I have multiple out of copyright ebooks  in my collection from the Harvard School of Music.  Now you may be asking why is any of this is useful.  Well, think of it this way. Music is one of the few subjects in which the teaching methods have not changed much in the last 100 years.  Orchestration and Composition have made the most advancements with additional instruments being added to the modern orchestra, and orchestration techniques being augmented by digital media composition (midi, etc).  However the underlying principles of musical tonality, harmonic analysis, timbre, good counterpoint and musician technique are still very much the same. So a book on musical composition from say 1907 is actually quite useful if you can stomach the funny dialect that was often used back then. The same rule applies to sheet music.

But don’t take my word for it. Go check it out yourself be sure to check out the music books from the Harvard Library, and if anyone asks you , you can tell them that you got your musical education from Harvard.  :-)

P.S.

I was obviously joking about that last part.

~

Donnie

As a child I passed up several opportunities that would have no doubt been very beneficial to my musical development, to pursue other more “stable” or lucrative goals.  Ironically, music was not my first choice as a major in college. I very seldom considered a day spent practicing and cultivating my musical talents as a productive day.Yet somehow, the deep rooted passion for music that was placed in me long before I ever had a concern for money or stability began to override the rational. Year after year, I found myself abandoning all other pursuits and giving in to my heart’s desire. Usually accompanied by disapproving friends and family members, and a ton of guilt, my inspiration led me forward with reckless abandon. Till one day I realized that I was not the rebel everyone thought I was. I was not simply refusing to be “normal”. Nor was I avoiding the usual mundane pursuits simply because I was bored with life.  I was not fighting against the “cubicle” so to speak; I was reaching for something higher; my destiny, my passion, my life’s calling.

It was then that I slowly began to realize that just about every person on this planet who is considered enormously successful is doing what they love, and did not choose their career based upon their potential salary. Don’t get me wrong, money is great. Trying to live without money is like trying to fly without a plane. But I personally believe that if you work in an area that you love AND have skill, you will always produce an excellent product/service, and excellence brings you into tremendous opportunity. Now I am not recommending that every aspiring musician run off and leave their day jobs and their families to start a band.  PLEASE be more sensible than that.  But the next time someone asks you what it is that you do, before you tell them about your day job, you might want to consider raising your head and proudly proclaiming, “I am a musician!”  Much Love  ~ Donnie