The Elements of Music: Melody, Rhythm, and Harmony (Wooden Books)

…..unless you have stellar vision, make sure you have your glasses handy. The print is tiny. Fortunately, the information in the book is worth putting them on for. All of these little wooden books have been incredibly informational. I’m still in awe of the things that people with genius minds have discovered and pieced together, and that we can read about. There is so much about our created universe that we may not be able to see without specialized equipment, but these books excel at giving us a glimpse into the very organized, symmetrical, and mathematical aspect to…..EVERYTHING.

In the space of a mere 50 pages, Martineau's book helped me realize fundamental musical concepts that four years of college education and the ensuing decades haven't done. I read this for a few minutes each day over a week, as it's a relatively quick read.As other reviewers having pointed out, I suspect that complete musical novices will have some problems with certain sections. These are places where the limited space simply doesn't permit the author to communicate certain assumptions, terminology and principles. But I can imagine this being a viable starting point in the hands of a musically knowledgeable guide.The illustrations, while tiny, are wonderfully conceived and executed in a style consistent with the old-world artistry set forth in the cover.I had two big takeaways: One was a deeper understanding of harmonic theory, and secondly, a greater appreciation of how all the elements work together to weave a fabric that mirrors the movement of our own lives through time. I think of it as a universal theory of music. Cool.I highly recommend this tiny little treasure for any musician looking to reach a broader grasp of the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic workings for the mystery we call music.

These WOODEN BOOKS are absolutely great. I love everything I have bought in the series. The books are small, concise and full of important content to make one learned in many of the classical arts and some of the more obscure knowledge of the world.My only complaint is that the reproduction of some content suffers due to the small format these books come in. In order to fit some visuals onto a page the text can get rather small, which is really bad when an unfamiliar script font is used in conjunction. You need to use a magnifying glass to read it.

Too tiny! small font can't read. I'm a musician. Great content covers the subject, just need a strong lense! Larger book?

THis book pulls together in one tiny package all the constituents of music and finds new fascinating ways of showing the deep connections between the elements. IT also presents ways of interpreting music and its power in our larger world in new and potentially controversial ways, through revealing the science and spiritual fabric embedded. The title does not do justice to the depth of the creative approach the author takes in helping us better understand the mystery of music. A must for any musician and anyone who hungers for how this magic we call music shows up in our world.

The Elements of Music is another in a series of beautifully illustrated and informatively written Wooden Books. These books are small in size but large in the amount of information they contain. Written by experts in the fields and illustrated with black and white pen and ink drawings they might remind one of the days when bookmaking was an art. I confess to being smitten by the art and information within these lovely little books and plan to eventually collect all of them. They are gems.

Excellent approach to give the basics of musics in an original way. Lots of fascinating graphic interpretations of chords and other musical concepts. Some concepts seem to me still difficult to understand in the way it's presented (overtones). But for such a small book, it offers quite a lot!

My son is so excited to have this book added to his collection. I wish I've have known it was printed in the Quadrivium book I purchased at the same time, but it worked out well. He can carry this one around with him.

Wow - this book is amazing value. All the formulaic stuff that musicians and composers might want to know, whacked together into a simple and convenient pocket sized volume. It's incredibly well written and flows very logically.In the same way that mathematicians and scientists might refer to charts and tables, or cooks go visit a recipe book to check how many eggs to use, everything is here for musicians. It also is on 100% recycled paper and looks great. Lots of helpful simple drawings throughout. A couple of minor typesetting errors appear to have crept past editing (e.g. like a word repeated), but they don't alter meanings.Highly recommended.

The book downloads as a tiny box mid screen, with miniscule text, very difficult to read, and the illustrations even worse. Disappointing, because it looks like a good book. I've tried altering text size, but for this book that setting seems to be frozen.

Really interesting book to read and is very inspirational to a composer to try different ideas for music.Came in good time and condition.

Good book for musicians

Interesting book.