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Turn It Up!: A pitch-perfect history of music that rocked the world
From classical to country, blues to rock, hip-hop to pop, crank up the volume and get ready to rock out with a comprehensive record of music through the ages.
The high notes and biggest moments in music history are covered in this fun compendium. You'll learn about the world's most famous musicians through the eras, from Bach to the Beatles to Beyonce -- and beyond. Many major music genres are playfully explained, from tribal, classical, jazz, folk, rock ... all the way to today's modern forms, such as k-pop, hip-hop, and rap. Instruments and sounds are explored, along with places and events in history that inspired the evolution of music. Kids will also get a sense of music theory, instrumentation, and the artistry of distinctive musical styles. Song recommendations help readers open their ears to what they've learned. Add to that amazing images, a rockin' glossary of musical terms, and a timeline that plots each genre on its path from ancient history to today, and this book is bound to top the charts!
The high notes and biggest moments in music history are covered in this fun compendium. You'll learn about the world's most famous musicians through the eras, from Bach to the Beatles to Beyonce -- and beyond. Many major music genres are playfully explained, from tribal, classical, jazz, folk, rock ... all the way to today's modern forms, such as k-pop, hip-hop, and rap. Instruments and sounds are explored, along with places and events in history that inspired the evolution of music. Kids will also get a sense of music theory, instrumentation, and the artistry of distinctive musical styles. Song recommendations help readers open their ears to what they've learned. Add to that amazing images, a rockin' glossary of musical terms, and a timeline that plots each genre on its path from ancient history to today, and this book is bound to top the charts!
- GenresMusicNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Published December 17, 2019
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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National Geographic Kids
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Offering K-12 educators resources that align to and support the Common Core State Standards, National Geographic has a long history of providing high-quality informational texts suitable for primary, upper elementary, and middle school English language arts, social studies, and science classrooms.
Offering K-12 educators resources that align to and support the Common Core State Standards, National Geographic has a long history of providing high-quality informational texts suitable for primary, upper elementary, and middle school English language arts, social studies, and science classrooms.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 20, 2020
A great introduction to the History of Music, I truly believe that this is a FABULOUS book for all ages! Although this was definitely produced for children, there is A LOT of information packed into this slim (just under 200 pages) volume!
This book talks about the periods of music in chronological order. For each period there is an introduction, the years covered, and then a brief history. Sometimes there is information on Awesome Instruments, Tuneful Terms, Musical Master(s), Behind the Notes, and Listen Up! (suggestions for songs to go online and listen to). There are also a lot of color photographs and little tidbits of information sprinkled throughout. At the end of the book is a Timeline (we’ve come a long way, baby!), Glossary, a list for Further Reading & Resources, and an Index.
EVERYTHING is here – all eras / periods are covered, but I am not sharing everything. You need to read the book to get the full experience.
Some interesting things that I learned:
The name Imagine Dragons is an anagram, but only the band members know what it is!
Churches played a key role in the development of Western music in medieval Europe. In the 9th century, people started to sing music with more than one melodic line sounding together, called polyphony. When extra voices were added to plainsong, the new style was called organum.
“A hymn is a song of praise. In the Catholic Church, priests and choirs traditionally sang hymns in Latin, but churchgoers couldn’t join in. Martin Luther, who in 1567 began the religious movement to reform the Catholic Church known as the Reformation, wanted hymns to be sung in the language of ordinary people so that everyone would understand them and anyone could belt them out loudly.”
English composer Henry Purcell was considered to be one of the finest composers during the Baroque period. He was the organist at the Chapel Royal and wrote music that mixed French & Italian styles with traditional English folk songs. Pete Townshend (The Who) claimed Purcell’s harmonies were an influence on his music.
The world’s most expensive instrument is a Stradivarius violin – it sold for $15.9 million in 2011!
The Father of Baroque music was German Composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. He had 20 children, six of whom became well-known composers, musicians, or singers.
