Schottenbauer Publishing

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Quick Overview of The Big Print Music Method

The Big Print Music Method is an expanding set of music education materials with a clear, color-coded, graphical design intended to simplify learning for elementary band and symphony orchestra students. The following article contains a summary of the primary set of learning materials, with links to sales organizations.


Summary of Main Components, with Sample Pages

Method Boosters contain big-print fingering charts, each with note names, keyboards, and clearly-labeled staves. One and two-note exercises are also included. Transposition charts are included for relevant instruments.




3-Note Exercise Books help students hone fingering skills throughout the entire range. All half-step and whole-step combinations are explored, throughout the entire student range.






Interval Studies teach students all major intervals up to one octave, beginning from the lowest note through the top of the student range.







Learning Alternate Fingerings is a series for woodwinds only, focusing on fingering patterns not included in the first series. Students are provided with big print fingering charts for the new notes, plus 2-note and 3-note exercises.






Interval Studies with Alternate Fingerings is a series for woodwinds only, focusing on all combinations of fingering patterns not included in Interval Studies. 







Learning String Crossing and Double Stops for string instruments teaches all possible combinations of fingering combinations up to one octave, including more than one string, when possible. (Note: The practical limit of space on the fingerboard limits some combinations of intervals.)



The full set of availability, with links to sales, are presented below. Note that E-Files from MusicaNeo are only $4 each for most of the series, whereas the printed copies are many times more expensive, due to the cost of printing. Wholesale is available through CreateSpace for approved wholesale vendors only.


Strings & Guitar

Woodwinds & Recorders

Brass

Percussion

Solo & Ensemble
  • Elementary Exercises: E-files
  • Big Print Tunes (Multimedia)E-files 
  • Big Print Duets (Multimedia)E-files
  • Big Print Ensemble (Flexible Instrumentation; Multimedia): E-files

Supplementary

The entire series is expected to be completed soon. A full description of current instrumentation is included in the first article in this blog, located below.


Additional Information

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Video Montage of Band & Orchestral Instruments Performed by the Author of The Big Print Music Method


Teachers, students, and the public can now listen to the author & composer of The Big Print Music Method perform on violin, recorders, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, in a video montage published on YouTube. Introduction to Band & Orchestral Instruments is a brief video which shows short segments of M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D., performing on each instrument. Of particular interest, the video includes video of 6 types of recorders, from the smallest, garklein, through sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. (Update: A new YouTube video, "33 Musical Instruments, All in One Sitting," is also available, as of 12/25/2014.)

As a child and youth, M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D., was an award-winning student of piano, trombone, and music composition, who also experimented with violin, recorders, and percussion. (A full biography is available on MusicaNeo.) In the past two and a half years, while working on The Big Print Music Method, the author and composer decided to experiment with each of the instruments in the video. The violin, flute, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone consisted of basic student-level models, each purchased for $100 new online from Music123 on sale, along with the saxophone, which cost $250 on sale, and the garklein recorder, which cost $40. The other 5 recorders (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) were purchased as a set from West Music for $200.

Graphs of the author and composer performing on these instruments are found in the M. Schottenbauer's books on the science of music, including the book series Where Does Sound Come From?, How Do You Play That Thingamabob? The Science of Music Performance, The Science of Music: An Anthology, and Bow Science & Exercises for Violin & Viola. The instruments are also featured in other videos by the same author and composer on YouTube, on the SchottenbauerVideos channel. Pending the receipt of additional funding, the author and composer plans to acquire and make recordings and additional scientific graphs with professional models of these and other band and orchestral instruments.

Additional recordings by M. Schottenbauer, both from the 1990's and in recent years, are available on YouTubeVimeo and Amazon On Demand.

The Big Print Music Method is available as E-Files from MusicaNeo, with selections available in print from CreateSpace Wholesale, Amazon Discount Retail, and other online retailers.


Additional Information

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Big Print Fingering Charts

Students frustrated by tiny fingering charts can find a solution in The Big Print Music Method: Method Boosters, available for all band and orchestral instruments! Each Method Booster contains approximately 180 pages of simple exercises in massive print size, accompanied by color-coordinated fingering charts, keyboards, and musical staves. Method Boosters are ideal for students learning the keyboard at the same time as a musical instrument.

