Music Book Books

These are accurate transcriptions of many Disney favorites. A child playing diligently for a few years could tackle some of these songs. But don't think you are getting the 1998 publication. This one takes out some like "I wanna be like you", "Higitus Figitus", in order to put in more current songs from Brother Bear, Atlantis, and Treasure Planet. At last notice this book was priced at $29.95 - pretty steep in my opinion, but the publisher has cause for this list price; it's well bound and the pages are glossy and of good quality. So far my favorites to play are "Where the dream takes you" from Atlantis, "Go the Distance" from Hercules, and "Colors of the Wind" Pocahontas. But you can't beat the old classics from Snow White, Pinocchio, and Cinderella.

Beautiful songbook. Great color photographs from the Disney movies. Large collection from old to recent movies. Excellent accompaniments with singable arrangements. I highly recommend. Several songs from this book are listed in the Federation Contest List for Musical Theater vocal solos.

Nice compilation of Disney Songs. Easy to read for the beginner pianist and vocalist.

This book was the best I could find to give me music and lyrics for a wide variety of songs that my 2 yr old knows now, as well as may become familiar with in the future.

But there are two flaws: It is missing some favorite songs, and not all the verses and intro riffs are shown with the music, so you'll have to improvise if you have a drama star in your home.

The missing favorites especially seem to be from the older movies I grew up with, such as 'Never smile at a Crocodile". I presume these have been dropped over the years to make room for newer Disney tunes, but frankly, I don't have much use for the theme to "Brother Bear" for example.

Also, not all the verses and are shown with the actual sheet music. Instead, the complete lyric is shown after the song, with the music published only for the excerpt. This is annoying if you need to sing the complete song with your child.

I enjoy sitting down and playing/singing these original songs from the disney movies. They are the original arrangements and the repetoire spans from the early movies such as Mickey Mouse to the latest Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is such a great find!

This isn't really for beginners, but it is a fun addition to our piana library.

my daughters had difficulty turning the pages fast enough to keep up with the CD. They enjoyed the Book and CD though and overall i think its a fun set but be warned the Ants can only go marching so many times in a Minivan before they disapear..

A fun song and book to use with elementary children. Children love rhyming songs and this one is a great one to sing and read. You can act out the song with a classroom of students. To extend the activity, have children create their own marching song using a different animal. (dogs, cats, giraffes, etc.) They can also illustrate their own texts to create a personal picture book.

I purchased this book and cd for my grandsons, ages 13 and 26 months. They absolutely love it! I was not surprised, having previously purchased the "Fire Truck" book and cd. I don't expect them to follow along on their own. I turn the pages of the book as we go. Great choice for kids who love books and music. Very worth the money.

When I was about five, my father would read to me from this book every night at bedtime and it is one of my fondest memories of my childhood. One year he took me to see the Nutcracker Ballet and I remembered the whole story from this book. Now that I am a mother, I looked for this book for my own daughter and immediately recognized the cover even though it has been over 20 years! I was so pleasantly surprised to realize it was Maurice Sendak who had illustrated it. He is also the author of my other favorite book from my youth, Outside Over There, of which I have a signed first edition that I will pass on to my daughter. I was sad to have lost track of this book, but delighted to have tracked it down again. I hope my daughter cherishes it as much as I did, and I look forward to reading it to her when she is a bit older.

When I was young, about eight or nine years old, I desperately wanted to be a ballerina and dance in the Nutcracker. My family had gone to see a production the year before and when we went that year, I begged for a Nutcracker all my own. My mom said no, but if I asked "Santa" for one, maybe there would be one at Christmas. Well, I did, and there was none under the tree on Christmas morning. Little did I know that my aunt had was about to give me a signed copy of this book, and a Nutcracker to go with it. I will never forget curling up on the couch Christmas night, Nutcracker under one arm, and was transported to a distant land as I read and was lost in the wonderful illustrations. To this day, many years later, I still enjoy getting this book out at Christmas time and curling up on the couch. The drawings are wonderful and to this day they draw me in. It is a beautiful book, one I have cherished for many years, and one that I hope to share with my children some day.

When I was a child I had this book , as well as two audio tape versions of the story. ( one read by Claire Bloom, the other by Christopher Plummer, both are great!) If you go to see the ballet without knowing the backstory it doesn't make much sense.
I also totally disagree that the book ( and the audio versions for that matter) are only good for older children and adults. While the language may be more complex than some story books there is no reason why a young child can't understand it. If parents expose their children to more sophisticated language then they learn it. Toomany books, cds, tv shows etc... talk down to children! If a child is never exposed to language then they can't learn it. My mother and father never talked down or baby talked to me, and exposed me to a wide variety of books, when I was 2 I said "I presume...." in answer to a question my mother asked me. LOL :-)
Just a though.

Excellent book and an all time favorite for Christmas or any time...............The needed companion for the ballet !

My daughter loves the Nutcracker ballet and I thought it would be good for her to know the full story behind it (I had never heard it myself). The previous reviews and comments on the beautiful illustrations led me to believe this would be a great choice for my 5 year old daughter.

