serious about developing your ears like I am, I'd highly recommend checking this method out and starting off on the right path.
Hard but worth the effort.......2001-04-01
I bought this book about 6 months ago. I have only been working on two of the exercises so far but even that has really turned my head around about how to hear sound. I basically have found that this book has started to change my perception of how to identify sound. Though I haven't mastered the ideas presented in this book I am starting to realize that you can indeed memorize the sound of each note within a key and use this as a method to identify pitches. My overall recommendation is not to get this book if you don't have a lot of dedication to practicing. I have found the exercises to very difficult and quite honestly was about to give up a few times. I suppose each person who might buy this book is coming from a different place so my comments may not pertain to everyone. For me, I just couldn't latch onto a method of ear training that worked for me. This method is no "walk in park" but it is working and that's what matters to me.
Highly Effective.......2001-03-31
Mr. Arnold offers practical advice and information to the contemporary music student. His several books present methods for learning music in an efficient and enjoyable manner. The methods were developed and refined during his many years of teaching, and are well informed by his professional associations with many of the world's finest musicians.
I have taught music theory and aural comprehension to well over 1000 music students at New York University. These future performers and composers hail from a wide variety of musical backgrounds - classical, jazz, rock, music technology, and music theater - and I have instructed them in ear-training techniques that are similar in methodology to Mr. Arnold's. These techniques have caused dramatic improvement in almost all students that have applied themselves and allotted sufficient time for practice.
In the 10 years of our acquaintance, Bruce Arnold has consistently impressed me with his abilities as a performer, composer, and educator. I share his philosophy of ear-training instruction and feel that he has realized it in a highly functional and useful manner with his books and CDs. For these reasons, I especially recommend his materials to my students, as I recommend them to anyone with the desire to expend effective hard work in the pursuit of their musical aspirations.
Klaus Sinfelt, Assistant Director of Music Theory, Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions, New York University
My Experience.......2001-03-22
I recently purchased the Ear Training One Note Series and Fanatic's Guide by Mr. Arnold and thought I would share my experience. You can see my review of the Ear Training One Note Series under those book titles. First let's look at the positive things. I like the fact that this is a method and there are many levels and types of books in this series to help you develop at your own pace. I also like the fact that you can start with a level that is right for you and not have to purchase a book with a bunch of exercises that you already can do. But really the main thing that separates this method from any other method I read about or used is that you can contact the author through the muse-eek website if you don't understand something, need direction or just need encouragement. I had quite a few questions over the last couple of months and Mr. Arnold has responded with quite insightful responses. The author is obviously concerned for my development and helped me organize a way to work with this book and others in his series. My one main criticism of this book is that it's overwhelming. There are so many exercises and page after page of note combinations to sing that I was really confused where to start. Although for each exercise it was easy to understand what to do I just didn't know which one to do first and how to organize my practice time. I contacted Mr. Arnold about this and his explanation was that this book "is an overall encylopidia of exercises for students both beginning and advanced." Mr. Arnold directed me to the member's area of the Muse-eek website where book owners can download further information for free about this ear training method. There are lesson files for this book located there which for me really helped me organize my time and get on the road to improving. I think it's important to realize that this method of ear training is really quite different from other available methods. Mr. Arnold calls in "Contextual Ear Training" because you are always relating pitches to an underlying key or sense of key. I'm a giging musician and I've found that this type of ear training has really changed my perception over the last 6 months. Overall I have to say I'm happy with this book. For me being able to contact the author and all the help files on the publisher's website make this a great learning experience! I got the other members of my band working with this method too. In my band mate's humble opinion and mine, muse-eek has one of the best if not only distant learning place for music on the internet.
Book Description
This text presents music that is challenging, yet not overwhelming to young musicians. Drawing on their own extensive experience as composers and arrangers who adapt music for their own students, the authors have struck a balance between rigor and accessibility.