The world’s largest organ was built in New Jersey, in 1930. It has 33,112 pipes! WOW!
George Frideric Handel started out as a harpsichord player. While living in Italy, he wrote many operas. Then, in 1710, he went to work for a German prince who became King George I of England. Handel moved to London, where he spent the rest of his life composing suites, concertos, and music for royal celebrations. One of his most famous pieces is “Water Music,” written for concerts on the Thames River. Interestingly, Handel got into a duel with another composer after they argued over the seating in an orchestra pit.
The 18th & 19th centuries would see astounding developments in Western music, from an emphasis on melody & emotion to the rise of some great musical geniuses, including Mozart & Beethoven. Classical & Romantic music played a part in the cultural & social revolutions of the period, while traditional folk music really started evolving into popular music.
Program music describes a story, event, or scene. The first great example was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Pastoral. Beethoven gave each movement a title such as “Joyous gathering of the country folk” or “Thunderstorm,” to help listeners imagine the scene.
Back in Beethoven’s day, wealthy patrons paid musicians to compose & perform for them and their guests privately. A lot of people – not just the wealthy – wanted to attend concerts. The building of the first concert halls began at the end of the 18th century. After 1810, music societies started to put on concert series, and musicians were paid to play in symphony orchestras. One of these, the New York Philharmonic, began in 1842 and still performs today.
Symphony No. 9 was the first major symphony to include a choir.
Ballet grew out of the French court dances of the 17th & 18th centuries.
Because of physical separation from Europe, the US has developed many different types of music throughout history. Native Americans had their own rich traditions of song & music, as did the people who emigrated there across the centuries. While the various types of music started off separate, slowly they began to influence each other as people traveled more and shared ideas. Today’s American music, like the country itself, is a big melting pot, ranging widely in content, style, and form.
John Knowles Paine was the first American composer to become famous for writing orchestra music.
Most people know John Philip Sousa, but did you know that his conductor’s baton is given to each new leader of the US Marine Band?
Sergei Prokofiev, a Russian composer, composed Peter and the Wolf in less than two weeks!
Spanish music has a rich history and is instantly recognizable by its sounds & rhythms.
“During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), bolero and other Latin styles of music were popular in South Vietnam. Local musicians matched their musical styles to the rhythms of Latin music, which created a combination of slow, sad love songs called “yellow music.” The term might have been a reference to South Vietnam’s flag, or it might have been an intentional contrast to the official Communist “red music” or then-North Vietnam. After the two countries joined together again, yellow music became popular everywhere.”
“The Great Depression of the 1930s spread terrible hardship across the US. To support artists & improve the lives of ordinary people, the government created the Federal Music Project. It taught people to play musical instruments and funded jobs for musicians in orchestras, dance bands, choruses, and even opera companies. Between 1936 and 1940, the FMP staged 250,000 performances for audiences of 159 million people, giving more people than ever before access to different types of music.”
The information about Broadway was enlightening.
I already knew all about the information about the History of Country music. I highly recommend Ken Burns’ Country Music, an Illustrated History!
The development of Musical Comedy was enlightening. I had no idea that Cole Porter came from a wealthy family and was highly educated. When I think of people involved in “show business,” I picture the quintessential “starving artist.”
Equally entertaining (no pun intended) and informative was the information presented about “The Great American Songbook.” I had no idea that Tin Pan Alley was a district in New York City where songwriters and publishers worked. This name eventually referred to the entire American popular music industry from the late 1880s until the mid-20th century. At the time, most money in the music industry was earned by publishing sheet music. Tin Pan Alley was also the name of a song style that used catchy tunes and smart lyrics, some of which were written by top composers such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin
Ella Fitzgerald’s full name is Ella Jane Fitzgerald.
