Styles
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Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind
40 years have passed since the release of PIECE OF MIND. More than an album, it was a thunderous statement of intent by a band whose meteoric rise from the East End of London would propel them to the world stage, thrusting them into the realms of legend. This commemorative tome, containing comics, art, and remembrances from acclaimed writers, artists, musicians and storytellers, is a powerful celebration of the unparalleled vision which inspired them — the living legend that is IRON MAIDEN.Read more
£23.80£28.50Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind
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Advertising Revolution: The Story of a Song, from Beatles Hit to Nike Slogan
The story of “Revolution” by the Beatles, from its origin as a protest song of the 1960s, to it becoming the musical backdrop for one of the most famous, influential, and controversial adverts of all time.In 1987, Nike released their new sixty-second commercial for Air shoes—and changed the face of the advertising industry. Set to the song “Revolution” by the Beatles, the commercial was the first and only advert ever to feature an original recording of the FaUb Four. It sparked a chain of events that would transform the art of branding, the sanctity of pop music, the perception of advertisers in popular culture, and John Lennon’s place in the leftist imagination.
Advertising Revolution traces the song “Revolution” from its origins in the social turmoil of the Sixties, through its controversial use in the Nike ad, to its status today as a right-wing anthem and part of Donald Trump’s campaign set list. Along the way, the book unfolds the story of how we came to think of Nike as the big bad wolf of soulless corporations, and how the Beatles got their name as the quintessential musicians of independent integrity. To what degree are each of these reputations deserved? How ruthlessly cynical was the process behind the Nike ad? And how wholesomely uncommercial was John Lennon’s writing of the song?
Throughout the book, Alan Bradshaw and Linda Scott complicate our notions of commercialism and fandom, making the case for a reading of advertisements that takes into account the many overlapping intentions behind what we see onscreen. Challenging the narratives of the evil-genius ad conglomerate and the pure-intentioned artist, they argue that we can only begin to read adverts productively when we strip away the industry’s mysticism and approach advertisers and artists alike as real, flawed, differentiated human beings.
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The Work: The lyrics of Scott Hutchison
The Work is a book of lyrics and illustrations by the late Scott Hutchison, lyricist, vocalist and songwriter of Frightened Rabbit. This paperback follows the sold-out limited hardback edition and presents the band’s complete lyrics (including B-sides and rarities) with handwritten excerpts by Scott, alongside his illustrations. The book is meant both as a celebration of and tribute to Scott’s unbridled creativity. It aims to fulfil his wishes by being the book that he wanted to create and had spoken of creating before his death.
Readers are advised that The Work includes content about topics that some may find upsetting, including references to suicide.
“Seeing this book come to life has been something of a bittersweet experience. Reading the lyrics without music really brings home the stark reality of what Scott was going through and at the same time highlights the talent of someone who I consider to be one of the best songwriters in the world. This would’ve been a different release had Scott been involved but we all felt it was important that his lyrics be celebrated and given the spotlight they deserve. As Scott has said, these words were always meant to be accompanied by music, but the impact of digesting them without is no less great. Pick up this book of words, hold it, share it and immerse yourself in the world Scott created by opening not only his heart but his whole soul to the world.” Grant Hutchison (Scott’s brother and drummer of Frightened Rabbit)
Contents:
The Greys
Music Now
Yawns
Be Less Rude
Go-Go Girls
Behave!
Square 9
Snake
It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop
The Modern Leper
I Feel Better
Good Arms vs Bad Arms
Fast Blood
Old, Old Fashioned
The Twist
Head Rolls Off
My Backwards Walk
Keep Yourself Warm
Poke
Floating In the Forth
Who’d You Kill Now?
Don’t
Soon Go
Things
Swim Until You Can’t See Land
The Loneliness and The Scream
The Wrestle
Skip The Youth
Nothing Like You
Footshooter
Not Miserable
Living In Colour
Yes, I Would
Fun Stuff
Learned Your Name
Scottish Winds
Fuck This Place
The Work
State Hospital
Boxing Night
Home From War
Off
Wedding Gloves
Acts of Man
Backyard Skulls
Holy
The Woodpile
Late March, Death March
December’s Traditions
Housing (In)
Dead Now
Nitrous Gas
Housing (Out)
The Oil Slick
If You Were Me
Snow Still Melting
Escape Route
Today’s Cross
Architect
Default Blues
Radio Silence
Candlelit
Death Dream
Get Out
I Wish I Was Sober
Woke Up Hurting
Little Drum
Still Want to Be Here
An Otherwise Disappointing Life
Break
Blood Under the Bridge
400 Bones
Lump Street
Die Like a Rich Boy
The Wreck
Wait ‘Til the Morning
A Lick of Paint
Roadless
How It Gets In
Rained On
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£12.00£14.20The Work: The lyrics of Scott Hutchison
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Opera For Dummies®
“Pogue is a wonderful teacher… He can teachanybody.”
— Gay Talese, bestselling author of Honor Thy Father“Scott Speck is a great communicator of classicalmusic…. Concert audiences and readers alike can’t helpgetting caught up in the joy of his subject.”
— David Styers, American Symphony Orchestra LeagueOpera is weird. Everybody wears makeup and sings all the time.Even when they’re singing your language, which is rare, youstill can’t understand the words. Women play men, men playwomen, and 45–year–olds play teenagers. All the main charactersseem to get killed off. And when somebody dies, he takes tenminutes to sing about it. Yet, for all its weirdness, an operaticexperience is an experience in breathtaking beauty. When you hear asoprano float a soft high C, or a tenor singing a love song, or afull–throated chorus in the climax of a scene’s dramaticfinale, you can’t help getting goosebumps.