Customer Reviews:
not the best choice.......2003-11-02
Of the three texts I have used to teach college-level ear training, this is definitely the weakest. Most of the material is composed by the authors, and it is often ugly, awkward stuff. The chapters could be definitely be sequenced in a more reasonable way (the minor mode, for example, is not introduced until Ch 6) and the level of difficulty is very poorly managed. Indeed, it doesn't seem like the authors have many good ideas about how students actually learn to sight-sing - many of their primitive early exercises (rhythms without meters, melodies that wander randomly up and down the scale) are actually much more difficult than later ones.
I would strongly recommend either Richard's Ottman's "Music for Sight-Singing" or Berkowitz-Fontrier-Kraft's "A New Approach to Sight Singing" over this book.
Music fo Sight Singing.......2000-03-28
Love it, just great. superior book for serious musician wanting to improve their sight singing skill!
Book Description
Here's a course that will sharpen your sense of pitch and enable you to sing harmony with the best professionals. Includes sing-a-long exercises where you fill in the missing note in an interval or chord. Topics included are: Scales - major, minor, blues, pentatonic, chromatic, whole tone, and modes; Intervals - all intervals are included in this section; Chords - major, minor, diminished, augmented, 7th chords, dominant, add 9 chords, 6th chords; Rhythm & Meter - time signatures, simple rhythms, dotted rhythms, triplets, syncopation; Charts & Transpositions.
Customer Reviews:
Great for Leaning Music Theory.......2007-08-12
I don't understand why some reviewers are "shocked" that this is vocal music theory training, not "how to sing" lessons. It delivers exactly what it says it does, and I'm learning alot.
Step by Step Harmony..........2005-08-23
Easy, interesting stepwise approach to learning harmony, great for my students and even for some of their parents. A tin ear will become more sensitive to pitch. Very useful product!
Sweet Harmony with Musicianship.......2002-11-18
Thanks to Austin & Howard, we finally have a practical training program in Vocal Musicianship. Scales, intervals, chords, rhythm & meter are the building blocks of music. ABCs of Vocal Harmony gears to the human voice and helps you play your vocal instrument with greater skill while learning the language of music. A member of my choir found it at Amazon.com and now I have everyone using it. My choir has never sounded better. Be sure to get the CD version for maximum effect in accessing any subject or exercises at the tuch of a button.
ABCs of Vocal Harmony - Finally! - Thank you!.......2002-11-18
"Your Vocal Harmony Course is great! It's fun and encouraging too. For the first time we have something other than just a book for the kids. Having both male and female voice to listen to and match makes all the difference ... and filling in the missing notes of intervals and chords and getting immediate feedback is just what we need. Thanks." Jayne Campbell - Westlake - Harvard School
Don't Buy Unless You Want to Learn Theory.......2001-10-30
Like the last reviewer I was very disappointed by this set. Mainly because I thought this set would teach vocal techniques. This set teaches theory based information like intervals, scales, octaves, rhythms, notes,etc. Howard and Austin take you step by step vocally thorough all the theory based info on the 4 discs. Still despite my own disappointed with this set I would recommend it to anyone who desire to know theory or may be short of knowledge on music theory. However I wouldn't reccommend this to anyone who just wants to learn vocal improvement techniques or general vocal techiques.
Book Description
Designed for the sightsinging component of the Freshman and Sophomore music major curriculum, Sightsinging Complete presents the essential components of this sometimes difficult skill in a practical and effective manner. The comprehensive and systematic approach emphasizes skill through literature, drawing most of the examples from actual pieces instead of devising contrived melodies. The new exercises in this edition will serve to refresh professors, even as the exercises educate students.
Book Description
Designed for both the practicing choral director and the choral methods student, this is a compact and comprehensive overview of the many teaching methods, strategies, materials, and assessments available for choral sight-singing instruction. Sight-singing is an important, if sometimes neglected, facet of choral music education that often inspires fear and uncertainty in student and teacher alike. Written in an accessible style, this book takes the mystery out of teaching music reading. Topics covered include the history of sight-singing pedagogy and research, prominent methods and materials, and practical strategies for teaching and assessment. This is the only book to provide such a wealth of information under one cover and will become an essential part of every choral conductor's library.
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