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Music

Music speaks directly to your feelings and comes in many forms. For that reason Tales have selected some of the finest music books just for you. You can for example find a biography of your favorite music idol, but you can also find music theory books that will help you become your own musician. Whether you like rock, pop, musicals or classical music we have the books for you. Find your inner melody with a music book from Tales.
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  • Save 14%
    by Kim Gordon
    £9.49

    Often described as aloof, Kim Gordon opens up as never before in Girl in a Band. Telling the story of her family, her life in visual art, her move to New York City, the men in her life, her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, her music, and her band, Girl in a Band is a rich and beautifully written memoir. Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music the band helped usher in-paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines what partnership means-and what happens when it dissolves.

  • Save 15%
    by Viv Albertine
    £10.99

    Viv Albertine is one of a handful of original punks who changed music, and the discourse around it, forever. In Clothes ... Music ... Boys a story hitherto dominated by male voices is recast through the eyes of one of the most glamorous, uncompromising and iconic figures of the time. After forming The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious in 1976, Viv joined The Slits and made musical history as one of the first generation of punk bands. Here is the story of what it was like to be a girl at the height of punk: the sex, the drugs, the guys, the tours, the hard lessons learnt and those not considered. From Madonna to Lady Gaga, fashion to feminims, Viv Albertine has influenced a range of exceptional artists. Here, before and beyond the break-up of The Slits in 1982, is the full story of a life lived unscripted, with foolishness, bravery and great emotional honesty. A memoir full of raw and uncompromising anecdote and opinion, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys is an unflinching account of a life lived on the frontiers of experience, by a true pioneer.

  • Save 15%
    - The Inside Story of Metallica, 1991-2014
    by Ian Winwood & Paul Brannigan
    £10.99

    As they embark upon the fourth decade of the career, Metallica's legacy is as unique as it is remarkable: having sold over 100 million albums their status as the biggest Metal band of all time is indisputable. Following the acclaimed first volume, which chronicled the band's rise to international stardom, the authors now explore the challenges and tensions that ensued for the band.From the phenomenal, breakthrough, success of 1991's 'Black' album to the band's reinvention with the 'Load/Reload' albums; bassist Jason Newsted's shock exit in 2001 and the group's subsequent meltdown, as laid bare in the unvarnished fly-on-the-wall documentary Some Kind Of Monster, to the divisive 'St. Anger' and 'Lulu' sets (recorded with Rick Rubin and in collaboration with Lou Reed respectively), they brilliantly capture this unique bands epic, louder than life saga.

  • Save 20%
    - Art, Pop, Fashion and the making of Roxy Music, 1953-1972
    by Michael Bracewell
    £11.99

    'Re-make/Re-model' tells the extraordinary and largely unknown story of the individuals and circumstances that would lead over a period of almost twenty years to the formation of Roxy Music - a group in which art, fashion and music would combine to create in the words of its inventor, Bryan Ferry, "e;above all, a state of mind"e;.Written with the assistance, for the first time, of all of those involved, including Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera; the fashion designer Antony Price, the founding guru of Pop art, and Bryan Ferry's tutor, Richard Hamilton, and many more, 'Re-make/Re-model' is also the account of how Pop art, the avant garde underground of the 1960s, and the heady slipstream of London in the Sixties was transformed into the fashion cults of revivalism, nostalgia and pop futurism in the early 1970s.

  • Save 23%
    by Johann Joachim Quantz
    £15.49

    Johann Joachim Quantz's On Playing the Flute has long been recognized as one of the primary sources of information about eighteenth-century performance practice. In spite of its title, it is not simply a tutor for the flute, but a fully-fledged programme for training musicians of all types, with detailed information on intonation, ornamentation, dynamics, the 'duties' of the various accompanying performers, including the leader of the orchestra, and the principal forms and styles (French, Italian and German) of the time. Although Quantz is most often identified as the teacher of Frederick the Great, his musical roots were in Dresden, the most brilliant musical establishment in Germany; and his travels and studies in Italy, France and England gave him direct experience of most phases of European musical life in the 1720s and 30s. This reissue of the second edition provides a wonderfully complete and detailed picture of musical taste and performance practice in the 18th century, and includes a new introduction by Professor Reilly, drawing attention to recent research on Quantz. Whether you want to learn to play the flute and be taught by the teacher of Frederick the Great, or just to gain a first-hand insight into the history of classical music, On Playing the Fluteis an essential and entertaining read.