Want to experience all that beauty for yourself, but don’tknow where to begin? Opera For Dummies is an excellent placeto start. Written by an acclaimed conductor and a musical director,this friendly guide tells you what you need to know to:
- Understand opera from the Baroque and Roman periods throughtoday
- Interpret characters, orchestra, chorus, and other players
- Understand what’s happening, both on stage and off
- Choose the best seats
- Identify famous operas
- Build a great collection of opera recordings
- Locate opera sites and chat groups online
Whether you’re interested in attending a live opera, wantto build a collection of recordings, or just want to be able totalk about opera intelligently, Opera For Dummies is foryou. Among other things, you’ll explore:
- The words, the music, and the people who sing it
- The history of opera and the lives of the great composers
- Going to the opera — including tips for getting tickets,preparing for the opera, dressing for the opera, and more
- Musical and theatrical conventions used in opera
- In–depth synopses of the world’s most beloved operas
On the bonus CD you’ll find:
- More than 60 minutes of music compiled especially for thebook
- A multimedia piece for PC or MAC
Wonder what it is about opera that can make a grown person crylike a baby? Find out in Opera For Dummies.
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£14.60Opera For Dummies®
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GarageBand For Dummies
Put together great-sounding audio tracks on Mac, iPhone, or iPad
GarageBand For Dummies gets you started with the popular audio software included with Apple devices. This simple app lets you do everything from building basic beats to creating multi-track recordings. You’ll learn how to build a song from the ground up in this beginner-friendly Dummies guide. Follow simple, step-by-step instructions that guide you through building percussion loops, adding melodies, and recording live vocals or other instruments. When your masterpiece is complete, this book shows you how to mix and master your tracks and get them ready to share with the world. You, GarageBand, and GarageBand For Dummies are about to make beautiful music together.
- Learn the GarageBand interface and set up recording sessions
- Set up your recording space to get the best quality audio from vocal and instrument sessions
- Add beats and loops or perform on built-in instruments
- Blend your tracks into a final mix
For easily creating recordings and demos using the free GarageBand app, this is the book you need.
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£18.20£21.80GarageBand For Dummies
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Logic Pro For Dummies
This one-stop source for Logic Pro insight helps you spend more time creating music
Every minute you spend trying to figure out how to set up a new track or build a drum loop is a minute you don’t spend creating and recording your music. This guide to the recording software favored by Mac users helps you bypass the time needed to search for tech answers and spend more time capturing sounds. Discover the full recording power of Logic Pro, starting with launching a project and recording your audio. Explore the built-in digital instruments and beat makers, augment your recording power with plug-ins, and finalize your song by editing, adding effects, mixing, mastering, and sharing. The final step is music stardom!
- Learn your way around the Logic Pro interface and understand the workflow
- Set up your project and add tracks and regions
- Record acoustic audio or conduct your orchestra of MIDI instruments
- Edit, mix, automate, export, and feel proud of your audio files
For beginning music creators and producers, this Dummies guide makes it simple to get started with Logic Pro.
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£18.20£21.80Logic Pro For Dummies
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Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023
‘Profoundly moving.’ EDMUND DE WAAL
‘A work of searching scholarship, acute critical observation, philosophical heft, and deep feeling.’ ALEX ROSS
‘A rare book: extraordinarily powerful – magisterial, meticulously rich and unexpected, deeply affecting and human.’ PHILIPPE SANDSA remarkable and stirring account of how music acts as a witness to history and a medium of cultural memory in the post-Holocaust world.
When it comes to how societies commemorate their own distant dreams and catastrophes, we often think of books, archives, or memorials carved from stone. But in Time’s Echo, Jeremy Eichler makes a revelatory case for the power of music as culture’s memory, an art form uniquely capable of carrying forward meaning from the past.
Eichler shows how four towering composers – Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich – lived through the era of the Second World War and the Holocaust and later transformed their experiences into deeply moving works of music, scores that carry forward the echoes of lost time. A lyrical narrative full of insight and compassion, this book deepens how we think about the legacies of war, the presence of the past, and the profound possibilities of art in our lives today.
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100 Favourite Ceilidh Dances
From traditional favourites to modern country dances, these 100 Favourite Ceilidh Dances are bound to get your blood pumping. The book includes easy to follow instructions and diagrams, a brief history of Scottish country dancing, and information about the origins of each dance.
Beginners will be expert country dancers in no time, and experts will return again and again to share and call their favourite dances.
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£6.50£7.60100 Favourite Ceilidh Dances
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The Story of Northern Soul: A Definitive History of the Dance Scene that Refuses to Die
Packed with memorabilia and anecdotes from the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the mighty Wigan Casino, The Story of Northern Soul is the definitive history of the Northern Soul scene.
What began as an underground 60s Mod scene in unlicensed, no-frills clubs in the North West of England became a youth craze that has long surpassed all others. The Northern Soul scene has confounded its critics by surviving and growing into an adult dance phenomenon whose followers share a passion for the music of Black America unrivalled anywhere else in the world. The Story of Northern Soul takes the first ever in-depth look at the culture, the music, the artists and the people frequenting the all-night venues which are synonymous with the British Soul Scene. Packed with memorabilia and anecdotes from the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the mighty Wigan Casino, The Story of Northern Soul is the definitive history of a dance scene that refuses to die.
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Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy: From the Nutcracker Suite
Steiner level III 1/2. A perfect selection for a holiday recitals or other gatherings, this D minor arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet piece will give the intermediate level pianist a lot of enjoyment and a nice challenge in artistic touch and dynRead more
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Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques
Dance Music Manual, aimed at the novice and seasoned professional alike, takes the reader through the software and hardware needed to create original, captivating, and professional sounding music.
