As Christmas is coming, I thought now was the time to look at some gift ideas for singers. Next week, I’ll post some of the non-book ideas, but today’s post is all about books for new singers who have started lessons in 2013.
Before you buy, do check with their parent, friend, flatmate or significant other in order to be sure what the singer does or does not have!
The New Illustrated Treasury of Disney Songs (Hal Leonard, RRP £21.95)
Now in it’s sixth edition, this wonderful volume is great for any young or new singer as the songs in it are easy and satisfying. It’s also a great gift as it has a lovely introduction on the history of Disney’s music and each song is illustrated with a still from the film. This is a gift which will be treasured for years to come.
Sing Solo Christmas (Oxford University Press, RRP £13.50)
This is a festive gift for a new singer which contains some graded material and plenty of great ideas for classical singers to use in concerts. As with any Christmas music volume, this will be useful year after year. This book comes in high and low editions, so you may need to check which would be better.
Songs of Christmas (Boosey & Hawkes, RRP £14.99)
This is a lovely series of books edited by Marjory Hargest Jones. Across the series there is a wealth of graded material and plenty of ideas for unaccompanied traditional songs. If you don’t fancy the Christmas one, there are editions with songs from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Americas.
The Singer’s Musical Theatre Anthology (Hal Leonard, RRP £16.99/£29.99)
This series is rich with resources, and has a multitude of volumes for all four main voice types. You can buy the volumes with or without CDs. Whichever you choose, these books will go on and on being useful for singers throughout their training.
How Music Works by John Powell(, RRP £12.99)
A really accessible introduction to the science of why music actually sounds good to us, and how that affects the way we make it.
The Story of Music by Howard Goodall (RRP £12.99)
The book to accompany the brilliant TV show from 2011. This series gives an excellent overview of the development of music in the Western world.
The Story of the Orchestra (Black Dog & Leventhall, RRP £13.95)
A delightful book introducing the orchestra for ages 8-12.
You can buy all of these books by clicking on the links which will take you to my special Amazon store. By buying through these links you help to support the cost of running this blog.
What are your best buys for a new singer? If you’ve been singing for a while, do you have any books you are still using that were bought early on? Add your suggestions below.
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