Book Description
Natural swimming pools rely on the correct balance of plants and microorganisms to clean and purify the water. They are a safe place for children to play and birds to drink, and are a dramatic example of ecological design, combining the natural and man-made worlds while creating beauty. These pools offer enjoyment not only in the warm months, but during winter, too, when they can be used for ice skating and other activities. Often the focal point of a garden, natural swimming pools blend into their environments, flowing into the surroundings with plants and rocks.They reflect the changing seasons and they enhance the environment naturally. They are easy and less costly to maintain than chemical pools, providing significant savings in water. Chlorine and other common pool chemicals are hazardous to human health and are not used. This book is a necessary resource for anyone interested in having a natural swimming pool and shows how a natural swimming pool system works, as well as the environmental, health, and safety benefits it offers. Drawings, diagrams, and charts cover planning, design, biology, materials, construction, planting, and maintenance. Over 300 beautiful color pictures feature projects that will inspire you to have your own natural water garden where you can swim in harmony with nature at any time.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect book.......2007-09-04
Great book for all aspects of creating a variety of green/natural pools. Beautiful pictures and good illustrations and copy to help in decision making.
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK .......2007-08-22
Simply put this book is a MUST READ for anyone intersted in any aspect of Sustainable and Ecological Design. It should be read right along with Permaculture by Mollison, the Passive Solar Handbook by Mazria, Rainwater Harvesting by Lancaster, and ecocities to Living Machines by Todd. Even if you aren't specifically interested in making a swimming pool (which you will be after reading it) the insights into the workings of hydro-ecologies and how to design natural systems are invaluable!
If you aren't interested in the whole range of sustainability but just this particular topic of pool design then this book is STILL A MUST READ. If you're an ecologist who wants to make a pool, or a pool designer who wants to do something ecological this book provides an excellent layman's understanding of ecological design, with good technical and artistic advice for how to do it, and good technical and artistic advice for swimming pool construction.
I would still advise you to also purchase the book Poolscaping as a companion to this one.
This is an all around excellent book buy it now.
Beautiful photos; strange text.......2007-08-01
Thumbing through the book will make you want to move to Austria or Germany where beautiful "natural" pools are somehat established. Why is the U. S. so environmentally backward? Unfortunately, the text is awkwardly translated at times such that one has to struggle to figure out what is meant with limited success.The assumption is that one is swimming only in the summer, but in California we may want to swim year round. Useful especially since so little information is available. Can't understand why the publisher didn't insist on professional proofreading.Buy it for inspiration, or wait for the next edition, or wait for one more applicable to your area. It does provide info in the back about two U.S resources, one in CA.
Very complete book .......2007-02-24
Is the book i need for learning on natural swimming pool. Now i can make my own pool
Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE!.......2007-02-09
This large sized book covered the subject exceedingly well in lots of color photos with explanations and, more importantly, in lots of diagrams and nuts and bolts descriptions. I only read sections here and there but what I did read clearly indicated to me that you could actually use this book to build a natural swimming pool. At the least, you could definitely make a solid decision whether or not you could build or would want to build such a pool on your property. These pools are basically like salt water aquariums in that you have to make a biosphere and monitor it. In some ways it's not as easy as it sounds but also not as hard as it sounds. However, start up takes time and it can be tricky to finally reach environmental stabilization. I am not going to build a natural pool but I still found this book very useful. At the end this book are MANY pages of water plants and trees recommended for certain types of water areas. There are zone maps of the US included for reference. So even if you just want to make a little ornamental fountain in a big pot on the patio deck or a pond or a bog out back, this book has a VERY comprehensive set of plant lists you will find exceedingly useful. 18 pages of them. Categories include Submerged Plants, Floating Plants, Floating Leaved Plants, Shallow Marginal Plants, Deep Marginal Plants, Moisture-loving Plants, Bog/Marsh Plants, Waterside Plats-Trees & Shrubs, Ferns, Grasses Sedges Reeds and Rushes. Botanical and Common Names are listed along with height, spread, water depth, flower color, flower period, foliage, position, comments and plant zone. It's the best I've seen in any book so far.
Book Description
In her first two books, Byron Katie showed how suffering can be ended by questioning the stressful thoughts that create it, through a process of self-inquiry she calls The Work. Now, in
A Thousand Names for Joy, she encourages us to discover the freedom that lives on the other side of inquiry.
Stephen Mitchell—the renowned translator of the Tao Te Ching—selected provocative excerpts from that ancient text as a stimulus for Katie to talk about the most essential issues that face us all: life and death, good and evil, love, work, and fulfillment. The result is a book that allows the timeless insights of the Tao Te Ching to resonate anew for us today, while offering a vivid and illuminating glimpse into the life of someone who for twenty years—ever since she “woke up to reality” one morning in 1986—has been living what Lao-tzu wrote more than 2,500 years ago.
Katie’s profound, lighthearted wisdom is not theoretical; it is absolutely authentic. That is what makes this book so compelling. It’s a portrait of a woman who is imperturbably joyous, whether she is dancing with her infant granddaughter or finds that her house has been emptied out by burglars, whether she stands before a man about to kill her or embarks on the adventure of walking to the kitchen, whether she learns that she is going blind, flunks a “How Good a Lover Are You?” test, or is diagnosed with cancer. With her stories of total ease in all circumstances, Katie does more than describe the awakened mind; she lets you see it, feel it, in action. And she shows you how that mind is yours as well.
