Review: `Connection is the currency of music.'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2013
Author John Lamb explains early on in this well written and well designed (gorgeous visual elements really enhance this book) book on Rhythm, `Explaining what rhythm is literally, a way to explore personally what rhythm is, what it feels like and what it means....Motivation is the motor, but accurate understanding is the destination.' What he has provided for the professional musician, the student musician, and the layperson alike is a beautifully sculpted path to understanding that most basic aspect of music  - and actually of life - Rhythm.In this brief but thorough book he takes us through an exploration of What is Rhythm, bring the ideas of resonance, language, pulse, the heart rate and the integration of all of this information into understanding the higher elements of meter, metronomic control (do we hear it of feel the pulse of it's beat?), the `rules' of music and how to overcome the external aspects and internalize them.He includes his own philosophy of the difference between live performance and recorded music, how music enters the emotions, and how we ultimately connect with the rhythm/music of his chosen topic.Lamb writes in a way that he wants us to understand his message - a technique sorely missing in other books that attempt to explain the magic of understanding the foundations of music.  Lamb comes to this shared experience with a bachelor's degree in Music, Biology and Psychology and a Masters in Education focused on teaching rhythm. He is not only a teacher but he also has studied drumming and performs widely from his home location in Portland, Oregon.  And, yes, he is a professional photographer which explains why the many beautiful images in this book are so additive. Grady Harp, June 13