R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Paperback
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Music Essentials for Singers and Actors

Fundamentals of Notation, Sight-Singing and Music Theory

Andrew Gerle - Foreword by Kristin Chenoweth

Singers and actors who can learn music quickly and accurately have an enormous advantage in today's increasingly competitive field. With Music Essentials for Singers and Actors, award-winning composer and music director Andrew Gerle has written a music theory text especially for singers, focused exclusively on topics and techniques that will help them in the rehearsal room and on stage.

Gerle leads readers step by step through every aspect of written music, using over one hundred real-world examples from Broadway scores. His common-sense, methodical approach demystifies abstract concepts, and his unique 1-STARRT method teaches singers to read musical “words” instead of single notes, enabling confident sight-singing of any score. Drawing on his years of experience as a Broadway vocal coach, Gerle also shows readers how to use music theory to think like a composer, analyzing scores for dramatic clues to create a more detailed and powerful performance. Each chapter is accompanied by downloadable audio examples and exercises to lock in newly learned concepts.
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Hal Leonard
Pages: 336 • Trim: 7¾ x 9¼
978-1-4950-7376-2 • Paperback /Online resource • August 2018 • $44.00 • (£35.00)
Subjects: Music / Instruction & Study / Theory, Music / Instruction & Study / Voice
Andrew Gerle is an award-winning composer/lyricist, music director, arranger, and pianist. He has lived in New York City for over twenty years, working on dozens of Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and touring productions. He is also the author of The Enraged Accompanist's Guide to the Perfect Audition, and teaches musical theater performance, theory, and composition at Yale University and the Manhattan School of Music.
Foreword by Kristen Chenoweth
Author’s Note

1. Willkommen
A Little Brains, a Little Talent: the ingredients for a career
Racing with the Clock: how to make the most of your rehearsal time
Side by Side: an artistic collaboration with the writer
The Sound of Music: the elements of musical notation
What More Do I Need?: required tools of the trade

2. I Got Rhythm: fundamentals
The Rhythm of Life: how we divide time
You Can’t Stop the Beat: first definitions, quarter notes
Just in Time: time signatures, note shapes
The Speed Test: metronomes and their use
Breathe: rests

3. In Short: smaller note values
Tonight at Eight: the eighth note
We Go Together: beams
A Little Bit Off: off-beats and “and”s
I’m Old Fashioned: vocal notation in older scores
Pretty Little Picture: musical “words” and syncopation
Small World: the sixteenth note

4. Hold On: ties and dots
Married: ties
Stay with Me: dots

5. Play a Simple Melody: the piano keyboard, notes, clefs, and staves
I Love a Piano: finding notes on the keyboard
I Could Write a Book: writing notes on the staff
Me, Who Am I?: clefs, letter names, and the grand staff
You Will Be Found: matching notes on the piano with notes on the staff

6. I’ve Got Your Number: intervals and scale degrees
Go the Distance: basic interval sizes and names
Home: the tonic and scale degrees
Steppin’ Out with My Baby: singing with scale degrees
Do-Re-Mi: the Kodály method

7. You Do Something to Me: accidentals, key signatures, and transposition
I am Changing: accidentals and the black keys of the piano
Ring of Keys: the major scale, key signatures, and the circle of fifths
They Just Keep Moving the Line: transposing songs

8. So Big/So Small: identifying and singing every interval type

9.Fascinatin’ Rhythm: cut time, triplets, swing; compound, composite and irregular meters
Two by Two: cut time
Squeeze me: triplets and grace notes
By Threes: compound meter
It Don’t Mean a Thing: swing notation
Unusual Way: irregular and composite meters
Change Don’t Come Easy: shifting meters

10. Let It Sing: combining your ear and your eye for increased fluency
Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly: diatonic versus chromatic melodies
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?: triads and inversions
Far from the Home I Love: strategies for chromatic melodies

11. Changing My Major: minor keys
Three Friends: the minor scales
Sing Happy: minor scales in context
Show Me the Key: distinguishing between minor and major keys
Sisters: minor, diminished, and augmented triads

12. I Know Things Now: combining multiple techniques to form a coherent strategy for reading
What Comes Next?: reading ahead
1-STARRT at the Very Beginning: a method for analyzing and annotating any new song

13. No One Is Alone: singing with other performers
Here I Am: finding your starting note
I’m a Part of That: consonance and dissonance with the piano accompaniment; piano/conductor scores
Do You Hear the People Sing?: choral singing and score layouts