Key features of Dance Music Manual include:
- How to create compelling, professional-sounding original or remixed dance tracks.
- The differences between different genres and how to produce them.
- How to expose your tracks to their chosen audience and equip you with the skills to develop your career as a dance music producer and engineer.
Along with the book is a companion website, which provides examples of synthesis programming, compression, effects, MIDI files, and examples of the tracks discussed in this edition.
The new and improved fourth edition covers processes and techniques used by music producers, masters, mixers, and DJs. Each page is full of facts presented in a manner that is easy to absorb and implement.
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£31.40£35.10Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques
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Border Dance: A Study in Contrasts and Conflict and How to Resolve Them
Every culture on earth has at one time or another danced. From tribal times forward people have danced to socialize, express themselves creatively, and promote societal unity. The borders that separate us came much later in human development. It is time to return to our roots and dance, dance, dance. That is because dance has the unique ability to unite a person’s mind, body, and soul. In his capacity as a touring bassist, Jimi Calhoun witnessed thousands upon thousands of people lose themselves in dance. Suddenly, ethnic, racial, and religious differences disappear. Borders, on the other hand, divide religious communities, races, and nations. Human conflict is perpetuated by these boundaries. What is written within these pages will show you ways to dance across divisions by means of a choreography of altruism. This is a book that invites you to dance to the rhythms of grace that result in true harmony and unity.Read more
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Dance in Musical Theatre: A History of the Body in Movement
From Oklahoma! and West Side Story, to Spring Awakening and Hamilton, dance remains one of the most important and key factors in musical theatre.Through the integration of song and dance in the ‘dream ballets’ of choreographers like Agnes De Mille; the triple threat performances of Jerome Robbins’ dancers; the signature style creation by choreographers like Bob Fosse with dancers like Gwen Verdon; and the contemporary, identity-driven work of choreographers like Camille A. Brown, the history of the body in movement is one that begs study and appreciation.
Dance in Musical Theatre offers guidelines in how to read this movement by analyzing it in terms of composition and movement vocabulary whilst simultaneously situating it both historically and critically. This collection provides the tools, terms, history, and movement theory for reading, interpreting, and centralizing a discussion of dance in musical theatre, importantly, with added emphasis on women and artists of color.
Bringing together musical theatre and dance scholars, choreographers and practitioners, this edited collection highlights musical theatre case studies that employ dance in a dramaturgically essential manner, tracking the emergence of the dancer as a key figure in the genre, and connecting the contributions to past and present choreographers. This collection foregrounds the work of the ensemble, incorporating firsthand and autoethnographic accounts that intersect with historical and cultural contexts.
Through a selection of essays, this volume conceptualizes the function of dance in musical: how it functions diegetically as a part of the story or non-diegetically as an amplification of emotion, as well as how the dancing body works to reveal character psychology by expressing an unspoken aspect of the libretto, embodying emotions or ideas through metaphor or abstraction.
Dance in Musical Theatre makes dance language accessible for instructors, students, and musical theatre enthusiasts, providing the tools to critically engage with the work of important choreographers and dancers from the beginning of the 20th century to today.
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Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture
Twenty-five years since acid house and Ecstasy revolutionized pop culture, Simon Reynolds’s landmark rave history Energy Flash has been expanded and updated to cover twenty-first-century developments like dubstep and EDM’s recent takeover of America.
Author of the acclaimed postpunk history Rip It Up and Start Again, Reynolds became a rave convert in the early nineties. He experienced first-hand the scene’s drug-fuelled rollercoaster of euphoria and darkness. He danced at Castlemorton, the illegal 1992 mega-rave that sent spasms of anxiety through the Establishment and resulted in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. Mixing personal reminiscence with interviews and ultra-vivid description of the underground’s ever-changing sounds as they mutated under the influence of MDMA and other drugs, Energy Flash is the definitive chronicle of electronic dance culture.
From rave’s origins in Chicago house and Detroit techno, through Ibiza, Madchester and the anarchic free-party scene, to the pirate-radio underworld of jungle and UK garage, and then onto 2000s-shaping genres such as grime and electro, Reynolds documents with authority, insight and infectious enthusiasm the tracks, DJs, producers and promoters that soundtracked a generation. A substantial final section, added for this new Faber edition, brings the book right up to date, covering dubstep’s explosive rise to mass popularity and America’s recent but ardent embrace of rave. Packed with interviews with participants and charismatic innovators like Derrick May, Goldie and Aphex Twin, Energy Flash is an infinitely entertaining and essential history of dance music.
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The Second Summer of Love: How Dance Music Took Over the World
‘The definitive look at dance music and club culture – a must read’ – Paul Oakenfold‘Brilliantly woven collection of aural histories … a damn fine read’ – DJ MAG
In 1987, four friends from London, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling, Nicky Holloway and Johnny Walker, took a week-long holiday to Ibiza. What they saw there, and brought back home, would give rise to a new global music and counterculture movement.
As the eighties drew to their close, with Thatcherism holding the nation tight in its grip, something funny was happening right across the jungle of Britain’s nightlife scene. People were dressing down, not up, to go to clubs. And they were dancing right through the night armed seemingly with only bottles of water. Ecstasy and acid house music had arrived on British shores, and a tribal battle between for the moral future of the nation, between the youth and the establishment, had begun.
In The Second Summer of Love, author and dance music promoter Alon Shulman uses exclusive contributions from the world’s biggest DJs, including Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Faithless, Mr C, Farley & Heller, Danny Rampling and many others to faithfully recreate the story of the summers of 1988 and 1989, and chart the birth and rise of Acid House, dance music and club culture right through to the modern day where dance music has become a culturally dominant global industry.
