Product Description

This guide to creating and composing music illuminates the musical ideas behind the technical facts. It covers tonality, chord sequences, tempo, rhythm, improvisation, composition, chords and chord voicings, computers and MIDI.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39298 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 122 pages

Customer Reviews

If you want to write better music, start here.
Literature is based on the 26 letters of our alphabet. From these, authors form words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters and books.

Here, Dave Stewart introduces the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. Then he encourages the wanna-be musical composer to weave them into interesting sounds. Scales, intervals, chords, rhythm and tempo are explored in detail. Clichés are exposed, alternatives suggested. Stewart unravels the theory, allowing the ordinary person to feel good about their natural music-making talents.

Comparisons between keyboard and guitar chord voicings abound. Techno-musicians will find the information on computers and MIDI invaluable. Drummers are shown beats using musical notaion. They are also introduced to alternative ideas from non-western cultures.

Reading this book made me pick up my guitar, stretch my brain and exercise my fingers. I just wish his much earlier book, "The Musician's Guide to Reading and writing Music", was still in print.

Helpful, Friendly and Fun!
Been learning the piano at home without a teacher for about a year, been trying to use all sorts of books begged and borrowed off people but this one is easily the best. You dont have to sight read music thoroughly to use it, just be able to work out which note is which. Overall the book is loaded with stuff that you actually want and need to know instead of tons of redundant stuff. The sections on chords and voicings are particularly usefull and you will be sliding through improvised chord progressions before you know it!

Mind opening to new aspects of music
I had been playing music for some time now, and decided to buy a book..and really did the best choice by buying Dave Stewart's text. I don't lie when I say I spent the first 20 pages or so in an ultimate state of extasis...there was so much useful info! and explained in an easy down to earth way, totally loved it!

The part where how different types are constructed are quite though to follow though...but if you're really into learning the basic theory behind music I'm sure you won't mind going through the pages more than once!