Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido D'Arezzo

by Susan Roth

Overview

If you can read musical notes, you can sing any song or play any piece. But musical notes have not always been here. Long ago, songs were memorized. If songs were forgotten, they were lost forever.
Thanks to one man, Guido d’Arezzo, music now can last forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547528816
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/08/2007
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	47 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Susan L. Roth has illustrated thirty-five books for children, many of which she has also written. She lives in Queens, New York, with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

A thousand years ago," Roth (Hard Hat Area) begins, "if you heard a song and wanted to hear it again, you would have to remember it by heart. If you forgot the song, it could be lost forever." Italy's Guido d'Arezzo (990-circa 1050) changed all that with a system of musical notation that allowed people to read music much as they read words in a book. Roth tells the story of d'Arezzo's invention con brio, portraying him as a misunderstood, driven and ingenious hero-with the sympathetic ear of just one lone monk. He had to buck the status quo ("What would I do all day if children could learn songs without me?" says Guido's teacher) and he used many sheets of parchment noodling out the system that finally-and brilliantly-translated music into staves, clefs and notes. Roth's na f collages, populated by doll-like figures, quickly shoo away any misgivings that music history could be a bore, and make a marvelous counterpoint for her carefully researched prose. Music lovers will appreciate the visual riff at the bottom of the spreads, which emulates the five lines of the musical staff. When Guido finally proves that his invention works (as the children's choirmaster, he asks them to sight-read a piece of music), his triumph resounds through the ages. And his story is certain to capture the imagination of any budding musician. Ages 5-8. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 5
Working in the early 11th century, d'Arezzo is widely credited with having formulated the system of musical notation. This fictionalized picture book tells an abbreviated version of his story, following him from a boyhood in the choir to various monasteries to his eventual achievement. The emphasis is on his perseverance as he struggles to develop a system for "writing down the sounds of a song," and to convince the musical establishment of the benefits of being able to read, rather than memorize, music. The language is simple and intimate, fabricating conversations and thoughts that d'Arezzo and his medieval fellows real. The large-font text moves clearly across the cut- and torn-paper (and the occasional photo) collages that fill the spreads with wonderful colors and fibers. The slightly simplified forms lend a kind of cheery awkwardness and individuality to the characters. The stylized artwork ranges from close-ups to mini-frames to broad landscapes that subtly incorporate d'Arezzo's staff. While the narrative does a good job of explaining the significance of d'Arrezo's innovation, it sometimes oversimplifies matters and gives a sense that he was flying completely solo rather than building on ideas already around. In the actual explication of his system, the glossary has to do the heavy lifting. The book's format is young, but much of its content-including an author's note-is aimed at an older audience with some musical background. This is an attractive if flawed introduction to a little-covered figure.
—Nancy PalmerCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Roth offers the story of the first written music for young readers. A thousand years ago in Tuscany, a young singer named Guido d'Arezzo gets the bright idea that members of the choir would be able to learn the music better if they were somehow able to see the sounds. His choirmaster pooh-poohs the notion and Guido goes to live with a community of monks in Pomposa, still gripped by his idea. There, a monk named Brother Michael encourages his parchment scribbles, even bringing him back from the brink of despair. When Guido returns to his home city, new bishop Teodaldo puts him in charge of the children's choir, and he uses his new system to teach them to read music. Hearing of this success, the Pope invites him to Rome, but Guido humbly declines: "I am Guido of Arezzo." Roth's ingenious and intricate illustrations, made of papers "from all over the world," constitute a unique vocabulary themselves. A sublime blend of education and entertainment. (glossary, bibliography) (Picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

A sublime blend of education and entertainment.
Kirkus Reviews

An appealing, accessible, and throught-provoking introduction to a rarely covered subject.
Booklist, ALA

"Roth's naif collages, populated by doll-like figures, quickly shoo away any misgivings that music history could be a bore, and make a marvelous counterpoint for her carefully researched prose." Publishers Weekly

"The language is simple and intimate. . .wonderful colors and fibers. . .attractive."

School Library Journal

"A gifted author-illustrator offers a lovely picture book...Her collage illustrations are always interesting." Buffalo News

Roth winningly narrates the ups and downs of Guido's efforts to work out his ideas and get them accepted. But it's the illustrations that really make the book sing: torn-paper collages wittily celebrating musical marks everywhere, from the staff lines of plowed furrows and stripey sunset clouds to the O-shaped mouths of chanting monks.
The Washington Post

"It's edgy and childlike at the same time, a quirky approach to a quirky subject." The San Francisco Chronicle —

From the Publisher