Each Method Booster includes the following:
  • Practice Advice 
  • Range Guide (plus Transposition Guide, where Relevant!)
  • One-Note Exercises
  • Two-Note Exercises
  • Fingering Charts, Side-by-Side with Keyboard
  • Fingering Charts, Side-by-Side

The samples below are excerpted from the Bb Clarinet Method Booster.


Range Guide
In the beginning of each wind instrument's Method Booster, the range is broken down into sections by octave, so that the typical student can work from beginning to end of the book, rather than skipping around. In most cases, the entire student range is covered, providing more than one year of educational support. (Note: String instruments, percussion, and organ foot pedals progress from low to high notes.)




One-Note Exercises
This basic exercise includes simple, clear, color-coded presentation of note name, staff, fingering chart, and keyboard. Exercises are ordered by octave, in a manner typically taught in band class (middle register downward and then upward). (Note: String instruments, percussion, and organ foot pedals progress from low to high notes.)




Transposition Guide
Books for instruments which transpose contain specific instruction on transposition. The relevant transpositions are taught in detail for the first octave. Later, they are shown with color-coded blocks.




Two-Note Exercises
Students are led through a set of simple exercises, consisting of every two-note combination. Exercises are presented in consistent format with simple, clear, color-coded presentation of note names, staffs, fingering charts, and keyboard. Notice that the sounding-notes are indicated by a small colored block on the end of the relevant keys.




Fingering Charts with Keyboard
The Appendix of books for wind instruments contains several formats of fingering charts. The first format includes a keyboard with note names and large fingering charts. These charts show one octave per page, with naturals on separate pages from sharps and flats. 




Fingering Charts Side-by-Side
Fingering charts with all notes side-by-side are also included. One octave is presented on each page. In the chart below, naturals are written on a staff underneath the fingering charts; in the other presentation (not shown here), naturals are written above the fingering charts.




Instrumentation & Availability
Method Boosters are available from MusicaNeo for only $4 each, for the following instrumentation:
  • Strings
    • Violin
    • Viola
    • Cello
    • String Bass
    • Guitar
    • Electric Bass
  • Recorders
    • Recorders in C (Soprano & Tenor; Baroque & German Fingering)
    • Recorders in F (Sopranino & Alto; Baroque & German Fingering)
    • Other Recorders (Garklein, Bass)
  • Woodwinds
    • Flute & Piccolo
    • Clarinet (Bb, Alto, Bass)
    • Saxophone (Alto, Tenor, Baritone)
    • Oboe & English Horn
    • Bassoon (Bass Clef, Tenor Clef, Alto Clef)
  • Brass
    • Bb Trumpet
    • Horn (F, Bb, Double)
    • Trombone (Bass Clef, Tenor Clef, Alto Clef)
    • Bass Trombone & Tenor Trombone w/F-Attachment
    • Baritone & Euphonium (3 & 4-Valve; Bass Clef, Treble Clef, Tenor Clef, Alto Clef)
    • Tuba (3 & 4-Valve, Bass Clef, Treble Clef)
  • Percussion
    • Mallet Percussion
    • Tympani
    • Drumset (4 Drums, 5 Drums)
  • Organ 
    • Foot Pedals

Additional Books
Students who enjoy Method Boosters may also be interested in the following options, each of which contains big print fingering charts in color, with color-coded keyboards and music staves on every page!

  • All Instruments
    • 3-Note Exercises
    • Interval Studies
  • Woodwind Supplements
    • Learning Alternate Fingerings
    • Interval Studies with Alternate Fingerings 
  • String Supplements
    • Learning String Crossing and Double Stops 

These series are available both as e-files from MusicaNeo, and in print from CreateSpace Wholesale, Amazon, and other internet retailers!


Additional Information


Vendors

Links to Amazon Worldwide Affiliates

Sheet Music & Multimedia from MusicaNeo!

Artwork, Posters, Puzzles, & Memorabilia Available from Zazzle!


Unbeatable Specials

With Kindle Unlimited ($9.99/month) at Amazon.com, you can read all e-books from Schottenbauer Publishing for no extra charge! Amazon offers Free 30 Day Trials of Kindle Unlimited. With this deal, trial members can read all Schottenbauer Publishing e-books free! This includes the books on Bow Science & Exercises, all the geometry workbooks, "The World in a Graph," "Alphabets of the World," all the e-book puzzles, and the educational novels by M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D.