Music Book Books

If I could this book would have recieved 1/2 a star that is only because there were some interesting photos in the middle of the book, otherwise this was a poor excuse for a tell all. First of all, I don't believe much of what was written should have been written, is Carmen completely unaware of the fact that her daughter will have to live with this for the rest of her life. What child do you know wants their mother's sexual escapades splashed in a book for the world to read. Secondly so many of her words toward the end of the book tended to be cheap shots at the women who won the hearts of the men who just used her. It seemed like alot of sour grapes. I mean does anyone really believe that she kept Jay Z at arms length? All in all, this was a pathetic attempt.

I did not get a good impression of this young woman and wondered what those two high profile hip hop stars saw in her. She thinks nothing of her promiscuity, and seems to enjoy describing her sexcapades with all these different men. And anybody who allows her apartment to be turned into a crack lab can't be too bright, especially the glib, matter-of-fact way she describes this in her book. She makes the same mistakes over and over again, which becomes really annoying, but then again, this woman is not the sharpest pencil in the box.

The only reason she was able to get published is because of her affiliation with two high-profile hip hop stars. I feel sorry for her daughter Destiny, because this woman is not a good role model for her little girl.

The book was good enough to read and pretty much get an insight of how her relationships with Nas and Jay Z really went . I enjoyed the book not the best book i have ever read but it will do if you are a die hard Jay Z or hip hop fan like me. It was a look inside their personal lives that you very rarely get to seeas far as african american celebrities lives go.

I bought this book because I was tired & bored of reading "serious" literature. It took 6 months for me to finally pick it up and read it and all I can tell you is that it's a waste of time. If you have graduated from high school or have even obtained a GED - don't read it. Its an insult even to a mentally challenged persons intelligence. This chick is nothing but a bird. Three quarters of the book made me angry at her. One that she is a woman and two she is black. She is no Helen of Troy - she's not even a Flavor of Love chick.

Waste of time. It's like re-reading a book by Karin Steffans B.K.A "superhead". This isn't no hip-hop Helen of Troy as the title states. She got her 15 minutes of fame. Now it's time to get a real life and move on.

As one reads this book he must be alert to know the truth. Mr. Kavanaugh writes from a very broad and quasi-Christian viewpoint. His conclusion is that the majority, if not all the composers he writes about are Christian. He assumes all music written by these composers to be without flaw. As near as I can tell he believes that music is amoral. That is, he believes that music can not be right or wrong. This idea is at odds with the supposed Christianity of these composers. Oh, I'm sure many of them were believers. I can tell you though that not all are. And so you see my dilema. I love classical music and reading about the composers. However, I don't enjoy having to sift through a bunch of rubbish posing as spirituality.

I loved it. Great stories. Great insights.
Rev Dr Robert Driver-Bishop, author "People of Purpose."

I purchased this book to expand my families appreciation for classical music. We are beginners, at best, and it's hard to know where to start to broaden your understanding. This book was VERY insightful. It is one thing to listen to the music and attempt to appreciate it, but to understand the perspective of the composer and the purpose of major pieces puts everything in a new light. I am really pleased with this purchase.

I used information from this book as a part of my weekly Piano Theory classes this past summer. Each week we studied and listened to music from a different pianist/composers. This added real-life understanding of the composers, as opposed to data and factual information from standard reference sources. After the summer classes were over, I gave copies of this book to each student as a gift. The composers came alive for them, and they learned about them in a personal way.

This was a neat little book for folks that like classical music. It gives us something of the personal and spiritual sides of great composers, as well as short summaries of their musical careers. It was good to know something about them besides their names and music, and to get some nice tips on great music you might not be familiar with.

I found that Mozart was not quite the consummate party animal he is portrayed as in `Amadeus', the movie, at least not for his whole life. The author, Patrick Kavannaugh, asks us how each of us would like to have our lives put into biographies for public consumption. I know I would have to pass on that. I found that Haydn was happy and friendly, just like his music. Bruckner was a little hard too know, but well worth the effort to do so, just like his music. Folks like Beethoven, Wagner, and Liszt were very spiritual, though you don't hear much about that, and would not suspect so.

It was also surprising to me that most of them were Catholic, but I guess that makes sense since the Catholic Church has always been a great patron of the arts. Certainly, Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's Mass are two of the greatest choral pieces ever written.

