(Part 2) Best books about religious & sacred music according to redditors
We found 157 Reddit comments discussing the best books about religious & sacred music. We ranked the 37 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
By "understand music" I'm assuming you mean like music theory?
www.musictheory.net is a wonderful resource to start you off, some of it may seem too easy at first but stick to it and it'll get challenging. Past that, I would honestly recommend picking up a textbook. Music in Theory and Practice is the best damn textbook you can get that takes you from "what are notes" to late romantic era macro analysis of chord relationships. It's pricey but it's good. Tonal Harmony is another good one, and is a much better deal I linked to one on Amazon for $50. I know spending a lot of money on a textbook seems like a waste when we have the Internet, but they are both textbooks that you will keep and continue to use and reference for years. I own both of those because I needed them for music theory classes at different universities, but even without a professor to lecture, the material in there is pretty self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions / want a better explanation, I hope I understood your question correctly!
Edit: I forgot to add /r/musictheory is available too, but a lot of posts there assume the reader already knows quite a bit about theory, it isn't exactly a resource for someone wanting to begin learning. The sidebar there might have some useful stuff though.
Not an actual choir teacher but an instrumentalist who has benefited immensely from learning solfege.
-Make sure you learn the curwen hand signs in conjunction with the syllables!
https://www.amazon.ca/333-Elementary-Exercises-Sight-Singing/dp/B003AGJK6G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523271184&sr=8-2&keywords=333+exercises
Also, get 'Let Us Sing Correctly'
https://www.amazon.ca/Let-Us-Sing-Correctly/dp/B000ZGCLN8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1523271216&sr=1-1&keywords=let+us+sing+correctly
The first book is just the pentatonic scale. No 'Fa' and no 'Ti'. That is to say, no half-steps (which are the hardest to tune). I promise you, if you have a good foundation of sight-singing the major/minor pentatonic scale, you'll be well on your way to reading any tonal music. Adding in those half-steps later will be easy.
Hope that helps!
The second book is to help with tuning and harmonizing. I practice it with my right hand playing one part on the piano and singing the other part.
John Arthur Smith notes in Music in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity:
> A major problem with most of the earlier discussions of this topic is their failure to distinguish between sacrificial and non-sacrificial rites where musicians are concerned... Ancient Jewish cultic music was valid only in connection with the cult, and the cult was valid only at the Temple in Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE, and the Temple destroyed, the cult ceased, and with it cultic music.
Unlike the instrumental music associated with temple ritual, the synagogue practiced only vocal chanting. The earliest Christian synagogues (churches) retained this practice. In the second century, Clement of Alexandria writes:
> "Leave the pipe to the shepherd, the flute to the men who are in fear of gods and intent on their idol worshipping... In their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians the pipe, the Sicilians the harp, the Cretans the lyre, the Lacedæmonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum, and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the Word alone by which we honour God, is what we employ. We no longer employ the ancient psaltery, and trumpet, and timbrel, and flute, which those expert in war and contemners of the fear of God were wont to make use of also in the choruses at their festive assemblies." (in The Instructor.)
In the 4th century Chrysostom writes:
> [Instrumental music] was only permitted to the Jews as sacrifice was, for the heaviness and grossness of their souls. God condescended to their weakness, because they were lately drawn off from idols; but now, instead of organs, we may use our own bodies to praise him withal. Instruments appertain not to Christians. (Homily on Psalm 149)
In the east, the early Christian tradition of a cappella music remains to this day ("A capella" is of course Italian for "at church"). The Greeks had of course had pipe organs since the 3rd century BC, but never thought of using them in worship; organs were used in the sports arena, and in the imperial court. The iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus sent one to Pepin, King of the Franks, in 755.
