The Mind's Ear

I direct a seminar on the Beethoven string quartets at the Department of Medical Humanities at Columbia University, and I find The Mind's Ear to be an invaluable wellspring of ideas to engage these medical students in a way that is fresh, challenging, and fun. These students come from a wide variety of musical backgrounds, and the group exercises prescribed by The Mind's Ear allow them to focus on skills—hearing multiple lines, listening while vocalizing, and following cues from the peers—that they enjoy honing. These activities break the ice, expand the mind, and broaden the perspective. They make the students better listeners, and perhaps better doctors! * Benjamin Lebwohl, MD, MS, Louis and Gloria Flanzer Scholar, Columbia University Medical Center; Director of Clinical Research, The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University; Director of Quality Improvement, Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases *
I have known Bruce Adolphe since my student days at Juilliard Pre-College. His insight and remarkable capacity for bringing music to life have stayed with me over the years. Bruce's ability to make music and learning fresh and alive is unique. The first edition of this book was important to me when I first read it and the second edition is even more exciting and relevant. * Alan Gilbert, Music Director, The New York Philharmonic *
Imagine how exciting it would be to hold in your hands a guide to a more joyfully free, creative engagement with music. Oh wait * you are! Of course the imagination can be toned and exercised, and Bruce Adolphe is a most enthusiastic and inspiring personal trainer.Mark Steinberg, violinist, Brentano String Quartet, Princeton University *
Long known as one of our most articulate and charismatic speakers on music, Bruce Adolphe here gives us one of the freshest books on the musical imagination ever written. A quick glance at the materials followed by a self-test will confirm that the mature performer and the university professor have as much to learn from this book as the beginner. The book is an absolute gem, one that I periodically find myself opening at random as a starting point for pricking the imagination. Try opening it yourself, and I predict that you will find it difficult to put down. * Glenn Watkins, Earl V. Moore Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, author of Soundings, Pyramids at the Louvre, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War, and The Gesualdo Hex. *
Bruce Adolphe's Senior Seminar at Juilliard's Pre-College was a horizon-expanding, mind-broadening experience. This book contains dozens of exercises like the ones we used in that class. I find them just as rewarding today as I did then! * Orli Shaham, pianist *
This unique book of musical imagination exercises is thoroughly infused with Bruce Adolphe's engaging spirit and personality. Dozens of exercises inspire creativity and exploration while probing the depths of our inner ears and our intuition. I believe this is an invaluable resource for all musicians, pedagogues and listeners. * Carol Leone, D.M.A., Chair of the Keyboard Department, Associate Professor of Piano, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas *
I often tell conducting students that the greatest conductors are those with the greatest imaginations. They hear in their minds what they would like the music to become and are tenacious and creative in making it happen. Bruce Adolphe's wonderful book presents tools to develop the artistic imagination. If technique is the servant of imagination, then Adolphe's book is the place to start! * Jerry Blackstone, Professor of Conducting; Director of Choirs; Chair, Conducting Department, School of Music, Theatre & Dance, University of Michigan *
Combining wisdom, humor, and clarity is a skill Bruce has mastered. He is the personification of a fun, educational experience. * Weston Sprott, Dean of the Preparatory Division, The Juilliard School *