15 Music
Music (MUS)
Brass Techniques and Pedagogy
Brian Weidner (Butler University)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Textbook for undergraduate brass methods course focusing on brass instrument techniques and pedagogy.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 3954 Classes instrumentales – trompette et cor français / Instrumental Classes – Trumpet and French Horn
MUS 4954 Classes instrumentales – trombone et tuba / Instrumental Classes – Trombone and Tuba
Fundamentals, Function, and Form: Theory and Analysis of Tonal Western Art Music
Andre Mount (SUNY Potsdam)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
This text provides readers with a comprehensive study of the theory and analysis of tonal Western art music. Author Andre Mount begins by building a strong foundation in the understanding of rhythm, meter, and pitch as well as the notational conventions associated with each. From there, he guides the reader through an exploration of polyphony—the simultaneous sounding of multiple independent melodies—and an increasingly rich array of different sonorities that grow out of this practice. The book culminates with a discussion of musical form, engaging with artistic works in their entirety by considering the interaction of harmonic and thematic elements, but also such other musical dimensions as rhythm, meter, texture, and expression.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 2306 Theory and Analysis I
MUS 2307 Theory and Analysis II
MUS 2324 Selected Topics in Musical Aesthetics and Criticism
MUS 3306 Theory and Analysis III
MUS 3307 Theory and Analysis IV
Music Appreciation I∗
Lumen Learning
Last updated: September 2020
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Based on the Lumen Learning course, Music Appreciation, this online book is designed to give the student an appreciation of music by exposing them to many musical styles, composers, historical trends, as well as increasing their aural, verbal, and writing skills in describing music.
Formats: Online and PDF
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Music Appreciation II∗
Lumen Learning
Last updated: September 2020
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Based on the Lumen Learning course, Music Appreciation, this online book is designed to give the student an appreciation of music by exposing them to many musical styles, composers, historical trends, as well as increasing their aural, verbal, and writing skills in describing music.
Formats: Online and PDF
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Music Fundamentals 1: Pitch and Major Scales and Keys
Terry B. Ewell, Towson University, and Catherine Schmidt-Jones (OpenStax)
2013
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This collection is the first of five dealing with the rudiments of music.
Formats: Online and PDF; online LibreTexts version
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1303 Materials of Music I
Music Fundamentals 2: Rhythm and Meter
Terry B. Ewell, Towson University, and Catherine Schmidt-Jones (OpenStax)
2013
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This collection is the second of five dealing with the rudiments of music.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1303 Materials of Music I
Music in World Cultures∗
Justin R. Hunter and Matthew Mihalka (University of Arkansas)
2021
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
This text provides just a small sampling of some of the various musical styles and traditions that might be found, though the skills developed in this course can be applied to any type of music.
Formats: Pressbooks webbooks, EPUB, PDF, and more
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 2382 Introduction to World Music
Music: Its Language, History, and Culture∗
Ray Allen, Douglas Cohen, Nancy Hager, and Jeffrey Taylor (Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music)
2015
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
The chapters in this reader contain definitions and explanations of musical terms and concepts, short essays on subjects related to music as a creative performing art, biographical sketches of major figures in music, and historical and cultural background information on music from different periods and places.
Formats: Online and PDF
Includes: Musician biographies and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Music on the Move
Danielle Fosler-Lussier (Ohio State University)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Music is a mobile art. When people move to faraway places, whether by choice or by force, they bring their music along. Music creates a meaningful point of contact for individuals and for groups; it can encourage curiosity and foster understanding; and it can preserve a sense of identity and comfort in an unfamiliar or hostile environment. As music crosses cultural, linguistic, and political boundaries, it continually changes. While human mobility and mediation have always shaped music-making, our current era of digital connectedness introduces new creative opportunities and inspiration even as it extends concerns about issues such as copyright infringement and cultural appropriation.
With its innovative multimodal approach, Music on the Move invites readers to listen and engage with many different types of music as they read. The text introduces a variety of concepts related to music’s travels—with or without its makers—including colonialism, migration, diaspora, mediation, propaganda, copyright, and hybridity. The case studies represent a variety of musical genres and styles, Western and non-Western, concert music, traditional music, and popular music. Highly accessible, jargon-free, and media-rich, Music on the Move is suitable for students as well as general-interest readers.
Formats: Online, PDF, and EPUB
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 2382 Introduction to World Music
Open Music Theory, Version 2∗
Bryn Hughes, Brian Moseley, Kris Shaffer, Mark Gotham, Kyle Gullings, Chelsey Hamm, Brian Jarvis, Megan Lavengood, and John Peterson
2019
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Music Theory is an open-source, interactive, online “text” book for college-level music theory courses.