Meanwhile, in the west, as late as the 13th century, Aquinas confidently wrote:
> "Our church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to Judaize." (Thomas Aquinas, Bingham's Antiquities, Vol. 3, page 137)
The Anglicans were the only Protestants to use instrumental music before 1750 AD: When the Reformation came to England, the Anglican church came within one vote (58-59) of abolishing instrumental music in 1562:
> "XI. THE ENGLISH CONVOCATION, an ecclesiastical body in the church of England composed of bishops and clergy with Upper and Lower houses, is an important witness in the case:"In the beginning of the year 1562," says Hetherington, "a meeting of the Convocation was held, in which the subject of further reformation was vigorously discussed on both sides. [Here is one alteration that was proposed] That the use of organs be laid aside. When the vote came to be taken, on these propositions, forty-three voted for them and thirty-five against; but when the proxies were counted, the balance was turned, the final state of the vote being fifty-eight for and fifty-nine against. Thus, it was determined by a single vote, and that the proxy of an absent person who did not hear the reasoning that the Prayer-Book should remain unimproved, that there should he no further reformation, that there should be no relief granted to those whose consciences felt aggrieved by the admixture of human inventions in the worship of God." (Hetherington's Hist. Westmin. Assem. of Divines, p.30.)
Those opposing the introduction of instruments were following the counsel of Calvin, among others:
> "Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papists therefore, have foolishly borrowed, this, as well as many other things, from the Jews. Men who are fond of outward pomp may delight in that noise; but the simplicity which God recommends to us by the apostles is far more pleasing to him. Paul allows us to bless God in the public assembly of the saints, only in a known tongue (I Cor. 14:16) What shall we then say of chanting, which fills the ears with nothing but an empty sound?" (John Calvin, Commentary on Psalms 33)
Meanwhile of course John Wesley, founder of Methodism, is quoted by Adam Clarke to have said:
> "I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen." (Clarke's Commentary, Vol. 4, page 684.)
And Martin Luther is quoted as calling the organ "a Romish idol of Baal" (des Römischen Abgott Baals in Erinnerungsschrift etlicher vom Adel und Städten p.74.)
I've done it in the past just to assess the course. As a teacher and music theorist in training, as well as a practicing musician, I had a number of complaints about the methodology and ideas presented in the course. Like many non-peer reviewed publications, it goes off the rails as soon as they bring up modes. What could have been a fruitful and focused study of music geared toward the beginner and intermediate musician alike becomes mired by the inclusion of a controversial topic that is never given adequate explanation. This was a couple of years ago, so it may have changed since then.
Aside from private lessons (with someone who actually knows what they're doing; a more difficult proposition than you might think), I'd recommend going through the materials on http://www.musictheory.net, Hal Leonard's Pocket Music Theory, or if you really have stamina and the discipline for self-teaching, Miguel Roig-Francoli's Harmony in Context.
As someone who has been in the industry for almost 20 years, has run music recording studios, worked out in LA, who now works in post production and as an on set production recordist, and who currently runs live sound at more than a few venues in my town, I cannot stress this enough.
Do not waste your time, energy and effort going to college if you want to be an audio engineer.
Now, I didn't say don't go to college...but if you do go, go there for a career that actually requires a degree. Don't put yourself in debt to get a degree in a field that nobody requires you to have. I did not go to school, and I've never not gotten a gig because of it.
If you want to be an audio engineer, then start by actually doing the thing you want to do. If you want to work in a recording studio, then start applying for internships. I know of no studios that won't accept an intern who didn't go to college. Oh, buy a cheap 4-track and a SM57 and get to work. I'm sure you've got friends who are in bands, offer to record them.
If you want to work in post production, get an internship at a post house.
If you want to be an on set audio recordist, contact a local production company and ask if they have any contacts to any local sound mixers. Call them, and ask to be a sound utility. The last guy I hired I met this way. Maybe ask if there are any low budget productions that you could be a boom op on.
If you want to work in live sound, start by going to bars/clubs/casinos, where ever there are live sound guys, and ask if you can intern / wrap cables / get coffee / whatever else. Or, call a local sound rental house. We have 2 major ones in even my small town of Baton Rouge, La.
If you go to church, then ask to learn from whoever runs that sound system.
The possibilities are endless. The point is, with the current state of both the career field of audio engineering, not only is it a real struggle to make a living, being in debt makes it that much worse. To put it to you this way, I'm 32 years old, and last year I bought a house. If I had gone to Full Sail, you can bet I wouldn't be buying that house until at least 40.