The illustrations are very similar in style to those in Where the Wild Things Are. If you don't like that book, you won't like the illustrations in this one. Also be aware that this is NOT a picture book. There is a very high ratio of text to illustrations.
I also feel the text is inappropriate for young children. The actual story is very dark and the language, while beautiful, is above the vocabulary and experience of most young children. ( "These intrepid and magnificently uniformed troops, consisting of gardeners, Tyroleans, Tunguses, barbers, harlequins, cupids, lions, and tigers, and monkeys, fought with coolness, courage, and perseverance. With their Spartan bravery, this elite regiment would have wrested the victory from the enemy, had not a daring mouse captain leaped into the fray and bitten the head off one of the Chinese emperors, who in falling crushed two Tunguses and a monkey." p32)

I WOULD recommend this book for older children.

I loved the whole tv series, bought the DVD and then the book. The book is basically the spoken words of the tv series and flows along beautifully, educating us in the basics of the classical music greats. Stunning scenery and insights into the beauty of classical europe, it takes us on a journer that we want to live in real life.

This is one to own......and if you love the book then make sure you have the DVD as well!!!

CLASSICAL DESTINATIONS: AN ARMCHAIR GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC considers the history and geography of classical music in Europe's greatest cities, blending over 200 color photos in a new title tied to the TV series and national PBS special of the same name. It's more than a biography, though it does consider the lives of the great world composers - it blends in a travelogue to the places they lived and created in, it shows how their works were influenced by the cities they lived in, and it blends travel with classical music insights in a delightful visual and written treat recommended for any library collection strong in classical music history and culture.

I wish that I would have had this book while planning my travels around Europe! The photos and stories that it comes with are absoultely amazing. As a person who loves to travel and majored in music, this book is able to tell and show the historic cities that inspired some of the greatest classical music ever! I can't wait for my next trip to Europe to see some of the things that I missed!

I am a big fan of the Doors, and Jim Morrison (went to his grave in Pere La Chaise twice) and I had long been looking for a coffee table book on Jim that was both interesting to look at and a fine read, too. This pop-up book has pockets and slides of letters, photos and mementos so well reproduced they look like originals; it's a must-have for anyone who loves arts and crafts and The Doors! Enjoy it!!

I am a devoted Jim Morrison/Doors fan but wasn't aware of this book until my nephew mentioned it to me while we were at a Ozzie/Rob Zombie concert. I promised to give it to him for his birthday. I bought it from Amazon and before I wrapped it I spent at least two hours going through it. This is the most well-conceived, cohesive, unbelievably put-together book I have ever seen. I could not stop going through it and taking all the papers out of their pockets and reading Jim Morrison's letters to his mother, report cards, letters to Jim from his pastor, teachers, etc. Every insert looks like the original document. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I gushed over it so much I hope my kids get the hint and give it to me for Mother's Day!

Excellent collector's edition book for any Jim Morrison/The Doors fan. Full of never before published pictures, handwritten lyrics and letters by Jim Morrison. A must buy for any Doors fan.

My husband loved this book and all it has to offer. This is for a true fan of The Doors and collectors.

The Jim Morrison Scrapbook *****

With the abundance of material that has been released and re-released and alternately released from the Jim Morrison estate in the past decade very little of it has been any good. It is mostly things that had already been released on one thing or another deeming it pointless to own, but not The Jim Morrison Scrapbook. Oh-no! This is phenomenal and a must have for Doors-geeks like myself. This shows sides of Morrison rarely or never shown.

Chronicling the genius from birth, poet, songwriter, lover, performer, and death. This is a book explaining all of those things about the man, but with actually tangible documents like his will, report cards, letters, his handwritten lyrics, rare seen photos; some of which have never been released to the mass public.

The Jim Morrison Scrapbook is the first in a series of "scrapbooks" being released of famous legends. As of right now a Bob Dylan, and John Lennon version is also available. This is essential for all rock fans! A must read!

My 13 year old daughter is at an intermediate piano level (level 3-4) and wanted to play something more contemporary than the piano methods, or classical scores, or the NYSMA selections. She liked the songs from High School Musical 2 better than the first, and asked me for the music. This songbook sounds authentic. The transcriptions play nicely and sound like that used in the movie. My daughter is pleased that she can now play songs that her schoolmates recognize and can sing along with.

I bought this for my 14 year old son, who is taking piano lesson's, and loved the movie's. He was very pleased with and is playing from this song book.

I'm a documentary filmmaker currently producing a feature documentary about the history of urban planning. I'm going to be relying on use of a lot of archival material, so when I saw this book on the Focal Press site several months back, I pre-ordered and anxiously awaited its arrival.

I was already familiar with the popular footage licensing archives and have spent many hours perusing material in the Prelinger collection at archive.org, and also quite familiar with other topics the book covers such as Fair Use and how E&O insurance comes into play - so I had the usual reservations about whether this book would have too much more to offer. My worries were put to rest. This book is right on target for anyone embarking on any sort of project that is going to require the use of archival footage.