The book was a little gem for those of us who like classical music.

This book should have been entitled how to sell your song writing professionally. This book has little to do with creating or writing music. The title is very misleading and I feel like I just flushed a wad of hard earned money down the toilet. About the only thing useful in this book is some of the information on how to get your music noticed and circulated, which doesn't interest me since I have no ambition to become a professional musician.

I bought this book when a musician friend recommended it to me. As someone who writes lyrics and who doesn't have even the most basic knowledge of musical terminology, I was looking for something that wasn't too technical and something that wouldn't completely confuse me when I tried to read it. This book definitely fit the bill.

Songwriting for Dummies isn't perfect. It could have done without all the self-promotion of Survivor and 38 Special and it could have done with more late '60s, early '70s music. I was disappointed to find that Stevie Nicks was mentioned in connection with "Bootylicious." Plus, the more technical explanations of writing music caused me to skim over a couple of the chapters. But the overall package gave me what I was looking for.

Despite going through a long period when I would start reading a book, put it down and then forget about it, I concentrated on reading this book and finished it in a matter of days. I enjoyed picking it up and reading it and going back over certain chapters again when necessary.

If you want to find a book that covers chord progressions in great detail, this book isn't for you, but if you want something that touches on the basics of lyrics and melodies, plus gives you an example of the kind of artist rights issues many songwriters face, this is a good reference.

If you write any type of music, get this, sit down with pen & pad, and enjoy yourself. There are helpful tips and lessons to keep you absorbed and hungry for more.

It's okay for lyric writing, but it is not really what I had hoped for. It's okay, but not the best reference for music students.

Interesting, useful, well done. If you are iterested in songwriting this is an indispensable tool; doesn't matter if you know nothing about music theory. Don't miss it.

Just what I`ve been looking for. A not so intense and fun
way to learn how to play piano and take advantage of all
those great Fake Books available.

Easy and usefull. Just the essential for an absolute begginer explained in a plane manner.

a good introduction to playing a piano.easy to follow but got a bit to techinal at the end as if the writer wanted to finish the book .

I feel that though the book makes learning seem easy, there is still a lot of work to be done by the individual to learn the piano. It does however break learning into easy steps, and is a great tool for the person who would like to take a more laissez faire attitude to learning, or who cant afford a teacher just yet.

It has also helped me rekindle my interest in playing. Nice idea indeed.

My first venture into piano lessons and I have enjoyed it. Using basic chords I was playing nice sounding music in no time; not the one finger tunes. I recommend this to anyone who wants to play the piano and sound good from the start.

This is going to be a great tool for finding rhymes. It is exactly as it promises. What else can I say?

I purchased the Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary for my son, a budding songwriter. It seems to be good enough for his dad, a seasoned songwriter, to borrow pretty consistently. They have both found it useful and are singing its praises!

I really love this dictionary. It's really useful and this is perfect size to carry around with you in your bag.
I'm using this book for song writing and joy!

this is a nice book, but there are other rhyme dictionaries out that are alot better in my opinion.... but if your looking for something small that will get the simple job done- this is for you....

I received this book a few days after I ordered it and it was in excellent condition. I have yet to receive anything from or through Amazon that wasn't in good condition, as stated in the advertisement of the product. I did have one book that came from an obvious heavy smoker, and when I opened the envelope, the smell was overwhelming. After immediately airing out the book, it was completely usable, and I had no further problem with it. I love using Amazon because it saves me bundles of money I can spend on other things - like more products! Good job, Amazon, and all its sellers!

Great Amazon Price as usual.
This Book is written by a pro and made easy for us to follow, he knows his stuff and teaches us some invaluable tricks.
Apple Logic Pro is going to be around for a long time, like everything Apple touches it shines and this book is a great start to help you learn alot more that the basics.
Lastly try maprovideo.com, I can't think of better tutorials at better prices on the net than those pros teach.
I Highly recommend this book.

I thought i was going to find inside this book a large amount of tips & tricks about which plug-ins and shortcuts are most useful to take advantage of logic pro at the max. But wasn't it. If you are already a logic user, don't buy this book. You already know everything if you have spent some time trying the different features inside logic. It's just a technical book, it's just like the manual sorted in different way. Manual is sorted by windows/options. This book is sorted by necessities, and the information contained is almost the same.
A good book if you are a bit lazy to explore logic. You have a dvd with examples that you could do yourself. Not a good book if you already know which plug-ins are available in LP8 and what use them for.