India’s enormous movie industry is known as Bollywood – a combo of the place names of Bombay and Hollywood – this I knew, but what I didn’t know was that most Bollywood movies include at least six songs and three dances …
Slave Songs of the United States was the first collection of African-American music to be published (1867). It remains an important historical record of spirituals.
Before Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, there was W.C. Handy, a composer and trumpet player who became a global superstar in the 20’s and 30’s. There’s also a picture of him in this book. Check him out!
Ever participated in a cakewalk, where you walk around to music, and the prize is a cake? This “dance,” invented by enslaved people, was the first dance to cross from African-American to white culture.
The pages about Blues and then Jazz were moving. W.C. Handy became well known as the “Father of the Blues” and Mamie Smith, “Queen of the Blues” was the first African-American musician to record a Blues song (1920).
From Jazz and the Big Bands, we got Swing and the likes of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.
Even at the height of Swing, Jazz musicians were still experimenting and developing different styles. This is how Bebop (Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and Dizzy Gillespie); Cool Jazz (Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, June Christy); Free Jazz (John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman); and Funky Fusions (Tito Puente) all came about.
Other Musical Masters from this era include B.B. King and Frank Sinatra, among others.
Racism and Segregation reared its [collective] ugly head in music (among other industries) and unfortunately, this industry still sees some racism, today. Many people believed that black artists should perform only for black audiences. Recorded African-American music was referred to by the offensive term, “race records’ until 1949, when “rhythm & blues” finally replaced it. Soul replaced the term rhythm and blues in the late 1960s, but the shorter term R&B made a comeback and is still in use today.
Gospel music is rooted in African-American Protestant church music, and it developed at a time when many black Americans left the South to move to northern cities. After Rhythm & Blues faded, Soul (including Gospel) developed and there were many different regional record labels that produced this type of music, including Motown, where we heard the voices of Aretha Franklin (her song, “RESPECT” is a Listen Up! In this book), Marvin Gaye, and Mahalia Jackson.
Did you know that Joan Baez helped to launch Bob Dylan’s career by inviting him on stage?
The Beatles or Stones? They’re both in this book!
The harmonica, aka the Blues Harp, is the world’s best-selling musical instrument. In the US alone, more than 40 million have been sold.
Get Funky with Soul Train, a popular TV show that featured African-American acts and dancers. Don Cornelius was the executive producer and host and he ended every show with, “I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace, and soul!”
Gloria Gaynor recorded her disco anthem “I Will Survive” (sing it with me) while recovering from a serious injury.
Punk rock introduced us to weird fashion, clothes, and makeup. Fashion was a key part of the Punk movement. No wonder I never understood this music!
“What’s your Tribe?” As the 80s dawned, we saw the development of a lot of different music genres, including Gothic rock, New Romantic, Indie rock, and Grunge. Kurt Cobain didn’t realize that Teen Spirit was a popular deodorant when he titled his hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
During this period, we also saw the development of Feminist rock (I had no idea this was a term) – music about women showing their strength and taking control. Voices from this period include: Aretha Franklin, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Whitney Houston.
Rap & Hip-Hop – Sampling means using a part of one song as a layer in another song. There is a nice two-page spread on Run DMC. This is timely because the US Attorney / New York City Police Dept. just announced that they found the people who murdered him back in 2002. One of my favorite songs will always be Walk This Way by Run DMC and featured Aerosmith.
Did you know that more than 1.5 BILLION people from around the world watched the Live Aid concert broadcast on TV?!?!
I was going to be really disappointed if Michael Jackson had not been mentioned in this book, but he’s here. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone 11 years. He truly was an innovator in this world. As he constantly tried to reinvent himself, he found new ways to express his talent. Some of my favorite songs: Thriller, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Black and White. RIP Michael.
From the Boy Bands, we started seeing A cappella groups. My favorite will always be Straight No Chaser, a group that originated in 1996 at Indiana University.
Korean pop music, aka K-pop, has been a part of Korea’s culture since 1992. From here, we get Psy (Gangnam Style), which became the most successful Asian music hit ever!
