Never mind the Bee S#arps seeks to demystify the language and concepts of traditional music theory using an informal, good humoured approach and is an ideal text for all those musicians who learn 'by ear'. The book establishes a clear, step-by-step guide through the fundamentals of pitch, intervals, chords, keys, progressions, transpositions and modulations to explain why we talk about and notate music the way we do. Whether you are new to music theory or already have some prior knowledge, this book will help you to develop a more complete understanding of the 'dots' and the links between theory and practice. Pop musicians learn by ear and there is no great tradition of reading music in pop and rock, much less writing it down. This is both a strength and a weakness. By learning aurally you tend to improve your practical skills quite rapidly and this will quickly outpace your theoretical understanding. Pop musicians are often critical of themselves in this regard - 'I can play OK, but I don't really know how I do it, or what I am doing.' This is not an issue for many, nor should it be, but this book aims to bring theory and practice closer together by equipping you with the fundamental skills required to write your music down and to have greater confidence in your comprehension of musical terminology, harmony and how it relates to the music you write, record and perform.
About the Author: Steve Cooper is a well-established session guitarist who has performed throughout the UK & Europe for more than twenty years. His performing and recording experience is vast and covers a wide spectrum of styles with artists such as Robert Plant, Lionel Richie, Journey South, Jane McDonald and Marc Broussard. As a guitar arranger and transcriber, Steve has completed more than fifty published works for Music Sales including album folios by Queens of The Stone Age (Songs for The Deaf), The Vines (Highly Evolved) and The Clash's 'Complete Chord Songbook'. Published song arrangements include tracks by Foo Fighters, Morrissey, System Of A Down, Velvet Revolver, The Killers, Funeral For A Friend, Maximo Park, Nine Inch Nails and Kaiser Chiefs. Steve is a renowned music educator and is currently Course Leader for Popular Music at the University of Wolverhampton, UK, where he specialises in teaching guitar, performance, harmony and songwriting. He has traveled to Europe and the USA (Berklee) to teach, perform and lecture and has delivered masterclasses on developing as a 'career musician' throughout colleges in the UK. His work on the use of the iPod as a music teaching tool is internationally recognised and was published in two peer reviewed academic journals in 2008, The British Journal of Music Education (BJME) and the Journal of Music, Technology and Education. Steve holds a first class honours degree in Music and Popular Music, a Masters in Higher Education teaching, a Licentiate Diploma in guitar from the London College of Music and is a teaching fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Visit Steve online at http: //www.stevecoops.com and get in touch via email, Facebook or Twitter (@the_coops).