Customer Reviews:
A thousand ways it's fabulous.......2007-09-15
I usually buy these kinds of books but then only read the first and last chapters. I not only read this entire book, I truly enjoyed it. She's the real deal, Ms. Byron Katie. I've never attended a workshop of hers, but I feel like I know her already. And her exercises have really started to change my life.
Striking insight into the mind of a woman who lives beyond attachment.......2007-09-05
Mindfulness practices and philosophies often say, "Be happy, and accept what Is. Be present." *cynical snort* Easy to say, impossible to do. The Devil is daily life. Sure, the Dalai Lama is serene. He meditates seven hours a day, has all his physical needs provided for by others, and needn't deal with any daily details. And he's celibate--no spouse to help him get dressed ("Oh, Tenzin, surely you're not wearing the maroon robes, again!"), and no teenage kids. Who couldn't be serene with that gig?
What's remarkable about Byron Katie is that she's serene in the midst of the modern, 21st century world. She has kids, a husband, an ex-husband, and an international business.
In this book, she attempts to put into words what it's like, living in her world. Yeah, she talks about life and death and grand universal concepts. Yada yada yada. There are a thousand masters who'll tell you about that.
Katie offers something infinitely more valuable: a glimpse into daily life. What is it like to get out of bed when you're not attached to thoughts like "I have things to do?" What thoughts go through her mind? How about when she does the dishes? Or when she trips on her way to answer the front door? What if she's mugged at gunpoint? Or her child dies? Or what if she's struck by a degenerative eye disease while writing the book? How does that change (or not) her world?
Some of her perspectives on life are familiar. Some are vastly different from anything you've heard. Yet her world makes sense, and even though I'm not there yet, it sounds like an infinitely joyous, loving world worth living in.
If Katie isn't a truly free, non-attached woman, she does the most convincing imitation I've ever heard. Buy the audiobook for a look into her world.
This book does NOT teach you The Work, her method of inquiring into your thoughts to reach this state of joy. For that, check out her book/audiobook Loving What Is, which includes facilitation sessions with real people using The Work.
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life
The Real Deal.......2007-08-25
Katie is the Real Deal, a clear mind experiencing heaven on earth and living with absolute integrity.
Her previous book, "Loving What Is", is the textbook which tells you in disarmingly simple terms how to get there yourself. In my opinion, it is the Alpha and Omega of all truth texts.
A Thousand Names For Joy gives a further glimpse into what life is like in that clarity. It gives me further incentive to go back to the simple instructions in the first book and Do The Work.
Caution: If you want to stay the same, read something else.
Once these concepts and questions start seeping into your consciousness, we're talking about a revolution.
Enjoy!
An Amazing Book.......2007-08-08
This is an amazing book from an enlightened woman...she tells you what it is like to see the world thru her perception. WOW!
Daily exercise.......2007-08-06
The chapters are small so this is a great book to read a chapter every day and get a positive jolt of energy. It's a wonderful way to transform one's life.
Book Description
Do you hunger for skills to improve the quality of your relationships, to deepen your sense of personal empowerment or to simply communicate more effectively? Unfortunately, for centuries our culture has taught us to think and speak in ways that can actually perpetuate conflict, internal pain and even violence. Nonviolent Communication partners practical skills with a powerful consciousness and vocabulary to help you get what you want peacefully.
In this internationally acclaimed text, Marshall Rosenberg offers insightful stories, anecdotes, practical exercises and role-plays that will dramatically change your approach to communication for the better. Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts and heal pain. Revolutionary, yet simple, NVC offers you the most effective tools to reduce violence and create peace in your life—one interaction at a time.
Over 150,000 copies sold and now available in 20 languages around the world. More than 250,000 people each year from all walks of life are learning these life-changing skills.
Customer Reviews:
A Book to Return To .......2007-10-14
Wow. This book has helped me immensely in my personal relationships. By taking a step back from daily frustrations, disappointments, and stressors, and re-examining the purpose of my own and others' "needs," this book has helped me to listen more deeply, act more genuinely, and find acceptance in difficult situations. Rosenberg's done an amazing job in writing a clear, concise book that is helping bring more compassion and patience to the world. Well done!
Kathryn Mayton, The Work and NVC forever.......2007-10-02
I love NVC. I teach at a community college and used it in a class for Adult High School and also taught it to staff. I felt unsure of myself and thought it would be better to train to do this in person with Marshall. However, insecure or not, Marshall's techniques DO work with anyone in my life, when I use them. One idea of Marshall's was adopted by a fellow teacher in her classes with great success. A former teenage student came to me and said she wanted to be able to talk to everyone in her life like this, but she can't because no one she knows talks this way and they'll think she's nuts. sigh. I also taught Byron Katie's "The Work" and think these two things have a lot in common and could be used together with great success.
Marshall's book is easy to read, understand, and apply, although as I said, the application is not the way we do it normally. I used exercises in my class from companion books based on Marshall's work like, "The Compassionate Classroom" and got so much from them as well. Other books written by Marshall, specifically, "Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" and "Life-Enriching Education" need fresh examples and material. I do so wish that schools would adopt Marshall's NVC. I wanted my daughter to have an experience in school of being listened to with empathy, but it rarely happens. sigh.
