Music Reference

Bach to Zappa, Banjo to Xylophone, this handy dictionary features definitions and pronunciations of musical terms; composer biographies; sections on music theory, notation, and transposition; instrument listings; and more. 336 pages, softcover from Alfred.

Take a visual journey through the world of music and the science behind it!

The book looks at music throughout history, beginning with the first known melody from the Fertile Crescent and covering modern music phenomena, from K Pop to hip-hop. Instruments and genres from across the world are featured, with "playlists" of key pieces encouraging kids to look up pieces to hear for themselves. STEAM spreads delve into the psychology and math behind music, from how it affects our mood to how it can improve our minds.

96 pages, hardcover.

Here's the most contemporary music dictionary on the market! Conveniently divided into three main sections: The Dictionary of Music Terms defines over 2,000 music terms concisely, including notation and theory terms, instruments and terms used in pop music, electronic music and the music business; The Dictionary of Musicians provides more than 400 capsule biographies of composers and other musicians; and Reference Charts give instant, at-a-glance summaries of the essentials of music, encompassing instrumental and vocal ranges, notation signs and symbols, and scales, modes and key signatures. 240 pages.

Expanded, updated, and fully revised—the definitive introduction to electronic music is ready for new generations of students. Written and researched by Curtis Roads, multiple award-winning composer, author, professor, researcher, and innovator, The Computer Music Tutorial Second Edition is the landmark text that introduces computer and electronic music, explains its motivations, and puts topics into context.  Step-by-step presentation in shorter chapters will orient musicians, engineers, scientists, and anyone else new to computer and electronic music.  The new edition continues to be the definitive tutorial on all aspects of computer music, including digital audio, signal processing, musical input devices, performance software, editing systems, algorithmic composition, MIDI, and psychoacoustics, and reflects the enormous growth of the field since the book’s original publication in 1996. New chapters cover up-to-date topics like virtual analog, pulsar synthesis, concatenative synthesis, spectrum analysis by atomic decomposition, Open Sound Control, spectrum editors, and instrument and patch editors. Exhaustively referenced and cross-referenced, this new text adds hundreds of new figures and references to the original charts, diagrams, screen images, and photographs to explain basic concepts and terms. eBook.

Now available in paperback and with over 10,000 entries, the Oxford Dictionary of Music (previously the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music) offers broad coverage of a wide range of musical categories spanning many eras, including composers, librettists, singers, orchestras, important ballets and operas, and musical instruments and their history. Over 250 new entries have been added to this edition to expand coverage of popular music, ethnomusicology, modern and contemporary composers, music analysis, and recording technology. Existing entries have been expanded where necessary to include more coverage of the reception of major works, and to include key new works and categories, such as multimedia.

Entry-level web links are listed and regularly updated on a dedicated companion website, expanding the scope of the dictionary. The dictionary now also includes two useful appendices, one listing French, German, and Italian musical terms with their English translations, and an abbreviations list for letters commonly used in musical scores and musical writing.

The Oxford Dictionary of Music is the most up-to-date and accessible dictionary of musical terms available and an essential point of reference for music students, teachers, lecturers, professional musicians, and music enthusiasts..

Essential dictionary for musicians and music students, an excellent reference resource in convenient size, is is the most practical and concise source for music notation.
Easy to use dictionary format, concise text with bold illustration, keywords and concepts are highlighted. Covers more than 75 topics; helpful whether you are using a pencil or a computer. 5.5" x 4".

Acclaimed by the New York Times as "part muse, part quick reference," this pocket-sized dictionary is an easy-to-use tool geared specifically toward the contemporary songwriter. A concise collection of the most-often used words in popular music, the simple format allows for fast reference, while the 15,000 entries provide more than ample rhyming options. 304 pages, softcover.