Lastly, read. There are tons of great books available that will not only help you narrow what you'd like to do in the field of audio engineering, but that will teach you exactly what you need to be doing.
Now, my usual book list.
The Daily Adventures of mixer man - Mixerman
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Adventures-Mixerman-ebook/dp/B00BFUNZ9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408230831&sr=8-1&keywords=Mixerman
Zen and the art of mixing - Mixerman
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Mixing-REV-2-ebook/dp/B00JZNNC8K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408230831&sr=8-2&keywords=Mixerman
Zen and the art of Producing - Mixerman
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Adventures-Mixerman-ebook/dp/B00BFUNZ9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408230831&sr=8-1&keywords=Mixerman
Behind the Glass vol. 1 and 2 - Howard Massy
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Behind%20the%20glass
Recording Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owninski
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Engineers-Handbook-Third-ebook/dp/B00FN57064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-1&keywords=Recording+Engineer%27s+handbook
The Sound Reinforcement Handbook - Gary Davis
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforcement-Handbook-Gary-Davis/dp/0881889008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408231033&sr=8-1&keywords=yamaha+sound+reinforcement+handbook
Guide to Sound Systems for Worship - Jon F. Eiche
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Sound-Systems-Worship-Eiche/dp/079350029X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408231033&sr=8-2&keywords=yamaha+sound+reinforcement+handbook
The Practical art of Motion Picture Sound - Daniel Lewis Yewdall
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Art-Motion-Picture-Sound/dp/0240812409/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361733899&sr=1-1&keywords=practical+art+of+motion+picture+sound
Sound for Film and Televison - Tomlinson Holman
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Film-Television-Tomlinson-Holman/dp/0240813308/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1408231326&sr=8-4&keywords=Production+sound+book
The Location Sound Bible - Ric Viers
http://www.amazon.com/Location-Sound-Bible-Record-Professional-ebook/dp/B00ATOUXBI/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1408231585&sr=8-30&keywords=Production+sound+book
That should be enough to get you going. Remember, I didn't say not to go to college, just not for this. And Remember, whatever you do, don't go to fullsail.
I think theory textbooks have kind of already done this work for you. They have short pieces of increasing difficulty, with answers readily available either in the back of the book (I think) or online. This book is what we used in my AP theory class, and this is what we used in my undergrad. You could even get a teacher's edition if you want to be really sure. I've linked to the workbooks for each text here, but the actual textbooks also have self-tests and exercises included in each chapter, which would have answers available to check. If you want to do extra work on your own, that would probably be the easiest way to do it.
If you would like to end with Chopin, you only need to study tonal theory. So twelve tone topics are not of any use since that topic is 20th century, after tonality.
If you didn't do voice leading (SATB harmony): Are you interested in voice leading? If you want to get to the more advanced topics of tonal theory, you'll need to cover that. If so I would suggest this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Guide-Theory-Analysis-Third/dp/0393600491/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936804&sr=1-1&keywords=clendinning+theory
Have you done species counterpoint? Species counterpoint will be very helpful in dealing with just about all music. I would recommend Fux's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936929&sr=1-1&keywords=fux+counterpoint
If you've already done species counterpoint: For more advanced counterpoint (not useful for Chopin, but necessary for anything with fugues in it, obviously) I would suggest Mann's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Fugue-Dover-Books-Music/dp/0486254399
For a complete discussion of forms I would suggest Berry's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Form-Music-2nd-Wallace-Berry/dp/0133292851
For an in depth and modern discussion of sonata theory (remember that symphonies are also often times in sonata form), I would suggest Hepokoski's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Sonata-Theory-Deformations-Late-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0199773912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937360&sr=1-1&keywords=hepokoski+sonata
If you already know species counterpoint and voice leading you can study Schenkarian Analysis. For this there's two books I would suggest:
https://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Tonal-Music-Schenkerian-Approach/dp/0199732477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937496&sr=1-1&keywords=schenkerian+analysis
https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Analysis-Schenkerian-David-Damschroder/dp/0393283798/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937488&sr=1-2&keywords=schenkerian+analysis
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If you're interested in composition, that's the other side of the coin and so all the above are of limited use. Let me know if you want books for composition.