Complete with stunning unseen photographs, this is the first authentic account of what really happened in that glorious period – from the politics and the people to the music, the drugs, the fashion and the culture – told by people who were there, as they bring to life the creation of an underground scene which inadvertently altered the course of modern global youth culture forever.
‘It’s as if house music and rave culture tapped into this ancient predilection of humans to stay up all night dancing and staring into the fire, and just supercharged it with electricity and MDMA’ – Moby
‘What I was experiencing was right in front of my eyes, it was happening right now and I loved it’ -Carl Cox
‘It opened my eyes and ears to a different spirit in music’ – Fatboy Slim
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Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain
‘A deep, engrossing history’ The Observer
‘A fascinating deep dive’ Jeremy DellerFrom the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer of Love in 1988, to the increasingly corporate dance music culture of the post-Covid era, Party Lines is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built.
Taking in the Victorian moralism of the Thatcher years, the far-reaching restrictions of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994, and the resurgence of illegal raves during the Covid-19 pandemic, Party Lines charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment. Brought to life with stunning clarity and depth, this is social and cultural history at its most immersive, vital and shocking.
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‘Excellent’ The Sunday Times
‘Reminds us why the dance floor matters . . . fascinating’ TelegraphRead more
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Destination Dancefloor: A Global Atlas of Dance Music and Club Culture From London to Tokyo, Chicago to Berlin and Beyond
Travel the world exploring the cities that have influenced dance music and DJ culture and discovering the cutting-edge scenes taking club culture in new directions.
Featuring incredible photography, insider recommendations, and some of the biggest names in dance music, Destination Dancefloor reveals how DJ culture swept the globe and 40 cities where you can immerse yourself in the best electronic music culture has to offer.
Whether you want to know more about the start of house music in Chicago, the club that started Berlin on the road to becoming the global epicentre of club culture, the French Touch scene in Paris that influenced the early years of Daft Punk, why Ibiza became the world’s summer party destination of choice, or are looking for new destinations to add to your own clubbing bucket list, this unique book leans on Mixmag’s position and expertise as one of the foremost names in club culture to present an overview of global dance music, making it a must-read for all clubbers, past, present, and future. See you on the dancefloor.
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All I Wanna Do Is Swing Dance: Retro Polka Dot Lined Notebook Journal For Swing Dancers
All I Wanna Do Is Swing Dance: A Retro Polka-Dot Lined Notebook Journal for Swing Dancers
The perfect gift to brighten any swing dance lover’s day!
Product Features:
- 6″x9″ Notebook
- Matte Softcover
- 119 Pages
- Retro polka-dot cover with swing dancer illustration
- Lined interior with space for the date on each page
This fun notebook is an ideal gift for the swing dance enthusiast in your life, whether it’s your mum, dad, aunt, friend, grandparent or co-worker. This notebook is great for jotting down ideas, dance steps, or even for tracking progress towards pro.
The cover features a fun retro polka-dot cover design with a swing dance art illustration. It is a lightweight notebook with 117 pages of ruled paper inside, space for the date on each page and retro typography feature in each corner. At 6×9″ it’s a great size to use from home or to fit in your dance bag and take to class, ready for all the ideas, steps and inspiration that come your way.
The dance lover in your life will love taking this notebook to class and writing all the new moves they’ve learned. Brighten any dance lover’s day with this retro notebook gift.
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Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor
This book is about the kind of ordinary dancing you and I might do in our kitchens when a favourite tune comes on. It’s more than a social history: it’s a set of interconnected histories of the overlooked places where dancing happens . . .
Why do we dance together? What does dancing tells us about ourselves, individually and collectively? And what can it do for us? Whether it be at home, ’80s club nights, Irish dancehalls or reggae dances, jungle raves or volunteer-run spaces and youth centres, Emma Warren has sought the answers to these questions her entire life.
Dancing doesn’t just refract the music and culture within which it evolves; it also generates new music and culture. When we speak only of the music, we lose part of the story – the part that finds us dancing as children on the toes of adults; the half that triggers communication across borders and languages; the part that finds us worried that we’ll never be able to dance again, and the part that finds us wondering why we were ever nervous in the first place.
At the intersection of memoir, social and cultural history, Dance Your Way Home is an intimate foray onto the dancefloor – wherever and whenever it may be – that speaks to the heart of what it is that makes us move.
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The Book of Sea Shanties: Wellerman and Other Songs from the Seven Seas
An epic journey through sea shanties, high tides and seven seas
From the international bestselling singer comes The Book of Sea Shanties.
The world sang in harmony with Nathan Evans, the Glaswegian postie turned singer of sea shanties. Join him as he takes you through time and seafaring history to discover the true meaning of Wellerman, and who and what exactly was the Drunken Sailor?
Featuring over 35 best loved shanties, Nathan will share the meaning behind each of his favourite shanties and show how they have shaped and inspired him. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it will also include original shanties and bonus content written exclusively for this book.
Whether you’re young or old, gather around and discover the riotous world of sea shanties.
Praise for Nathan Evans:
A ‘Sea Shanty sensation’ Rolling Stone
‘An artist who really lifts the mood when he performs’ Daily Telegraph
‘Too good to miss’ Brian May, Daily Express
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Sea Shanties: The Lyrics and History of Sailor Songs
Pull up anchor, set sail and hit the open water with this wonderful collection of sea shanties and their fascinating history.
People have been singing at sea since they first set sail and sea shanties still fascinate and entertain. Composed and performed by sailors to ensure the rhythmic operation of hauling and heaving tasks aboard huge merchant vessels, the songs also boosted camaraderie, positivity and motivation. Life at sea was harsh and relentless, and these songs brought some much-needed energy and humour.
