The Stories of Musical Instruments

Product Description

A comprehensive overview of the origin of the world’s best-known musical instruments, presenting many fascinating facts along the way. Niccolo the cricket would like to become a musician. But which instrument should he start with? The violin? The guitar? The trumpet? All at once? Well, he does have six limbs, so why not? In any case, Niccolo and his trusty companion Luciano the nightingale travel the world as they learn about musical instruments of all kinds, from simple drums to the most sophisticated church organs. Do you know what didgeridoo, shamisen, or vozembouch are? Would you rather become a member of symphony orchestra or a rock band? Let´s find out! If you are interested in music at least a little, join Niccolo and Luciano and learn the stories of musical instruments along with them.

Review

This book tells the history of musical instruments around the world with short bios about famous musicians and composers. My favorite part is the development of the piano since I am a pianist. There are sections about rock bands, percussion, woodwinds, string orchestras, jazz bands, brass bands, and military bands. There are chapters about beautiful instruments from India, Russia, Scotland, Mongolia, China, Japan, and Africa.
I loved the cute illustrations in this book! The artwork really brings the history to life. There are a cricket and a songbird who pop up in every page exploring the different types of instruments.I like that the design has small paragraphs of text so that it is easy to read and absorb the snippets of information. As a musician, I really appreciated all the music history, the explanations about types of music, the nature of sounds for each instrument, and how different styles developed. –Luminous Libros
The Stories of Musical Instruments by Stepanka Sekaninova and Jakub Cenkl- This book features many different instruments from around the world from Japanese flutes to didgeridoos. It is packed with interesting information from how the instruments are made, their cultural history, impacts they had on the music scene and so much more. There is a lot to read in this book and it is all nicely categorized by instrument type with a table of contents at the beginning.–Book Nerd Mommy Blog

Review

“This is a great book for kids and adults that are interested in the origins of various music. Music is important to culture and the human experience, and many learning tools are through music. It is a culturally diverse approach, and the illustrations are colorful and lighthearted. “ ― Jordan Gray, Librarian

About the Author

Štěpánka Sekaninová is a graduate of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University. She worked as reporter but had always longed to write.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

WHAT IS A VIOLIN? A violin is a bowed string instrument with a truly beautiful sound. As its tone is not one of the strongest, there are so many violins in an orchestra to ensure that it is properly heard and not drowned out by the wind instruments. The violin has long been an important part of the classical tradition, especially in Europe. BOW The violin has four strings and is played with the bow. The bow is composed of a wooden stick with a ribbon of horsehair strung taut from end to end. In the past, a violin bow looked more like an archer’s bow – indeed, this instrument of combat was an important inspiration in its creation. Professionals refer to movements of the bow across the strings as strokes. A LITTLE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BOW The first bows originated in ancient times in India and Persia. The bow appeared in north Africa and Spain around the 6th century. From the 17th century or thereabouts, the bow became straighter as it became progressively more like the bow of today.