Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book is THE most useful book I've purchased and read on how to read music so far. I have just started learning to play the violin (I am in my mid-40s)and although all my life I've sung and music is, and has always been, a huge part of my life(many of my family members are accomplished musicians)I've never played an instrument or had any formal musical theory training. This book is the reference I have gone back to again and again as I progress with my violin and I have questions or areas that aren't clear to me (such as the concepts of major and minor scale, flats/sharps/accidentals and how they came about). . not only does this book take you from the very basics to the complex, Howard Shanet takes the time to explain WHY certain things are the way they are in written music. I was struggling with some concepts and when my teacher explained them to me I didn't get it....I looked it up in a smaller book on music theory and the explanation was there but I still didn't quite get it . . and then I looked up the subject (this happened to be accidentals/flats and sharps and also time meters) in this book and because Howard Shanet explained why sharps and flats are written the way they are, I was able to understand the concept and work beyond it. Just an excellent book and I recommend it to anyone learning to read and play music. It is true, this book will not teach you how to play any instrument, BUT without the basics and theory in this book it would be very difficult for me to progress with my violin playing. Highly recommend it.