Learn to Speak Music: A Guide to Creating, Performing, and Promoting Your Songs - Softcover

Crossingham, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897349653 ISBN 13: 9781897349656

Publisher: Owlkids, 2009

Synopsis

For something so familiar, music can be a giant mystery, to the point where musicians seem more like magicians than everyday people. In fact, anyone can make and share music. Computers come with recording programs, and anyone can post their own music to websites like MySpace and YouTube. All that's needed is a little know-how. Learn to Speak Music helps young readers learn this universal language by revealing every nook and cranny of how it's made. Rather than just a guide to instruments and theory, it explores every aspect of the pop music world, from songwriting and artwork to promotion and setting up a practice space. Author John Crossingham, a veteran of the indie rock scene, brings in the expert opinions of other musicians to give insider's advice on choosing and buying an instrument, finding the right bandmates, setting up gigs, overcoming stage fright, emulating high-priced studio techniques at home, and much more. Also featured is a guide to shooting a music video from MTVA-nominated director Christopher Mills.

About this title

About the Authors

JOHN CROSSINGHAM has spent most of his life playing music and writing words. A veteran of numerous bands, including Broken Social Scene and Raising The Fawn, he has toured much of the world, played on Conan, Letterman, and the Junos, and has released several albums and EPs. He has also written and edited dozens of children's books, as well as written about music for FASHION and Chart magazines. He lives in Toronto.

JEFF KULAK is an Edmonton-born, Montreal-based designer-illustrator. From his studio, a converted room in a former nunnery, he creates art for books, magazines, album covers, and event posters.

Reviews

For kids who make music and want to enter the professional realm, this attractive title offers a glimpse of how to make that happen. It begins with the basics. What’s pitch? Beat? How do they combine to make music? From there the book goes on to discuss forming a band, picking music, writing your own, and performing and recording. Each of these topics is covered in depth, and author Crossingham, a member of the band Broken Social Scene, assumes (and lets the reader assume) that some level of professionalism can be attained. On the other hand, he doesn’t denigrate playing for fun. This boatload of information is made palatable by Crossingham’s easy tone that doesn’t talk down to the reader and the book’s clever design. With a graphic style reminiscent of 1950s advertising art, the book is extremely visual, with a number of elements on each page: illustrations, highlighted boxes, and playlists that relate songs to the subject at hand. Even non-musicians will become more informed listeners. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper

Edition details

• Publisher: Owlkids
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1897349653
• ISBN 13: 9781897349656
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Kulak Jeff
• Number of pages: 96