This bountiful book brings together over 50 of the best-loved ballads and their fascinating history, alongside stunning black and white illustrations. This is the perfect gift for anyone wanting to delve into the magical maritime world of ‘Wellerman’ and beyond.
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So You Want to Be in Musicals?
An insider’s guide to achieving that dream career by one of the brightest stars in musical theatre.Being in a West End or Broadway musical is the dream of thousands of talented performers. But competition is intense and reaching the spotlight can often require a leap into the dark. So You Want To Be In Musicals? is your comprehensive guide to building – and sustaining – a successful career in musical theatre, and introduces you to everything you need to know about:
- Training how to select a drama school, what to do to get in, and what to do once you’re there
- Auditioning how to choose and prepare your pieces, and foster a positive attitude towards auditions
- Rehearsing how to construct your character, work with the director, and develop your own creative process
- Performing how to deal with nerves, what to do as an understudy, and how to sustain that eight-show-a-week routine
- Working how to get an agent, how to market yourself effectively, and how to maintain a healthy body and mind
Along with a wealth of honest, straightforward advice, the book is packed with instructive anecdotes from Ruthie’s own glittering career.
Written with Daniel Bowling music supervisor and director on many of the West End’s biggest shows – including The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph, Mary Poppins and Avenue Q – So You Want To Be In Musicals? provides an extraordinary wealth of inside information and advice, that would usually take years of hard work and determination to obtain, in one essential volume.
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£10.50£12.30So You Want to Be in Musicals?
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Hamilton and Me: An Actor’s Journal – a unique, inside account of the musical phenomenon
BOOK OF THE WEEK – BBC Radio 4‘One of the most joyous and clear-eyed approaches to playing a character that I have ever read… I am so grateful Giles took notes on his process and turned them into this book. I was already in awe of his performance; now I’m in awe of his humanity and attention to detail and willingness to share the hard work and magic that goes into it.’ Lin-Manuel Miranda, from his Foreword
‘Stand. Breathe. Look. Try to empty my mind. Somehow, for some reason, I have been brought to this place to tell this story, now. So tell it. That’s all.’
When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton opened in London’s West End in December 2017, it was as huge a hit as it had been in its original production off – and on Broadway. Lauded by critics and audiences alike, the show would go on to win a record-equalling seven Olivier Awards – including Best Actor in a Musical for Giles Terera, for his portrayal of Aaron Burr.
For Terera, though, his journey as Burr had begun more than a year earlier, with his first audition in New York, and continuing through extensive research and preparation, intense rehearsals, previews and finally opening night itself. Throughout this time he kept a journal, recording his experiences of the production and his process of creating his award-winning performance. This book, Hamilton and Me, is that journal
It offers an honest, intimate and thrilling look at everything involved in opening a once-in-a-generation production – the triumphs, breakthroughs and doubts, the camaraderie of the rehearsal room and the moments of quiet backstage contemplation – as well as a fascinating, in-depth exploration of now-iconic songs and moments from the musical, as seen from the inside. It is also deeply personal, as Terera reflects on experiences from his own life that he drew on to help shape his acclaimed portrayal
Illustrated with dozens of colour photographs, many of which are shared here for the first time, and featuring an exclusive Foreword by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this book is an essential read for all fans of Hamilton – offering fresh, first-hand insights into the music and characters they love and know so well – as well as for aspiring and current performers, students, and anyone who wants to discover what it really felt like to be in the room where it happened.
The author’s credentials as a Hamilton expert are second to none… the real strength of this book lies not only in its affection for the show and the company but also a great deal of detail about the topsy-turvy adventure of bringing it to the stage. British Theatre Guide
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Karma: My Autobiography: ‘The most entertaining music memoir since Elton John’ Observer
THE OFFICIAL STORY OF A MUSICAL ICON – TOLD IN FULL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS OWN WORDS‘Funny, smart and heartbreaking. Incredible… go listen to it or read it.’ Robbie Williams
‘The most entertaining music memoir since Elton John’s Me… This is George O’Dowd in all his exhausting glory.’ Observer
‘Joyously indiscreet’ Daily Mail
‘I went to a lot of trouble to create Boy George and then I went through a whole battle for years about not wanting to be him. But now I enjoy and embrace it in a way that I wasn’t able to as a young person…. I’m finally learning to be George Alan O’Dowd from Eltham.’
Karma is the definitive autobiography from the incomparable Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello award-winning lead singer of Culture Club and LGBTQ+ vanguard: Boy George. Told in his inimitable style, Karma tells the story of the charismatic frontman – the drama, the music, his journey of addiction and recovery, surviving prison, meeting legends like David Bowie, Prince and Madonna, and the highs and lows of a life lived in the spotlight and in the headlines.
This is the explosive and searingly honest account of Boy George’s life as a child growing up in sixties London, coming out to his Irish Catholic family and exploring his sexuality through the hedonism of the seventies – the glam rock and punk rock revolution that birthed Culture Club – and the heydays of the nineties, to finally embracing the man and artist that he is today. With all the humour, honesty, sarcasm (and hats!) that you’d expect, Karma gives us a unique insight into Boy George’s incredible story and the true evolution of a music icon.
‘Culture Club is always going to be one of those lovers I go back to. I’ve railed against it and that Boy George character I created. For years I convinced myself I was a creature of habit, unchangeable, immovable. But eventually you have to look in the mirror. Not looking for spots, looking for something deeper. Why the hell am I here? I would say life is the point of life.’
