Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Understanding Music: Past and Present
Alan Clark; Thomas Heflin; Jeffery Kluball; Elizabeth Kramer · University of North Georgia Press · 2015
Understanding Music: Past and Present is an open Music Appreciation textbook co-authored by music faculty across Georgia. The text covers the fundamentals of music and the physics of sound, an exploration of music from the Middle Ages to the present day, and a final chapter on popular music in the United States.
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Music and the Child
Natalie Sarrazin · Open SUNY · 2016
Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts? This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.
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Open Music Theory
Mark Gotham; Kyle Gullings; Chelsey Hamm; Bryn Hughes · Virtual Library of Virginia · 2023
Open Music Theory is a natively-online open educational resource intended to serve as the primary text and workbook for undergraduate music theory curricula. OMT2 provides not only the material for a complete traditional core undergraduate music theory sequence (fundamentals, diatonic harmony, chromatic harmony, form, 20th-century techniques), but also several other units for instructors who have diversified their curriculum, such as jazz, popular music, rhythm, counterpoint, and orchestration. This version also introduces a complete workbook of assignments.
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Original Études for the Developing Conductor
Jonathan Caldwell; Derek Shapiro · Virginia Tech Publishing · 2023
Original Études for the Developing Conductor is a collection of supplemental études designed to enhance contemporary conducting pedagogy by amplifying the voices of composers from historically excluded groups. Each étude was commissioned from and composed by a living composer, the majority of whom are woman-identifying composers and/or composers of color. Each étude also addresses multiple specific pedagogical goals common to all conducting classrooms. Conducting textbooks commonly include musical examples to expose student conductors to various musical challenges and situations. However, due to the relative ease of using only music from the public domain, most examples found in commercially published books are excerpts of larger works composed by deceased cisgender white men of European descent. Often, this music bears little relation to a significant portion of the music contemporary students engage with and perform. These excerpts also tend to be quite short (i.e., less than a minute) and do not create cohesive, self-contained musical arcs. Instructors adopting or reviewing this text are encouraged to record their use on this form: https://bit.ly/original-etudes-interest. This helps the book's sponsors to understand this open textbook's impact. This project was made possible in part by financial support from the University Libraries at Virginia Tech Collaborative Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Greensboro University Libraries’ Textbook Affordability Program (TAP) Grants, and additional funding, technical, and publishing support from the Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.
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German 101
Rebecca Linam · University of North Alabama · 2022
Features of German 101: Short articles and dialogues in each chapter. Extra practice for each grammar concept. Links to an interactive video series that reviews grammar and vocabulary. Comic strips to promote interest, reading, and provide additional visual examples. Exercises for both in-class and out of class. Links to German music with grammar concepts. A range of songs from the 1980s to the present day is included to help introduce the music culture. Links to videos that reteach each grammar concept and pronounce new words. Oral Proficiency Interview practice at the end of each chapter with helpful tips. Quick upgrades as necessary. As feedback is received, more practice and videos will be added.
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Storytelling on Screen: An Online Playback Theatre Archive and Guidebook
Jordan Rosin; Heidi Vogel; Sammy Lebron · Virginia Tech Publishing · 2021
Playback Theatre is a form of community-centered storytelling theater where the audience tells stories, which are then reflected by a company of actors and musicians. Storytelling on Screen: An Online Playback Theatre Archive and Guidebook is an open education resource consisting of a collection of full-length recordings of online Playback Theatre performances, and a 55-page explanatory guidebook. The guidebook, featuring a foreword by Playback Theatre co-founder, Jo Salas, explains the adaptation to online performances and some of the key concepts, roles, and forms involved in online Playback Theatre. The resource as a whole is suitable for a wide range of theatre students in courses such as applied theatre, theatre for social justice, improvisation, theatre appreciation, or acting. The guidebook contains hyperlinks to specific sections of the archive where students can see a given form or concept in action, allowing for a comparison of how different companies approach a given form. If you are an artist, educator, or theatre-maker using this resource, please help us understand your use by filling out this form https://bit.ly/playback_interest
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Teaching Low Brass
Steven Maxwell · New Prairie Press · 2018
The purpose of this textbook is to provide resources about teaching low brass instruments to music educators and future music educators. The book was developed by the author as part of the open/alternative textbook initiative at Kansas State University. It Is the textbook used for the Kansas State University course Music 239-Low Brass Techniques and Materials. The textbook focuses on two areas: basic information including pedagogical material for teaching low brass students and low brass etudes. The information is divided into several categories including brass history, the overtone series, general intonation tendencies, embouchure, instruments and equipment, literature, maintenance, vibrato, and low brass in the marching band. Pedagogical material is interspersed throughout each of the chapters. Etudes are incorporated in the appendix of the textbook. These etudes are intended to be used in a laboratory setting with future music educators learning each low brass instrument for the first time. Instrument fingerings, slide positions, and simple warm-up material is also available in the appendix.