These books on NVC would be so helpful to anyone who is tired of complaining about relationships that don't work and wants to create an alternative. Go for it!
Insightful and delightfully straightforward.......2007-09-17
This is one of those books that's potentially life-changing. Its conclusions, exercises, and recommendations are delightfully simple, and in some ways even obvious - except - the obvious isn't always so obvious, is it?
One example that really struck home for me was the concept of positive feedback. Instead of just giving someone a compliment - "Wow, great work!" or "I really appreciate your help" - say specifically what was great about it or what you appreciated. "Without your help in the yard last weekend, I wouldn't have been able to get the fruit trees pruned in time to get all the branches out for curbside pickup. I really want to thank you for helping me meet that deadline."
This is only one of the truly meaningful ways that Nonviolent Communication can help you make a difference in your relationships with others and can help you really get your requests and needs *heard,* *understood,* and *acted on* by others. Highly recommended!
Harmony in Life.......2007-09-14
Life and self matter. This book is similar to Dr. Phil McGraw, however it's easier to read and quicker to understand
fantastic book.......2007-08-26
year old We are using this book with our 8 year old and 13 year old daughters to great sucess. Also my wife and myself find it great to use between ourselves, My wife is a teacher and this is the style her new school is using starting this year, we highly recomend this book and any of the authers material if you are interested in a different and sucessful way to communicate and BE HEARD
< without too much resistance.
Average customer rating:
- Very clear explanations and examples, the best of its kind...
- Good But..........
- Do you know a better one? Tell us !
- Great introduction to Harmony
- Still a gem! I think. Part I of Review
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Harmony: Fifth Edition
Walter Piston , and
Mark DeVoto
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
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Workbook for Piston Devoto Harmony
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Counterpoint,
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ASIN: 0393954803 |
Customer Reviews:
Very clear explanations and examples, the best of its kind..........2007-05-05
This is volume is basically a text on traditional harmony that is riddled with examples taken from classic music. It is well-organized, very readable and in my opinion the best of its kind.
While this book is indeed a textbook, it is a very readable one and engages the reader while systematically presenting important concepts. I looked at many books before buying this one and I have been using it for years.
If you are not looking for this much depth and instead are focused on practical concepts for modern music, I recommend Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians (Essential Concepts (Musicians Institute).). This is a very concise and well-written book that covers a lot of territory in a small space.
Good But.................2006-12-12
This is a solid text for learning the basics of functional harmony. However, it really needs to be updated. For example most all of the modern music world uses I ii iii IV V vi Viio in Major but Piston just uses I II II IV V VI VII which makes absolutely no since at all!
Do you know a better one? Tell us ! .......2006-11-02
For so many people music is pure magick. Here is a book that uplifts beginner- and intermediate-knowledge to higher knowledge. After each of the 32 chapters there are exercises to measure your understanding of the things teached. Dont steal my copy !
Great introduction to Harmony.......2006-05-21
When I first learned Harmony in the ninth grade, I was taught on an aged and practically antique fourth edition of Piston's Harmony. The first thing I noticed is that the fifth reworked some of the chapters and the order they are in. For example Chapter 10 in the 4th edition was Cadences, but the 5th it is the six-four chord.
After many years away from practice and learning harmony, I came across it again and was tempted. Should I buy it? Would it be changed after all those years?
I am glad to say that it's like an old friend came by. Despite some of the chapters are different in order, the structure remains the same. Piston uses a lot of musical examples to show what he is trying to teach. He starts out with very easy concepts (positions of notes in a chord and intervals). It is assumed that the reader can read music and knows the difference between a whole note and a quarter note, etc.)
The concept of inversions is covered quite thoroughly, giving the reader time to ingest and start to feel comfortable with first inversion, he gets into the second. Finally, in the section on dominants, he gets into third. In between there are chapters on harmonization of a melody, cadences (the old ii-V-I, etc.), triads, modulation, seventh chords, textures, Neapolitan sixths, etc.
One of the greatest strengths of this book is the musical examples that it is drawn from. Once you start getting into triads, etc. you start seeing output from actual composers (usually keyboard reductions) for teaching the works with a piano or keyboard.
If you are a reader interested in learning the craft and the technique of composition, Piston's book will not steer you wrong. It is good to welcome back an old friend.
Still a gem! I think. Part I of Review.......2005-12-26
I received the book today and decided that I would go through the reviews again. I was always taught that if you read the Preface of a book, you get a general idea of the book's purpose. Obviously, your reviewers giving low ratings, never read the preface or introduction to the book. This is especially directed to those who are professionals. Listen to what the 14 year-old wrote. Perhaps this textbook is not intended for students requiring a lot of tutoring, or individuals not wanting a scholarly approach to musical theory. I will finish reading the book and follow-up with Part II of this review. At this time, it is still the bible of musical theory -- bar none! It is a scholarly and historical approach to the history of music theory. Please keep this in mind before writing a bad review.