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£13.10£20.90 -
My Name is Barbra: The Sunday Times Bestselling autobiography of the living legend
A Sunday Times Bestseller. The exhilarating and startlingly honest autobiography of the living legend.
‘Exhilarating … leaves blood on the page … My Name Is Barbra is 992 pages of startling honesty and self-reflection, deadpan parenthetical asides (including a running bit about how much she loves going to the dentist), encyclopedic recall of onstage outfits, and rigorous analyses of her films’ Vanity Fair
‘I have been patiently waiting for Barbra Streisand’s autobiography for 54 years….My Name is Barbra is a Streisand obsessive’s dream come true. It addresses all the rumours and misrepresentations of her long and extraordinary life, from nearly missing out on A Star is Born to dating Pierre Trudeau, Omar Sharif and Marlon Brando. The wait has been worth every word!’ – Richard E Grant, Sunday Times
‘The mother of all memoirs’ New Yorker
‘Glorious, exuberant, chatty and candid, a 970-page victory lap past all who ever doubted, diminished or dissed her, with lingering high fives for the many supporters . . . generous dollops of chutzpah … Nobody puts Barbra in the corner’ New York Times
‘Mystical, messy, bawdy and funny … My Name is Barbra confides her insecurities and a ravening hunger for fame…silent but eloquent and vociferous writing’ Peter Conrad, The Observer
‘An extraordinary life – you couldn’t make it up’ The Guardian
‘This enormous, poignant memoir from the ultimate showbusiness trouper shows that you can never have it all (even if you’re Barbra). The writing is great and the likeable formidable personality shines through . . . deeper than the average celebrity memoir’ The Times
‘The book is crammed with delicious details of backstage arguments, bewildered suitors and at least one incident of falling off a London bus’ BBC
‘A glorious doorstopper… the sheer ambition of this intricately woven memoir makes it a fascinating read. The delicate pages bring to mind a Russian novel or, perhaps more appropriately for the many who view Streisand as akin to a deity, a bible. And yet, Streisand writes relatively succinctly, with warmth and wit. Behind the sequins, beneath the wigs and through the glass of the recording studio, there’s just a woman who dreamed of being famous and make it happen, on her terms. It’s an accomplished and entrancing walk through a life well lived’ Evening Standard
‘Streisand is no less than a living legend, one of a handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and now, she’s taking us all back to where it began. Streisand’s story is truly inspirational and it’s one that you’ll want to pick up again and again’ Glamour
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she’s found in her marriage to James Brolin.
No entertainer’s memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand’s, and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.
‘A brilliant memoir’ Hillary Clinton
Sunday Times Bestseller, November 2024
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£17.10£33.30 -
Breathers of an Ampler Day: Victorian Views of Heaven
As death comes out of the closet in contemporary society, this book presents the views on heaven and the afterlife of a number of well-known Victorians, and others not so well known, in the belief that they may help us today.
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£12.30£14.20 -
Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe
NEW YORK TIMES and WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
To Jeezy’s legion of fans, his name is synonymous with hustle, grit, and the integrity to go out there and achieve your dreams. In his first book, Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe, Jeezy shares never heard stories of what it took for him to beat the odds and get out of the streets, his mindset he carefully honed to get an edge, and the lessons that changed his life and business.
Born into poverty and raised in a small town in the middle of South Georgia’s so-called “Black belt,” Jeezy realized at an early age that nothing was going to come easy, there were no handouts headed his way, and if he ever wanted anything in life, he was going to have to get out there and get it on his own. So that’s what he did.
Now, for the first time, Jeezy retraces his steps, going back to day one to share how he turned nothing into something, stayed solid, survived the trap, and triumphed over adversity to become the successful artist, father, husband, entrepreneur, and philanthropist that he is today.
Adversity for Sale isn’t a street memoir. Like his music, these pages are filled with lessons from his deeply personal story to motivate you to go out and get after your dream.
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£22.50 -
Piano & Keyboard Exercises for Beginners, Daily Technical Exercising for Pianists: 230 Essential Exercises with Scales, Chords, Arpeggios, Practical Finger Workout, Sheet Music…
Piano & Keyboard Exercises for Beginners: 230 Essential Exercises for Pianists!
This unique book will elevate your playing technique and increase the dexterity of both your right and left hands. It is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their musical ability and piano or keyboard skills.
Do you struggle with coordinating your two hands while playing? Do your fingers feel uncooperative? Are you a pianist looking to further develop your skills? Are you seeking knowledge and exercises that will support your progress? IF THE ANSWER IS YES, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!
About this book:
- Contains 230 practical exercises
- Spans 136 pages
- Includes theory on the Circle of Fifths
- Features exercises on interlaced white keys in All Keys
- Provides Introductory exercises
- Offers exercises on Scales, Arpeggios, and Chords
- Includes exercises on Scales in 3 Different Patterns
- Contains Scales-Based exercises
- Provides exercises on playing chords together
- Includes exercises on Arpeggios and Dominant Seventh Chords (7)
- Features Arpeggios in different meters for Both Hands
- Provides exercises on Arpeggios for Both Hands
- Exercises are written in All Keys
- Fingers are labeled for both the Left and Right Hand
- Piano exercises are available in all Key Signatures
Master and synchronize both hands forever with these exercises!
Scroll up and BUY NOW!
