Product Description
Now in trade paperback: “The definitive guide to musical enjoyment” (Forum).

In this fascinating analysis of how to listen to both contemporary and classical music analytically, eminent American composer Aaron Copland offers provocative suggestions that will bring readers a deeper appreciation of the most viscerally rewarding of all art forms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

You don't need this book if you already love Copland's music
I've long resented this book for a couple of very simple reasons: Copland is preachy and condescending, telling you what to listen to, what to listen for, what's easy for you, and what may be too hard for you. I understand his motivation, but the result is an insult to the reader.The other peeve: Aaron the magician, the poet, the wizard of engineered sonic emotion, takes that magic away in a few overly long-winded chapters as he proceeds to explain how he has manipulated our emotions with his music for decades.Yes, we knew it, and we ate it up, sentimental, grand, patriotic, religious - all of it.

Better to listen to the great music of Mr. Copland and then hear his influence in hundreds of great films and good TV. The term "influence" may be too weak: Domination is more like it, in a way Copland's own influences like Debussy and Stravinsky and Bartok never enjoyed. Copland can be heard in the network news intro, the insurance company commercial, the coming home scene of many films, and it is a prime source of sonic Americana, rending heartstrings and rousing emotions - if you happen to be from America. Copland makes little sense to many Europeans, I discovered.

Save for yourself the wonder and mystery of this great composer, and skip his book!Listen intently to his music, and you will learn all you need to. In fact, never read a musician's book unless you already hate his music. It took me twenty years to forget and begin again to enjoy Copland as I once did, so fair warning, don't look behind the curtain.

If you are a musician, then of course it is worthwhile to get further insight into the work of this important composer, but if you are just a listener, like me, Copland's view from the inside dulls the sound and spoils the fun.

The modern "Redux" of this book, by Dan Levitin, is called "This is your brain on music".It's very good, and much less of a risk.

Too chit chatty
Sorry I don't like to have to read 40 pages to get one point. Just too much wording without giving me any progress in understanding. I'm just too impatient. I need at least every 5 sentences to add something. I'm sure it's a nice book if I had the time and could stay awake long enough to wait for a point to be made.

For beginners
If you've sung in a chorus or played in a band or orchestra, you'll know most of what's in the book.There are some insights however.It helps if you can read music.

an ear opener
With this book as a guide I learnt a lot about how music is structured and it showed me new and interesting ways to listen to music - although the focus is classical music if you listen to other types of music as well it is also relevant. It is not easy, you need to give it a lot of time, and access to a CD library so you can access all the works he uses to illustrate the book is very useful.

I started to learn the piano a couple of years ago and basic music reading skills and knowledge of an instrument have helped me get the most out of this book. This is not to say to you will not get something about it if you don't have these skills, just that is helps you get more.

Recommended - and a bargain at the price!

Great for beginners
A good introduction to the form of music for the layman.Copland presents the basics of theory in an easy to read manner geared towards actually listening to music, which is more useful and a dense theory text that does not help sharpen the listeners ear.I recommend this book for anyone who wants to attentively listen to an orchestra or band and doesn't have the time or resources for the formal study of music. ... Read more

Product Description
In this fascinating analysis of how to listen to music intelligently, Aaron Copland, the noted modern composer, poses two basic questions: Are you hearing everything that is going on? Are your really being sensitive to it? If you cannot answer yes to both of these questions, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Whether you listen to Mozart or Duke Ellington, Aaron Copland's provocative suggestions for listening to music from the composer's point of view will bring you a deeper appreciation of the most rewarding of all art forms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great book by the master American composer Aaron Copland
I read this for the first time back in about 1989 and it taught me the basics of listening to classical music because that was when I first started buying classical cds. I thought that I had lost the book but found it in the back of my closet a few weeks ago. I think I've forgotten about half of what I learned going through it the first time so I think I'm going to have to give it a second read. A lot of it is on the art of music in general, so if you're not into classical music, it's still a very good book to read. When you learn what the basic terms in the classical music genre are, it makes listening to classical music a lot more rewarding to a newbie like I was back then. This is definitely one of the greater manuals about classical music you will find and definitely one of Aaron Copland's finest achievements in his long illustrious career. ... Read more