Breaking the Mold – These are the artists who have jumped around from music genre to music genre. Mentioned are: The Beatles, David Bowie, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars, but Elvis could be added to this, as well.
Do you stream? With over 8.2 BILLION streams, Drake was Spotify’s most streamed artist in 2018 and Ariana Grande’s 2019 album Thank U, Next set a record of 307 MILLION streams in its first week!
Lady Gaga is a master of social media, with around 180 million online fans and followers!
Where will music take us next? Check out this book to learn more!
This book talks about the periods of music in chronological order. For each period there is an introduction, the years covered, and then a brief history. Sometimes there is information on Awesome Instruments, Tuneful Terms, Musical Master(s), Behind the Notes, and Listen Up! (suggestions for songs to go online and listen to). There are also a lot of color photographs and little tidbits of information sprinkled throughout. At the end of the book is a Timeline (we’ve come a long way, baby!), Glossary, a list for Further Reading & Resources, and an Index.
EVERYTHING is here – all eras / periods are covered, but I am not sharing everything. You need to read the book to get the full experience.
Some interesting things that I learned:
The name Imagine Dragons is an anagram, but only the band members know what it is!
Churches played a key role in the development of Western music in medieval Europe. In the 9th century, people started to sing music with more than one melodic line sounding together, called polyphony. When extra voices were added to plainsong, the new style was called organum.
“A hymn is a song of praise. In the Catholic Church, priests and choirs traditionally sang hymns in Latin, but churchgoers couldn’t join in. Martin Luther, who in 1567 began the religious movement to reform the Catholic Church known as the Reformation, wanted hymns to be sung in the language of ordinary people so that everyone would understand them and anyone could belt them out loudly.”
English composer Henry Purcell was considered to be one of the finest composers during the Baroque period. He was the organist at the Chapel Royal and wrote music that mixed French & Italian styles with traditional English folk songs. Pete Townshend (The Who) claimed Purcell’s harmonies were an influence on his music.
The world’s most expensive instrument is a Stradivarius violin – it sold for $15.9 million in 2011!
The Father of Baroque music was German Composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. He had 20 children, six of whom became well-known composers, musicians, or singers.
The world’s largest organ was built in New Jersey, in 1930. It has 33,112 pipes! WOW!
George Frideric Handel started out as a harpsichord player. While living in Italy, he wrote many operas. Then, in 1710, he went to work for a German prince who became King George I of England. Handel moved to London, where he spent the rest of his life composing suites, concertos, and music for royal celebrations. One of his most famous pieces is “Water Music,” written for concerts on the Thames River. Interestingly, Handel got into a duel with another composer after they argued over the seating in an orchestra pit.
The 18th & 19th centuries would see astounding developments in Western music, from an emphasis on melody & emotion to the rise of some great musical geniuses, including Mozart & Beethoven. Classical & Romantic music played a part in the cultural & social revolutions of the period, while traditional folk music really started evolving into popular music.
Program music describes a story, event, or scene. The first great example was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Pastoral. Beethoven gave each movement a title such as “Joyous gathering of the country folk” or “Thunderstorm,” to help listeners imagine the scene.
Back in Beethoven’s day, wealthy patrons paid musicians to compose & perform for them and their guests privately. A lot of people – not just the wealthy – wanted to attend concerts. The building of the first concert halls began at the end of the 18th century. After 1810, music societies started to put on concert series, and musicians were paid to play in symphony orchestras. One of these, the New York Philharmonic, began in 1842 and still performs today.
Symphony No. 9 was the first major symphony to include a choir.
Ballet grew out of the French court dances of the 17th & 18th centuries.
Because of physical separation from Europe, the US has developed many different types of music throughout history. Native Americans had their own rich traditions of song & music, as did the people who emigrated there across the centuries. While the various types of music started off separate, slowly they began to influence each other as people traveled more and shared ideas. Today’s American music, like the country itself, is a big melting pot, ranging widely in content, style, and form.
