Music: The Art of Listening

“Music: The Art of Listening is a practical, concise textbook for the beginning student of music history and appreciation, written in language readily understandable by a student with no previous music experience. Throughout the text, music is presented in its broad cultural and historical context, never as an isolated phenomenon divorced from the world surrounding it. Relationships are drawn between music and the other arts, with which students may have more familiarity, and between the music characteristic of one period and music of the distant past and of modern times.” – from the Preface

Emphasizing practical teaching over theoretical instruction, Music: The Art of Listening is written in an engaging and open style enjoyable to professor and student alike. Notation in the fifth edition remains limited for ease-of-use by students who do not read music. This edition offers more detailed listening guides and new timed listening charts to make it even more accessible to students.