14. The Writing on the Wall: musical markings, repeat structure, and other score “road maps”
Be Italian: tempo markings
Loud: dynamic and articulation markings
Stop, Time: pauses and held notes
Speak Low: other expressive markings and spoken text
Back to Before: repeats, D.C., D.S., and codas
Ah, But Underneath: underscoring and vamps
On the Street Where You Live: rehearsal numbers and letters
Do It Again: AABA form and other song structures

15. Hey, Look Me Over: close score reading for dramatic and character analysis
Mama, Look Sharp: every mark is a choice
The Wrong Note Rag: analyzing dissonance and contour to color your performance
Watch What Happens: dramatic inspiration from the piano accompaniment
A Change in Me: reading key changes and altered notes for textual insight

16. I Have Confidence: continuing to practice and consolidate your technique
I Can See It: eye-training exercises
A Trip to the Library: the joys of reading music alone and with others

Music Essentials for Singers and Actors

Fundamentals of Notation, Sight-Singing and Music Theory

Cover Image
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • Singers and actors who can learn music quickly and accurately have an enormous advantage in today's increasingly competitive field. With Music Essentials for Singers and Actors, award-winning composer and music director Andrew Gerle has written a music theory text especially for singers, focused exclusively on topics and techniques that will help them in the rehearsal room and on stage.

    Gerle leads readers step by step through every aspect of written music, using over one hundred real-world examples from Broadway scores. His common-sense, methodical approach demystifies abstract concepts, and his unique 1-STARRT method teaches singers to read musical “words” instead of single notes, enabling confident sight-singing of any score. Drawing on his years of experience as a Broadway vocal coach, Gerle also shows readers how to use music theory to think like a composer, analyzing scores for dramatic clues to create a more detailed and powerful performance. Each chapter is accompanied by downloadable audio examples and exercises to lock in newly learned concepts.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Hal Leonard
    Pages: 336 • Trim: 7¾ x 9¼
    978-1-4950-7376-2 • Paperback /Online resource • August 2018 • $44.00 • (£35.00)
    Subjects: Music / Instruction & Study / Theory, Music / Instruction & Study / Voice
Author
Author
  • Andrew Gerle is an award-winning composer/lyricist, music director, arranger, and pianist. He has lived in New York City for over twenty years, working on dozens of Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and touring productions. He is also the author of The Enraged Accompanist's Guide to the Perfect Audition, and teaches musical theater performance, theory, and composition at Yale University and the Manhattan School of Music.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Foreword by Kristen Chenoweth
    Author’s Note

    1. Willkommen
    A Little Brains, a Little Talent: the ingredients for a career
    Racing with the Clock: how to make the most of your rehearsal time
    Side by Side: an artistic collaboration with the writer
    The Sound of Music: the elements of musical notation
    What More Do I Need?: required tools of the trade

    2. I Got Rhythm: fundamentals
    The Rhythm of Life: how we divide time
    You Can’t Stop the Beat: first definitions, quarter notes
    Just in Time: time signatures, note shapes
    The Speed Test: metronomes and their use
    Breathe: rests

    3. In Short: smaller note values
    Tonight at Eight: the eighth note
    We Go Together: beams
    A Little Bit Off: off-beats and “and”s
    I’m Old Fashioned: vocal notation in older scores
    Pretty Little Picture: musical “words” and syncopation
    Small World: the sixteenth note

    4. Hold On: ties and dots
    Married: ties
    Stay with Me: dots

    5. Play a Simple Melody: the piano keyboard, notes, clefs, and staves
    I Love a Piano: finding notes on the keyboard
    I Could Write a Book: writing notes on the staff
    Me, Who Am I?: clefs, letter names, and the grand staff
    You Will Be Found: matching notes on the piano with notes on the staff

    6. I’ve Got Your Number: intervals and scale degrees
    Go the Distance: basic interval sizes and names
    Home: the tonic and scale degrees
    Steppin’ Out with My Baby: singing with scale degrees
    Do-Re-Mi: the Kodály method

    7. You Do Something to Me: accidentals, key signatures, and transposition
    I am Changing: accidentals and the black keys of the piano
    Ring of Keys: the major scale, key signatures, and the circle of fifths
    They Just Keep Moving the Line: transposing songs

    8. So Big/So Small: identifying and singing every interval type

    9.Fascinatin’ Rhythm: cut time, triplets, swing; compound, composite and irregular meters
    Two by Two: cut time
    Squeeze me: triplets and grace notes
    By Threes: compound meter
    It Don’t Mean a Thing: swing notation
    Unusual Way: irregular and composite meters
    Change Don’t Come Easy: shifting meters

    10. Let It Sing: combining your ear and your eye for increased fluency
    Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly: diatonic versus chromatic melodies
    Do You Want to Build a Snowman?: triads and inversions
    Far from the Home I Love: strategies for chromatic melodies