Book Description
To have a home that’s more in touch with the earth, you don’t have to start from the ground up! It’s possible—and more environmentally friendly—to go green by renovating an existing home. With the help of Carol Venolia, an award-winning architect and bestselling author, and Kelly Lerner, a world-famous innovator in the field of sustainable development, even the least mechanically inclined person can make a difference in his or her dwelling…and to the planet. The two have produced a remarkable book—packed with information and photos, and the first ever in full color to cover the subject. It’s lush and exquisite to look at, filled with motivational case studies and informative graphics, and completely user-friendly.
“Some of us would like to become more Earth-Friendly, but we don’t have 10,00 acres in Montana or the passive solar ATM machine to get us the cash to buy the above. Breathe! Center! There is help. Groundbreaking architects, Kelly Lerner and Carol Venolia have just completed a book (to help you). There are plenty of checklists and resource guides to go with all the glossy photos.” -- Kevin Taylor, The Pacific Northwest Inlander
“You don't have to build a new home to have a green home. The book builds on the construction wisdom our forebears used to design homes that capitalized on nature's light, warmth, coolness and other benefits. Venolia and Lerner cover everything from simple changes to complex systems that make a home more ecologically sensitive, comfortable and livable. The book is dense with ideas and information for homeowners considering renovations.” --Akron Beacon Journal
Kelly Lerner is an innovative architect who spearheaded a project responsible for building more than 600 passive-solar-heated straw-bale houses in China. Her designs have been featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Metropolis Magazine, The Straw Bale House, and Green by Design.
Carol Venolia specializes in the field of eco-healthy building. Her first book, Healing Environments, has enjoyed international success, and her home designs have been featured in The Natural House Catalog, Earth to Spirit, The Healthy House, and Environ magazine. Carol currently writes the "Design for Life" column for Natural Home & Garden magazine.
Customer Reviews:
good ideas.......2007-10-01
There were many good ideas in this book. Some more expensive than the average person could afford. I read Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs; By: Clarke Snell (Author), Tim Callahan (Author). Which was very comprehensive and enjoyable. While Snell and Callahan focus on building from scratch I was more interested at this moment in remodeling. I wouldn't dismiss this book, but I would identify what your needs are first.
Go get it! You will love it!.......2007-09-10
And I am glad I did! I am even gladder to know that more people are waking up to the idea of natural remodeling. I am not sure whether it alone will save our earth but it's a good start. If enough people do it, it will certainly raise the level of our appreciation of nature to a higher level.
We're in the process of buying a house. Having been brainwashed by the mainstream culture and the media, I had grand dreams of huge expansion with piles of the latest and the biggest "goods" we're all programmed to consume - things like an all powerful over sized profession stainless oven even though I would never use it. But I now have a completely different mind set after reading this book.
We've decided to go small and practical and recycle, reuse as much as possible. Let mother Nature live so that we can too!
PERFECTION!.......2007-07-06
I could not put this book down. It answers all of my questions and concerns as I begin to contemplate the large undertaking of creating a healthy, eco-friendly home for our family. Very thorough, creative and well-written... I only wish I could hire these women directly. Just enough information to cover all of the key considerations, with plenty of guidance on how to dig deeper if necessary. Should be required reading for every builder on the planet!
Unconventional remodeling.......2007-06-27
If you are prepared to surround your house with hay bales and hire an expert plasterer from Germany to cover it all up, this may be the book for you. I found it amusing. It is a bit short on the details of how to do more conventional modifications. However, it has a refreshing focus on houses of modest size and provides guidance in rethinking the use of your existing space to get more out of it. There is a lot of attention to the relation of the house to the surrounding environment, sun at various times of day and times of year, and views and so on.
The book did explain what type of new window to buy if you want to continue to benefit from passive solar heat in the winter -- information that may be worth the price of the book to me.
Some good stuff - Some questionable.......2007-06-26
Some of the stuff in this book is good. Much of it is a no brainer such as trees etc. If you are brand new it'll give you some ideas. Some of it is questionable. I've worked on a lot of houses in a variety of jobs. I'm very skeptical about new types of building, for example hay bales. Contractors build homes a certain way because they are tried and true and proven to work WITHOUT GIANT HEADACHES. Hay bales make me nervous. Take it for what it is but then think it out.
Average customer rating:
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The Nature of Harmony and Metre
Moritz Hauptmann
Manufacturer: Library Reprints
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Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
The author of Megan's Mark continues her PURRfectly paranormal series.
Lora Leigh's series about genetically-altered humans with feline DNA is turning into a roaring success. When the Breeds desire the passions of the flesh, they can't help but get frisky.
Customer Reviews:
Basically. She's a doormat. Big-time........2007-10-16
What a disappointment this novel was.
I was expecting a hot hot romance between the hero and heroine. Ok, the novel started off like that. But before half-way through it changed into another one of those Peyton Place type books. With endless new characters being introduced, plus all their back stories and thoughts. We even get to know that one of the Breed enforcers has the hots for a sub-hero's mother. Wow! It's a wonder we don't get to meet the Breed pool-man and know all about his sex-life too. I am not one of those readers who longs to live in or learn all about a particular community where everyone knows everyone else's business. And that is just the kind of story that Harmony's Way turns out to be.
As for the steaminess. There's quite a lot early on in the book. Then it disappears almost completely.