I think the book might best be described as a sort of prologue to the work that eventually takes place whether a professional archival researcher is hired or a producer is going at it on their own. The segway from the book as prologue and the beginning of archival research is the book's website which has a fairly comprehensive list with brief descriptions of each source of footage that the book covers. This list is incredibly useful on its own. Having read the book, however, I feel armed and prepared to not make many mistakes I may otherwise have made just going down the list - mistakes which could have cost money, time, or even prevented me from obtaining footage I hope to use. The book sets up and explains the theoretical background many archives operate on - and dispels some of the mystique of some of the larger corporate and network archives (Getty Images, NBC, etc.)

Where the book adds an interesting dimension is in its discussion of Copyright law. To read between the lines, there is an urging that because we live in a time and place where we have amazing access to great quantities of material it is criminal not to make use of it. The extent to which Youtube contains copyright violating work is a vote of no-confidence in existing copyright law. Things are changing very quickly and the regulations which have bound and often prevented unadulterated creativity by way of use of other's material are not as restrictive as they once were.

Authors have been quoting other authors for centuries, musicians have been sampling other musicians for decades, and we now live in an era in which films and videos can make use of pre-existing content to create new works without the mega-budgets of TV networks or studios. This book is an excellent guide to navigating the still often rough waters of archival footage research and licensing and I know I'll be thankful to have read it as I begin pulling material for my own project.

excellant review of strengthening practices for finger, hand and wrist. Nothing new, older book, but man what a value for an aspiring percussionist!

That quote stuck with me from a Peter Erskine video in which he pays homage to (though doesn't directly mention) the genius of Jim Chapin. I spent part of my workday cutting and pasting from this book to get the exercises to fit on one page because I wanted to remove distractions such as turning the book page mid-exercise! This requires we focus.

What is especially nice is that this book relates the ideas in a musical context. Not just doing a complicated rudiment that you probably won't use: this stuff you can use right away.

I agree that this is a must have for drummers regardless of style. Especially rock drummers, like myself. It has opened up a whole new world of ideas. I found it easiest to start with the dotted eighths and triplet sections (1A and 1C) before trying the eighths and sixteenths sections (1B and 1D). This book is one of the treasures of my library, and it has dramatically improved by playing in only one month. This after playing for 25 years.

This book is full of challenges and inspiration!

DEFINITELY, A 5 STAR CLASSIC...DRUMMERS NEED TO HAVE THIS........IT S ESPECIALLY A GREAT EXERCISE TRY TO PLAY THE EXERCISES IN THE HIHAT, PAYING ATTENTION TO THE CORRECT ARTICULATION.AND ITS GREAT THAT NOW IT CAMES WITH 2 CDS, SO NOW WE CAN HEAR HOW THE EXERCISES SOUND , ACCORDING TO THIS TRUE DRUMMING LEGEND:MR. JIM CHAPIN!!!!

This book is designed with the jazz drummer in mind, but the exercises will help all players develop independence. The cymbal / hi-hat pattern is pretty consistent through the entire book book - the dotted 16th pattern that is common in be-bop. This means that the right hand is doing the same thing in pretty much every exercise, assuming you are right handed. Despite this, the exercises can be quite challenging, especially as the book progresses. To keep things interesting, alternate the sticking so that your non-dominant hand plays the cymbal pattern. The CDs are great and are helpful in understanding the trickier patterns. It's easy to see why this book is a standard among jazz drummers, but any drummer will benefit from mastering the patterns in this book.

There are things that I didn't expect, that surprised me a little bit about his character, but if anything, seeing Anthony come through all of these situations only upped my respect for him as an actor, as a writer, and as a person.

This book really moved me with Rapp's emotional honesty, and I echo the praises from previous reviewers. I rate it as 4 stars because, like a previous reviewer suggested, I feel it tended to drag a bit at the end and could have ended a chapter earlier. I strongly suggest the audio recording, especially for fans of Rent and of Anthony. Hearing him read the story himself (particularly for the small and poignant personal moments, like the frequent "Hi, Mama"--"Hi, Tonio" exchanges with his mother--it broke my heart every time) was an intimate and powerful experience, and when I finished I felt I had just had a long and passionate conversation with a friend--which i was very sorry to end.

Anthony Rapp tells an emotional story about personal life, love, and loss as he describes the years surrounding the phenomenon that is Rent. This is a book no Renthead should be without. Afer reading this book, I feel like I have gotten to know Anthony as a person, and gotten a rare glimpse through Anthony's eyes of the man that was Jonathan Larson.

Anthony Rapp was in on the creation of the masterpiece which became the Broadway sensation "Rent," almost from the beginning. He has written his memoir of that experience with great sensitivity and insight.

This book is a riveting tale about the creative process, how a play goes through its evolution to get to Broadway, and how every once in awhile a theatrical miracle can happen which changes everyone's lives. "Rent" is such a miracle. I just saw the play once again on Broadway this past weekend. I took my teenaged daughters to see it. After eleven years, it is finally closing down some time this year. If you cannot get to New York to see the play, rent the movie. It's not as good, but almost.

I loved this book, and recommend it to anyone who has ever overcome adversity to pursue a dream.

This book is amazing. It's a great read, easy to follow and really hits at your heart. I would reccommend it to everyone.