  • Save 21%
    - The Man and his Music
    by David Brown
    £13.49

    This volume uniquely combines a lively biography of one of the best-loved composers of the nineteenth century with a detailed chronological guide to much of his oeuvre, from the most popular - Swan Lake or the 1812 Overture - to the lesser known pieces. David Brown enthusiastically and sensitively guides the reader through Tchaikovsky's music in the context of his life. His writing on the music is accessible and informative, both for the professional musician and the keen amateur listener. The biographical writing includes fascinating quotations from the composer's letters, and those of his friends; the Tchaikovsky that emerges is, despite his periodic struggle with depression, a man with a positive attitude to life, and a kind and supportive friend to many around him. This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Tchaikovsky, his music, or the culture of the time.'One of the finest one-volume biographies to have appeared in recent years, written with such insight that it feels as though one is on a hot-line to the composer himself . . . by the end I felt I knew Tchaikovsky so much better. A classic.' Classic FM Magazine'I can't imagine a more intelligently sympathetic treatment of the man and his music.' BBC Music Magazine

  • - The Fashion of Miles Davis
    by Michael Stradford
    £13.99

    Miles Davis is one of the most revered artists of the last 100 years, regardless of the art form. Credited with ushering in a new age of jazz more than once, Davis’s unique perception of the world is best known through his memorable music and is arguably more popular now than ever. In later years, he earned additional acclaim as an abstract painter, with many of his originals selling for thousands of dollars and continuing to escalate in value.  But his sense of personal expression didn’t stop with music and painting. Miles Davis’s restless, rebellious personality found an additional creative outlet through his interest in fashion.  From the big shouldered, pleated suits of the forties, to the Ivy League look of the fifties, the sleek Italian suits of the sixties and the more avant-garde looks of the last twenty years of his life, Miles Davis blazed a fashion trail whose impact is still being felt today.MILESSTYLE is the first book to examine Miles Davis, the artist, using himself as a creative canvas.  MILESSTYLE features observations from notable fashionistas like Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Ferry and Lloyd Boston, as well as friends and bandmates like Quincy Jones, Ron Carter, Clark Terry and more regarding his sartorial evolution as well as what his style said about the music and the man.  

  • - A Six-Month Daily Practice Journal for Musicians
    by Rachel Lee Hall
    £25.49

  • by Joseph Alexander
    £15.99

    The Ultimate Guide to Blues Guitar SoloingAre you struggling to learn the authentic language of blues guitar soloing? Joseph Alexander has helped over 500,000 guitar players improve their skills with his practical, step-by-step guitar guides and his blues books are among his most popular. Finally, he's released his exclusive guide to learning authentic blues guitar soloing from scratch.Far more than a book of licks, this guitar method will help you learn the language of the blues soloing and speak it fluently. Beginner Blues Guitar SoloingThis book will teach you how to play meaningful blues guitar solos from the ground up, with the minimum of theory. Here's what you get:¿ An easy reference guide covering every aspect of blues soloing for beginners¿ Simple but effective lead guitar riffs you can use immediately¿ 160 musical examples, with studio quality audio FREE to download¿ Full-length solos to learn that demonstrate each technique and add to your arsenal of blues licksCan you speak blues?An entire chapter is dedicated to one of the most important aspects of blues vocabulary: question and answer phrasing. Guitar players are often guilty of noodling with scales - which demonstrates their knowledge but lacks real musicality. In this chapter you'll learn how to tell a story with your playing and master the art of phrasing. Great question and answer phrasing is making your music speak so that people will listen - and the techniques you learn here won't only help you play the blues, they'll make you a better all-round musician. As well as ensuring you have good phrasing, you'll also learn a host of expressive articulation techniques.

  • Save 22%
    by Ian Cole
    £13.99

    'ABBA Song by Song' takes a detailed look at every single song by Swedish supergroup ABBA. All of their worldwide hits, the gems hidden on their albums and B sides, and lost songs performed in concert or hidden in the vaults for decades.

  • Save 11%
    by JOHANN SEBASTI BACH
    £11.49

    In 1721 a 20-year-old soprano employed at the princely court in Kthen married the courts Kapellmeister, set to become the greatest composer of the age. As his second wife she married into a young family with four children, and a busy household filled with music. The music book that Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his new wife Anna Magdalena in 1722, and replaced more lavishly in 1725, treats us to a tantalizing glimpse inside this unique family, allowing us to sit beside Bach as a composer, teacher, husband and father. Over the years, these notebooks became a place for the family to share instructional exercises, favourite pieces

