(Part 2) Best music instruction & study books according to redditors

If losing weight required nothing but eating ice cream, nobody would be fat. If being a doctor required nothing but playing your favorite video games all day, we'd have more doctors. If getting a well paying job only required sitting on your couch, everyone would have great jobs and nobody would be unemployed.

People who are good at things worked to get good at them. That work usually involved things that aren't inherently fun. It's fun to be good at something, but you've got to pay your dues and put in the work up front to reap those rewards.

I don't see why people find children's songs so demoralizing and demotivational. Is it ego? Does it hurt how "cool" a person feels playing an instrument if they are playing something inherently uncool? Is it just something cultural about wanting to separate yourself from "baby" things?

In short, you just have to get over it, suck it up, and do it. If you don't like the songs, maybe just find joy in the process or the progress (which will be very slow and incremental). Realize that long-term goals usually require short-term discomfort.

Anyway, for beginning sightreaders (and even advanced players who find they suck at sightreading), I recommend this book. It's still not fun, but the exercises are about as easy as they come and there's tons of them (over 500). Also, they are better than children's songs because they are relatively random and not memorable so you're not cheating your rhythm reading by knowing how they go ahead of time.

I would learn some basics online or through private lessons. For classical music, there are some technique barriers that will make a piece super easy once you know some general rules. For pop or other songs, technique will make it really easy.
I personally like the Faber book series and there is one made for older beginners. I've never used this particular book, but I have used his original series for younger students, which I think is fantastic.

https://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-Piano-Adventures-Older-Beginner/dp/1616772050/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518715871&sr=8-3&keywords=faber+and+faber+piano+book+1

If you're interested, you can PM me and I can help set you up through Skype. I can do all the basic stuff like proper posture/hand position stuff to get you started.

Steve Vai made one as applied to guitar but it works just as well applied to bass, Vaideology

I’m one of those annoying professors that uses his own textbook.

It really isn’t to make money, I sell at cost. I got so fed up with the texts out there buuuut, this one is pretty light but accurate.

Hey there and Welcome. It sounds like you are well on your way and you have the drive and determination to succeed.

> practicing all the major scales daily. (I may be fingering them wrong..)

This book has all the standard fingerings for scales, arpeggios etc. Try to learn the correct fingerings from the outset so you don't have to unlearn and relearn later on.

> Is this the fastest way to piano fluency?

It will definitely help if you are playing a lot of Classical period classical music (e.g. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven), since a lot of Classical music is scale and arpeggio fragments bolted together.

However, IMHO, the best way to achieve fluency is to build up a repertoire of pieces, starting extremely simple and gradually increasing in difficulty - this way you are building up a "vocabulary" of stock phrases that will reoccur again and again in more advanced pieces you encounter later on. There are many graded piano instruction and repertoire books available, such as this one. These will also help to build your fluency at reading music, something you will have to address at some point if you want to play primarily classical music.

I don't know if this might not be a bit controversial, but if you are starting from scratch I'm wondering whether it might not be a useful practice to get into of playing a piece until you have it memorized, then play it blindfold. Being able to orient yourself on the keyboard without looking is a skill that will become more and more important as you progress in proficiency, and as you go on you will encounter more and more pieces where you will have to jump in two directions simultaneously so you can't look at both hands. If you are able to get a muscle memory sense of distances on the keyboard, it will stand you in great stead in your future playing.

Best wishes for your piano journey.

Bass Fitness is, for me, the golden standard to which I hold all guitar practice books. It's a no-nonsense text that offers little in the way of guidance or assistence, but stick with it and you will notice a difference in your playing in due time. It's not perfect by any means -- in fact it is quite rough around the edges -- but it works.

For more general resources, check out 101 Bass Tips, which features of a plethora of different tips and tricks for the working musician -- everything from set-up and maintenance, to technique, to recording and tone, and much more. It's also accompanied by a CD with examples and practice songs you can play along to.

Once you've got the basics down and you're ready to move into the more advanced facets of bass playing, you might want to try out some books on musical theory. I suggest this, this, and these. Hope these help!