There's a book out there called Rock n' Roll Jihad you might be interested in.
Yes, Christ the King is in the very slender "Proper - Supplement" volume of the English Gradual. (I know because I had to remember to swap out the main Proper volume from my bag to make sure I had the right book with me today!)
Having Christ the King today is just about the only inroad Vatican II has made into our place, and apparently some time before my time we did keep it on the October date. I don't know when we made the switch.
Fixed your link to AZ : https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Harmony-Peter-Spencer-D-M/dp/0131826603
maybe this: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Chants-Thirty-Five-Essential-Commentary/dp/1611801435
The Compleat Klezmer is the most well known (almost clichéd) book of klezmer IMO. Pretty much everything in there would be known by any klezmer musician since the 1980s. From an older generation these books kalled the Kammen folios had most of the standards in them but they seem to be out of print.
For accompaniment style--this book looks corny as hell but it was written by a guy who is still alive and played piano in the orchestras of the 1960s with Dave Tarras etc. It will give you a great primer on the typical accompaniments. (edit: if you can't find a copy let me know, I can scan it for you.)
Part 1
https://www.amazon.com/Harmonic-Materials-Tonal-Music-Programmed/dp/0205629717/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/132-1931752-2639066?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0205629717&pd_rd_r=07bf0802-67a9-4bd7-959b-c29b8a462315&pd_rd_w=7pxDw&pd_rd_wg=7Y6o3&pf_rd_p=588939de-d3f8-42f1-a3d8-d556eae5797d&pf_rd_r=A5YH2NY8B0BJRFE2X6DT&psc=1&refRID=A5YH2NY8B0BJRFE2X6DT
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Part 2
https://www.amazon.com/Harmonic-Materials-Tonal-Music-Programmed/dp/020562975X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=harmonic+materials&link_code=qs&qid=1563943772&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-2
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Bridge to 20th century
https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Twentieth-Century-Music-Programed-Revised/dp/0205287581/ref=sr_1_9?qid=1563943844&refinements=p_27%3AGreg+A.+Steinke&s=books&sr=1-9&text=Greg+A.+Steinke
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They have a "Part 0". I have a feeling you might be able to start with Part 2 and skip Part 0 and Part 1, but I can't be sure.
These are the books I used to build my foundation and I loved them. I just found the titles, but you might want to make sure you get the latest editions. Get the CD that comes with it as well.
These will probably get you into the intermediate stage, but I've never really been able to quantify where that stage begins and ends.
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I'm just sharing what I know as a good foundation. It really isn't in the jazz realm of music theory. Classical and Jazz are similar but also very different. Best to learn both. Classical is probably better to begin with, as you've already started with it.
That makes me happy. He's one of the few Christians I want to be like. I've appreciated more of his work than I have any other artist's.
Some of the lyrics are so real and raw, like Hard to Get or Hold Me, Jesus, and others are just beautiful like The Color Green or bittersweet like The River or Elijah. Others like Boy Like Me, Man Like You or First Family are just heart warming. So much good stuff. And if you haven't already, listen to some of his live concerts. He does a lot of talking between songs and it's highly quotable stuff. I use some of it on the sub from time to time.
Because I respect him so much, I'm hesitant to see the movie. I think I'll be content with the biography An Arrow Pointing to Heaven and his collection of writings, The World as I Remember It.
I've used both of these books as course texts and they're two of my favourites! What I would say of the Salzer/Schachter book is that it's an examination of species counterpoint through the lens of Schenkerian analysis (which might be quite obvious, seeing as both of the authors were students of Schenkerian analysis).
The Cadwallader/Gange book was the required text for the course I took on Schenkerian, but my prof also strongly recommended Pankhurst's SchenkerGUIDE. He said that the difference between the two was the the C/G was a more thorough, introductory text, while the Pankhurst was a more condensed explanation of the essentials.
https://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Soul-Spirituality-Performers-Conductors/dp/1579990584
My church uses Heavenly Highway Hymns and The Church Hymnal. There is a hymnal that we have never used, Hymns of the Spirit, which seems to be more liturgical(?). By that, I mean it has responsive readings, a call to worship, Lord's Prayer, etc.