ISHMAEL ZGHOUL MUSIC RESEARCH Winter 2014 Assignment 2: What Is Good Writing About Music?

Due: January 16, 2014 For todays class, I assigned the first chapter, The Golden Age: Strauss, Mahler, and the Fin de Sicle, of Alex Rosss book The Rest Is Noise because I think it is an excellent example of good writing about music. I hope it will provoke an interesting discussion not only about the content of the article, but also what makes effective writing about music and how one writes for different audiences in music. If you do not think this is an example of good writing about music, we can discuss that, too. Now, what is your favorite example of writing about music? Provide a citation for an example of what you think is good, clear writing about music (any format, any genre, any topic) and write a paragraph about why this authors writing appeals to you. Comment on what kind of audience the author(s) write for and what the author(s) hope to achieve through their writing. Let me start this off by shamefully admitting that Ive probably read less than ten books about music that are not theory-based or directly related to my instrument. Within the range of books that are written for musicians to help them further their craft, the ones Ive got the most out of were the books that were the most clearly organized and were well articulated. These books seemed to either make the complicated simple or broaden the scope of how I thought about a particular topic. Here are a couple examples:
Goodrick, Mick. The advancing guitarist: applying guitar concepts & techniques. Milwaukee, Wis.: Distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing, 1987. Persichetti, Vincent. Twentieth-century harmony; creative aspects and practice.. [1st ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 1961.

In regards to other books Ive read about music, the ones that resonated kept me interested. One such example is
Mingus, Charles, and Nel King. Beneath the underdog. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 19801971.

This book was an autobiography written by bassist and composer Charles Mingus. The book is basically jazz story time. It is written for musicians and references musicians involved in Minguss life frequently. It is full of interesting anecdotes that seem to be extremely exaggerated, which is half of the draw. He tells these absurd stories while underneath these tall tales, there is a universal truth about not just music, but the human condition that is reflected. In your writing for this course, think about how you can emulate writers that you enjoy or respect. Even fiction or poetry can provide inspiration.