In my opinion Troy Stetina's Fretboard Mastery is still the most comprehensive, well thought out and explained, and easy to understand guitar theory book. If you could only get one book, this book would cover all you need to understand the instrument.

Beyond that Troy's Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar is very good book of technique building exercises, Dave Celentano's Monster Scales and Modes is a short, easy to read, and good book for referencing some of the most commonly used scales and modes, it also has some short but good description of when and where to use certain scales/modes.

For a more reference/appendix use, I like the Guitar Grimoire books as they have very complete information and are laid out in a fairly easy to read and easy to understand fashion.

Hey there, masters student in music composition here. Many, many kudos to you for throwing your stuff out there for all to see; I wish I could say I did the same at your stage in the game.

My undergraduate teacher would always harp on being absolutely meticulous with notation in our lessons. It is the first thing a conductor sees before a note is even played, and may mean the difference between your piece and another's getting performed. Plus, your music is your art and your craft, it should look as great as it sounds.

I would highly recommend you get your hands on Elaine Gould's Behind Bars, or maybe Heussenstamm's less intimidating Norton Manual of Music Notation to start with. These are just a few of the resources I've used thus far for everything relating to notation in music.

A few things I noticed are below, and I apologize if any of this is beyond MuseScore's capabilities:

1. Always start with some kind of tempo indication and dynamic level; this instantly gives the casual peruser something to latch on to, and sets the mood for the piece.
   
2. Make sure the division and grouping of beats is always clear. This is probably the most complicated to describe, but examples include beat 4 of m.5, RH, or beats 2/3 of m.14, LH. These could easily be misread by performers. I reference you to the above manuals or another musician who can explain it in person.
   
   
3. Accidentals, both "actual" and cautionary, as well as notation of pitches using the same written pitch class. Check out m.27, LH. It might be clearer to notate as "G-Bb-Cb-Bb-Cb", to avoid the confusion of the repeated "B". Avoid weird intervals like augmented seconds, diminished fourths, etc. A same-but-different scenario occurs between m.25-26, LH, where a G# and a G are written close to each other, but over the bar. The bar line cancels all accidentals, but the performer may not always realize it until it's too late.
   
   
4. Above all else, consider performance practice. For those that don't play the instruments they're writing for, this can be difficult. I recently wrote for guitar for the first time, and I spent hours trying to figure out if sonorities I wanted were congenial or even possible. For example, m.37, RH is impossible for any piano player, but can easily be restructured to have the lowest C in the left hand. A good player will do this naturally, but it's best to write it as exact as possible.
   
   I apologize that this is long-winded, music notation is complicated. But hopefully these tips get you started! Always think what you would want to see if given a completely new score to read, and write that.

I'm not sure if a better series of books has been released since I started learning, but look at John Thompson's Modern Piano. Very good descriptions and progression of finger techniques. And later on, you can add on finger exercises from Hanon as well as Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

This book is very thin and helped me understand more than anything else: http://www.amazon.com/All-Chords-Positions-Pocket-Guide/dp/0793562597

There are many ways to use the CAGED system, but an easy way to find new places to play chords is to do this:
Play a C in first position. Move up two frets and play the A bar chord shape. That's still a C! Then move up 2 or three more and play a G shape barre chord.Move up and make an E shape, then up and a D shape. Those will all be the same C chord! That will work with major/minor/7th/whatever chords too.

Download Unreal Engine 4, Unity... Really any modern game engine since they're so freely available these days, and play with it a bit.

I've had this book recommended to me, and my professor called it addictive, so at the very least it has that going for it.

Also check out WWise, a game audio engine that is highly compatible with various engines and platforms.

There are formal methods for ear training.

Auralia is popular software used by music schools, usually as a supplement to aural skills classes.

A good book on the subject that is less classically oriented is Ear Training for the Contemporary Musician.

Most methods start with sight singing, which is a good way to internalize intervals without thinking about key. Then you move from those skills to interval recognition, and after getting decent at that you can do melody recognition (melodies are just a bunch of intervals in a row). After a little bit of interval training you can have a go at chord recognition.