John Knowles Paine was the first American composer to become famous for writing orchestra music.
Most people know John Philip Sousa, but did you know that his conductor’s baton is given to each new leader of the US Marine Band?
Sergei Prokofiev, a Russian composer, composed Peter and the Wolf in less than two weeks!
Spanish music has a rich history and is instantly recognizable by its sounds & rhythms.
“During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), bolero and other Latin styles of music were popular in South Vietnam. Local musicians matched their musical styles to the rhythms of Latin music, which created a combination of slow, sad love songs called “yellow music.” The term might have been a reference to South Vietnam’s flag, or it might have been an intentional contrast to the official Communist “red music” or then-North Vietnam. After the two countries joined together again, yellow music became popular everywhere.”
“The Great Depression of the 1930s spread terrible hardship across the US. To support artists & improve the lives of ordinary people, the government created the Federal Music Project. It taught people to play musical instruments and funded jobs for musicians in orchestras, dance bands, choruses, and even opera companies. Between 1936 and 1940, the FMP staged 250,000 performances for audiences of 159 million people, giving more people than ever before access to different types of music.”
The information about Broadway was enlightening.
I already knew all about the information about the History of Country music. I highly recommend Ken Burns’ Country Music, an Illustrated History!
The development of Musical Comedy was enlightening. I had no idea that Cole Porter came from a wealthy family and was highly educated. When I think of people involved in “show business,” I picture the quintessential “starving artist.”
Equally entertaining (no pun intended) and informative was the information presented about “The Great American Songbook.” I had no idea that Tin Pan Alley was a district in New York City where songwriters and publishers worked. This name eventually referred to the entire American popular music industry from the late 1880s until the mid-20th century. At the time, most money in the music industry was earned by publishing sheet music. Tin Pan Alley was also the name of a song style that used catchy tunes and smart lyrics, some of which were written by top composers such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin
Ella Fitzgerald’s full name is Ella Jane Fitzgerald.
India’s enormous movie industry is known as Bollywood – a combo of the place names of Bombay and Hollywood – this I knew, but what I didn’t know was that most Bollywood movies include at least six songs and three dances …
Slave Songs of the United States was the first collection of African-American music to be published (1867). It remains an important historical record of spirituals.
Before Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, there was W.C. Handy, a composer and trumpet player who became a global superstar in the 20’s and 30’s. There’s also a picture of him in this book. Check him out!
Ever participated in a cakewalk, where you walk around to music, and the prize is a cake? This “dance,” invented by enslaved people, was the first dance to cross from African-American to white culture.
The pages about Blues and then Jazz were moving. W.C. Handy became well known as the “Father of the Blues” and Mamie Smith, “Queen of the Blues” was the first African-American musician to record a Blues song (1920).
From Jazz and the Big Bands, we got Swing and the likes of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.
Even at the height of Swing, Jazz musicians were still experimenting and developing different styles. This is how Bebop (Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and Dizzy Gillespie); Cool Jazz (Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, June Christy); Free Jazz (John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman); and Funky Fusions (Tito Puente) all came about.
Other Musical Masters from this era include B.B. King and Frank Sinatra, among others.
Racism and Segregation reared its [collective] ugly head in music (among other industries) and unfortunately, this industry still sees some racism, today. Many people believed that black artists should perform only for black audiences. Recorded African-American music was referred to by the offensive term, “race records’ until 1949, when “rhythm & blues” finally replaced it. Soul replaced the term rhythm and blues in the late 1960s, but the shorter term R&B made a comeback and is still in use today.
Gospel music is rooted in African-American Protestant church music, and it developed at a time when many black Americans left the South to move to northern cities. After Rhythm & Blues faded, Soul (including Gospel) developed and there were many different regional record labels that produced this type of music, including Motown, where we heard the voices of Aretha Franklin (her song, “RESPECT” is a Listen Up! In this book), Marvin Gaye, and Mahalia Jackson.
