Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition)
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I bought this book out of curiosity based on the reviews: I was expecting an intermediate to advanced level text, characterized by a a different take on ear training/theory/composition. In reality the book is at the level of very introductory courses in those topics. Just to be clear: It could not be used as a first year college introduction, and it might be appropriate at most for a music elective class, or a first very introductory course in a community college.
There is nothing wrong with writing elementary books but the title of the book is deceiving and to claim (as in the back cover) that this book will "develop your ability to hear and notate any style of music" and that it is the "definitive guide and reference book for composers, orchestrators etc .." is quite misleading.
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This book is so perfect for getting your ears around a new way of perceiving music. It explains the science behind tone, interval recognition and has great information on transcribing.
This book would suit anyone from intermediate to expert because it assumes the reader understands basic theory and notation. Although I haven't completely read it, I'm finding myself excited by each chapter and am reading them several times to not miss a thing in the very insightful content. As I read this book I am starting to see the incredible potential this new way of training one's ear has for anyone working or interested in music. No cold, analytical pitch memory exercises in this book, instead it teaches one to internalize tones and recognize their relationships with one another. This means quicker and more intuitive composing or transcribing because you're thinking in tones and their intervals (not pitches) without having to worry about what key you're supposed to be in. It's a must in you want ...
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I have the first edition and, glancing at the table of contents for the second, it appears the primary additions involve transcription software and the enhanced ability of DAW and notation software to transcribe MIDI. Ironically, these are probably the least important aspects of Gorow's approach, which emphasizes the ear above all.
If the purpose of classical theory is to provide a framework for analyzing past works, and jazz theory to provide a framework for improvisation, Gorow's
book provides valuable prerequisite skills to make your study of either more interesting and revealing.
He goes beyond "guess the interval" and expands basic recognition skills to include phrases and larger components of entire pieces of music. What's refreshing is he doesn't distinguish between notating externally heard live or recorded music from internal imagining of sounds - essentially composition, whether immediate improvisation or more iterative, as in traditional writing. ...
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Well written book which attempts to bring in some inter-disciplinary knowledge. But do you really need it? As a practicing musician attending any university, the majority of the ear training taught in here will be taken care of by your aural skills courses. There are some practical insights about industry and preserving hearing, but these are really outside the purview of the book, which is titled: "Hearing and writing music"
If you are a professional musician, do not bother. If you are, however, and amateur musician looking for some insight into the world of music, then the book will probably be invaluable. I know it was very helpful BEFORE I took these courses, at which point it became pointless.
As such I have rated the book 4 for the amateur musician.
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Excellent!!!! In 30 years studying music, I've never seen anything like it. Gorow has really found a brilliant and logical approach to training our ears. I recommend this book very highly.