I just saw we were getting some Reddit traffic on our website and found a link to this thread. I'm on the faculty at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and one of the creators of Read Ahead and I feel your pain! There are a lot of things you need to be able to do well and effortlessly in order to sight-read.
You mentioned that it still takes you some time to identify the notes. There are apps for that such as: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/music-tutor-free-sight-reading/id514363426?mt=8
I recommend spending 5 minutes twice a day (preferably separated by 5 or 6 hours) learning to identify notes. The advantage to doing this over regular beginning sight-reading books is that you can't rely on context and just read the contour of the line (although that is a valuable technique it won't help you learn to effortlessly identify notes as quickly).
Once you can read notes in both bass and treble clefs effortlessly and you have a mastered basic simple rhythmic patterns, you are ready to start working on fluency.
We designed our program around some core principals.
In order to sight-reading fluently you have to be reading ahead of where you are playing. Better sight-readers tend to read further ahead. Reading ahead gives you a little extra processing time so you know where your hands are going next. Using our iPad app, the music will disappear on the downbeat of each measure so you are always playing from memory.
To aid in training your memory, we've created memory training exercises which require you to flash memorize a measure of music and then play it back.
I just wrote a blog post on Memory and speed which goes into this fascinating subject in more detail and has some fun videos you can use to test yourself. We're amassing a number of articles on the various sub skills that need to be mastered in order to become an expert sight-reader so check out the blog index if you are interested.
Another major aspect to successful sight-reading it not looking down at your hands. Looking down almost guarantees stopping or making mistakes. If you do need to see your hands, try to use your peripheral vision and don't move or adjust your head. You need to keep your eyes on the score and learn to feel your way around the keyboard.


https://readaheadapp.com/2017/02/01/memory-and-speed/

Having a lot of music which progresses very slowly is also vital to improving sight-reading. One you have read through a piece a second time, you are no longer sight-reading. Working on sight-reading daily or at least 3-5 times a week is important and you have to accept that progress is slow for a while. I would suggest making a recording of your sight-reading now, practicing regularly for 6-8 weeks and then making another reference recording. Being able to perceive your progress is a huge motivator. That being said, we did a 6 week test with our iPad app vs using a printed curriculum and found that students with enough experience who used the app progressed surprisingly far over the 6 weeks. We also found that students who used a printed form of the curriculum made good (but not as much) progress. Our youngest and least experienced students actually did better with the book because having to play in time with disappearing music created a cognitive overload.

So we have created a series of books you can get on Amazon which work with the hybrid phone app someone referenced in this thread.

Everybody tends to learn piano from a surprisingly small pool of compositions, so we built our curriculum on real but obscure pieces by composers from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods with some 20th century music as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Read-Ahead-Level-Travis-Hardaway/dp/0996812601/

Hope this helps and keep working on it, you will certainly improve by doing it.

It's certainly possible to practice inefficiently and ineffectively.

There is some published material - books - on how to spend your practice (and lesson, if you have a teacher) time to get the most out of it.

Here are a few links, you may find some at a public library"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135378.The_Art_of_Practicing

https://www.amazon.com/Music-Practice-Practicing-Instrument-Professional/dp/151221583X

https://www.amazon.com/First-Learn-Practice-Tom-Heany/dp/1457507757/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0/134-8911672-4313913?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1457507757&pd_rd_r=5d4c6c6a-c602-4668-8aa1-fef7146277f2&pd_rd_w=6dxpV&pd_rd_wg=AAalo&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=ZG5EG45FHK5CSS47MQ5F&psc=1&refRID=ZG5EG45FHK5CSS47MQ5F

EDIT: it's my observation that the process of learning is something that has to be learned, and that can be best done with a teacher. Teachers often book lessons in blocks of time - say a month, to make it worth their while and make a stable schedule - so if you discussed with a teacher the goal of improved learning habits, as distinct from instrument technique, that might help you too; some things are faster learned if taught by another.

Recommended music theory textbooks.

This seems like it will probably give you the right idea.

