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  • Before Music: Where Instruments Come from by Annette Bay Pimentel book cover
  • Before Music: Where Instruments Come from by Annette Bay Pimentel book cover
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Before Music: Where Instruments Come from

by Annette Bay Pimentel

From raw materials to musical instruments

$21.83 USD
$36.39 USD $21.83 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

From raw materials to musical instruments

Before Music traces the connections between the natural world, the people who make instruments, and the sounds those instruments produce. Organized by materials—including wood, gourds, and found objects—the book combines a central narrative with sidebars that add instrument lists and brief biographies of musical innovators. Its broad, cross-cultural survey offers a way to explore music through the materials and hands-on craft behind its instruments.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Young readers interested in music and how instruments are made
  • Children curious about materials, making, and musical traditions around the world
  • Readers who enjoy nonfiction picture books with supplementary facts and biographies

Themes

Musical instruments and their materialsCraft and instrument-makingMusic across culturesMusical innovation

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From award-winning author Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrator Madison Safer, Before Music is an oversize nonfiction picture book exploring how music and musical instruments are made--across time and around the world.

Music doesn't come out of nothing.
It always starts somewhere . . .
with something . . .
with someone.

Discover how music is made in this survey of musical instruments from around the world. Organized by material--from wood to gourds to found objects and more--Before Music marries a lyrical core text with tons of informational material for curious readers.

In the narrative text, readers will encounter makers as they source their materials and craft instruments by hand, drawing the line from the natural world to the finished product and its sound. The sidebars offer much more to discover, including extensive instrument lists, short bios of musical innovators, and more.

"Centering creators and musicians of varying age, skin tone, and traditional dress, Safer's na
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I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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