Picking out books on Music
My name is Trudi, and I’m a music teacher in Truly Musical, a music school based out of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. I primarily teach piano, as well as general musical theory, and I blog regularly about all things related to the craft of teaching and playing piano. My lessons prioritise the development of the student musically, and although I am classically trained, I encourage students to explore all styles during their time with me.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or are looking to start your journey into music; I’m always happy to share my tips!
I had a challenge in December, to pick out music theory and tutor books for an adult wishing to go back to the Piano, but with the intention of learning Jazz Piano. The gift receiver took lessons as a child and teenager in classical Piano, and completed exams with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), before turning their attention from piano to guitar and Drums in their teens, stopping classical piano lessons altogether.
The challenge was to find a combination music books, sheet music and music theory books that cover the basics and the advanced, trying to fill in the gaps of music theory and musicianship that have been forgotten or glossed over, and to retrain the ear. Equally important, is materials that will motivate and inspire the reader to continue their love of the piano and enjoy working on their skills daily, producing real improvement.
The main idea to remember is that piano lessons are like riding a bike, you never really forget the muscle memory, so some ideas you encounter will be picked up quickly, other ideas will require work. The best approaches are ones which increase your overall musicianship in the different categories of sight reading, aural skills, technical ability, music theory, stamina and memory/recall -- all of which are linked.
All these skills deteriorate if not practiced regularly, but with patience and targeted practice they can be built back up together. So before looking for books for this person, I asked myself a few questions to inform my research and help guide my choices.
What educational level has the person attained generally?
Someone who isn’t currently studying or researching at university level would generally find the academic books in music on Composition, Harmonic Analysis and Music History very inspiring to read at the beginning, but they can be tough to get through. So, I would suggest a mix of academic books and ones that are lighter, so that in areas the academic book moves too fast it can be looked at and broken down further. The lighter books are a good complement for these breakdowns, but even creating a reference point for an important issue which can then be googled is of huge benefit. As the person begins using and reading the books, they will be able to catalogue the areas that need work, or further explanation, or even new areas of interest.
Many Musicians and Composers and Performers have published books over the years with the express intention of explaining music theory or history with more engaging language. Below is an example of the same subject but delivered differently.
In the area of Music History
(Less Dense)
‘The Story of Music’ – Howard Goodall
‘The Rest is Noise’ – by Alex Ross
(More Dense)
‘A History of Western Music Ninth Edition’
– by J. Peter Burkholder (Author), Donald Jay Grout (Author), Claude V. Palisca (Author)
Regardless of density, all are excellent for late-teens to adults interested in music history.
Thankfully when looking at books, even online, you can generally pick up the audience level of the book from the blurb provided. Specifically, whether a certain level of music knowledge is needed or if it is aimed at a more general audience. Typically, the blurb plus a review or two will provide you with enough info to know if it’s in your student’s, friend’s or your personal ballpark. So you can pick and choose between lighter reading and heavier reading easily enough.
“Hey Trudi, any books you’d recommend while we’re here?” “Sure, why not try these?”, she said.
The AB Guide to Music Theory Part I & II
The Dynamics of Harmony – George Pratt
Structural Functions of Harmony & Fundamentals of Musical Composition – by Arnold Schoenberg
Harmony in Practice Workbook and Answer-Book –
by Anne Butterworth (lots of teaching harmony and exercises in harmony)
This is your Brain on Music – By Daniel Levitin
The Art of Piano Playing – by Heinrich Neuhaus
The Art of Practicing – by Madeline Bruser
The Inner Game of Music & The Mastery of Music – by Barry Green
For children and teenagers, there are a vast array of tutor books to suit every age group and ability – but again the music may not be what the student wants to play. There are excellent books from RIAM on music theory for classical music grades which are more geared to children and teenagers learning the piano, as it gives you a little bit of information at a time instead of all at once which is how adults prefer to learn.
Adult students prefer to have all the information at once and process it all together, as they like to be in control of their learning, younger students are used to the education system building up little pieces at a time, but there are always exceptions to the rule, so have a think about the person’s learning habits.
What are their learning habits?
Do they respond well to games and lots of visuals? There are apps and online sites like mymusictheory.net and Tonedear.com. These provide games for sight-reading tests, aural tests like chord recognition, interval recognition, chord progressions and lots more – and they are free.
