Educational Book Sales on CreateSpace!

New sales from CreateSpace are ongoing, with end TBA! Listed on the Schottenbauer Publishing website, the sales include books in science, math, language, physical education, and music education. Books and music from Schottenbauer Publishing are also available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, MusicaNeo, and other sites. Free samples can be found on the Schottenbauer Publishing blogs, including Graphs in Education and more!


Additional Information

Schottenbauer Publishing

Free Education Resources

Musical Instrument Demo Videos

A new series of musical instrument demo videos from Schottenbauer Publishing has been published on YouTube. The series focuses on low-cost instruments featured in the science of music books from Schottenbauer Publishing, including the multi-volume series Where Does Sound Come From? and How Do You Play That Thingamabob? The Science of Music Performance, as well as the book Science of Music: An Anthology of 28 Graphs for Kids, Teens, & Curious Adults, the Science of Music Performance blog, and the multimedia Ear Training series from MusicaNeo.

Click on the direct links below to hear the following low-cost instruments. The woodwinds, brass, and strings are available from Music123, while the recorders are available from West Music and the xylophone is available from Percussion Source.

Etude Instruments (Music123)
Trumpet
Trombone
Flute
Clarinet
Saxophone

pBone (Music123)
Plastic Trombone

Florea Strings (Music123)
Violin

Korogi Tabletop Models (Percussion Source)
Xylophone, 2.6 Octave

Harmony and Aulos Recorder (West Music)
Recorders

An earlier video contains a mixed selection of these instruments. Audio demonstrations are also available from the publisher on SoundCloud.

When purchasing an introductory musical instrument, remember to purchase Big Print Music Method Exercises, Solos, Duets, Ensemble, & Conducting Method, perfect for beginners in school and homeschool! Big Print Music Method is available from MusicaNeo from $2 per e-file, and is available in print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, CreateSpace, CreateSpace Wholesale, and other online stores!

Musical Instrument Purchase Tips

Demonstration of Western Musical Instruments
Excerpted from YouTube Video on Publisher Website

As school begins, most students consider purchasing their own musical instrument. For many, borrowing an instrument from the school or renting an instrument seems like the best option. Others simply decide to purchase due to instrument preferences provided by schools, band directors, symphony conductors, local music stores, and private sales from older students. 

If a family or school system is particularly financially limited, it may be challenging to find an instrument in the right price range. This is particularly true of homeschool families, who do not have a school providing free instruments on loan. Some private and parochial schools also do not offer free instrument loan, providing an extra burden to families with strapped budgets.

Fortunately, a few extra-low-cost options do exist:


Direct Imports

Direct imports are possible in the USA and many other countries. When a group of families can bundle their purchases together, it may be advantageous to purchase instruments overseas and import them directly. No business license is required when making private purchases overseas, just as during a personal trip to a foreign country. Ordering may be simple, requiring only a credit card or Western Union for payment. Shipping costs are surprisingly low, and import tax is only approximately 5.5% on musical instruments in the United States. Although import restrictions or quotas may exist in some countries, there are few in the USA. Items must be picked up at a seaport, or, if necessary, within-USA shipping can be arranged at cost from a professional company. If these steps seem too complicated, importing can be arranged with a licensed import agent who will add a service fee. Although this fee may be lower than markup at a traditional music store, it is still an additional cost. It may be possible to find a local store which specializes in imports and is willing to make a special order for a minimal fee.

Musical instruments are made particularly low-cost in China, from multiple companies which can be located through easy internet webpages such as Made-in-China.com. Although some companies require minimum purchases of 5, 10, or 100 instruments, others place no restrictions on woodwinds or brass. Keep in mind that USA store costs usually include markup of 100% to 500% for musical instruments such as these, which may sit in a warehouse for long periods of time before selling.