I have heard good things about this book (or rather, its predecessor edition).

Great info here. Consider playing from a dedicated sight reading manual, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Reading-Exercises-PROGRESSIVE-Paperback/dp/B008MCSZZU

Maybe reading stuff helps, Look in your library for books like Werner Effortless Mastery, or the "Inspiration" tag at jazzadvice https://www.jazzadvice.com/category/inspiration-for-jazz-musicians/

There's other books,

https://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Practice-Musicians-Memorizing-Performing/dp/1587900211

https://www.amazon.com/First-Learn-Practice-Tom-Heany/dp/1457507757/

You can also supplement it with any music theory textbook. Most people recommend Laitz "The Complete Musician," but there are plenty of others. You can find the pdfs online if you search around a bit and then buy a workbook for an old edition for about 5 dollars on amazon. That'll give you ~2 years worth of college music theory with exercises to master whatever you want. These videos get about 2/3 of the way through any of the books and I think he's making more this summer. This is another professor that gets a little further in the curriculum, but his lectures aren't as well done (they're dry) as the first link.

Hal Leonard J.S. Bach for Electric Bass Guitar $7.95
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793581974/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/188-1049695-9945623
standing in the shadows of motown bass book $32
http://m.guitarcenter.com/Item/Default.aspx?itemno=1538514&urx=1
There are four great books to get you reading, if you don't already have a Hal Leonard real book. Also go to your Public Library you'd be surprised so many public libraries have a sheet music section

The Alexander Technique is really awesome - highly recommend reading up on it. Here's the book I read on it.

raises hand i've played for over ten years now! i'd really recommend this book to start off and begin playing. it's cheap, and really effective, imo! once you get down the basic "buzz" of the lips that you use to produce a sound, which is demonstrated in this video, just keep practicing as often as possible, and you'll get the hang of it :) if you have any questions, let me know!!

I like using the Dozen a Day series for teaching beginners because it does a good job of incorporating all articulation markings in short daily exercises. However, there are no explanations or tutorials for how to do them. This video covers all the markings and how to do them. As far as sight reading, you need to find pieces that are easier than pieces you would really need to practice. The way to practice sight reading is:

1. Scan through the piece with your eyes. Note the time signature, key signature, rhythmic patterns, etc. Try to visualize more complex sections and how you would play them. But don't try to touch the keys while you do this.
   
   
2. Pick a comfortable tempo and start playing. If you make mistakes, it's very important not to try to stop and fix it, just try to keep going in the same tempo. You should force your eyes to be always reading ahead so that really your eyes are one measure ahead of where your fingers are playing.
   
   
3. Once you finish, try to reflect on the parts you had trouble with, and again visualize but don't play yet, and try to fix it in your head.
   
   
4. Once you have evaluated your first pass, try going through it a second time. At this point, you're technically no longer sight-reading since you've already read it, but it's good practice to try to fix problem sections without actually stopping and working it out.
   
   There are sightreading books that have pieces written especially for practicing sight-reading. I like the Bastien series. There is also a free app for called "Read Ahead" that has sight reading exercises that disappear as you play, forcing you to read ahead. The accompanying book also contains great exercises and techniques that will help you read by intervals, pattern recognition, etc--instead of reading note by note.
   

I also use UE4 and I just finished the book Game Audio Implementation which I learned a lot from.

I learned from Gardner Read. The Norton Manual of Music Notation is handy. It's old enough (30 years) that it has some material on manuscript preparation, but you can just skip that. What I currently have is Elaine Gould's Behind Bars, which I like but is probably overkill.

I'm not sure quite what you mean by "the emotional connotation side of music theory." If you're looking for e.g. what 17-18C musicians thought and wrote about the "doctrine of the affections", there are historical texts out there. But books that try to go deeper, i.e. to help you understand why a certain piece makes you feel a certain way, are doubtful, and I haven't found any of use in my own work.

