[.ca] Classical Music For Dummies (ISBN 0764550098)

From Amazon.com:
In a time when school music classes (if they exist at all) teach their students the finer points of the themes from The Twilight Zone and Jaws instead of real music; when classical radio stations are converted to Lite Rock or switched to a "top 100" classical jukebox format; and when even churches increasingly favor banal "Jesus Is My Boyfriend"-style slop instead of Bach, Mozart, and Vaughn Williams, classical music may legitimately be seen as an endangered cultural species. Enter Scott Speck and David Pogue, who take out the unnecessary mystery, and offer an easy-to-swallow quickie education, ranging from Gregorian chants to contemporary composers such as John Adams and John Corigliano. If you can't tell an oboe from a bassoon, there's also a dandy guide to the instruments of the orchestra, and once you're through that information you'll know the difference between a concerto and a sonata. Best of all is the introduction to music theory, which actually makes a daunting subject seem easy. It's all supported by a helpful enhanced compact disc (it works in your CD-ROM drive; it plays on your stereo's CD player) containing more than an hour of representative musical tidbits from good EMI recordings. Although the tone is unremittingly flippant and the jokes are, for the most part, pretty bad, Classical Music for Dummies is one of the better works in this series, and really does provide a useful reference for a subject too often seen as arcane.

Just what I needed:
I've always liked listening to Classical Music but didn't know my Brahms from my Bach. I decided recently to try and learn more about this music. There are plenty of books that are hard to read and technical and then there's this book. This is a great crash course in classical music. Learn what all those Allegro con moto things mean. How many movements are there in a symphony, in a concerto? The book contains a ton of short light biographies on composers along with nice recommendations. Besides that, the book comes with a CD with nine selections of classical music that are broken down moment by moment in the book. It was sheer joy learning how sophisticated and structured the music is. How themes are introduced and worked, how some works tell stories or represent storms, tranquil seasons or the struggles of heros! If you know almost nothing about classical music and want a great introduction, this is the book. I read it cover to cover in a week and now I can't stay out of the library, I'm too busy listening to classical music with a much greater appreciation!!

A Light-Hearted Look At A Wonderful jWorld:
This book is both humorous and a quality look at the world of classical music. If you are at all curious about classical music, give this a read.

da-da-da-DUMB!:
I picked this book up because I was looking for a CD-book combo that would give me some good tips on the art of listening. This did that and much more. The book is extremely comprehensive and systematic in its coverage of classical music. The authors provide a lot of information simply and efficiently so that within a few pages, the reader is no longer such a dummy. This book goes beyond an academic explanation of the subject to being a real "how to" - how to listen, how to prepare, how to behave at a concert, how to get good tickets on the cheap... No stone is left unturned. The only drawback is that in an effort to dumb down the book, they inject corny jokes into almost every sentence. In small doses this is OK but, depending on your tastes in reading material, THIS GETS VERY ANNOYING after a few pages! Despite this drawback I pressed on because the content under the jokes was too good to miss.

Unpacking Delightful World of Classical Music:
Many avenues of culture are closed deliberately to people by insiders who use the jargon of the trade with sophistication and snobbery to raise themselves above the poor unknowing multitudes who have not a clue what is being said. Here, authors do a credible and entertaining aid of unpacking the wonderful world of classical music. As one internet classical station puts it, "Classical music without the attitude." Here, although they do make light of it, it aids the uninformed what is at the heart of things classical. From different periods, to how to attend a concert, to beginning a CD collection, to understanding some theory, this is just excellent entrance. Especially fascinating are the peeks into this world, e.g. the audition of the flute players, divorced and their trials at securing a major symphony chair. The interactive materials with CD make their points well, and aid many in enjoying more fully this delightful world.

Somewhat scoffy:
The content of the book is satisfactory and average as far as its information and class are concerned. But even this is diminished, because it is written in an irresponsible, scoffy style (so typically "New World" American, I suppose) that it is guaranteed to make you a dummy instead of the other way around.