★ By Peter Music Publishing
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£11.40 -
Daily Technical Studies for Piano
(Music Sales America). A volume of daily technical exercises to improve piano playing and technique. Includes an insert of modulatory examples.Read more
£12.30 -
Technical Exercises (Esteban)
This 223-page edition is comprised of 86 different technical exercises composed by Liszt during 1868 to 1880. Liszt intended these highly challenging exercises to build greater performance skills in virtuoso pianists. The complete series consists of twelve volumes, each one dealing with a different pianistic problem. This edition has been compiled from the original set to present the exercises in a reasonable length without harming the essence and effectiveness of the original work.Read more
£26.60 -
Piano Sheet Music for Kids (Book + Online Video How to Play + Online Audio Files): Beginner Piano Book for Children. Easy Piano Arrangements with 35 … in 2 Levels of…
Would you like to spend some quality time with your child that would also be a lot of fun?
1. While learning to play songs from this book on the piano, your child will develop finger motor skills and synchronize left and right hemispheres of the brain through simultaneous playing with both hands. These skills will teach coordination that is indispensable in everyday life situations, whether it is cooking, writing on paper, tying shoelaces, grabbing small objects, even closing the door and any other actions where finger work is involved.
2. During the learning process the child will develop an ear for music and improve memory. Just imagine – your child will be able to create own melodies, compose music and songs on his or her own and thoroughly enjoy it! They will be happy they could take part in the process of creating music!
3. The child will also develop a sense of rhythm and time. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the speech center of the brain as well as the smoothness of body movement in space. This can prove especially useful if your child might be engaged in dancing, running, rowing, or even regular walking – basically any physical activity where it is important to maintain the same rhythm for some time.
4. All of this will allow your child to accomplish various tasks in life much faster and better and be happier and more successful than others, which is what every parent wants for their child!
5. Additionally, playing the piano is really fun and cool! It is very satisfying and enjoyable!
Click Add to Cart or Buy Now, get the book and start learning – and having fun – right away!
The book contains 35 songs that are divided into two levels of difficulty (70 songs total).
- Level 1 – just the melody from the song (playing right hand only)
- Level 2 – melody + simple accompaniment (playing with both hands)
- All note names are written out (so you could start playing right away)
- Fingering is also provided for every song – this will keep the child from trying to play the music using one finger. Instead it teaches the child to use the correct sequences of fingers. This ensures proper development of all fingers allowing in the future to play more complicated pieces.
Additionally, if you would like to practice sight-reading music or if you would prefer to write down your own fingering, the book contains links to downloadable printed materials without the names of the notes and fingering.
Each song is accompanied by a QR code for the video (on YouTube) and audio (on Google Dick) of that song.
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£8.50 -
Five Pillars of Islam: Easy to Understand Islamic Book for Kids | Teach Your Child About Islam In A Simple, Easy, Fun and Educational Way: 3 (Islam Made Easy For Kids)
The Five Pillars of Islam | Easy Islamic Books For Kids and Beginners Alike
Presented in a friendly, fun way, this ‘Five Pillars of Islam’ book is a perfect introduction to help children of all ages learn about the importance of the Pillars. The content is presented with Images designed to attract children and the written language is kept simple and factual so it’s easy to understand.
How this Book can help
The book is designed to help parents, grandparents and children connect and have an honest conversation about Islam with the focus being on the Five Pillars of Islam. It’s ideal for kids aged between 4 and 12, but can also be for any person wanting to learn more about Ramadan in an easily digestible way.
Included is a Bonus at the end of the book are short additional interesting facts about Islam.
High-quality color pages and images making the message easy and fun to understand
The book covers the following topics:
- What are the Five Pillars of Islam
- What is Shahada
- What is Salah
- What is Zakat
- What is Saum
- What is Hajj
- Interesting facts about Islam
This book makes for a great birthday or Ramadan present or gift. Collect the Series of Books!
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£6.60 -
Asia: Every Album, Every Song (On Track)
A progressive rock supergroup? In the 1980s? Who would want such a thing critics asked, as they immediately went on the attack. But music fans disagreed. John Wetton, Geoff Downes, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer had played with the likes of King Crimson, Roxy Music, Yes and ELP to name just a few and they lived up to the supergroup tag. Asia’s self-titled debut album went to number one for nine weeks on the US charts, went top twenty in the UK and sold over ten million copies worldwide. Asia was all over MTV, had a sold-out world tour, several hit singles and a Grammy nomination. After 1983’s Alpha album, Wetton left to be replaced, bizarrely by Greg Lake was in, then Wetton was back and Howe was gone, replaced by Mandy Meyer for Astra in 1985. Fans needed a scorecard to keep track of it all, then the group split. Geoff Downes would struggle to keep the flame alive with John Payne from 1991-2005 until the original line up reunited in 2006 with newfound respect accorded them by both the media and fans until Wetton’s sad passing in 2017. This book covers every studio album as well as key live albums, compilations and solo projects in detail, making it a comprehensive guide to the music of this enigmatic and ever-changing band.Read more
£11.20£14.20Asia: Every Album, Every Song (On Track)
£11.20£14.20 -
The Politics of Authenticating: Revisiting New Orleans Jazz (Experiments/On the Political)
This book is part jazz historiography, part autoethnography and part memoir. It sets forth a grounded theory of ‘authenticating’ as a basic socio-political process, with reference to Richard Ekins’ participation in the social worlds of New Orleans jazz, and his life as a social constructionist social scientist and cultural theorist.
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£66.80£69.40 -
The Beach Boys: Pet Tracks
The Beatles will be remembered, and rightly so, as the sociological phenomenon of the Sixties…but if you’re talking about music, it has to be Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. That’s who they’ll be studying.” (Andrew G. Doe) The Beach Boys are one of the most celebrated bands in the history of pop music. In a career that began before the Beatles and lasted long after their demise, they were responsible for almost single-handedly spearheading a new music genre, and along the way creating what is still referred to as one of the greatest albums of all time, and another cited as one the greatest albums that never was. Over the subsequent years, the band has been the subject of countless books and essays by some of the most esteemed writers in the business, with both words and music scrutinised in the most finest of detail. But what of the stories behind the songs? This is a book that tells you all you need to know about what I consider to be their finest recordings – their inspiration; the writing and recording; the squabbles and controversies, and their ultimate success or failure. But most of all, it takes you inside the mind of one man, the band’s legendary leader, Brian Wilson, and a journey that began a little over half a century ago and now, and forevermore, is rightly acknowledged as a genius of his chosen art, and a man who truly “just wasn’t made for these times.
