Basic Elements of Music

Michael J. Pagliaro has served as professor of instrumental music and musical instrument technology. He is founder and CEO emeritus-in-counsel of Ardsley Musical Instrument Service, Ltd., director of research and development for Contemporary Music Laboratories, and author of Everything You Should Know about Musical Instruments (1992), The Violin: How It Works (2002), The Flute: How It Works (2003), The Violin Workbook (2004), The Musical Instrument DeskReference (2012), The String Instrument Owner’s Handbook (2015), and The Brass Instrument Owner’s Handbook (forthcoming 2016).

Instrumentalists’ first musical experiences are generally limited to intensive study of their instrument of choice. Pagliaro introduces the broader realm of music, beginning with music history and sound production (chapters 1 and 2). He devotes the next 12 chapters to four families of band and orchestra instruments—non-fretted strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion. For each group, Pagliaro explores the various instruments’ characteristics and history and explains how they work. He concludes by returning to music fundamentals—in chapters devoted to form, basic music theory, and types of ensembles—and discussing opera and the role of the conductor. The volume includes numerous glossaries with brief definitions of key terms as well as recommendations of websites and books for further study…. [T]his is a practical, well-researched…guide that will be valuable to instrumental music majors, amateurs, and music teachers. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, teachers, and general readers.

• Chapter 1: An Overview of the History of MusicChapter 2: Sound Production Chapter 3: Non-fretted String Instruments DefinedChapter 4: The History of Non-fretted String InstrumentsChapter 5: How Non-fretted Instruments WorkChapter 6: Brass Instruments DefinedChapter 7: The History of Brass InstrumentsChapter 8: How Brass Instruments WorkChapter 9: Woodwind Instruments Defined Chapter 10: The History of Woodwind InstrumentsChapter 11: How Woodwind Instrument WorkChapter 12: Percussion Instruments DefinedChapter 13: The History of Percussion InstrumentsChapter 14: How Percussion Instruments WorkChapter 15: Form in MusicChapter 16: Music TheoryChapter 17: Ensembles Chapter 18: Anatomy of an OperaChapter 19: The Role of the Conductor