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What books have you read that have improved your musicianship?

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Home Forums Forum Archives Professional Harpists What books have you read that have improved your musicianship?

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • #145517
    mccall-williams
    Participant

    The May/June 2012 Harp Column talked about ideas and books that help you ‘get out of your head’ in the Learning Curve section. Among their recommendations they suggested The Inner Game of Music. I started that, but due to reviews on Amazon ended up going with The Inner Game of Tennis and found it interesting.

    This thread isn’t necessarily about dealing with the topic of getting out of your head. Just wondering if there are any books you read and recommend?

    #145518
    sherry-lenox
    Participant

    That’s interesting. I had a similar experience with the reviews, so I haven’t read the book yet.

    I think “The Art of Practicing” has an interesting perspective. Definitely something I had not considered before reading it. I don’t recall anything specifically about harp, but I think the concepts are pretty solid.

    I just bought “Affairs of the Harp” by Samuel Pratt and it is only about harps but contains points that can be generalized to the broader topic of musicianship, I think.

    #145519
    rosalind-beck
    Participant

    I enthusiastically recommend these two books that should be in every musician’s library:

    Practiceopedia by Philip Johnston (http://www.insidemusicteaching.com/bookstore/practiceopedia/index.html)

    The Musician’s Way by Gerald Klickstein, available at Amazon in paperback and for Kindle

    #145520
    elinor-niemisto
    Participant

    I second the recommendation of Practicepoedia! Fun to use and full of very useful ideas for short term fixes and long term planning.

    #145521

    The Harvard Dictionary of Music.

    Books about the music of great composers, especially ones that describe each piece.

    Biographies of composers and performers.

    Just read and listen a lot.

    #145522
    Angela Biggs
    Member

    (As an aside, I’ve been looking for my next music-focused reading. This was very helpful! Thanks everyone! 😀 )

    #145523

    A Soprano On Her Head

    #145524
    Jerusha Amado
    Participant

    I second Rosalind’s suggestion of “The Musician’s Way”!

    Jerusha

    #145525
    stan-guy
    Participant

    A great book for anyone interested in music is “A Romance on Three Legs”.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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