Did you know that Joan Baez helped to launch Bob Dylan’s career by inviting him on stage?
The Beatles or Stones? They’re both in this book!
The harmonica, aka the Blues Harp, is the world’s best-selling musical instrument. In the US alone, more than 40 million have been sold.
Get Funky with Soul Train, a popular TV show that featured African-American acts and dancers. Don Cornelius was the executive producer and host and he ended every show with, “I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace, and soul!”
Gloria Gaynor recorded her disco anthem “I Will Survive” (sing it with me) while recovering from a serious injury.
Punk rock introduced us to weird fashion, clothes, and makeup. Fashion was a key part of the Punk movement. No wonder I never understood this music!
“What’s your Tribe?” As the 80s dawned, we saw the development of a lot of different music genres, including Gothic rock, New Romantic, Indie rock, and Grunge. Kurt Cobain didn’t realize that Teen Spirit was a popular deodorant when he titled his hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
During this period, we also saw the development of Feminist rock (I had no idea this was a term) – music about women showing their strength and taking control. Voices from this period include: Aretha Franklin, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Whitney Houston.
Rap & Hip-Hop – Sampling means using a part of one song as a layer in another song. There is a nice two-page spread on Run DMC. This is timely because the US Attorney / New York City Police Dept. just announced that they found the people who murdered him back in 2002. One of my favorite songs will always be Walk This Way by Run DMC and featured Aerosmith.
Did you know that more than 1.5 BILLION people from around the world watched the Live Aid concert broadcast on TV?!?!
I was going to be really disappointed if Michael Jackson had not been mentioned in this book, but he’s here. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone 11 years. He truly was an innovator in this world. As he constantly tried to reinvent himself, he found new ways to express his talent. Some of my favorite songs: Thriller, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Black and White. RIP Michael.
From the Boy Bands, we started seeing A cappella groups. My favorite will always be Straight No Chaser, a group that originated in 1996 at Indiana University.
Korean pop music, aka K-pop, has been a part of Korea’s culture since 1992. From here, we get Psy (Gangnam Style), which became the most successful Asian music hit ever!
Breaking the Mold – These are the artists who have jumped around from music genre to music genre. Mentioned are: The Beatles, David Bowie, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars, but Elvis could be added to this, as well.
Do you stream? With over 8.2 BILLION streams, Drake was Spotify’s most streamed artist in 2018 and Ariana Grande’s 2019 album Thank U, Next set a record of 307 MILLION streams in its first week!
Lady Gaga is a master of social media, with around 180 million online fans and followers!
Where will music take us next? Check out this book to learn more!
March 17, 2020
Historians tell us that man has created "music" since earlier times. We have no written history to facilitate this. However, we do have archaeological indicators of some earlier music instruments and we know that cultures each present music in various ways and means.
The National Geographic Kids Turn It Up!: A Pitch-Perfect History of Music that Rocked the World takes young readers, and "their adults," back in history and up to modern day. We see an evolution of man's creation of sounds and instruments on which to produce those sounds. And as we continue through this evolutionary history, we see that to some degree man remains in his historic past with explosive sounds that rock their world.
My personal choice of music leans toward orchestral or symphonic renderings of glorious melodies and lovely chamber ensembles of violins and their cousins. I enjoy a good mellow sound of "easy listening" with strings, mellow brass horns of various types, and reed instruments.
My choice doesn't include the raucous rap, or bams, or booms and off beat cadences of modern music. But music was evolved or perhaps de-volved to such.
This book simply presents the musical evolution and those creators of each genre. I like that listings of performers and songs that enable readers to access each of the types. I do think that there is too much focus given in this book to the loud, strident sounds that comprise today's musical choices and the performers.
