Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but please no more jokes
Review: As an introductory primer to classical music, this book is ideal. Perhaps the best things in the book are the CD sampler it contains and the chapter that provides a second-by-second analysis of what you are hearing. For me, this was the best way to learn how to listen to classical music. Like other books in the "Dummies" series, this is filled with jokes. They became tedious after about three pages and detract from the otherwise valuable information presented.
Rating: 
Summary: Great intro
Review: Classical Music for Dummies is a wonderful introduction to the world of classical music. The authors have taken a subject that is often regarded by the non-enthusiast as hopelessly highbrow and made it approachable and fun. I found the brief history of classical music informative and entertaining, and the frequent integrated references to the CD (included with the book) set this volume apart from many others on the subject. But it's not all history. The authors also describe how various instruments produce sound. They take us back stage and give us insight into how an audition for a major orchestra works. And they provide the best intro to basic music theory that I've come across. No prior knowledge is assumed. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Do you want to learn more about classical music?
Review: Do you get nervous when your friends start talking about going to the symphony because you can't distinguish between Beethoven and Bach? Do your palms sweat when someone suggests that you choose the music to listen to during dinner? Have you always been fascinated with the brilliant sounds of classical music, but don't know the difference between a violin and a viola? "Classical Music For Dummies™" is a down-to-earth guide that will help you get the most out of classical music right from the start. Whether you're interested in attending concerts in your hometown, buying great classical recordings, or just being able to talk about the subject intelligently, this is the book for you! By reading "Classical Music For Dummies™" you'll discover how to: *Distinguish the different styles and genres of classical music from around the world *Use the enclosed CD to identify, understand, and enjoy classical masterpieces *Attend a live concert in style with tips for sitting in the right place, wearing the right clothes and more. *Read and understand sheet music. *Listen for the influences of tempo, dynamics, and orchestration *Understand the different sounds made by the orchestra-from violins and cellos to trombones *Build a fabulous classical music library *Locate great classical music sites and chat groups on the World Wide Web. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., headquartered in Foster City, Calif., is a leading global knowledge company featuring a diverse portfolio of technology, business and self-help books and computer-based learning tools, including the best-selling ...For Dummies®, ...Secrets® and Teach Yourself® and Cliffs Notes™ brands. IDG Books Worldwide has more than 700 active titles plus translations in 36 languages around the world.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and fun.
Review: Greatly increased my understanding and appreciation. This might be subtitled: 'Spike Jones in Print'.
Rating: 
Summary: Leaves a Bad Taste in the Mouth
Review: I bought this book a couple of years ago when I was a true classical music dummy. I can tell you that at the time, I enjoyed the history section as a means of giving me a rough musical chronology, as well as the listener's recommendations. Much of the book, though, is really...silly? Is that the word? Sophomoric? Moronic? We learn, for example, that Berlioz was a lunatic - that's the general impression, we get. The descriptions of the composers and their musical traits sounds a lot like Joan Rivers's red carpet quips on Oscar night. "Love the concerto, darling, but oh! What are going to do about that hair?"
If you have to get this book because it feels safe and easy, then do it. But please realize there's sooooooo much more out there to help you get a grip on the world of classical music. I recommend Schonberg's Lives of the Great Composers as well as Robert Greenberg's outstanding set of lectures available at the Teaching Company website. Check them out!
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Summary: Unique Classical Music Introduction
Review: I found this book is really useful and save a lot of time for the people who are interested in classical music but afraid to ask questions. The 80-pages of the history of Music is one of the best I have ever read. The humors here & there add fun to leisure reading. For example, Dvorak looked more like a full-bred bulldog than any other composer in history etc. I think the author missed The Trout Quintet when he listed Schubert's work. He should also mention the movies like Song to Remember (Chopin), Sound without End (Liszt), Death in Venice (Mahler) etc. I bought some CDROMs (classical music, licenced from one company in southern California, the author is a music professor of UCLA) from Microsoft several years ago. One of them is Beethoven's Choral Symphony. I consider this one a breakthrough product. Unfortunately, after 5 or 6 CDROMs got released, there has been no new release. It is a shame that classical music industry doesn't explore the new opportunity that high tech multimedia can offer. For instance, Encarta or encyclopedia on CDROM almost replace the book-style encyclopedia. In the future, any music book should be in the CDROM or include a CDROM that contains the whole text with audio clips that reader can play right away. For instance, a reader will appreciate much more if he can hear that melancholy English horn solo in the New World Symphony (2nd movement) while the author tries to tell him how melancholy it is. There is also one bonus, the reader will know how English horn sounds right away. The CDROM and PC can do things that book can not do: Audio & Video. Recently I bought a good old book in the book sale from one library. The title is "Great Symphonies, How to Recognize and Remember Them" by Sigmund Spaeth published in 1936 (a really old book). This had to be a great book at that time. It describes a lot of great symphonies with musical clip & score. Alas, it is a silent book if you don't read the music score, be it G minor or B flat major, it is not very useful to you. I can imagine this will become a great book if someone can put it in CDROM and add the audio clip for each passage of the score. Suddenly, the book will be alive and the whole world will be different after you read the book. Without this neat feature, I can only stick to this dummy book for now. After all this one is one of the best I can find at this moment.
Rating:
Summary: Name that composer
Review: I have always been hesitant to buy any ...For Dummies books. Who wants to carry around an announcement of a lack of expertise for something, let alone admitting to be a dummy? Not only has this book changed that opinion (I am going to buy more), it really made me learn to appreciate classical music more. I especially liked the history briefs and the musical theory chapters. I too, am going to buy season tickets for the orchestra thanks to this book. It was a fun and informative read. As immediately gratifying as a book on classical music can get, I would imagine.
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Summary: The right book for me
Review: I haven't been able to stop reading this book since the moment I openned the package several hours ago. I realized this book is exactly what I was looking for. Although far from finishing the book yet, I have already learned so much. This book is full of information and yet the writing is outstandingly easy to understand. I feel like going to a concert right away.If you are somebody like me-who don't know what is Sonata and don't know the differences between Fantasia and Rhapsody, but want to find out, this book might be also a right book for you.
Rating:
Summary: da-da-da-DUMB!
Review: I picked this book up because I was looking for a CD-book combo that would give me some good tips on the art of listening. This did that and much more. The book is extremely comprehensive and systematic in its coverage of classical music. The authors provide a lot of information simply and efficiently so that within a few pages, the reader is no longer such a dummy. This book goes beyond an academic explanation of the subject to being a real "how to" - how to listen, how to prepare, how to behave at a concert, how to get good tickets on the cheap... No stone is left unturned. The only drawback is that in an effort to dumb down the book, they inject corny jokes into almost every sentence. In small doses this is OK but, depending on your tastes in reading material, THIS GETS VERY ANNOYING after a few pages! Despite this drawback I pressed on because the content under the jokes was too good to miss.
Rating:
Summary: Great first time impression of Classical Music
Review: I thought I was pretty knowing of classical music, but I bought this book anyway, hoping to gain a little more knowledge. This book was extremely funny and it still told enough about classical music to really appreciate it. I would reccomend this book to anyone, especially if they never enjoyed classical music before.
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