All scales and all chords in all positions
Both by hal leonard and in handy pocket books
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793597889/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793562597/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When you're first first starting, like the first month or two, get one of the trumpet method books they use in elementary school.
http://www.amazon.com/Rubank-Elementary-Method-Trumpet-Educational/dp/1423444795/
It will help you with reading and sounding melodic. Practice going up and down intervals without changing fingerings. Then move on to wider interval patterns. Use only a small amount of pressure against your lips, even for higher notes. Do chromatic scales starting from different notes. I personally think Clarke's technical studies is a better starting point than Arban's for an absolute beginner.

My friends I used to play with and I all had the same book, Monster Scales and Modes. It should have pretty much anything you're looking for on this subject. And you should be able to find a secondhand copy pretty easily.

I did a few beginner adult classes at Yamaha Music School in April, there are 2 of them in the city, one in the North another in the South

I went in for 11 lessons, 45min duration each, $45 per lesson. So $1 a minute.

The instructors you get to choose, based on your time preferences. You'll have to get your own lesson books and the instructor teaches out of your book. You go there to the facility every week and play the piano they have there inside a room. It was quite different playing on an upright piano as opposed to my digital piano at home which took some adjustments.

I got this book and the instructor pretty much went page by page, it was worth it in that it was motivating for me to learn. I got assigned homework songs to practice and the instructor critiques me on them the following week.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1616772050/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A lot of the stuff were pretty basic, especially the music theory part, I recommend doing youtube videos to cover the basics of music theory if you don't know it (so that you don't waste time going over it in the lessons since time is money...), and this site is amazing for testing yourself as well as learning music theory https://www.musictheory.net/

If budget is tight for you (it was for me), just go in for a few lessons to get the basic techniques down, and then you can teach yourself out of the books until further down the road when you get more advanced.

There are also other books to choose from, namely Bastien and Alfred series of books. They all have a whole progression by different levels and you can work your way thru all of them by yourself if you are motivated.

Ska is fast and hard, a very enjoyable style of play, but you'll need to build up a ton of endurance and learn many techniques to get there. I would recommend asking your school's band dept to set you up, most schools have loaners and will hook you up with a private instructor. Do not discount the private instructor, it is certainly necessary.

I also recommend grabbing Essential Elements (you should be able to find this at your local music store) and working your way through it. There is also a second book in this series (part 2) that you'll want. It will teach you all the notes, fingerings, how to read sheet music, how to manage certain styles, and help you build up a very basic repertoire of classic pieces. After that, grab Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble. It might seem odd to recommend just these, but every school I have been to for contesting or whatever has had these books lying around with dog ears and broken bindings, so they must be good :)

When practicing, there are three phases. The first third of your session should be warming up. Take it nice and easy. You are literally raising the temperature of your instrument and that is important. I usually stop when I feel a slight tingling sensation on my lips. The second third should be dedicated to actual music, because the music deserves better than sloppy seconds. Short songs from the book, or maybe you have music assigned by your school's band director that you need to learn. The last third should be technical exercises. These might be boring but you need them to build up your endurance, range, flexibility, and tone. Do not eschew these.

If you're in central Illinois I've got an extra student trumpet I could hand out to a good home. I dragged it through marching band so it's got its fair share of scratches and dings but everything is in good working order.

Essential Elements for Trumpet 2000 Books 1&2

https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Elements-2000-Comprehensive-Trumpet/dp/0634003208/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Essential+Elements+2000+Trumpet&qid=1563383823&s=books&sr=1-1

Need: https://www.amazon.com/Vaideology-Basic-Theory-Guitar-Players/dp/1540030997

PDF $5

The Hal Leonard stuff is pretty good. In addition to the basic books make sure you get a copy of Music Theory: A Practical Easy to Use Guide. I learn something new every time I crack open this book. I think you'll appreciate it.

edit: this appears to be included in the "Hal Leonard Bass Method - Complete Edition"

I don't know of any sources on the history of modern notation, but the standard style guide I use is the Norton Manual of Music Notation by George Heussenstamm.

I really liked this one because it's packed full of information and it's an easy read. http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Music-Theory-4th-ed/dp/1492831638

So, start just by practicing with simple melodies that you know by heart: christmas carols, nursery rhymes, movie themes, that sort of thing.

