A Concise Guide to Understanding Music offers guidance on many aspects of musical form, the creative concepts of major composers over the centuries, and developments ranging from early notation to the present day. The book is profusely illustrated and also contains an extensive bibliography as well as detailed lists of compositions for the reader to listen to and enjoy. For those who wish to understand more about all kinds of music, this is the book to help you.

•  List of Illustrations
•  Foreword
•  PART I -  THE BASIC ESSENTIALS
•  1. The Composer
•  2. Sound
•  3. The Musical Scale
•  4. Plainsong and the Modes
•  5. The Development of Scales and Tonality
•  6. Melody
•  7. Counterpoint
•  8. Harmony
•  PART II -  INSTRUMENTS -  NOTATION
•  9. The Instruments of Music
•  10. Notation
•  11. The Revival of Improvisation
•  12. Reading Musical...