Several Chinese musical instrument companies include:

• XuQiu Music & Sonor Music: Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, & Percussion. Most instruments are sold individually. Shipping is extremely affordable to the East Coast USA. For example, one estimate for shipping 16 instruments was only a few hundred dollars. Import tax is approximately 5.5% in the USA, and transportation from port depends on destination location. Costs cited in February 2015 include the following: 

• Woodwinds
• Flute (Sterling Silver): $586
• Clarinet (Ebony): $235.60
• English Horn (Bakelite): $1688.50
• Oboe: $393.20
• Bassoon: $696.20
• Contrabassoon: $7,500.00
• Brass
• Trumpet (Silver): $78.95
• Trombone: $145.47
• Double Horn: $230.00
• Flugelhorn: $109.00
• Bass Flugelhorn: $176.00
• Euphonium: $241.65
• Tuba: $399.85
• Strings
• Violin: $24.50
• Viola: $38.95
• Cello: $113.35
• Bass: $259.99
• Percussion
• 5-Piece Drum Set: $164.95
• Marimba (4-Octave): $1749.50

• Chloris Pianos: Upright & Grand Pianos. The following costs cited in February 2015 include shipping costs to an East Coast seaport in the USA.

• Upright Piano: $1,265
• Grand Piano (5'6"): $3,915
• Concert Grand Piano (9'): $11,895
• Shanghai Lingjiang Musical Instrument Co., Ltd.: Upright & Grand Pianos. The following costs cited in November 2015 do not include shipping or import tax.
• Upright Piano: $1,300
• Grand Piano: $3,000

 Additional companies can be located online.


Low-Cost USA Purchases

For individuals who are not interested in importing instruments, low-cost USA purchase options do exist. Although not a comprehensive list, the following provide some good options for low budgets. New (11/15)! Instrument demonstration videos are now available on YouTube.

• Music123: Some of the lowest costs on band and orchestral instruments in the USA can be found here, particularly in special sales from November through March. The bottom-dollar student instruments sold by this discount retailer include the Etude, Allora, and Florea brands, all of which offer good quality to beginners.
• Harmony Recorders: A full set of 5 plastic recorders (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass) cost approximately $200 from West Music, which specializes in low-cost recorders in the USA.
• Korogi Tabletop Xylophones: These 2.6-octave desktop xylophones provide excellent quality from Percussion Source. At approximately $315, these are a tiny fraction of the cost of a full instrument.
• Yamaha Electric Pianos: One of the highest-quality and lowest-price full-sized (88-key) electric pianos is manufactured by Yamaha Corporation. The basic model can usually be purchased in the USA for approximately $500 from a source such as Music123.
• Kawai Grand Pianos: These pianos offer high quality at lower cost than other major brands, but with similar stiffness of key action compared to the prized Steinway models. Serious students require a grand piano of at least 5'6", because the key action is closer to the concert grand. Upright pianos are not recommended for serious students, because they feature several major differences in key action. 
• Mason & Hamlin Grand Pianos: These pianos offer high quality at lower cost than other major brands. The 5'6" model is known to be similar to a Steinway concert grand in key action. Upright pianos are not recommended for serious students, because they feature several major differences in key action. 

Quality Instruments

For individuals with a higher budget, the following are some of the best options available:

• Mollenhauer Recorders: These fine wood recorders from Germany are some of the best, made from exotic wood in many different sizes (garklein, sopranino, soprano, alto, bass, greatbass). These are available from several stores in the USA, with a list of USA dealers on the manufacturer site.
• Kung Superio SubBass: Perhaps the only company to offer the extremely large SubBass recorder, this company features a full range of sizes (garklein, sopranino, soprano, alto, bass, greatbass, subbass). These fine wood recorders are available from several stores in the USA, with a list of USA dealers on the manufacturer site.
• Steinway Pianos: By far the most highly prized concert piano in the USA, the pianos are an excellent investment for serious pianists. The key resistance of Steinway pianos is better suited to high-quality performance than some other well-known brands. Serious students require a grand piano of at least 5'6", because the key action is significantly different than smaller models, including uprights. 
• Conn-Selmer, Inc.: The standards of excellence in brass and woodwinds are hidden within this larger company. For excellent brass, choose Bach, and for excellent woodwinds, choose Selmer. The company also offers a selection of high-quality strings and percussion instruments.

While selecting your new instrument, remember to check out The Big Print Music Method and other music education materials from Schottenbauer Publishing!

Multimedia Music Education! Conducting, Ear Training, & Chamber Music!

Multimedia from Schottenbauer Publishing provide refreshingly interesting products for music students everywhere!

