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Review
By Bernard Brandt
"Hearing and Writing Music", by Ron Gorow, is a superb book. It makes a
simple and elegant presentation of the internal process by which we hear
sounds and music, how we recognize intervals, chords, melody, harmony,
counterpoint, and the timbre of instrumentation/ orchestration, how we
can develop the skills of listening, auditory memory and imagination, and
how to use these skills to hear and to write down music of any sort.
The hallmark of an expert is the ability to explain the basics of his field
as simply as possible. By that standard, Mr. Gorow has proven his expertise
in this book. I note that the other reviews, both for Amazon and in musical
journals, tend to limit the importance of "Hearing and Writing Music" to
ear training. I believe that Mr. Gorow's book is valuable for much more
than ear training. I have studied it, and as a result of that study, I
believe that my auditory memory and imagination and my abilities in score
reading have improved enormously.
Further, I have been able to use the skills in this book to transcribe
melodies, harmonies and counterpoint almost effortlessly, both those that
I have heard, and those which existed only in my imagination. This book
has opened many doors for me. I believe that it can do so for many others.
On a personal note, for the last 30 years, I have been able to hear and
compose music in my imagination. Unfortunately, I have been almost exclusively
self-taught, and I despaired of ever being able to write down what I heard.
Mr. Gorow's book, and my use of it, has changed all that. I have just completed
the first movement of a symphonic tone poem, and I intend on continuing
to compose for the rest of my life.
I have studied many books on music theory, and have listened to and studied
many pieces of music. If I may make an analogy, my studies had formed the
equivalent of a crystalline solution. "Hearing and Writing Music" was the
equivalent of a seed crystal, which put everything into order, and transformed
me from a listener to a composer.
I cannot recommend it highly enough for those who wish to become songwriters,
arrangers, or composers, or those who wish to improve their skills.
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