Michael Pilhofer: Michael Pilhofer teaches music theory and percussion at

McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he serves as

department head of the Ensembles epartment. !e has wor"ed as a profes#
sional musician for more than $% years and has toured and recorded with
&oe 'ovano, Marian McPartland, (enny )heeler, ave !olland, *ill !olman,
)ycliffe +ordon, Peter Ers"ine, and +ene *ertoncini.
!olly ay: !olly ay has written about music for numerous publications
internationally, including Computer Music &ournal, ,-C(,+,', Music .live/,
+uitar -ne, *rutarian Maga0ine, 1nterface 2echnology, and Mi3down maga0ine.
-ver the past couple of decades, her writing has received an 1saac .simov
.ward, a National Maga0ine .ward, and two Midwest )riter4s +rants. !er
previous boo"s include 2he 1nsider4s +uide to the 2win Cities 56rd, 7th, and
8th Editions9, Sha"ira, and *ehind the -range Curtain: . !istory of -range
County Pun" ,oc".
1f you didn4t "now better, you might thin" that music was something that
could start on any note, go wherever it wanted to, and :ust stop whenever the
performer felt li"e getting up for a glass of iced tea. .lthough it4s true that
many of us have been to musical performances that actually do follow that
style of ;composition,< for the most part those performances are confusing,
annoyingly self#indulgent, and feel a little pointless.
2he only people who can pull off a spontaneous :am well are people who
"now music thoroughly enough to stac" chords and notes ne3t to one
another so that they ma"e sense to listeners. .nd, because music is inher#
ently a form of communication, connecting with your listeners is the impor#
tant thing.
'earning about music theory is also incredibly inspiring. 2here4s :ust no
describing the light bulb that goes off in your head when you suddenly "now
how to put a $=#bar blues progression together and build a really good song
out of it. -r when you can loo" at a piece of classical music and find yourself
loo"ing forward to playing through it for the first time. -r the first time you
sit down to :am with your friends and find you have the confidence to ta"e
the lead.
1t4s our intention that the readers of this boo" will end up putting it down on
a regular basis be
>ep, this is the image that a lot of us get when we thin" about music lessons:
angry, elderly piano teachers who tap out the beat with yardstic"s, some#
times inches from your "nuc"les. )e promise, right here and now, that no
angry old ladies with yardstic"s will show up at your house upon purchase of
this boo". >ou can go through the chapters and principles as ?uic"ly, or as
slowly, as you4d li"e without worrying about your "nuc"les.
!owever, the inescapable fact is this: what you get out of music is what you
put into it. 1f you want to be able to play classical music, you must memori0e
sight#reading and "now how to "eep a steady beat. 1f you plan on becoming a
roc" guitarist, then "nowing what notes you need to play in a given "ey is
especially important. 'earning to play music ta"es a lot of personal disci#
pline, but in the end, it4s worth all the hard wor".