Essential Dictionary of Music: The Most Practical and Useful Music Dictionary for Students and Professionals (Essential Dictionary Series)

This is a nice little POCKET SIZED reference book. It is divided into sectionsFirst Page - Table of ContentsPage 4 - Abreviations - abreviations of languages used in the book. ex. Eng for EnglishPage 4 Pronunciations - pronunciations of vowels and consonanats used in the bookSECTION 1-Page 7 through 148 Definitions of common musical terms listed alphabetically - such as "a capella"SECTION 2-Pages 151 through 274 Composers listed alphabetically with their birth and death dates, historical period (ex.Romantic period),Compositional media (ex. Opera), Important items (such as notable works)SECTION 3-Theory-Pages 277 through 314 - notes, time signatures, scales, etcSECTION 4-Instrument & Vocal ranges (ex. flute from middle c to c above the staff)I think it is very comprehensive as a small reference. The complaints on the reviews seem to be based on three things1) The Kindle edition has problems (most of the complaints)- get the hard copy2) One person complained about a couple of typographical errors. All books have typographical errors!3) It doesn't list ALL the composers or ALL music theory, etc. But I guess it isn't thousands of pages long. A Pocket dictionary is not going to have everything possible! Some people just expect the impossible!For what it is it is an excellent reference. A music student who carries this in his case will find everything he needs to know. This book does what it is supposed to do.I say wake up folks. These reviews are supposed to be reviewing the PRODUCT!

I find this dictionary to be very helpful, the definitions are easy to read, short and to the point You can care the dictionary right in your purse.

This is very handy while giving lessons, as I can reach just behind the piano's music rack and check something or read it aloud with the student. Also can make great gifts for students. The cover is glossy and presentable. Seems pretty durable after a year of use. The definitions are short but if you need more you can always buy a second more unwieldy copy for the bookshelf. Sometimes musicians can't be hassled with getting up from the piano for even a moment. What a ridiculous concept! I keep it with two sharpened pencils and my award stickers.

DON'T BUY THE KINDLE VERSION! Don't get me wrong. I've owned this magnificent little dictionary in its paperback form for several years. It's well worn now, with lots of notes I've added over time. The book itself is 5 stars. I carry it in my backpack to all my music classes, and refer to it daily in my own work.I was delighted to find it was available in a Kindle version. I also carry my Kindle with me everywhere, so I thought I would add this book to the Kindle and retire my paperback. But there's a HUGE problem with the Kindle version: it's not indexed for searching. That means there's no way to go to any particular term in the dictionary. "Moderato" is in the middle of the book. You can't search for it, so the only way to find its definition is to laboriously page one at at time through half the book. Ouch. That's a fatal flaw for any dictionary on Kindle. The Kindle version of this book has 0 stars--it's essentially unusable. I just returned the book to Amazon for a credit, and selected "Product Defect" for my reason.Too bad, too. I really love this little book. (sigh)

All pages are cut on left margin rendering vocabulary words unreadable because more than half of the word(s) letters are missing. Pleaselook into this! I would love to have a usable copy of this otherwise handy dictionary in my tablet and phone. I would love to give this 5 stars.

This is more for the beginner. It is missing a lot of terms and other items that an advanced musician would need to look up. They were nice gifts for my beginner students however.

Cute and very informative book

This is perfect for second or third year piano students who show a serious love for learning to play piano. I use it for student gifts.

Compact and extremely useful. Don't expect anything in depth, but as a very convenient ready reference that will fit in all but the smallest instrument cases, so you can always have it with you when needed. Highly Recommended!

excellent reference book

thanks

A mus-have for any person interested in the fundamentals of music. Delighted to have found the book available at such a reasonable price.

This dictionary is so small that the entries are hopelessly short. You are often left completely unilluminated. If you want to know about, say, the formal structure of the sonata or the symphony, this will be virtually no use at all. About all it's good for is translations of 'lente', 'adagio' and the like. Be warned.