  • Save 21%
    by Chris Heath
    £14.99

    The Pet Shop Boys are one of the most successful and unusual bands of the last five decades. They are the pop duo that proves pop music can be modern, ecstatic and playful as well as serious and intelligent, winning them legions of devoted fans throughout the world. In 1989, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe invited journalist Chris Heath and photographer Lawrence Watson to shadow them around Hong Kong, Japan and the UK as they embarked on their first-ever tour. This book is the result: an immersive portrait giving access into the duo‿s inner sanctum, showing them in brilliantly observed detail as they work, relax, gossip, argue and occasionally try to make sense of what they do. ‿As clear a picture as could be wished for of the seething mass of elegant contradictions that is the Pet Shop Boys‿ on-the-road experience.‿ Independent on Sunday‿This superbly reported book transcends tired rock journalism cliché. It‿s about what it means to be a pop star, what it means to be a Pet Shop Boy‿ how to love pop, hold it to a higher standard and subvert its expectations.‿ Laura Snapes

  • Save 21%
    by Chris Heath
    £14.99

    No other pop group in recent history has faced fame with such intelligence, humour and shrewdness as the Pet Shop Boys. it is an unusually intimate portrait of two maverick British musicians always reluctant to compromise. 'There was a time when the Pet Shop Boys seemed to exist entirely on radio, television and in magazines.

  • Save 11%
    by Marion Harewood
    £12.49

    Me and My Piano is the best-selling series by the distinguished authors Fanny Waterman and Marion Harewood, that has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Designed especially for the needs of the younger beginner and delightfully illustrated throughout, the series makes learning the piano an enjoyable experience for both pupil and teacher.This Complete Edition combines Parts 1 and 2 in one book. Part 1 takes the young pianist step by step through the earliest stages of piano technique, leading to very easy pieces for hands together using a constant five-finger hand position in C major. Part 2 builds on these foundations by extending the compass of notes, introducing new rhythms, note values, chords and changes of hand position. Games and puzzles throughout give elementary theory a new lease of life, and children will love the rhymes, songs and Monkey Puzzles pages.

  • - The Epic Life of Hollywood's Most Influential Composer
    by Steven C. Smith
    £27.49

    During a seven-decade career that spanned from 19th century Vienna to 1920s Broadway to the golden age of Hollywood, three-time Academy Award winner Max Steiner did more than any other composer to introduce and establish the language of film music. Indeed, revered contemporary film composers like John Williams and Danny Elfman use the same techniques that Steiner himself perfected in his iconic work for such classics as Casablanca, King Kong,Gone with the Wind, The Searchers, Now, Voyager, the Astaire-Rogers musicals, and over 200 other titles. And Steiner''s private life was a drama all its own. Born into a legendary Austrian theatrical dynasty, he became one of Hollywood''s top-paid composers. But he was also constantly in debtΓÇöthe inevitable result ofgambling, financial mismanagement, four marriages, and the actions of his emotionally troubled son. Throughout his chaotic life, Steiner was buoyed by an innate optimism, a quick wit, and an instinctive gift for melody, all of which would come to the fore as he met and worked with luminaries like Richard Strauss, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, the Warner Bros., David O. Selznick, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, and Frank Capra. In Music by Max Steiner, the first full biography of Steiner, author Steven C. Smith interweaves the dramatic incidents of Steiner''s personal life with anaccessible exploration of his composing methods and experiences, bringing to life the previously untold story of a musical pioneer and master dramatist who helped create a vital new art with some of the greatest film scores in cinema history.

  • - The Complete Walking Bass Method
    by Nick Clark
    £15.99

    Walking Bass for Jazz and Blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of Blues and Jazz walking bass. It is designed to develop strong harmonic skills, rhythm, phrasing and note choice.

  • - Three Books in One! - Master Country Guitar Licks, Techniques & Soloing (Learn Country Guitar)
    by Levi Clay
    £29.99

    This perfect resource for any country guitar player contains three bestselling country guitar books in one complete volume. You'll go from absolute basics to playing astonishing country guitar solos. Contains Country Guitar for Beginners - Country Guitar Soloing Techniques - 100 Licks for Country Guitar

  • - The Complete Guide to Modern Heavy Metal Guitar
    by Rob Thorpe
    £29.99

    This 3-book compilation is filled with over 360 musical examples. Every concept and technique is demonstrated with stylistic licks and riffs - No mindless exercises! Throughout, creativity and understanding is prioritized to you with the knowledge and confidence to get playing immediately Audio is included for all the 360+ examples, including nine extended solo studies and backing tracks. The first two books provide an easy-to follow-method for learning heavy metal guitar from the ground up. For the beginner, with the fundamentals in place, each book starts from the classic rock influences of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, before charting a course through metal's varied development.

