# Please recommend a guide to classical music. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908 "2006-11-27T05:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/1 "2006-11-27T05:00:05Z")
What’s your favorite guide to classical music? I have my favorite composers, but I’d really like to expand my knowledge of different composers and movements, different techniques and so on. Ideally, I’d like something that goes in order, starting with the most primitive roots of what we call classical music and going up to the twentieth century. I’d like something with relatively in-depth and informative entries on each composer. Also, I’d like recommended (and trustworthy recs at that) recordings per work so that I can cut through a good deal of the chaff when checking out new composers and works. What’s your favorite guide? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/2 "2006-11-27T05:52:58Z")
Check out the [Rough Guide to Classical Music](http://www.roughguides.com/music/classical.html) – sounds like just what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/3 "2006-11-27T07:24:11Z")
I highly recommend the lecture series [How to Listen to and Understand Great Music](http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=700&pc=SiteIndex) by Robert Greenberg, published by the Teaching Company. It doesn’t go into as much depth as a book can, but the great thing about it is that the composers, periods and concepts are illustrated by musical pieces and excerpts. So, it should fulfill both of your needs to some extent. It covers history, major composers, a lot on musical forms and just a little bit of music theory. I borrowed it from the library, one era at a time, and skipped around a bit, which is okay if you already know something. I went past the early music which is a bit dull, and straight to the baroque, then came back to early music before finishing with the modern. I also skipped past some opera bits that didn’t interest me much. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/4 "2006-11-27T07:43:01Z")
I forgot to add, the series I recommended starts with a little bit on ancient music, then goes to early church music and on to the renaissance and baroque. It covers early modern music, ending with a bit on 12-tone music and Schoenberg. It goes in order. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/5 "2006-11-27T08:01:27Z")
Don’t have a guide, but you live in the city with the best classical music station in the world. I spent about three years listening to WFMT for around 16 hours a day; you couldn’t possibly hope for a better survey of the entire depth and breadth of classical music. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-guide-to-classical-music/381908/6 "2006-11-27T09:38:00Z")
[Discovering Music](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/audioarchive.shtml), from the BBC, is available online and is a very good way of getting to know how individual pieces work in some depth. For recommended recordings, Gramophone magazine is a reliable source. For a single-volume general history of music, [Grout](http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Music-Seventh/dp/0393979911) is hard to beat.