Except for the most conservative music departments, most colleges and universities have instituted music major programs to accommodate the contemporary student whose interest lies in current practice, e.g., popular music, music business and/or industry and music production. Those involved in the creation of popular music are usually more aurally oriented, and create music based on what sounds as that which is accepted as popular music. These students typically attempt song writing, and perform either as soloists or with bands. Music business and industry majors demonstrate interest in pursuing careers in music production, recording, publishing, management, promotion, and essentially any area that does not involve primarily the creative aspect of composition or performance. However, regardless of a music major’s primary area of interest, he or she is still required to fulfill certain departmental musicianship requirements. While traditional majors in performance, composition or teaching for example, must successfully complete historically established musicianship courses, the current trend in musicianship offerings is an attempt to be more accommodating to various needs and concentrations. Musicianship for the Contemporary Musician, which can be completed in two semesters, will satisfy this alternative approach and still fully prepare the graduate to move freely in other facets of the profession. The author is a classically and formally trained pianist, composer and theorist, who has spent many years as a performer of classical, jazz, popular, rock and liturgical music, touring and studio musician, and professor of music. He is a multiple-charted and award-winning songwriter, commissioned composer, producer, arranger/orchestrator and lyricist (Billboard, et. al.), and a published author, composer and songwriter. His works—popular, piano, choral and instrumental—have been recorded and published by numerous record companies and publishers in the United States and abroad. The author speaks from dozens of years of experience in the music profession.

Contemporary Musicianship presents traditional music theory and analysis in an innovative way for popular music, jazz, and music business/industry students. The text introduces students to the basic principles of music theory using the great works of classical performers and popular artists. Through creative projects and composition opportunities, Contemporary Musicianship shows the two-semester Musicianship or Introduction to Music Theory student that music theory is more than just notes and math; it is a musical experience that evolves throughout the life of an artist. Features * A contemporary approach bridges the gap between classical music and popular music * "Artist in Residence" features help students see how concepts in the text apply to the real world * Real-life scenarios in both creative projects and textual explanations show students how to think like industry musicians * Composition opportunities encourage students to apply what they have learned to their own original music * Aural skills exercises at the end of selected chapters are accompanied with studio recordings made specifically for this text * Coverage of chord harmonies using roman-numeral analysis (the traditional keyboard method) and lead-sheet symbols (more common in popular and jazz music) teach students alternate systems commonly used by professional performers in the commercial music world * A Companion Website with links to YouTube videos points students to relevant performances for analysis and critique and interviews with songwriters and performers

Formerly married to Mick Fleetwood and now to Don Henley's drummer Ian Wallace, Jenny Boyd has spent much of her adult life with the most influential musicians of her generation. Here she provides a forum for musicians in every field of popular music to speak candidly about their lives and the events, people, and other factors that influenced and propelled their own creative processes. 50 photographs. Index.

Focusing on the lives and work of several prominent singers and songwriters from a wide range of musical genres, INSIDE THE MUSIC explores the influence spirituality has had on their lives and work. Includes profiles of Jeff Buckley, pop folk musician; Leonard Cohen, singer and poet; Dean Can Dance, world-music band; Philip Glass, composer; Allen Ginsberg and many others. 16 photos.

This book studies recent music in the western classical tradition, offering a critique of current analytical/theoretical approaches and proposing alternatives. The critique addresses the present fringe status of recent music sometimes described as crossover, postmodern, post-classical, post-minimalist, etc. and demonstrates that existing descriptive languages and analytical approaches do not provide adequate tools to address this music in positive and productive terms. Existing tools and concepts were developed primarily in the mid-20th century in tandem with the high modernist compositional aesthetic, and they have changed little since then. The aesthetics of music composition, on the other hand, have been in constant transformation. Lochhead proposes new ways to conceive musical works, their structurings of musical experience and time, and the procedures and goals of analytic close reading. These tools define investigative procedures that engage the multiple perspectives of composers, performers, and listeners, and that generate conceptual modes unique to each work. In action, they rebuild a conceptual, methodological, and experiential place for recent music. These new approaches are demonstrated in analyses of four pieces: Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh (1996), Sofia Gubaidulina’s Second String Quartet (1987), Stacy Garrop’s String Quartet no.2, Demons and Angels (2004-05), and Anna Clyne’s "Choke" (2004). This book defies the prediction of classical music’s death, and will be of interest to scholars and musicians of classical music, and those interested in music theory, musicology, and aural culture.

(Music Sales America). This essential guide is a full course for today's musician. It covers everything from the fundamentals of sound and music notation to popular song forms and chord scales for improvisation.

The Third Edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to cover recent developments and current concerns in the field.