Arts & Music Books > Architecture Arts & Music Books

Advantages: A fascinating study
Disadvantages: More pictures would be helpful

Perhaps it is because I come from the same background (Western Anglo-Catholic) as the approach from which Richard Kieckhefer comes in this text that I find such a resonance with what he has to say. 'Theology in Stone' looks at various aspects of church design, from the long tradition of church building in Christianity up to the present time. His text begins with four principle factors in basic church design, and then looks in some detail at three ...
...typical architectural concerns, but rather wrapped up in spiritual, theological, and aesthetic values. How does the space work? What is the central and centering focus? Is there an aesthetic impact compatible with the intention of the church? How do symbols function and resonate? There are no universal answers to these types of questions. As Kieckhefer states, 'Response to a church [is] conditioned by culture and by cultural interaction.' Response ... Read review

Advantages: vital factors covered
Disadvantages: not to much detail

...: 1. Notes on the Fretboard (very important factor to learn) 2. The major scale 3. Two movable chord Shapes 4. The 1st 3rd and 5th chord families 5. The DAF Roadmap 6. Chord Fragments/families 7.The circle of Fifths 8. Variations on two movable chord shapes 9. movable major scales 10. Movable blues scales 11. sliding pentatonic scales 12. A Movable double note lick Over all the book provides strong key information into building your knowledge ...
...much detail in each section but provides good step by step instructions to give the basic understanding of the theories. I would recommend this to players who want to get a quick grasp of alot of different basic skills without having to read hundreds and hundreds of pages. In fact the whole book only has 64 and it covers all of the above. All in all a good little book for beginners especially and intermediate players wouldn't be sorry for reading ... Read review

Advantages: You learn the basics.
Disadvantages: You need class, no matter how good it sounds!

...on the right way. Playing guitar on the other hand is more fingerwork and is a lot harder to learn (I tried, believe me...) Still, I wouldn't say this book is not good for beginners. You kinda learn the basics, which are important. If you want to learn the guitar, this book would get you started, but that is all. To improve, you should follow lessons... ... Read review

Advantages: Facinating reading, humorously written
Disadvantages: -

...his book 'Derren Brown - Tricks of the Mind' which promised to go into everything he does (as described at the start of every show, as a mixture of 'magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship') in detail, I didn't have to think for too long before buying it. The book begins with Derren talking about his early obsession with magic and his facination with trickery and fraudulence in the world of the paranormal. He discribes his performance ...
...it. The memory tricks are really interesting to learn, but the most facinating part of the book is about mental traps and our way of thinking. One of the examples of this is to imagine there is a terrible disease reported, and although it affects only one in ten thousand people, it is absolutely lethal. You are worried about it, so you decide to undergo a medical test to see if you have the disease. Now, no medical test is ever 100 per cent accurate, ... Read review

Advantages: Engaging and fun to do.
Disadvantages: none

...to discover their creativity,and in the process of doing so,discovering themselves. The author is particularly good at encouraging her readers to believe in their own creativity regardless of whether they think they are creative or not, which brings hope to us all! The book is divided into twelve sections/weeks and has the feel of being on a course because of this structure in place,it helps the reader to stay focused. Each section has various writing ...
...'true self'. I found the suggestion of doing "morning pages" each day a very helpful tool for discovering and becoming aware of thinking patterns. I also appreciated and enjoyed the inclusion of what the author described as "artist days out". overall It's a lovely,well organised book with the feel of having a friend on the journey. I also like the good size print and overall size of the book,which is a little larger than A5. I highly recommend ... Read review