WHICH MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SHALL I PLAY?

In appearance this is a thicker version of the several books designed to introduce the various families of musical instruments and, despite its much longer text, it is little more informative than such rudimentary manuals as Carla Greene's Let's Learn About the Orchestra and less effective as an overture than the old Huntington Tune Up which conveys the quality of each instrument briefly and pictures it in action and in detail. More extensive but still succinct is the Posell This Is an Orchestra which includes advice on choosing and buying an instrument and locating a teacher -- advice which, like the remarks on the individual instruments, betokens a closer acquaintance with the subject than anthing here. The Collier has two attractions: it pertains not only to the orchestra, the school band and the dance band but also to rock groups; it emphasizes opportunities for performance. But the focus on free choice fails to consider the child's qualifications and limitations -- such basics as the barrier buck teeth can be. The many photos are often uninstructive, sometimes unlabelled and, in one case, mislabelled (the reversed captions under the pair showing the mellophone and French horn); the text is wordy, repetitive and platitudinous. Altogether the book is better attuned to the times than to the subject.