Music

This updated and expanded edition of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory breaks down a difficult subject in a simple way—even for those who think. they have no rhythm or consider themselves tone deaf. With clear, concise language, it explains everything from bass-clef basics to confusing codas. This new edition includes:. -A brand-new CD. -A comprehensive ear-training section. -Musical examples of intervals, scales, chords, and rhythms. -Aural exercises so readers can test their ear training and transcription skills more...

Price: $19.95

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a genius so universal that his popularity, extraordinary even during his lifetime, has never ceased to grow. It now encircles the globe: Beethoven's most famous works are as beloved in Beijing as they are in Boston. Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong devotee of Beethoven, brings the great composer to life as a man of astonishing complexity and overpowering intelligence. A gigantic, compulsively creative personality unable to tolerate constraints, he was not so much a social rebel as an astute manipulator of the most powerful and privileged aristocrats in Germany and Austria, at a time when their world was threatened by the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. But Beethoven's achievement rests in his immortal music. Struggling against progressive, incurable deafness (which he desperately tried to keep secret), he nonetheless produced towering masterpieces, such as his iconic Fifth and Ninth symphonies. With sensitivity and insight, Edmund Morris illuminates Beethoven's life, including his interactions with the women he privately lusted for but held at bay, and his work, whose grandeur and beauty were conceived ''on the other side of silence.'' more...

Price: $17.95

The 500,000-copy bestseller, now revised with 25 percent new material and an all-new interactive CD Guitar sales are on the rise, jumping from 1.7 million sold in 2000 to nearly 2 million in 2003. Now revised and updated, this is the perfect introductory guide for all those novice acoustic and electric guitar players. more...

Price: $24.99

Build a home studio to fit any budget Explore equipment and techniques for making top-notch recordings at home You've picked a perfect time to start recording! From PC-based to studio-in-a-box, today's equipment lets you put together a professional quality CD right at home, if you know how to use it. This guide covers everything from microphone placement to multitracking and mastering, helping you choose the right tools and use them like a pro. more...

Price: $21.99

Concentrating on a small number of representative cantatas, mostly from the Leipzig cycles of 1723-24 and 1724-25, and in particular on Cantata 77, Chafe illustrates how Bach strove to mirror both the dogma and the mystery of religious experience in musical allegory. more...

Price: $35.00