This is an interesting book and would be a good choice for libraries and personal libraries. I strongly encourage homeschoolers to avail themselves of books of this type even if I can't endorse or say I enjoy every tidbit of information.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
The National Geographic Kids Turn It Up!: A Pitch-Perfect History of Music that Rocked the World takes young readers, and "their adults," back in history and up to modern day. We see an evolution of man's creation of sounds and instruments on which to produce those sounds. And as we continue through this evolutionary history, we see that to some degree man remains in his historic past with explosive sounds that rock their world.
My personal choice of music leans toward orchestral or symphonic renderings of glorious melodies and lovely chamber ensembles of violins and their cousins. I enjoy a good mellow sound of "easy listening" with strings, mellow brass horns of various types, and reed instruments.
My choice doesn't include the raucous rap, or bams, or booms and off beat cadences of modern music. But music was evolved or perhaps de-volved to such.
This book simply presents the musical evolution and those creators of each genre. I like that listings of performers and songs that enable readers to access each of the types. I do think that there is too much focus given in this book to the loud, strident sounds that comprise today's musical choices and the performers.
This is an interesting book and would be a good choice for libraries and personal libraries. I strongly encourage homeschoolers to avail themselves of books of this type even if I can't endorse or say I enjoy every tidbit of information.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
July 7, 2020
Turn it Up! A Pitch Perfect History of Music That Rocked the World by Joel Levy 192 pages. NON-FICTION National Geographic Kids, 2019. $20.00
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
From the world's earliest instruments to Lady Gaga, from Beethoven to Broadway, and Big Band to K-Pop, this engaging history of music includes styles, musicians, celebrities, and stories which quickly give the reader basic dinner table conversation topics on all things music.
I thought I knew a lot about music, that background knowledge was great, but the brief bits of info were great, and there was so much new information! Wow! Full of captioned photos and interesting trivia, I felt compelled to share what I'd learned with the people around me. My favorite side bars said "Listen Up" and gave a suggested title and composer or artist - I found every one and listened along while I read. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Includes a timeline, glossary and suggestions for further reading and resources.
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
From the world's earliest instruments to Lady Gaga, from Beethoven to Broadway, and Big Band to K-Pop, this engaging history of music includes styles, musicians, celebrities, and stories which quickly give the reader basic dinner table conversation topics on all things music.
I thought I knew a lot about music, that background knowledge was great, but the brief bits of info were great, and there was so much new information! Wow! Full of captioned photos and interesting trivia, I felt compelled to share what I'd learned with the people around me. My favorite side bars said "Listen Up" and gave a suggested title and composer or artist - I found every one and listened along while I read. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Includes a timeline, glossary and suggestions for further reading and resources.
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...
January 24, 2020
This book gives an overview of the history of music and how music developed over time to include different styles. With paintings and photographs showcased in a colorful design, this book is sure to capture the attention of anyone interested in music!
I really love how the information is organized in easy-to-read text boxes. Each chapter focuses on one era of music history, covering Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Modern, and Post-Modern music.
This book has biographies and songs of music styles like Jazz, Pop, Big Band, Blues, Rock, Reggae, Heavy Metal, and a dozen more, featuring music stars, composers, singers, musicians, conductors, and influencers who created the music we know today.
There are suggestions of iconic song titles to look up and listen to, that give a good example of each type of sound, whether orchestral or rock band or cultural world music.
One of the things I really enjoyed were the factoids that described how music influenced other areas of history, from politics to painting to dance. It was wonderful to see how the history of other art forms developed alongside musical styles.
I appreciated that many different styles and cultures are included in this book, including African, Asian, South American, Arabian, and dozens of other rich cultures each with their uniquely beautiful music history.
I was slightly disappointed to see that most of the book deals with modern music, and only the first 60 pages are dedicated to classical music and the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. However, those 60 pages are packed full of wonderful history, paintings, biographies of famous composers, and amazing facts about the history of music.
