Learning Strategies For Musical Success

Name: Learning Strategies For Musical Success
Author: Michael Griffin
ISBN: 978-1481946735

by Michael Griffin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2013

A helpful guide for anyone looking to understand musical success.

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Awards & Accolades

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Music educator Griffin (Music and Keyboard in the Classroom, 2013) aims to help readers understand the science behind “practice makes perfect.”

While Griffin’s new book doesn’t go so far as to guarantee perfection for its practitioners, he does make a point to debunk the myth of natural talent, arguing instead for the unmatched importance of time spent practicing. With regard to so-called child prodigies, Griffin writes that what distinguishes them is that “they are constantly compared with children their own age, rather than with others who have accrued similar quantities of practice hours, similar opportunities, and family support.” Still, parents of would-be child prodigies can learn plenty here about how best to nurture their budding musicians. Griffin’s six well-researched, in-depth chapters are explained well for lay readers, translating studies in mathematics and neuroscience into comprehensible pop psychology with plenty of valuable “learning strategies for musical success.” Accordingly, the book is geared more toward instruction than entertainment and might be a bit dry for the casual reader; that said, Griffin also offers worthwhile information for nonmusicians. Particularly interesting are his notes on selecting background music for study, considering volume, tempo, tonality and texture. “Extrovert teenage boys are,” perhaps not surprisingly, “most at risk to choose poor study music.” Ultimately, rooted as it is in research and experience, much of Griffin’s advice comes down to matters of common sense, such as the need to strike a balance between encouragement and critical instruction. Figuring out how to do this is, of course, a bit trickier, so musical educators and parents of young music students alike will be grateful for Griffin’s valuable insights and the supporting information he’s gathered. The intermittent quotes from various historical luminaries on music, education and the mind don’t add much to Griffin’s text, though they’re precisely the sort of reducible platitudes found on posters in many music classrooms, so they don’t feel entirely out of place.

A helpful guide for anyone looking to understand musical success.

Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2013

ISBN: 978-1481946735

Page Count: 174

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.