# Best Books For a Beginner



## Philly (Jan 26, 2012)

Hello everyone. I've been really getting into classical music lately. I've just been downloading a lot of stuff off Itunes and I'm really enjoying it. But I don't really know what I'm listening to. I took a music class in college but it covered classical music briefly because we had to cover all other types of music as well. 

I want to read some books tailored to a beginner who wants to understand the music, the different time periods and musical styles, composers, their different works, etc. Any recommendations? I was going to start with "Classical Music for Dummies" but I'm not sure if this is a good place to start. Thanks for the help.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

I would highly recommend Jan Swafford's book entitled *The* *Vintage* *Guide* *to* *Clasical* *Music.* It is written in a vein in which both musicians--and non-musicians such as myself--can be challenged and also grasp a lot of basic and advanced concepts and terms. Hope this helps you somewhat in your search.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I know this isn't entirely what you are looking for, but I use Wikipedia a lot for this. It has a huge amount of information on the different time periods (including many composers from each era), major composers, and even frequently has a list/analysis of their major works. If I want to find out more about a particular composer, or find more music by them, I will typically just go to Wikipedia and go through their most popular works, and work my way towards the more obscure ones.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I like David Hurwitz's _Beethoven or Bust_. Instead of the usual timeline-format, he emphasizes how to listen to this music. He gives a brief overview of musical styles, then he puts pieces together in listening groups and lets you compare or contrast them.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Another thing you could investigate is this open online course from Yale. Here is the outline of the contents:

http://oyc.yale.edu/music/listening-to-music/content/class-sessions


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2012)

David Dubal's "The Essential Canon of Classical Music" really helped me empty my bank account.


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## Philly (Jan 26, 2012)

BPS said:


> David Dubal's "The Essential Canon of Classical Music" really helped me empty my bank account.


Lol yea I've been doing plenty of that on my own just by browsing Itunes.

I've also been getting into audio-visual stuff as well and that's where I'm going to lose my money. I've had my eyes on one of these Peachtree iNova combos for a while and I think classical music would have the most benefit from a digital to analog conversion.

http://signalpathint.com/index.php/iNova-Combos/


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2012)

Yikes! I bought JBL active studio monitors (speakers with the amps built in, designed for super-flat response), which I can plug right into an Airport Express (for streaming music) or straight into my iPod. It's kinda weird having a home stereo with no stereo, just speakers. I paid less than those iNova combo prices but you can spend as much as you want for studio monitors. 

Bypassing the DAC built into the iPod may be a good idea, but I won't fool with that, for now at least. I think the audio quality coming out of the Airport Express might be better, but I'm not sure.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Another thing you could investigate is this open online course from Yale. Here is the outline of the contents:
> 
> http://oyc.yale.edu/music/listening-to-music/content/class-sessions


I failed that class!

(I'm not kidding. Attendance was required. I thought, "This'll be so easy, I'll pass even if I don't show up.")

Edit: Hey! What the heck? Attendance is only 5% now!? Wright's gone soft. Now I would pass it even without showing up. Now back when I took the class - and I had to walk through freezing rain uphill both there and back...


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I agree with the mention of the Vintage Guide and also of Dubal's book. One other very good one (if it matches your style as it matches mine) is Plotkin's _Classical Music 101_.


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## Philly (Jan 26, 2012)

Thanks for the help guys. All seem like great ideas. I'll get started on one of them soon. For now I'll keep listening to my generic albums off Itunes like "111 Piano Masterpieces" and "Chopin-100 Classical Masterpieces"


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Philly said:


> Thanks for the help guys. All seem like great ideas. I'll get started on one of them soon. For now I'll keep listening to my generic albums off Itunes like "111 Piano Masterpieces" and "Chopin-100 Classical Masterpieces"


You can't go wrong that way.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Hi there! Welcome to Talk Classical.

While you're here, try checking out our "sticky thread" on recommended books.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Can't go wrong here:










Fantastic book. Very concise and very compact with almost everything there is to say about classical music in just 176 pages.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I highly recommend Phil G. Goulding's book "Classical Music". It is very well written by a layman (read NOT a musician) and does a fine job of introducing a person to classical music. It can be had at Amazon for only $12.24 in paperback!










http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Music-Phil-G-Goulding/dp/0449910423

Kevin


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Kevin Pearson said:


> I highly recommend Phil G. Goulding's book "Classical Music". It is very well written by a layman (read NOT a musician) and does a fine job of introducing a person to classical music. It can be had at Amazon for only $12.24 in paperback!
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Music-Phil-G-Goulding/dp/0449910423
> 
> Kevin


Personally, I don't like that book.

However, his book on opera is phenomenal. Highly recommended.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

For opera I would always recommend this book by András Batta. It gives synopses on operas in a huge range of genres and styles in the almost 1000 page volume as well as a glossary on musical and operatic terms and much more. It can be quite expensive depending in where you get it from though (I got my copy for over $100) but it is definitely worth the money.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

For orchestration may I recommend this book by Cecil Forsyth (2nd edition 1934):










Very detailed descriptions on all instruments used in the orchestra as well as some of the more rarely used instruments (eg Wagner Tuben, heckelphone, serpent, ophicleide, classical guitar etc.). Some things are a bit out of date today though since this second edition was first published in 1934. I found out last year when one of my compositions was being rehearsed (after re-writing a whole heap of bass clarinet parts) that I didn't need to re-write them at all because of how the instrument has progressed since this publication! :lol:


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

David Hurley, _Beethoven or Bust_


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