I have to say this about the heroine. Basically. Harmony's a doormat. Big-time.
This is a heroine who lets her shirt-tail brother tell her she's having a baby. Because Harmony did not know!!! Her life is controlled by men. The brother Jonas who tells her where to work. The rescuer, Dane who always gets her out of trouble. And the short-tempered hero, Lance who gives her a stiff rogering to ease the pain of the 'mating.' Yeugh!!
Not once does Harmony tell them all to get lost. This heroine also has quite a problematic back story. It's one thing being a killer. It's quite another thing being a killer of activists who seek nothing more than to help those less fortunate than themselves. Which is what Harmony is. On so many levels she turns out to be a wet victim who can't get out of a repeat cycle of letting loud, gruff guys decide her life for her. Awful.
Poor Harmony. What she really needs is a decent education. That might help her decide independently of where to go with her life. Go to college girl! Get some qualifications. Do some minoring in women's rights or feminist history. I beg you.
Also I don't like the whole 'Breed' mentality. They live in the US. Follow U.S. law. There's no need to be having 'Breed Law.' What on earth is that all about?
My sympathies were all with Dane, the first Leo's son. He wants to live his life without being injected and examined by the Breed doctors. Good on him. He wants some privacy. Which is more than Harmony gets as the men in her life discuss her fertility like she didn't exist. And all she can do is say 'I'll run away where no-one can find me.' Bwahh! Is she some refugee eejut ninny from a regency romance?
There's something deeply flawed about Jonas's mentality too. He reckons that if the world finds out about the Breed mating heat, people will be appalled. Most people in the Western Free World tolerate so much. Believe me. 'Breed mating heat' doesn't rank very high on anyone's intolerance list. So, as a reader, I could never buy into the reasons for him chasing after Harmony so intensely.
I just hope Tanner's Scheme isn't as hicksville as this turned out to be. Humph!
Harmony's Way.......2007-10-04
Another fabulous story by Lora Leigh. Great Romantica. I've probably purchased 10 or more of her books just this year in hard cover and electronic format.
Good Read.......2007-08-15
Megan's Mark is book #1 and good!
I enjoyed this one. It moves right along and Braden and Megan reappear in this one.
This is Harmony (AKA Death) and Sheriff Lance Jacobs story.
It was NOT raunchy. FYI
A Surprisingly Good Sequel.......2007-06-14
Second books in a series seem to be notorious for not measuring up, but Harmony's Way was every bit as good as Megan's Mark. Other's have made comments about loose ends, but all their questions were answered to my satisfaction. Some were insinuated, yes, and I enjoyed the author's respect for the readers' intelligence.
Another personal preference: I find LL's earlier writing for a different publishing house has little heart. It reads like sex for the purpose of slaking lust as opposed to a building relationship.
I bought this as a hardcover from my book club and I don't regret the money spent. I prefer this series and will re-read it in the future. Definitely a keeper.
I can't decide if I like this series yet, so I guess I'll just have to read more.......2007-05-29
Harmony's Way is another of Lora Leigh's stories about the Breeds and picks up with Megan's Mark left off, with Sheriff Lance Jacobs finally getting his chance at true love. Love comes in the form of a feline Breed assassin, Harmony Lancaster, who is also known as death. Harmony has a reputation for taking matters into her own hands when child abusers and abusive husbands are concerned. Her penchant for justice, quickness with a blade, and lack of remorse earned her the nickname Death. However, when Harmony meets Lance, she is nothing like the cold-blooded killer we have heard that she is, and instead becomes petty in the hands of Lance's alpha male ego.
I can't decide if I love or hate these Breed stories, and I guess I'll just have to keep reading them until I make up my mind. On one hand, I enjoy Lora Leigh's ability to write stories with strong alpha male heroes who, while dominant, realize that their mates are equals and treat them as such. I like that her heroines are take charge women who are just as able to go out and kick butt as the men they mate with. What I don't like is that the women seem to change the second they meet their mates. They're all guts and glory when we're hearing their back story and then they become petty in the hands of their chosen mate. Can't there be a happy medium? I'm all for these couples steaming it up in the bedroom with their men at the driver seat, but can't the women have equal control in their everyday life?
Harmony's Way proves, once again, that Lora Leigh knows how to write erotic fiction. She hasn't yet, however, learned how to write romance, and I think that there needs to be a balance between the two for these series to be successful.
Book Description
A comprehensive volume spanning the entire theory course, HARMONY AND VOICE LEADING begins with coverage of basic concepts of theory and harmony, and moves into coverage of advanced dissonance and chromaticism. It emphasizes the linear aspects of music as much as the harmonic, and introduces large-scale progressions--linear and harmonic--at an early stage. The first three Units of the book are designed to be taught sequentially, but instructors have the flexibility to teach the latter units in any combination and order they choose.
Customer Reviews:
Solid common practice period theory text.......2005-09-25
I've yet to find an alternative to the Roger Sessions, HARMONIC PRACTICE, which I believe to be the best theory text ever written. However, the teaching of theory has changed over the past forty years since my first "date" with Sessions and his text... and students have changed as well. Hence, I find Messrs Schachter & Aldwell have done a commendable job (a nearly impossible job, I think) in writing this new, single volume edition. Whilst I never expect to find the perfect text, this one will do nicely.