It'll require a lot of hunting and pecking and will be slow, but that's fine.

Then I would start working with the functional ear trainer. It's a free download from miles.be - again, it will feel crazy difficult at first, and that's fine. Stick with it - 5-10 minutes a day, five days a week.

If you want more, you could get a book on ear training. I recommend this one: https://www.amazon.com/Ear-Training-Contemporary-Musician-Elliott/dp/0793581931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502376335&sr=8-1&keywords=ear+training+for+the+contemporary+musician

Although in my opinion, you should start with the other two things.

Read this book. It will help you in all aspects of your life:

https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Technique-Musicians-Kingfisher-Readers/dp/1408174588

Your technique looks pretty neutral to me. Maybe there are other activities in your life ( gym?) that are contributing.

This is a super general music book, but it's a fantastic read to really dip your toes in to all the basics of music. Very focused and brief.

www.amazon.com/Basic-Music-Theory-4th-ed/dp/1492831638/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=music+theory+for+beginners&qid=1556053620&s=gateway&sr=8-9

https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Scales-Modes-Dave-Celentano/dp/0931759595

Here is the desktop version of your link

Thanks for the reply. about the complete musician books, should I buy the workbooks? here are some links to the two on amazon 1 2
, are they really necesary or helpful?

And about the history book, would you recommend studying history?

I have this one (http://www.amazon.com/Workbook-Accompany-The-Complete-Musician/dp/0199742790). Looks like it's the 3rd edition.

You're not alone. I've always loved music, and loved guitars - the look, the sound - but was terrified to actually learn to play.


For months in my teens I carted around a cheap acoustic, always asked my friend (a somewhat more accomplished player and student (not directly) of Christopher Parkening) to tune it every time I thought to play it, then promptly failed to play it.


Years passed, joined a band, learned more chords, was still terrified, but tried to do it anyway. Learned bass during those years (my mid-to-late 20s), and started learning the fretboard very slowly, and not intuitively.


Then I stopped cold, not playing between 1998 and 2013, when, after some personal crises, I returned to music and playing bass, thanks in part to a goofy, inspiring video by one Rob Chapman.


YouTube videos helped some, but the real work over the last several years was me overcoming my preconceptions about playing, about what other people might think of my playing, about my own confidence that I could just play music at all and enjoy doing it.


In the last 6 years I've advanced more as a guitarist (and I still dabble with the bass) than I did in all the pre-2013 years combined.


This year, this book has been helping me get a handle on the basics of music theory (not as terrifying as it might seem!), and Steve's videos here, here, and here, among many others, have been a surprising inspiration. I say surprising because, thanks to my early, long-standing preconceptions about playing, I ignored Steve's music after trying it and not liking it, thinking (SO Wrongly) that he would have nothing to teach me.


Play, Learn, Have FUN, and Never Give Up. You CAN do this.


EDIT: Also, buy a tuner and use it - you can also use it to help teach you chords and the notes on the fretboard. Next to your hands and your ears, it's the best tool your guitar can have.

Your list is mostly bluesy stuff, so learn a bunch of blues licks and how to put them together: https://www.amazon.com/Blues-You-Can-Use-Complete/dp/1495011828/ref=sr_1_1?crid=34GHNQ2HL6X1D&keywords=blues+you+can+use&qid=1567554746&s=gateway&sprefix=bike+he%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-1

I'm unclear what you mean by "Music Terms"--however, if what you're interested in is getting a firm understanding of music theory (scales, major/minor keys, etc.), I'd recommend this workbook. A family member of mine teaches music theory at the college level and recommended it to me as a teenager, and it's well designed and teaches a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/Blues-You-Can-Use-Complete/dp/1495011828/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487044821&sr=8-1&keywords=Blues+You+Can+Use

I know a few guitar teachers who use this book for their students who want to learn blues.

If there's one book I think every frustrated guitarist should read it's Fretboard Logic.

If you really want to dive in on the theory side of things, the best resource I've found for getting started with pure music theory is a book called Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm and Meter.