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Sight-Reading for Guitar
Chelsea Green · Rebus Community · 2020
Sight-Reading for Guitar: The Keep Going Method Book and Video Series teaches guitar players from all musical backgrounds to understand, read and play modern staff notation in real time. The Keep Going Method is designed to impart the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for sight-reading with efficiency, fun and encouragement. The skill of sight-reading is a difficult to develop, primarily because it is traditionally taught inefficiently. Further, students encounter high levels of emotional discomfort in the beginning stages of skill acquisition. The method in this book is designed to impart the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for sight-reading with efficiency, clarity and encouragement. All types of guitars apply: electric, steel-string and nylon-string. Each unit contains brief descriptions of musical symbols, play-along duet exercises and compositions, encouragement and methods for self-assessment. The series contains 20 units that start at the beginner level and progress to the intermediate/advanced level. At the completion of the series guitarists will be able to sight-read most rhythms, pitches and other notations relevant to guitar notation. The series also features 30 original duet compositions, of varying styles, created exclusively for this series!
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Ahora Entendemos
Denise Hatcher · LibreTexts · 2026
Ahora Entendemos is an intermediate level Spanish textbook that consists of ten chapters. Each chapter begins with a useful vocabulary list and a series of exercises to practice the words and idiomatic expressions. Then, three grammar points are explained with ample practice exercises after each explanation. Each chapter concludes with sections entitled Para Expresarte, Música, Cultura, and Otro Paso to provide extra opportunities and activities to expand learning. Chapter ten includes useful and cumulative explanations and activities that review and practice the indicative, the imperative, and the subjunctive as well as thirteen different verb tenses included in this publication. Ahora Entendemos was written for individuals with some background in Spanish who want to develop intermediate language skills. Instructors, learners, and individuals can use it alone, in a classroom, or with others outside of a formal educational setting. The author of Ahora Entendemos teaches college, but the text could be used in high school or other programs as well.
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Vocal Techniques for the Instrumentalist
Amy Rosine · New Prairie Press · 2021
Vocal Techniques, the course title used at many institutions, is essentially a voice class for instrumentalists, and is often a required course for instrumental music education majors seeking all-level certification. Students take at least one Vocal Techniques course to learn proper singing technique along with basic pedagogy. Some courses include teaching techniques as they apply to adolescent singers. The focus of the course is the development of the individual singing voice. This includes breathing, tone production, articulation, musicality and textual expression and understanding. Students also develop confidence in front of groups, improve their general vocal quality, and learn that a healthy voice serves them well in general and performance classrooms. The purpose of this text is to teach instrumental music education students about vocal production as it applies to solo singing. Beginning with a foundational understanding of breathing, singers will learn about the vocal instrument (anatomy), how to create clear, pleasant, tone (phonation and resonance), pronounce words clearly (articulation and diction) and the similarities and differences of singing technique when compared to that of their major instrument. This is the first textbook to explore teaching voice as it directly pertains to playing an instrument.
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Theory Fundamentals Workbook
Gregory Young · Montana State University · 2023
This workbook is a practical method for learning the rudiments of music, which are essential to a thorough understanding of music in general. Designed as a supplement to professional instruction rather than a manual for self instruction, the text is intentionally brief. The emphasis is on using practical exercises to develop fluency. Aural, vocal, and keyboard skills must be integrated into the study of music theory from the very beginning. I encourage all students, regardless of their principal instrument, to learn to hear, sing, and play on the piano everything that they do in theory. All exercises in this book should be completed thoroughly. Usually a sample will be completed in brackets for each exercise, as a demonstration. Fluency with these basic materials of music will be a great asset to any further musical endeavors. For students who need additional exercises, suggestions for further study will be given.
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Foundations of Aural Skills
Timothy Chenette · Utah Education Network Digital Press with Pressbooks · 2022
Foundations of Aural Skills is a research-based, accessible, relevant, creative, inclusive, empowering textbook for teaching introductory aural skills. The first seven chapters provide thorough instruction in aural fundamentals, allowing students to build their foundations from a variety of starting points. The following chapters address the traditional tasks of sight-reading and dictation, but also improvisation, mimicking music you hear (“playback”), transcription, and ensemble skills. The final two chapters add some basic form- and chord-listening skills. Every section includes creative activities that learners can try out on their own or do in class. Embedded playlists for practicing listening skills include a diverse range of music that will connect with students’ preferences and allow them to experience music they haven’t worked with before. While the text is primarily designed for a first semester or year of instruction, it also includes some instruction on modulation, chromaticism, and mixed meter, and future additions/development will make these advanced applications more robust.