I am so impressed with this colorful book! It gives the reader reliable facts about history and how music has evolved, and sparks the imagination. The joy of music is evident on every page!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.
I really love how the information is organized in easy-to-read text boxes. Each chapter focuses on one era of music history, covering Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Modern, and Post-Modern music.
This book has biographies and songs of music styles like Jazz, Pop, Big Band, Blues, Rock, Reggae, Heavy Metal, and a dozen more, featuring music stars, composers, singers, musicians, conductors, and influencers who created the music we know today.
There are suggestions of iconic song titles to look up and listen to, that give a good example of each type of sound, whether orchestral or rock band or cultural world music.
One of the things I really enjoyed were the factoids that described how music influenced other areas of history, from politics to painting to dance. It was wonderful to see how the history of other art forms developed alongside musical styles.
I appreciated that many different styles and cultures are included in this book, including African, Asian, South American, Arabian, and dozens of other rich cultures each with their uniquely beautiful music history.
I was slightly disappointed to see that most of the book deals with modern music, and only the first 60 pages are dedicated to classical music and the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. However, those 60 pages are packed full of wonderful history, paintings, biographies of famous composers, and amazing facts about the history of music.
I am so impressed with this colorful book! It gives the reader reliable facts about history and how music has evolved, and sparks the imagination. The joy of music is evident on every page!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.
April 29, 2020
This ambitious book takes on a fascinating topic, the history of music. Starting by explaining what music is the book then divides up human history into several generic eras. The book highlights different styles of music, how they developed, and some of the key musicians who helped the various styles take off. Using lots of sidebars, colorful photographs, and brief biographies, the book makes for an enjoyable browsing experience for those who want to learn more about music history. The bright colors, references to specific pieces of music that represent the various styles, and lots and lots of information about everything from different types of instruments to orchestra arrangements. While the focus is mainly on Western music, music & musicians from other geographical areas (India, China, Africa) are included. An enjoyable, well-designed book perfect for music lovers.
June 11, 2020
From the world's earliest instruments to Lady Gaga, from Beethoven to Broadway, and Big Band to K-Pop, this engaging history of music includes styles, musicians, celebrities, and stories which quickly give the reader basic dinner table conversation topics on all things music.
I thought I knew a lot about music, that background knowledge was great, but the brief bits of info were great, and there was so much new information! Wow! Full of captioned photos and interesting trivia, I felt compelled to share what I'd learned with the people around me. My favorite side bars said "Listen Up" and gave a suggested title and composer or artist - I found every one and listened along while I read. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Includes a timeline, glossary and suggestions for further reading and resources.
For this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebook.blogspot.com
I thought I knew a lot about music, that background knowledge was great, but the brief bits of info were great, and there was so much new information! Wow! Full of captioned photos and interesting trivia, I felt compelled to share what I'd learned with the people around me. My favorite side bars said "Listen Up" and gave a suggested title and composer or artist - I found every one and listened along while I read. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. Includes a timeline, glossary and suggestions for further reading and resources.
For this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebook.blogspot.com
July 23, 2024
I was a little annoyed that it didn’t address that, for example, opera continues to be written today, but then I realized that it’s not a history of music, it’s a “history of music that rocked the world”. So, with that qualifier, I felt comfortable with the way the history was presented. It’s focused on popular music as in how musicians have made money (or added value by originality) throughout history, specifically in western music, though it has some information from around the world scattered in. All together though, I enjoyed it, and I felt I was exposed to some music I wouldn’t have found otherwise. It was also enlightening to hear music I already knew about in context.
March 3, 2020
The book is colorful and energizing (perfect for making readers want to join in and dance!) with lots of great photos.
For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...
For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...
February 10, 2020
This engaging book, with its cool, boldly colored design, super interesting information, and great photographs is an excellent and comprehensive look at the history of music!
July 31, 2025
Thinking Day Finland 2025
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December 31, 2019reviewed for slj
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