The text clearly cannot stand apart from a good theory teacher. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), a credible do-it-yourself theory text has yet to be written.
Important text, but not for beginners.......2004-12-20
One thing to understand about this book - it was not written with amazon.com beginners in mind. It is a college-level theory textbook, and is probably one of the few books that present basic theory concepts in a coherent, unified fashion. The "restrictions" some reviewers complain about, are actually part of a time-honored approach to teaching theory (think "species counterpoint"). To understand the book, a teacher needs to understand something of the ideas and approach of Heinrich Schenker (Schachter was one of Schenker's students). Unlike many theory books, which are into quick summaries and labels, this book is based on a deep understanding of how western tonal music works (at least from the Schenkerian perspective). Even basic concepts like scale degrees, intervals, and triads, are presented in such a way that important relationships among tones become evident. Chords are not merely chunks of notes that deserve a label, but are part of a larger, contrapuntal whole. Sticking with the early chapters, and especially getting a good grasp of the contrapuntal nature of even the most basic chords (insights gained into the similar "passing chord" functions of the V4/3 and viio6 chords, for example) are well worth the effort. Upon successful completion of the first 10 or 11 chapters, a student should have a new understanding of how tonal music works.
A very strong text teaching the foundations of tonal music.......2004-05-19
When I was a student at the University of Michigan School of Music in the late seventies and early eighties, we used the then brand new first edition of this book. I thought it was quite good then, and I believe this third edition to be an even better book. It treats the subjects of tonal harmony and voice leading quite well. There have been some solid improvements in the way a few things are explained and some changes in the musical examples. However, it is still fundamentally the same sound course for undergraduate music theory it has been since 1978. However, it now comes in one volume instead of the two volumes of the first edition.
The text begins with a quick review of the basics of musical grammar, a brief introduction of the rudiments of musical notation, intervals, rhythm (and meter), chords, and four-part harmony. Part II talks about the powerful relationship between the tonic and dominant chords, chord progressions elaborating that relationship, and even the dominant as a key area (whether you call it tonicization or modulation is up to you). Part III discusses the implications of root position, first inversion, and second inversion chords in elaborating harmonies and in sequences. Part IV is actually about contrapuntal issues, but is framed in a discussion of melodic figuration. Part V introduces chromaticism, modal mixture, and extends the discussion on uses of seventh chords. Part VI extends the discussion of chromaticism and includes ninth and eleventh chords, Phrygian II (Neapolitan chords), augmented sixths, and more types of mixture. There is also important discussion of the implications all this has for voice leading and modulation to other key areas.
Some might wish that it contained some treatments of graphical (Schenkerian notation), and I am one of them, but that is a quibble compared to this book's many strengths. The counter argument is that until the students really have a handle on the basics of harmony and how voice leading is handled through the music of the early twentieth century, there really isn't a way for them to grasp the meaning of the larger structures Schenker's graphical notation was created to represent. I think that is a fair point, but still think there are some basics in notation that could be introduced early in the process when talking about the basic structure of melodies and supporting harmonies and candential formulas.
The explanations are clear and the musical examples apt. In fact, someone could actually work through this book on his own and grasp what is being presented. Of course, an instructor is helpful to check work and explain things that remain unclear in the student's mind, but that is really true for any book on any subject.
There are some wonderful materials to supplement this text. The most important are the two work books (WB I - ISBN 0-15-506226-3 / WB II - ISBN 0-15-506234-4. They are useful exercises that help the student learn the material by actively working through the application of the materials discussed.
Another resource that should not be overlooked is the two-CD set (ISBN 0-534-52216-5) that contains performances of the hundreds of musical examples in the textbook (not the workbooks). It can really help a student to listen to examples that are unclear. If a student can play them herself or hear them in his head, so much the better, but these discs can enrich reading through the textbook and making sure that you understand what is being presented to you.
Kudos to Professors Aldwell and Schachter for this wonderful text and supporting materials.
Good, but don't expect it to cover everything.......2003-11-01
The main reason that I want to write a review here is on the off-chance that any AP music theory teachers or students are coming across this and are considering buying the book. My teacher made the mistake of using this as our primary textbook for the year, hoping that it would cover the AP curriculum. Well, it doesn't. It only helps on about 20% of the test, and for the rest you will be dead in the water.
That said, it does a pretty good job introducing and expanding the concept of basic four-part voice leading. It doesn't expend very many pages teaching the absolute basics like major and minor chords, so it helps to approach the book with some understanding of chords, intervals, and the like.
The progressions and rules that it allows do seem a little bit stringent and antiquated considering the many changes in classical music over the past century, but at least you can voice-lead like Bach after reading this!
Be Warned!.......2003-10-24
This is not a paperback edition of the textbook but rather Workbook I which accompanies the hardcover textbook. I made the mistake of ordering this thinking it was the textbook.
What amazon.ca is calling the 'Workbook' is actually Workbook II, covering the later chapters of the textbook.
Buyer beware!