Format: Pressbooks webbook
Includes: Glossary (instructor resources available by request)
Suggested for:
MUS 1303 Materials of Music I
Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context
Esther Morgan-Ellis (University of North Georgia)
2020
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Welcome to Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context! Although this book is intended primarily for use in the college music appreciation classroom, it was designed with consideration for independent learners, advanced high school students, and experienced musicians. That is to say, it includes enough detail that expert guidance is not required and is written using broadly-accessible language. At the same time, it addresses advanced topics and positions music as a serious object of study.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Sound Reasoning
Anthony Brandt and Robert McClure (OpenStax)
2011 (updated 2019)
Licence: CC BY 3.0
Sound Reasoning is a web-based, introductory music appreciation course. It offers a new approach to music appreciation for adults, focusing on style-independent concepts. While the course concentrates primarily on Western classical and modern music, the concepts that are introduced apply to music of any style or era. The goal of Sound Reasoning is to equip you with questions that you may ask of any piece of music, thereby creating a richer and more comprehensive understanding of music both familiar and unfamiliar. Here are some additional features of the course: 1) Sound Reasoning is completely listening-based. No ability to read music is required. 2) The course assumes little or no musical background. A minimum of terminology is invoked. 3) Musical examples are interpolated directly into the text. 4) The course is interactive. A “listening gallery” with exercises follows each module, so that you may practice and refine your listening skills. 5) The modules may be studied in sequence or individually. 6) You may easily print a .pdf of any module. Sound Reasoning is designed as both a stand-alone, self-paced course as well as a supplement to existing university classes.
Formats: Online and PDF; online LibreTexts version
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Teaching Low Brass
Steven Maxwell (Kansas State University)
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The purpose of this textbook is to provide resources about teaching low brass instruments to music educators and future music educators. The book was developed by the author as part of the open/alternative textbook initiative at Kansas State University. It Is the textbook used for the Kansas State University course Music 239-Low Brass Techniques and Materials.
The textbook focuses on two areas: basic information including pedagogical material for teaching low brass students and low brass etudes. The information is divided into several categories including brass history, the overtone series, general intonation tendencies, embouchure, instruments and equipment, literature, maintenance, vibrato, and low brass in the marching band. Pedagogical material is interspersed throughout each of the chapters.
Etudes are incorporated in the appendix of the textbook. These etudes are intended to be used in a laboratory setting with future music educators learning each low brass instrument for the first time. Instrument fingerings, slide positions, and simple warm-up material is also available in the appendix.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 3954 Classes instrumentales – trompette et cor français / Instrumental Classes – Trumpet and French Horn
MUS 4954 Classes instrumentales – trombone et tuba / Instrumental Classes – Trombone and Tuba
Understanding Basic Music Theory∗
Catherine Schmidt-Jones (OpenStax)
2013
Licence: CC BY 2.0
Although it is significantly expanded from Introduction to Music Theory, this book still covers only the bare essentials of music theory. Music is a very large subject, and the advanced theory that students will want to pursue after mastering the basics will vary greatly. A trumpet player interested in jazz, a vocalist interested in early music, a pianist interested in classical composition, and a guitarist interested in world music, will all want to delve into very different facets of music theory; although, interestingly, if they all become very well-versed in their chosen fields, they will still end up very capable of understanding each other and cooperating in musical endeavors. The final section does include a few challenges that are generally not considered “beginner level” musicianship, but are very useful in just about every field and genre of music.
Formats: Online and PDF; online LibreTexts version
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1303 Materials of Music I
Understanding Music: Past and Present∗
Alan Clark (Middle Georgia State University), Thomas Heflin (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Jeffery Kluball (Darton State College), and Elizabeth Kramer (University of West Georgia)
2015
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Understanding Music: Past and Present is an open Music Appreciation textbook co-authored by music faculty across Georgia. The text covers the fundamentals of music and the physics of sound, an exploration of music from the Middle Ages to the present day, and a final chapter on popular music in the United States.
Format: PDF
Includes: Audio/video clips and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 1301 Topics in Music Appreciation I
MUS 1302 Topics in Music Appreciation II
Vocal Techniques for the Instrumentalist – 2nd edition
Amy Rosine (Kansas State University)
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Vocal Techniques, the course title used at many institutions, is essentially a voice class for instrumentalists, and is a required course for instrumental music education majors seeking all-level certification. Students take at least one Vocal Techniques course to learn proper singing technique along with basic pedagogy and can include teaching techniques as they apply to adolescent singers. The focus of the course is the development of the individual singing voice. This includes breathing, tone production, articulation, musicality and textual expression and understanding. Students also develop confidence in front of groups, improve their general vocal quality, and learn that a healthy voice serves them well in the general and performance classroom.
The purpose of this text is to teach instrumental music education students about vocal production as it applies to solo singing. Beginning with a foundational understanding of breathing, singers will learn about the vocal instrument (anatomy), how to create clear, pleasant, tone (phonation and resonance), pronounce words clearly (articulation and diction) and how singing is similar, and different, from playing an external instrument. This is the first textbook to explore teaching voice as it directly pertains to playing an instrument.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
MUS 6914 Thèmes en interprétation vocale / Special Topic in Vocal Performances
Voice Class∗
Lumen Learning
Last updated: September 2020
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Textbook on the basics of singing.
Formats: Online and PDF
Includes: Videos and practical exercises
Suggested for:
MUS 1303 Materials of Music I