The Big Print Conducting Method

Conducting is no longer a "mysterious art form," now that "The Big Print Conducting Method" has arrived! Available from MusicaNeo, this unique approach to teaching conducting contains big print instructional textbooks, plus follow-along video and simple musical samples for practice at home or school. Students are led through conducting skills one by one, from common time signatures through complex time signatures. 

The first installment of the method is divided into two parts, available for purchase separately: (1) Introductory Package and (2) Exercises. The Introductory Package includes two short textbooks plus the follow-along video. The video provides instruction, plus interactive activities in which students trace the beat patterns on the computer screen. The Expanded Exercises include drills on conducting basics, available with conductor's score and with transpositions for individual instruments. Instrumentation includes treble instruments in C, Bb, Eb, and F, plus alto and bass instruments in C. Exercises provide practice with all time signatures, plus cutoffs and cuing. The text and video are available for only $10, and the exercises corresponding to these books are available for only $12 from MusicaNeo.

Direct Link to Conducting Method


Identifying Musical Mistakes

A new series of interactive ear training materials by M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D., are available from MusicaNeo. "Identifying Musical Mistakes: Ear Training Level 1" provides practice with reconciling differences between auditory and written passages. This work provides an instruction page, a score with 20 short 4-measure melodies in duple time signatures, 20 wav audio files, and 20 pdf files with answer keys.  Students are instructed to listen to each wav file while watching the original score, and to circle all mistakes in pitch or rhythm. The answer keys provide the written form of the audio files, for comparison.

Level 1 focuses on a single line of music in treble clef, performed by piano. Future editions are planned to include additional instruments, including chamber music and symphony, in a stepwise progression of difficulty. Level 1 is available for only $1 from MusicaNeo.

Direct Link to Ear Training Exercises


Learning Chamber Music

A new series of training pieces for piano trio by M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D., are available from MusicaNeo. "Learning Chamber Music" and "Three Miniature Piano Trios" provide convenient and succinct practice for young students of violin, cello, and piano. 

"Learning Chamber Music" consists of 48 pages of exercises focusing on basic skills required of piano trios. Exercises are divided into 7 sections, each with a particular theme: 

• Part I: Tuning, Dynamic Balance, and Basic Rhythmic Exercises
• Part II: Entrance and Timing Exercises (Tempo Setting and Timing)
• Part III: Ending Exercises (Holding Notes Full Length and Fermatas) 
• Part IV: Tempo Change Exercises (Accel. and Rit.; Section Changes)
• Part V: Other Common Time Signatures (22, 24, 34, 68)
• Part VI: Advanced Rhythm (Duple vs. Triple)
• Part VII: Articulation and Stylistic Matching Exercises

The exercises are provided in a zip file, complete with instructions for practice and a MIDI file. The MIDI file can be opened with a computer notation program and used to practice at home, when only 1 or 2 instruments are available. 

Complementing these exercises, "Three Miniature Piano Trios" are a set of brief practice pieces in classical style. Students can learn one or more of these pieces to hone their new skills, with rapid progression and results. These chamber music selections are available from MusicaNeo for only $10 each.

Direct Link to Pedagogical Music


Additional Information

The products above are but a few of the quality music education products written by M. Schottenbauer, Ph.D.  Other books include:

• The Big Print Music Method (Band, Orchestra, Recorder, Guitar, & More!) 
• Bow Science & Exercises
• Books on The Science of Music and Music Performance

Books are available at one or more of the following: 

• E-Books on MusicaNeo
• Print editions on Amazon, CreateSpace Wholesale, & Other Internet Retailers

Additional information is available at the Schottenbauer Publishing website.

Bow Science and Exercises for Violin and Viola

"Bow Science & Exercises for Violin & Viola" is a series which takes a systematic approach to understanding the most basic science which applies to the bow. The first volume, Basic Science, describes the physics of the bow.  Topics include the coordinate plane, types of motion, center of mass, force, and the bow as a lever.  The second volume, Preliminary Exercises, teaches specific exercises which which may be used by elementary violin and viola students rapidly accelerate control over the bow. Written for children and adults of all ages, the books feature big print and clear diagrams. 

Both books are normally available in both print and Kindle editions, from Amazon, CreateSpace Wholesale, and other vendors. Additional information is available on the Schottenbauer Publishing website.