  • Save 22%
    - Radical Escapism in the Age Of Paranoia
    by Joe Banks
    £20.99

    An account of the English rock band Hawkwind shows them to be one of the most innovative and culturally significant bands of the 1970s.Fifty years on from when it first formed, the English rock band Hawkwind continues to inspire devotion from fans around the world. Its influence reaches across the spectrum of alternative music, from psychedelia, prog, and punk, through industrial, electronica, and stoner rock. Hawkwind has been variously, if erroneously, positioned as the heir to both Pink Floyd and the Velvet Underground, and as Britain's answer to the Grateful Dead and Krautrock. It has defined a genre—space rock—while operating on a frequency that's uniquely its own.Hawkwind offered a form of radical escapism and an alternative account of a strange new world for a generation of young people growing up on a planet that seemed to be teetering on the brink of destruction, under threat from economic meltdown, industrial unrest, and political polarization. While other commentators confidently asserted that the countercultural experiment of the 1960s was over, Hawkwind took the underground to the provinces and beyond. In Days of the Underground, Joe Banks repositions Hawkwind as one of the most innovative and culturally significant bands of the 1970s. It's not an easy task. As with many bands of this era, a lazy narrative has built up around Hawkwind that doesn't do justice to the breadth of its ambition and achievements. Banks gives the lie to the popular perception of Hawkwind as one long lysergic soap opera; with Days of the Underground, he shows us just how revolutionary Hawkwind was.

  • Save 18%
    - A Memoir
    by Sting
    £11.49

    “Sting’s gift for prose and reverence for language, nearly the equal of his musical gifts, shine on every page. Even when Broken Music addresses the quixotic life of an aspiring rock & roller, it reads like literature from a more rarified time when adults didn’t condescend to the vulgarities of pop culture.” —Rolling StoneHaving been a songwriter most of my life, condensing my ideas and emotions into short rhyming couplets and setting them to music, I had never really considered writing a book. But upon arriving at the reflective age of fifty, I found myself drawn, for the first time, to write long passages that were as stimulating and intriguing to me as any songwriting I had ever done. And so Broken Music began to take shape. It is a book about the early part of my life, from childhood through adolescence, right up to the eve of my success with the Police. It is a story very few people know. I had no interest in writing a traditional autobiographical recitation of everything that’s ever happened to me. Instead I found myself drawn to exploring specific moments, certain people and relationships, and particular events which still resonate powerfully for me as I try to understand the child I was, and the man I became.

  • Save 21%
    - Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams
    by Nick Tosches
    £13.49

    From dealing blackjack in the small-time gangster  town of Steubenville, Ohio, to carousing with the  famous "Rat Pack" in a Hollywood he  called home, Dean Martin lived in a grandstand,  guttering life of booze, broads, and big money. He  rubbed shoulders with the mob, the Kennedys, and  Hollywood''s biggest stars. He was one of America''s  favorite entertainers. But no one really knew him.  Now Nick Tosches reveals the man behind the  image--the dark side of the American dream. It''s a  wild, illuminating, sometimes shocking tale of sex,  ambition, heartaches--and a life lived hard, fast,  and without  apologies.

  • Save 24%
    - Lyrics and More
    by Iggy Pop
    £18.99

    James Newell Osterberg Jr., better known by his stage name Iggy Pop, is an American singer, songwriter and musician, widely acknowledged as the "The Godfather of Punk". From Raw Power to Lust for Life, he has written a number of influential albums and iconic singles both as the vocalist of The Stooges and as a solo artist who collaborated with David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper and many more.

  • Save 24%
    - The Band that Dave Made
    by Stevie Chick
    £18.99

    Published to coincide with the twenty-fifth of the band's founding, an insightful and visual look at the rock survivors' journey so far.

  • Save 14%
    - A Practical 3D Audio Theory for Recording, Studio Production, Sound Reinforcement, and Virtual Reality
    by Franz Zotter
    £38.49

    The book offers readers a deeper understanding of Ambisonic technologies, and will especially benefit scientists, audio-system and audio-recording engineers. In the advanced sections of the book, fundamentals and modern techniques as higher-order Ambisonic decoding, 3D audio effects, and higher-order recording are explained.

  • Save 10%
    - Easy-to-Use, Easy-to-Carry, One Chord on Every Page
    by Jake Jackson
    £8.99

    A great companion for both guitar and piano players, this book places the most popular chords in context. Includes clear diagrams and concise information on what chords are, how they can be used, and what they can be used alongside, with guidance on chord progressions.