This is an excellent book. But it's still just an introduction to Logic Pro 8. The reader is treated as a relative beginner without the instructions being over-simplified. It's well worth the read just to get familiar with the new keyboard shortcuts. Most chapters are updated from the previous `Advanced LP7' book, but with all the new navigation techniques explained. There are several chapters that are completely remade with great projects and fascinating results. Even `The Environment' exercise was actually fun. A more advanced book in this series would be much appreciated, with lots of midi editing and mixing techniques. Also, a demonstration of the `MainStage' and `Logic Nodes' programs that come packaged with LP8 now would be helpful.

After teaching a course at the community college level using this book (which I inherited, on short notice), I can honestly say that there must be better options for learning music fundamentals. I am examining other textbooks for next year, and can guarantee that Ottman's will NOT be among them.

Ottman seperates elements that would be best be consolidated (i.e. rhythmic elements). While he suggests an organizational scheme to reorder the book and keep elements together, the way the text is written would obliterate any benefit from doing so. Ottman's writing style is dry, and tends to be overloaded with advanced detail that is best left to a 1st-semester theory class. At times, Ottman can also come across as condescending towards the reader, which irritated my students (and this instructor) greatly.

Ottman also makes the mistake of assuming that everyone who is learning music fundamentals is familiar with, or interested in, classical music. The musical examples included in the book tend to be as dry as his writing style. Some folk songs are simply labeled with the country of origin; without the lyrics, they are just boring. Many other textbooks successfully integrate examples from popular music with the classical examples; this book would benefit from such an integration.

Not all is lost, as Ottman does a decent job with the Appendix, which looks towards serious study of music theory. He also does well with repetition within exercises. The book also includes a detachable keyboard card, which visually links each key with its representation on the grand staff. But generally, these features alone do not merit a recommendation.

This book will teach the practicing musician everything you they could possibly need to know about music theory and notation. As a beginner of music studies, I found it all a bit mind bending at first. My advice is to just hang in there and before you know it, the long words and scary looking notation sections will all make sense. I borrowed this book and am now trying to find a copy to purchase (that doesn't cost over $100 aus) as I know I shall be using it as a reference tool for many years to come. For the serious musician, it's a must have.

This text book was used in my music history class. I felt that it provided a fairly comprehensive overview of the span of time and composers it covers. It was especially valuable when used with the accompanying CDs. The info given about each composer and the featured piece was very helpful. Usually, the pieces chosen to represent each composer were good examples and in many cases inspired further study. My only real complaint about this anthology is that they don't always put the whole piece or movement in the book.It would be nice to have a score reference that would be more complete in this way.

My grandson (22 months) laughs when this is read and at the same time has learned the names of various musical instruments

This book is delicious! A parody on the song, " I know an old Lady who Swallowed a Fly", "I know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello" is funnier and delightfully illustrated. I purchased it because I am a music educator, and I highly recommend it for children from ages 3 to 100, but only if they have active imaginations.

This book is a trip ! I teach Music K-2 and all the children loved this book. The best part about Shy Fellow is that it's a great teaching tool in terms of all different musical instruments swallowed. The children were amused, curious and interested with every page!
Music Teachers: I highly recommend this book !!

The kids in my class loved singing along. I read/sang it with my K-3 music students. They all know the tune and enjoyed this variation. I used it to introduce various instruments and as a memory test for the kids. Cute pictures, well written. Just be ready to explain the word "bellow."

Barbara S. Garriel has created an interesting shy fellow who has an almost never ending appetite for musical instruments. With the artistry of John O'Brien and the writing talents of Ms. Garriel, this shy fellow takes a whimsical journey that will have everyone smiling. This book is a "must have" !

"I'd as soon preach undressed as unprepared" this is a quote applied to the man who occupied the pulpit of Westminster Chapel from 1938-1968.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a medical doctor turned preacher and many have said that if he had wanted to he could have become Prime Minister. Lloyd-Jones was a unique man indeed. However, it was not his high intellect that distinguished him as a preacher but rather his ability to communicate theological truth in an understandable, digestible, but not less than convicting manner. It is fitting then that we should have a book by Lloyd-Jones on the subject of preaching.