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£19.00The Beach Boys: Pet Tracks
£19.00 -
I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith
When the challenges you’ve faced threaten to destroy your life, how do you find your way back to the truths you thought you believed?
I Am Restored tells the untold story of how Lecrae’s past nearly ruined his future–until he learned that the wounds we carry can have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves and others.
Throughout I Am Restored, Lecrae documents the shattering yet hopeful story of how he faced the scars of his past–sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression–and emerged more fully human than ever before. With remarkable transparency and vulnerability, Lecrae reveals that at the height of his professional success, his life was spinning out of control, driven by a past that he had never confronted and a religious perspective that was incapable of meeting the challenge.
I Am Restored takes an unflinching look at the personal and public spaces that are too often at the societal core of our pain and heartache–culture, politics, family, church, and more–and teaches us that forgiveness can be the birthplace of the life that God has created for us.
Throughout this powerful, deeply personal account, Lecrae shares the life lessons he’s learned about:
- Confronting the pain and trauma that has shaped your story
- Breaking the cycle of sin and shame and embracing joy and authenticity
- Finding hope and healing in the midst of chaos
- The simple practices that can change your mental, emotional, and spiritual health
- Leading a life that’s bursting with creativity and true freedom
I Am Restored is a hopeful, inspiring charge to start your journey to lasting healing today. No matter what your past has held, God is near you, he hears you, and he’s not done writing your story.
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£6.30£20.40 -
Over the Top and Back: The Autobiography
‘For a lot of years, I’ve answered a lot of questions, but have never told my story before.’
Across six decades, Sir Tom Jones has maintained a vital career in a risky, unstable business notorious for the short lives of its artists. With a drive that comes from nothing but the love for what he does, he breaks through and then wrestles with the vagaries of the music industry, the nature of success and its inevitable consequences. Having recorded an expansive body of work and performed with fellow artists from across the spectrum and across every popular music genre, from rock, pop and dance to country, blues and soul, the one constant throughout has been his unique musical gifts and unmistakable voice.
But how did a boy from a Welsh coal-mining family attain success across the globe? And how has he survived the twists and turns of fame and fortune to not only stay exciting, but actually become more credible and interesting with age? In this, his first ever autobiography, Tom revisits his past and tells the tale of his journey from wartime Pontypridd to LA and beyond. He reveals the stories behind the ups and downs of his fascinating and remarkable life, from the early heydays to the subsequent fallow years to his later period of artistic renaissance.
It’s the story nobody else knows or understands, told by the man who lived it, and written the only way he knows how: simply and from the heart. Raw, honest, funny and powerful, this is a memoir like no other from one of the world’s greatest ever singing talents.
This is Tom Jones and Over the Top and Back is his story.
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£10.40 -
Gary Moore: The Official Biography
Gary Moore delighted entire generations with his passionate guitar playing, from the driving rock of Thin Lizzy in the 1970s to his explorations in subsequent decades of jazz fusion, heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, and more. Throughout that time, he could be seen on the world s biggest stages, yet the real Gary Moore was always hidden in plain sight, giving little away. Now, however, through extensive and revealing interviews with family members, friends, and fellow musicians, acclaimed rock biographer Harry Shapiro is able to take readers right to the heart of Gary s life and career. Despite his early death in 2011, Moore still has legions of devoted fans across the world who will be enthralled by this unique insight into the life of a guitar genius who did it his way and whose music lives on. Beginning with Gary as a teenage guitar prodigy in war-torn Ireland and continuing through the many highs and lows of more than forty years in rock, Shapiro paints an intimate portrait of a musician widely hailed as one of the greatest Irish bluesmen of all time.Read more
£13.20£16.10Gary Moore: The Official Biography
£13.20£16.10 -
Trinity College London Trumpet, Cornet & Flugelhorn Exam Pieces From 2019. Grade 3
Selected pieces for Trinity College London trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn exams from 2019. Each book has been compiled and edited by a panel of experts and contains a selection of repertoire from across a range of styles and genres, including accompanied and unaccompanied pieces. Demonstration recordings (Andrew Crowley, trumpet) and piano playalongs can be downloaded free.
Note: Trinity’s Brass 2019-2022 Syllabus has been extended to 2024, at which point a new syllabus and new publications will be released. Therefore, Trinity’s Trumpet Exam Pieces 2019-2022 books will be valid under overlap until 2025, 12-months after the release of new publications.
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£12.80 -
Trinity College London Trumpet, Cornet & Flugelhorn Exam Pieces From 2019. Grade 1
Selected pieces for Trinity College London trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn exams from 2019. Each book has been compiled and edited by a panel of experts and contains a selection of repertoire from across a range of styles and genres, including accompanied and unaccompanied pieces. Demonstration recordings (Andrew Crowley, trumpet) and piano playalongs can be downloaded free.
Note: Trinity’s Brass 2019-2022 Syllabus has been extended to 2024, at which point a new syllabus and new publications will be released. Therefore, Trinity’s Trumpet Exam Pieces 2019-2022 books will be valid under overlap until 2025, 12-months after the release of new publications.
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£10.40£11.80