Average customer rating:
- Errata: musical example
- Classic work on counterpoint
- Still the best basic counterpoint text
- recommended
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Counterpoint (4th Edition)
Kent Kennan
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ASIN: 013080746X |
Book Description
Designed for courses in Music, this established text introduces the contrapuntal style of 17th and 18th century music through analysis and writing. While a limited understanding of contrapuntal elements may be gained through analysis alone, these elements are grasped in a more intimate way through the actual writing of contrapuntal examples. Also, by linking the study of counterpoint to music of a specific period, the text provides a clear model for students to emulate and a definite basis for the criticism of student work.
Customer Reviews:
Errata: musical example.......2007-06-27
The first musical example for Chapter 3 should be an excerpt from Bach's Two-Part Invention, No.11. It is not, as the reader will quickly discover when the text talks about a "lower voice" that simply doesn't exist! This is not a huge problem, since the correct measures are shown soon after (in Example 5). But it could be confusing at first.
Classic work on counterpoint.......2005-10-28
George Oldroyd's book The Technique and Spirit of Fugue is the best book on fugue composition but it's out of print and VERY expensive. So, by default, Kent Kennan's book is the best reference book a composer can buy for a basic overview of counterpoint. If you already have a year or two of music theory (you know about modulations, sonata forms, and basic part-writing) you can,literally, just start working from this book with Bach as a companion text and start teaching yourself how to write fugues.
Kennan's book is helpful because while mostly covering Baroque counterpoint he covers the topic in a way that lets a student expand on the contrapuntal principles into other styles. If you're going to get just one book on counterpoint make this the book.
Still the best basic counterpoint text.......2005-03-08
Having taught counterpoint for about twenty years, I can honestly say this is still the best textbook available on the subject. Along the way I tried a number of "newer" texts, but my classes always met with more success using Kennan. The workbook that accompanies this book is a must for anyone who wants to master the art of eighteenth-century counterpoint. To be honest, you also need a teacher to evaluate your progress.
recommended.......1999-03-28
This is the most practical and efficient counterpoint textbook for class room use, the textbook I would use if I were to teach counterpoint in the class room. It is clear and concise and to the point. To gain a broader understanding of counterpoint, I recommend this work be supplemented with Walter Piston's COUNTERPOINT. I also recommend PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.
Book Description
"Anyone who can dial a telephone can learn to play popular piano quickly and easily."
So says Norman Monath, author of How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons. His no-frills, no-drills method will have you playing simple tunes within 30 minutes -- even if you don't know one note from another.
The secret? Learning the basic chords and how to adapt them. With lots of clearly illustrated chord examples, keyboard diagrams and practice pieces ranging from "Silent Night" to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Monath teaches you:
* the basic structure of music
* how to alter the basic chords for creative accompaniment
* how to read tunes from sheet music
* how to improvise
* how to play by ear
* how to create your own playing style -- whether you lean toward pop, blues, jazz or rock
For everyone from rank beginner to experienced virtuoso, this step-by-step, uncomplicated guidebook makes learning to play popular piano the easy and enjoyable experience it should be.
Customer Reviews:
Fast & Easy Piano.......2007-06-09
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.
Learning to Play.......2007-06-08
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.
Go for it! I mean it's not going to come to you! ;-).......2007-05-09
I think the reviewer Doc Jellison and I would get along famously because from his remarks, we share the same musical philosophy. Let me lay the cards on the table here. If you're familiar with my reviews, you'll note two things: I'm a staunch traditionalist by nature and if I sit down to play Beethoven's Op. 27, No. 2, 1st movement "Moonlight Sonata" or as Herr 'B' termed it, "Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia" , it will be exactly note for note as the man wrote the piece --- WAIT NOW! KEEP READING!--- because on 'that' piece, it simply sounds better 'as written' or 'sic' than any so-termed 'arrangement' or 'easy play' [you know, the RH A-D-F thing and the LH twin D keys ] versus all those multiple sharps and LH/RH gymnastics but, I say BUT, having said that and somewhat to the chagrin of certain 'purist' colleagues, I see absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever for those folks who are inclined for "whatever" reasons to lean towards so-termed piano "chord playing" or those ubiquitous "fake books" or "easy play arrangements" as an ad hoc work-around. Bottom line, chord playing, 'arrangements', fake books, hey, SO WHAT!
If you can play a 'rendition' or indeed an 'arrangement' of "whatever" song or indeed any classical piece that first and foremost pleases YOU, that's all that matters! As long as 'you' accept the fact that going the chord route or using fake books will not give you the sound of an Evgeny Kissin or Daniel Barenboim or, hey, Billy Joel or Dave Brubeck or 'whoever' where the name is mentioned in the musical genre you like and you don't go "WHO?" --AND-- your thing is 'not' to do world wide recitals or gigs for equal compensation, hey, I don't see any problem!
It's a matter of expectations and realities. For reasons that escape me, the fake books or those 'chord-player' or 'arrangement' books have received the bad rap a la mode as if to say with the nose in the air thing, 'THAT is not 'true' piano playing' or, I've heard even worse, "it's a veritable KAZOO methodology by way of using piano chords" -- so what? And you're getting this comment from a traditionalist who makes every attempt and effort to play the classic pieces 'sic' but there are those 'sic' pieces that are simply too difficult in their 'sic' original form, sooooo, I have no qualms whatsoever in reaching for a handy "arrangement" or 'fake book' of the piece when necessary. Does it surprise you to learn of classical piece fake books? But again I ask and say, especially when they might be needed, so what?