Preaching and Preachers is a compilation of lectures given by Lloyd-Jones to the students of Westminster Theological Seminary in the spring of 1969.

Personally, I found the book to be a refreshing tonic to me, a young preacher. I felt like I was visiting with him in a coffee shop and just talking shop with him. I asked a lot of questions in the margins took notes and spent a considerable time pondering many of his pregnant quotes.

"To love to preach is one thing, to love those to who we preach quite another"

"What is preaching? Logic on fire! Eloquent reason!"

"Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire"

"Preachers are born, not made."

"...true preaching does deal with personal problems, so much so that true preaching saves a great deal of time for the pastor."

There is little doubt that Lloyd-Jones was both scripturally and experientially convinced of the primacy of preaching. He beat the drum over and over again about the need for the preacher to do his work in the study and then communicate the truth to his people that they might grow. His chapters entitled The Primacy of Preaching, No Substitute, The Preparation of the Preacher, and Demonstration of the Spirit and of the Power clearly display this.

In addition, there were a couple of things that stuck out from the pages as repeated themes to me.

First was Lloyd-Jones' continued emphasis upon the need to effectively communicate. He did not reduce preaching down to only being able to being able talk in front of people, but he did emphasize the need for the preacher to thoughtfully, prayerfully, and intentionally craft his sermon in such a way that he, as much as he is able by the grace and Spirit of God, may have a maximum impact on his hearers.

Secondly, Lloyd-Jones repeatedly emphasized the need for a preacher to preach expositionally, that is to bring out the meaning from the text rather than to have a theme or topic and impose it on the text. Coming from a guy who did this faithfully for numerous decades I come away encouraged from his high resolve for biblical and theological exposition.

As with any intriguing fellow Lloyd-Jones has his quirks; he said and did things that I would not do. But I am in no position to here to say anything except my own thankfulness for the grace of God in the life of Lloyd-Jones and the benefit of others like me.

Lloyd-Jones was arguably one of the greatest preachers of the modern era. His convictions that are communicated through these lectures should ring to the depths of the sould of any pastor that dares to step into the pulpit to "herald" a message from God. The style of writing makes it a slower read but the truths relayed in it are profound. The only negative mark is that Lloyd-Jones seems to be the hero of His own stories a lot. If you want to be shaped in your preaching this is a must have book.

This title came highly recommended, I found that it is truly a classic on the issues that are faced by those who feel called to preach. If you buy only one book on preaching this should be it. If you have others this should be part of your library.

The greatest strength of this book is that it addresses such a wide range of topics relating to the preacher and sermon/message. The book is not an instruction book with lots of steps. It could be described as a "character" book. It discusses the character of the preacher, the congregation, the sermon, and "accessories". Most other books will dedicate themselves to just one of these topics, but Dr. Lloyd-Jones deals with all of them. In some ways, he weaves these four areas together like four separate threads, but he does so without losing the distinction each has.

A secondary strength of this book is that the author encourages his readers to allow for freedom for the Holy Spirit to take over. At times, he tells his readers to avoid doing something but then he shows how he did the exact opposite on an occasion or two. He emphasizes that his advice should not be taken as an unbending rule because the preacher doesn't know when God is going to take over.

The primary weakness of this book is that the required reading level is higher than most people read at today. Dr. Lloyd-Jones uses a much bigger vocabulary than most people possess today. Also the book is based on spoken lectures which does not come across the same when read. The book is also longer (325 pages) than most modern people read.

I would not recommend this book to those that don't bother reading "meaty" books. They would waste their money on a book that will only sit on their shelf. This book needs to be read by those that want or need to be challenged literarily and prepositionally. Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes many statements that come across as reactionary and I believe that these statements would challenge the thinking of so many people that get caught up in the latest fashion.

Lloyd Jones book on preaching is the best I have read. Of the over 50 books that I have read on preaching, his book is definitely the best. This book is not necessarily a how-to, its more a philosophy book - something that preachers today need to think more about. Too many are concerned with the method and not the man. Being the right man, filled with the anointing, is crucial before you can use the right method. This is what the book is all about. If you don't have it buy it, it will be a valuable investment for not just your library, but also your life.