  • Save 27%
    by Paul Anderson
    £21.99

    Featuring a foreword by Suggs and jam-packed with iconic images, this is the definitive visual history of the Suedehead way of life.

  • Save 10%
    - The Unique Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Units, Keyboards and Studio Equipment
    by Mick Ekers
    £31.49

    Frank Zappa was an unremitting musical innovator and experimenter always looking for ways to exploit the latest advances in technology. His working life coincided with the explosive development of music technology that ran from the 1960s through the following three decades. Without such inventions as the Marshall amplifier the Gibson SG the wah-wah pedal and the Synclavier¿much of it modified to his requirements and used in ways for which they had never been designed¿Zappa's air sculptures as his music has been described would have had a significantly different shape and texture. Lavishly illustrated¿including over 180 unique photographs of Frank Zappa's guitars and equipment taken by the author at his UMRK studio in LA and featuring a foreword by Dweezil ZappäZappa's Gear offers an unprecedented inside look at the machinery behind the legendary music. In addition to a detailed presentation of the equipment Zappa's Gear also introduces some of the pioneering inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs without whom the instruments would not exist. Zappa's Gear is an official Frank Zappa book produced and written with the full cooperation and endorsement of Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust.

  • Save 15%
    - The Autobiography of Mobb Deep's Prodigy
    by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson
    £10.99

    From one of the greatest rappers of all time, comes a revealing look at the dark side of hip hop's Golden Era.

  • Save 23%
    - The Real Life of Robert Johnson
     
    £15.49

    Up Jumped the Devil will astonish blues fans who thought they knew something about Robert Johnson.

Music
Music has that special connection with our feelings. It can both make us happy and sad, help through a crisis and through all the difficult feelings we need to acknowledge. Life is not just about being happy, and music can take you on a journey through all those different feelings. In that way music can function as a form of therapy. Music can comfort you and the lyrics can make you feel embraced and recognized. Some of the songs we love most are those, which have that universal feeling and message in them. Those songs that cover all the different and conflicting feelings of life in a verse. You can learn the secrets behind some of the biggest hits or most beautiful ballads in our selection of music books. 
You could also get to know your biggest idol in our icon books. Some of the music icons have lived an inspiring and sometimes hard life, and you can learn a lot from there stories. We have biographic music books with musicians from different genres, all with their own fascinating story. We have multiple music books about the extremely talented singer Freddie Mercury - the frontman, pianist and songwriter in the legendary band Queen. Freddie Mercury had an amazing career and a magnificent voice, and he was at the same time a huge inspiration for homosexuals and generally everyone, who felt different. The singer must tragically lost his life to AIDS and the world lost one of its biggest stars to date, but you can revisit Freddie Mercury’s amazing talent and read his story in the music books Bohemian Rhapsody - The Definitive Biography of Freddie Mercury, Freddie Mercury - the Biography, Somebody to Love - The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury, and many more.

Music books for students
If you are studying the wonderful world of music or just wants to improve your performance you should look at our music theory books. They will help you with all the different techniques no matter the instrument. At Tales you find music books for piano, music books for keyboard and music books for guitar. They will all help you in your musicology study or on your journey to becoming an amazing musician yourself. 
We also have music history books that will take you on a journey with all the greatest from Beethoven and Mozart to Tjajkovskij and Stravinskij. When you travel through the history of music you will also visit different music periods and get a better understanding of why the music sounds so differently throughout history. The music is formed by its time and the historical events of that time. If you are interested in the history of music we will recommend the music history book by Cecil Gray called History of Music. The music book moves in the crossfield between the elementary, educational and tries to give answers to some of the things we do not yet understand. It starts with the Gregorian Chant and moves through investigations of both French, Italian, English, and Russian music. 

Musical
If you like to visit the theatre for a musical you can take some of that magic with you home by finding the books, scripts and lyrics of all the biggest hit shows on Broadway and West End. Experiencing a live performance is something unique, but it is over too fast. That is why we recommend you to dive deeper into your favorite musicals with the music books on Tales. You find the lyrics and story behind the world’s nr. 1 hit musical Hamilton that changed the world. The show won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016 and tells the story of one of America’s Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton. The musical contains an amazing Grammy award winning soundtrack with the most brilliant lyrics telling the story of the American civil war. The man behind it all is the extremely talented Lin Manuel Miranda, who tells the story of American then, but with the sounds and faces of modern times. You can dive into the fascinating story of Alexander Hamilton and the musical in the book Hamilton: The Revolution or you can learn how to perform the amazing songs yourself with the music books Hamilton - Vocal Selections & Piano or Hamilton - Easy Piano Selections

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