I keep hearing from various and sundry who would like to play the piano or do the portable keyboard thing, "Ohhhh, I'd love to play the piano, Doc, but I'm 'too old' [!] to start now" --- BOSH! You are NEVER too old! Get that one set in stone as your 'first' order of business. So too, there are ways around the laborious and often frustrating years of learning notes, ledger line notes [when the "Every Good Boy .... " or "FACE" or "ALL COWS EAT GRASS" jingles won't work with ledger notes, sight-reading skills, you-name-it technical skills but if your essential goal is playing for self-enjoyment and personal pleasure, I see nothing wrong with the chord approach to piano OR those fake books or easy play arrangements! They abound! Question is, why is that! Ahhhh! What does that suggest to you!
Believe me, from 'there', you just may reach the point where further incentives will be provided by YOURSELF to get deeper into it and hence provide your own motivation for what some term the "correct way to play" syndrome but again I stress, what is your goal, a Carnegie Hall recital, what, the Van Cliburn 'pro' [if under 30 BTW] or Van Cliburn 'Outstanding Amateurs' [35 and over] competition? Or is it in fact the enjoyment of the piano and keyboard using an approach that can get you going and perhaps spur you on to the nitty-gritty side of the piano and much deeper musical theory and playing technique as you progress! Would it surprise you to learn that I've seen renditions of even classical pieces that sound very good yet the player can not read music! Or, if it's ledger line notes, forget it! Ohhh yes!
If the keyboard appeals to you and, get this too now, you're into putting in the time and effort to sound decent even with the chord approach and fake books [contrary to popular belief they are 'not' all push-overs!] , well, what are you waiting for! Or those just as ubiquitous 'arrangements' [some of them even in the original key but much easier on the "LH" [Left Hand] as they say] when certain classical [or whatever mind you] pieces appeal to you but the original 'sic' music is simply too difficult, so, take another approach! These books will not hurt you and again I emphasize that I've seen cases where the chord or fake book approach has in fact led to determined efforts [to the extent possible] to tackle the 'sic' stuff albeit within reason.
I had a lady tell me after she did a fake book rendition of Beethoven's "Für Elise" , to wit, "You knew it wasn't as written, didn't you, Doc?" to which I replied "my reaction was as it was 'played' and it sounded fine! But, let me ask 'you', did the rendition [LH 'chords'] satisfy YOU?" and when a sort of head nod affirmation came, hey, case closed! Who is to say that the piece 'as written' won't be a future goal but until then, what or where is the problem! Play! Enjoy! Sic ... or work-around! Do 'your' expectations first versus those of others and their expectations 'of' you!
Obviously I'm addressing myself more to the 'adult' piano beginner but then more time may be available now to do that which you always wanted to do and there is generally more than just 'one way and only one way' to reach one's goals! Get the book! Start! 'Then' you deal with the realities and progress as YOU deem appropriate! Think the old football sports show filler, you know, "You Make The Call!"
... an 'ultra purist' whose motto is "each piece as written ... or not at all!" faints dead away forthwith after reading this!
Doc Tony
PS: And you 'electronic synthesizer' types, think the "FAME" flick, you know, Mr. 'S' sees Bruno Martelli "setting up" the gear and says to the lady pianist sitting just next to him, "Does he want to be a musician or an airline pilot!" ;-) What's that? You say you got the 'bends' reading this far below the standard short/succinct review, but, hey, while I plead nolo contendere to any 'length' critcisms forthwith, it had to be said! Fake books, arrangements and chord-playing books have their benefits and 'can' most decidedly lead to further efforts and enhanced playing skills! How so? Progress! Enjoyment! Desire for more ... and better! Motivation! YOURS! BTW, those "How to Use a Fake Book' tomes, 'do' check out Ann Collins and Blake Neely! Or various arrangements [classical] by Charles Bateman and a host of mixed bag stuff [popular, folk, jazz, religious, R&R, easy listening "arrangement books" by various folks and, when you perhaps want to tackle the sic 'as written' pieces, fine, but until then ... PLAY!
textbook for college piano class.......2007-02-11
I am an associate professor with San Diego Community College Continuing Education. For 10 yrs. I have taught music classes for older adults. I am using "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" as a text, along with a fake book entitled, "Your First Fake Book". Most of my students are seniors and don't want to spend the 5-7 years it takes to learn to play a moderately easy piece of sheet music. Monath's book doesn't even require learning bass clef. Instead it teaches chord theory. With this approach, there is only a melody line with chord symbols. My students learn left-hand accompaniment patterns, using chords, rather than what some arranger has provided in the bass clef. They also learn how to provide harmony in the right hand using the chord symbols provided in a fake book.
This is the fourth textbook I have used and I will probably never try another as Monath's book allows me to meet all of my course objectives--and in one semester.
Hal Jellison, PnD
Piano Playing in 10 Easy Lessons.......2007-01-31
It's a book that I now have read three times, which has provided me with the best understanding of learning how to play the piano, then all the former lessons that I have ever taken.
The sequential format between theory and practical is outstanding.
In just over a month's time, I now can play and understand the music selections that have collected in my piano bench for many years.
Being able to do just that, is "A dream come true"
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