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Foundational Sight Singing
Tobin Stewart · TRAILS · 2022
Sight reading music can be a daunting endeavor for aspiring, and even experienced, musicians. Foundational Sight Singing was created to provide a systematic approach to learn to read, hear and perform music. The ordered presentation of both melodies and rhythms in this text helps students develop accuracy and fluency in sight singing which is a fundamental skill for all musicians. It is a text for developing proficiency in reading and sight singing that can be used in a variety of contexts from individual practice to choral or instrumental ensemble rehearsals to college ear training courses. Multiple exercises are provided for drilling and practice at each level throughout the text to grow the students’ fluency and proficiency in reading and performing pitch and rhythm. This text will help students build a solid foundation upon which they can establish mastery.
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Korean Through Folktales
KyungAh Yoon · Portland State University Library · 2017
Korean Through Folktales consists of four chapters and each centers on a famous Korean folktale. The lessons and values that famous folktales teach are embedded and permeated in various aspects of the Koran culture. Using folktales in the curriculum will provide an engaging way to expose students to a slice of the target culture that native Koreans are naturally exposed to at an early age. Through the selected folktales and various activities offered in the book, students can gain cultural knowledge and insights into traditional and cultural values while they are given linguistic lessons to reinforce their acquired skills and to apply the learned materials in an integrated approach. Korean Through Folktales is designed to accompany 1st-year, 2nd-year, and 3rd-year Korean courses offered at Portland State University. However, any Korean teacher can adopt this book to supplement his/her course materials at elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. There are four chapters in the book. Each chapter will note main themes of a widely known folktale introduced in the chapter, followed by the links to several videos to watch and get a gist or a background of the story. The ensuing section will introduce important elements and symbolism embedded in the story so as to provide insights and to enhance the depth of appreciation. After that, three versions of the folktale are presented for different levels, followed by grammar lessons, exercises, and tasks. Traces of folktales and allusions to them are evident in cultural products that many students enjoy, such as dramas, movies, and music. Therefore, knowledge in folktales will help students make cultural connections as well as enrich their experience of learning the Korean language.
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Introduction to Probability
Charles Grinstead; J. Laurie Snell · American Mathematical Society · 2006
Probability theory began in seventeenth century France when the two great French mathematicians, Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, corresponded over two problems from games of chance. Problems like those Pascal and Fermat solved continuedto influence such early researchers as Huygens, Bernoulli, and DeMoivre in establishing a mathematical theory of probability. Today, probability theory is a wellestablished branch of mathematics that finds applications in every area of scholarlyactivity from music to physics, and in daily experience from weather prediction topredicting the risks of new medical treatments. This text is designed for an introductory probability course taken by sophomores,juniors, and seniors in mathematics, the physical and social sciences, engineering,and computer science. It presents a thorough treatment of probability ideas andtechniques necessary for a form understanding of the subject. The text can be usedin a variety of course lengths, levels, and areas of emphasis. For use in a standard one-term course, in which both discrete and continuousprobability is covered, students should have taken as a prerequisite two terms ofcalculus, including an introduction to multiple integrals. In order to cover Chapter 11, which contains material on Markov chains, some knowledge of matrix theoryis necessary. The text can also be used in a discrete probability course. The material has beenorganized in such a way that the discrete and continuous probability discussions arepresented in a separate, but parallel, manner. This organization dispels an overlyrigorous or formal view of probability and o?ers some strong pedagogical valuein that the discrete discussions can sometimes serve to motivate the more abstractcontinuous probability discussions. For use in a discrete probability course, studentsshould have taken one term of calculus as a prerequisite. Very little computing background is assumed or necessary in order to obtain fullbenefits from the use of the comp
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Contextualised open educational practices: Towards student agency and self-directed learning
Jako Olivier; Charlene du Toit-Brits; Byron Bunt; Amit Dhakulkar · AOSIS Publishing · 2022
This book covers original research on the implementation of open educational practices through the use of open educational resources at the university level. The emphasis on open education in this book is on contextualising resources, supporting student agency and fostering self-directed learning specifically within a South African milieu. The envisaged chapters cover conceptual and review research and empirical work focussing on open educational practices and the use of renewable assessments. The work starts off with an overview of an institutional-wide open education project that prompted the research followed by research on open education in terms of various modules in the health science, music education, law, philosophy, dietetics, anthropology, French language learning, journalism and political science. There is a clear gap in the literature on open education in terms of open educational practices, specifically in terms of contextualising resources, supporting student agency and fostering self-directed learning in a South African context. Despite the existence of some general works on open education in terms of policy, social justice and open textbooks, this book will be unique in exploring the intersections of openness, specifically with contextualisation, student agency and self-directedness.
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Culturas hispanas a través de la pantalla / Hispanic Cultures Through the Screen
Ana López-Aguilera · Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project · 2021
Este libro de texto busca fomentar el visionado crítico de productos audiovisuales contemporáneos y el reflexionar sobre la representación de las culturas hispanas en webseries y vídeos musicales. This textbook aims to promote critical viewing of contemporary audiovisual products and thinking about the representation of Hispanic cultures in web series and music videos.