Do they play by ear mostly at present? Then books of sheet music with CD’s or access to downloadable audio of the sheet music are a great idea! With these their sight-reading skills will improve as their ear re-learns the connections between notes on a page and what they sound like in their ears and head.
Why have they been motivated to re-learn the piano?
In this particular case it is this student’s love of jazz music and the piano in jazz, which points me in the specific direction of jazz sheet music and jazz theory. Taking into account the learning habits and the motivation of the person, we have an adult with third-level education and a musical background. This student also had a certain level of classical theory and technical ability on the piano, but then had progressed further in their musicianship skills with guitar and drums and their technical ability on these instruments.
For these reasons I settled on three books:
Berklee Jazz Standards for Solo Piano: With Downloadable Audio – By Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
How to Really Play the Piano: The Stuff Your Teacher Never Taught You – By Bill Hilton
The Jazz Piano Book – by Mark Levine (Used in University Jazz Degrees/Programmes)
Why these three?
Between them, these books cover the basics all the way to the advanced. For instance, the Mark Levine book moves quite quickly and is more dense, while the Bill Hilton book fills in the blanks and takes chord theory and improvising in jazz back to the beginning. The Jazz Standards Sheet music is a good place to start, they are standards everyone knows, and students will play them regularly in jazz. They form a strong cornerstone for an early repertoire.
On a personal note, I had stopped learning new music for a few years and stopped regularly playing. But it was wanting to play specific classical pieces I heard again while watching Netflix of all places that gave me the motivation to jump start my piano playing and enjoy learning again. So for me, lots of sheet music by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, Mozart, and a Spotify membership would be an ideal gift for a returning student, and perhaps a book on a famous composer or on the theory of composition.
What level did they reach on the piano before they stopped playing?
Did they stop music altogether or move onto another instrument? If they moved onto another instrument then their musical education did not stop at the level the piano was finished. For example, their theory and aural skills were still being trained just on a different instrument and or genre.
The question would be raising the technical ability of playing piano to the current level of their theory and aural skills. This would be accomplished by playing technical exercises and learning new music that increases in technical difficulty in the genre that they are interested in. Then all the skills will improve at more or less the same speed when the technical ability to play has caught up with the minds understanding of the aural and theory.
If the person stopped piano and did not play a musical instrument in between this time, then they would be a level or two below where the finished in technical ability. Fear not, with some exercises this comes back quickly. But the aural skills and sight-reading would be quite rusty and would need more constant, and consistent work, to improve.
For these people I would suggest the tutor books directed at adults, as you can speed through the beginning as a recap and jump in where you left off. To reiterate, tutor books with audio to listen to, or backing tracks to play along with would be helpful to the process. Also remember to get sheet music in a genre that they want to play, one which is just slightly above their current level to keep it challenging but not insurmountable a challenge.
A good idea is to have one piece of music that is difficult to inspire you. This can act as an overall goal in your mind. You can try to learn to play this difficult piece slowly over a year or even two, but every technique that challenges you in the music is an opportunity to get creative with learning by finding technical exercises and other pieces with the same challenges but at a much easier level. Sort of like your own journey to mastering the piece!
In this manner you are building up technical ability slowly on easier pieces, so you won’t force an injury or repetitive strain, and the difficult piece will slowly come together over time. The benefit is that a lot of new music is now learned within your current ability, and in your memory banks which aids in sight reading skills, aural skills, performance skills, memory and recall etc. A multi-pronged approach is much more creative and interesting for an individual rather than only playing one piece of music until you hate it and it can be played. Talk about torturing yourself!
If none of this helps with the present buying, there is the subscription route with websites providing beginner lessons and other learning aids. These include walking you through well-known classical pieces, along with sheet music sites that you can subscribe to for access to many genres.
You can choose the aforementioned Spotify membership, or a gift card for online book shops like the book depository or Amazon to research and purchase the books that interest them. There are also paid and free apps available for beginner level and intermediate on improving sight reading, aural skills etc., and music composition apps and programs like Sibelius and MuseScore which can be free or paid.
A lovely idea would be to install the software or apps and show the person how to set it up and to get it working for them, if they are unsure of how to do it. I hope that this blog has helped inspire you with gift ideas for others or even ideas for yourself! Best of luck in your practising, and feel free to reach out to me through my contact details on the site if you wish to learn more, ask any questions, or if you’re interested in studying music with me at Truly Musical, Arklow, Co. Wicklow.