References & Resources
A. PRACTICAL, DIRECT-TO-APPLICATION, IMMEDIATELY USEFUL POP AND ROCK REFERENCE MATERIALS
1.) ROCK SCHOOL -- based on the Rockschool TV series (WNET New Your in association
with BBC-TV) copyright 1984 The Authors: Deirdre Cartwright (guitar), Geoff
Nicholls (drums), Henry Thomas (bass), produced by Chris Lent. Hosted by Herbie
Hancock. Published in USA and Canada by Cherry Lane Music Co., Inc.
no idea of the availability of this gem. The detail about how drum parts are
constructed are absolutely state-of-the-art! The history of how the various
grooves came into the pop music scene are very valuable as well. There are a lot
of good ideas on the other instruments too, but the drum stuff is just fabulous.
2.) RHYTHM GUITAR CHOPS -- Accompaniment Studies for Rock & Popular Music -- by
Pete Gosling -- Mel Bay
WOW!!! If there ever was a rock rhythm section book custom-made for our
dulcimer purposes, it would have to be this one. Sure, Pete talks alot about
guitar voicings and guitar-specific technique, but the chord symbols are always
there and the rhythms are universal. This should still be available, at least in
used form if Mel Bay cut it out of their catalog. I've got the companion tape to
this -- they probably have a CD now too.
3.) WRITING MUSIC FOR HIT SONGS -- by Jai Josephs -- copyright 1989 and 1996 --
Schirmer Books -- ISBN 0-02-864678-9 -- 782.421
this is a great analysis of why certain devices work to make hit songs. When
you get down to looking at the underlying rhythmic structure, melodic design, and
harmonic content of pop music, you completely transcend any notion you may have
had of crass commercialism or trendy hooks: Jai picks some really fine music to
illustrate and everything is designed to go DIRECTLY into your own little toolbox.
(notice that I included the Dewey Decimal number for finding the book or like
titles in your Public Library)
4.) INSIDE THE MUSIC -- The Musician's Guide to Composition, Improvisation, and
the Mechanics of Music -- by Dave Stewart -- copyright 1999 Miller Freeman Books
-- ISBN 0-87930-571-1 -- 781-dc21
a short, rather densely-packed powerhouse of a book, Stewart is known for his
incredible keyboard/synth arranging with his partner Barbara Gaskins, who is a
very powerful and expressive singer. British wit and humor prevail everywhere, and
there is no hand-holding or softening of the blows -- just a very intense look at
some of his favorite harmonic devices. This book may be a little too advanced for
our purposes here, but there is some inspiration to be found here, so I include
it.
5.) JAZZ GUITAR CHORDS AND ACCOMPANIMENT -- Learn Jazz Guitar Chords and Various
Accompaniment Styles Step by Step! -- by Yoichi Arakawa copyright 2000
sixstringsmusicpub.com -- ISBN 1-891370-07-3 -- 787.87
this is absolutely the best ORGANIZATION of jazz chords I've seen anywhere!
Again, the voicings are guitar-specific, but you-all know your way around the
dulcimer well enough to overcome this limitation. Yoichi hits on all the main
chord categories with respect to FUNCTION and there are many -- extremely musical
-- chord progressions in each section for study and practice.
6.) THE POP PIANO BOOK -- A Complete Method For Playing Piano And Keyboards In
Contemporary Styles -- by Mark Harrison (harrisonmusic.com) -- copyright 1994
*** hey------>this guy's got his own school of music in California! This is an
amazing and wonderful resource!!!!! 500 pages of practical contemporary arpeggio
ideas that can be instantly played on dulcimer -- a VERY LARGE proportion of this
book is purely diatonic, so there's not a huge obstacle of chromaticism for the
dulcimer translation. Of course, most of the examples are easily played on any
electronic keyboard as well. Mark is very much of a theory geek (like me!), so he
spares no effort in giving you in-depth STRUCTURAL INTERVALLIC analyses of all the
examples -- I'm going to try to hunt up the CD that goes along with it soon.
B. MORE ACADEMIC AND THEORETICAL BOOKS FOR EXPLORING CERTAIN AREAS IN RIDICULOUS, OBSESSIVE DETAIL
1.) HARVARD DICTIONARY OF MUSIC -- Willi Apel 2nd Edition Revised and Enlarged --
copyright 1972 Willi Apel -- Library of Congress Catalog Card #: 68-21970 -- ISBN
0-674-37501-7
OUCH!!!! --- Willi be jammin' hard in this tome! You will see the power of
looking up a term in this interstellar reference, because I will demonstrate on
the web site soon how much growth is possible with an open mind and a totally
world-class historic perspective going back to the Middle Ages. You just can't
beat having a totally global time-spanning perspective on a musical term or
device: I have written new pieces after consulting this reference and going to
work applying the examples. You can too.
2.) TONAL HARMONY -- with an introduction to Twentieth-Century Music -- by Stefan
Kostka & Dorothy Payne (University of Texas at Austin) copyright 1984* Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc. -- ISBN 0-394-32830-2 -- 781.3
*I know for a fact that this book has been updated and expanded two, maybe three
times since 1984. Each time they cover more and more recent 20th Century classical
practices and trends.
this was my main theory text at the Ohio State University School of Music from
1985-1989, and it is a great classical theory text from a fresher, more
contemporary viewpoint than Piston or other famous theory texts. But make no bones
about it: this is serious high-octane Western Classical Theory! There is not a
mention of jazz in a book like this, nor even a hint about pop music. I had to
learn my jazz theory simultaneously across the hall in Weigel, and there is very
little that the Department of Jazz Studies agreed with the Department of Theory
and Composition on! You don't need these contradictions, so we will only go in the
classical direction when we want the historical depth and completely thorough
treatment of some device or principle.