    11. Changing My Major: minor keys
    Three Friends: the minor scales
    Sing Happy: minor scales in context
    Show Me the Key: distinguishing between minor and major keys
    Sisters: minor, diminished, and augmented triads

    12. I Know Things Now: combining multiple techniques to form a coherent strategy for reading
    What Comes Next?: reading ahead
    1-STARRT at the Very Beginning: a method for analyzing and annotating any new song

    13. No One Is Alone: singing with other performers
    Here I Am: finding your starting note
    I’m a Part of That: consonance and dissonance with the piano accompaniment; piano/conductor scores
    Do You Hear the People Sing?: choral singing and score layouts

    14. The Writing on the Wall: musical markings, repeat structure, and other score “road maps”
    Be Italian: tempo markings
    Loud: dynamic and articulation markings
    Stop, Time: pauses and held notes
    Speak Low: other expressive markings and spoken text
    Back to Before: repeats, D.C., D.S., and codas
    Ah, But Underneath: underscoring and vamps
    On the Street Where You Live: rehearsal numbers and letters
    Do It Again: AABA form and other song structures

    15. Hey, Look Me Over: close score reading for dramatic and character analysis
    Mama, Look Sharp: every mark is a choice
    The Wrong Note Rag: analyzing dissonance and contour to color your performance
    Watch What Happens: dramatic inspiration from the piano accompaniment
    A Change in Me: reading key changes and altered notes for textual insight

    16. I Have Confidence: continuing to practice and consolidate your technique
    I Can See It: eye-training exercises
    A Trip to the Library: the joys of reading music alone and with others

ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Music Theory and Composition: A Practical Approach
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory for the Self-Taught Musician: Level 1: The Basics
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory for the Self-Taught Musician: Level 2: Harmony, Composition, and Improvisation
  • Cover image for the book Harmony Through Melody: The Interaction of Melody, Counterpoint, and Harmony in Western Music, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book The Music and Literacy Connection, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Tonal Counterpoint for the 21st-Century Musician: An Introduction
  • Cover image for the book Revolutions in Music Education: Historical and Social Explorations
  • Cover image for the book Graphic Music Analysis: An Introduction to Schenkerian Theory and Practice
  • Cover image for the book Music and Soulmaking: Toward a New Theory of Music Therapy
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory Secrets: 94 Strategies for the Starting Musician
  • Cover image for the book Taught by the Students: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Deep Engagement in Music Education
  • Cover image for the book Inside the Music
  • Cover image for the book Melody, Harmony, Tonality: A Book for Connoisseurs and Amateurs
  • Cover image for the book Tipbook Music on Paper: The Complete Guide
  • Cover image for the book The Musician's Guide to Reading & Writing Music, Revised 2nd Ed.
  • Cover image for the book Thinking about Thinking: Metacognition for Music Learning
  • Cover image for the book Melody, Harmony, Tonality: An Introduction
  • Cover image for the book A Player's Guide to Chords and Harmony: Music Theory for Real-World Musicians
  • Cover image for the book Guidelines for College Teaching of Music Theory, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory and Composition: A Practical Approach
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory for the Self-Taught Musician: Level 1: The Basics
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory for the Self-Taught Musician: Level 2: Harmony, Composition, and Improvisation
  • Cover image for the book Harmony Through Melody: The Interaction of Melody, Counterpoint, and Harmony in Western Music, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book The Music and Literacy Connection, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Tonal Counterpoint for the 21st-Century Musician: An Introduction
  • Cover image for the book Revolutions in Music Education: Historical and Social Explorations
  • Cover image for the book Graphic Music Analysis: An Introduction to Schenkerian Theory and Practice
  • Cover image for the book Music and Soulmaking: Toward a New Theory of Music Therapy
  • Cover image for the book Music Theory Secrets: 94 Strategies for the Starting Musician
  • Cover image for the book Taught by the Students: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Deep Engagement in Music Education
  • Cover image for the book Inside the Music
  • Cover image for the book Melody, Harmony, Tonality: A Book for Connoisseurs and Amateurs
  • Cover image for the book Tipbook Music on Paper: The Complete Guide
  • Cover image for the book The Musician's Guide to Reading & Writing Music, Revised 2nd Ed.
  • Cover image for the book Thinking about Thinking: Metacognition for Music Learning
  • Cover image for the book Melody, Harmony, Tonality: An Introduction
  • Cover image for the book A Player's Guide to Chords and Harmony: Music Theory for Real-World Musicians
  • Cover image for the book Guidelines for College Teaching of Music Theory, Second Edition
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...