Now in its second edition the acclaimed volume is more than a book about the contrabass, but an introduction to string playing at a time in the history of Western music when timbre has finally ascended to its rightful role among musical parameters. It articulates the real musical image and potential of the contrabass, and introduces new concepts, aesthetics, and techniques. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

With Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Composer’s Guide to Techniques and Resources, Alan Shockley provides a comprehensive resource for composers writing music that uses extended techniques for the piano, and for pianists interested in playing repertoire that makes use of techniques and/or implements unfamiliar to them. Shockley explains dozens of ways to prepare a piano without damaging the instrument, how to notate every standard technique and many, many obscure ones, and the specific geographies of every common concert hall piano. This will be the standard reference for pianists touring and playing inside-the-piano repertoire, and for composers at all levels of familiarity with the piano hoping to understand the mechanical miracle that is the modern piano.

Written by a composer and a musician, The Contemporary Violin offers a unique menu of avant-garde musical possibilities that both performers and composers will enjoy exploring. Allen and Patricia Strange's comprehensive study critically examines extended performance techniques found in the violin literature of the latter half of the twentieth century. Drawing from both published and private manuscripts, the authors present extended performance options for the acoustic, modified, electric, and MIDI violin, with signal processing and computer-related techniques, and include more than 400 notated examples. The authors begin with bowing techniques and proceed systematically through other aspects of string playing, including MIDI technologies. Their correspondence and research with many performers and composers, the book's extensive score and text bibliography, and the discography of more than 130 recordings make The Contemporary Violin a valuable contemporary music reference and guide. An additional benefit is its listing of Internet resources that will keep the reader up to date with recent developments in contemporary performance and composition. First published by UC Press, 2001.

Classical and Contemporary Studies for Bass Guitar combines essential studies from 19th century composer Giovanni Bottesini; the "Paganini of bass", with contemporary studies by Gilbert Isbin; one of the leading European composers for guitar, lute and bass. These 33 studies will help build not just your technique, but reading abilities and overall musicianship. The material is intended for serious bass students and can be played on a fretted or fretless bass. While Bottesini's works lie firmly in the classical genre, Isbin's studies bring in elements of classical, jazz and world music. All the studies are written in standard bass clef notation as well as tablature. Includes access to online audio recorded by Rob MacKillop for each study.

The main purpose of this book is to develop the simultaneous use of the voice while playing double bass. A significant number of works in the solo contemporary double bass repertoire (and also a small number of ensemble pieces) incorporate some sort of vocal technique, and this number is constantly growing. These pieces usually contain instructions for interpreting the vocal notation, but never has there been a guide or reference material for how to develop this technique and how to practice these works effectively. This book does NOT train the performer to be a professional opera singer or actor but rather provides only the most fundamental yet essential information required for performing this unique field of repertoire. What's inside: - Using the Voice as a Practice Aid - Vocal Tools and Techniques - Exercises and Etudes - Notation Examples In "Using the Voice as a Practice Aid," this book demonstrates how simple vocalizations can assist one's practice habits. This section also helps develop necessary coordination between using the voice and playing the instrument simultaneously. "Vocal Tools and Techniques" provides fundamental information regarding vocal techniques and methods for a non-vocally trained instrumentalist. This section also includes valuable information for preparing and performing solo double bass-voice repertoire. In "Exercises and Etudes," a series of studies in increasing difficulty divided into three categories (speaking, singing, and phonetics) is introduced to help build and prepare necessary techniques one might find in solo double bass-voice pieces. Finally, "Notation Examples" (also divided into the three aforementioned subsections) serves as a valuable tool not only for performers but also for composers. Short excerpts from several pieces in the repertoire are examined to showcase many ways in which the voice is notated in solo instrumental works.