The World of Music is designed for teachers who want to focus on listening to music as it exists in the real world of their students. My book goes beyond the traditional repertoire used for music study. I begin with American folk, religious, jazz, popular, and ethnic music, then introduce some world music, and conclude with a thorough overview of Western classical music. M.y intention is to capture and convey the essence of each repertoire—whether popular, traditional, or classical music—in order to enhance students' musical understanding. Students who read this text will be able to recognize different styles and appreciate their different functions, and they will acquire a solid foundation for continued learning in areas of personal interest. These three statements summarize the philosophy on which The World of Music is based:

• It is critical for students to develop solid listening skills, including the ability to describe and comment on the music they hear.
• Listening skills can be taught through music from any period or place.
• No repertoire is too small to be studied, and all repertoires are important, differing only in style and function.

My text introduces students to the many styles of music currently enjoyed by people in the United States, and it will help them to appreciate the roots of these various styles. The text encourages readers to reach out to cultures around the world to learn about—and perhaps enjoy—music with which they may not be familiar.

The photographs that appear throughout the book reflect my broad goals. They depict music as it exists in our world—performed by people everywhere, serving many valid purposes, and enjoyed and valued in many different contexts. Music is an active art, and I provide photos showing diverse groups of people making and responding to music.

The World of Music presumes no prior musical training on the part of the student. Its broad scope and introductory nature make it ideal for any first course in music listening/appreciation taken by non-music majors. In addition, in view of the diverse global nature of our society, the attention given here to many traditional and contemporary musical styles may provide a much-needed philosophical and curricular foundation for music majors early in their professional preparation.

Repertoire

The repertoire offered in The World of Music is comprehensive and is presented, as much as possible, without bias. The choices reflect my belief in the musical and educational validity of including in the college curriculum music other than western European classical music. This expanded repertoire for music study also indicates some other important beliefs:

• In the early years of the twenty-first century, it seems appropriate that substantive attention be given to recent and current classical and popular music—that is, to the music of our own time.
• The United States includes people from many cultures, and curricula should reflect this diversity; thus, a strong emphasis on American ethnic music and on music as it exists in our own nation is appropriate.
• In our increasingly globalized society, we need to acknowledge the importance and the study of world music.

To support the notion that American music is in fact world music, I include a variety of repertoires within American music that have non-Western roots or influences: the music of Native Americans, of American ethnic and immigrant groups, and of Latin America and the Caribbean. This broad coverage affirms my belief that all repertoires make important contributions to the study of music.

When discussing a specific repertoire, I focus on both its historical and its cultural aspects. I note the significant influences and contributions of the repertoire's creators and performers to a particular society and to that society's musical development. This background, in some cases, is balanced with coverage of a culture's contemporary musical elements. Thus, this new edition of the The World of Music is both historical and contemporary—a valuable musical resource for today's students.

Listening Emphasis

The sequential development of substantive listening and descriptive skills is my central goal. Starting with simple music and progressing to more complex pieces, students learn the vocabulary with which they can talk about a style and describe their reactions to it. What ties together the chapters more than the study of specific repertoires, though, is the study—through listening—of musical concepts common to nearly all repertoires. Chapters 2 & 3 provide an introduction to the elements of music. However, listening goals, musical concepts, and terminology are introduced throughout the book.

Listening Guides

In all chapters other than the first two, Listening Guides allow students to examine in detail a recorded musical example from the CD set available with the textbook. I carefully selected the musical examples to reinforce the concepts discussed in the text, and in each Listening Guide I provide strategies to help students listen to and understand each piece. For every recorded example on the CD set, there is a Listening Guide in the textbook that presents

• Background information on the composer or piece.
• Goals for developing listening and descriptive skills.
• An outline of and commentary on the music and its structure and style.
• Reflections on the listening experiences that can spark discussion in and out of class.

I developed the goals for each listening experience sequentially so that as students progress, their listening and descriptive skills and use of vocabulary improve gradually but steadily. The guides direct this listening experience. But because listening is to some extent subjective, individual listeners may hear the music in different ways, and these multiple perceptions may be entirely valid. The reflective comments and questions in each Listening Guide are intended to serve only as possibilities and as models. Teachers can modify them and ask students to create their own reflective statements or questions for discussion.

Organization

Chapters, sections, and Listening Guides can be omitted or given emphasis different from mine to suit individual instructors' interests and needs. Teachers who tailor the text to fit a course may want to consider modifying the goals and descriptions in the Listening Guides in order to retain the sequential development of listening skills.

Changes for the Sixth Edition

• The new four-color design enhances the attractiveness of the text and highlights key features such as the Listening Guides, chapter outlines, photos, and artwork.
• The new edition has 14 chapters (instead of 16) to better fit a typical semester schedule.
• Chapter 1, "Introducing the World of Music," presents information on the music industry that appeared in chapter 16 of the previous edition. Instructors using the text indicated that their students found this material fascinating and suggested it be discussed earliei~
• The fifth edition chapters on American folk music and American religious music were merged into one chapter.
• A new three-CD set contains all the music discussed in the Listening Guides.
• Expanded photo captions provide interesting information about composers, performers, instruments, and musical periods.
• The new format of the Listening Guides lets readers see at a glance crucial CD and track information, as well as key facts concerning each piece's composer, performer, genre, and background.
• At the beginning of each chapter, a content outline provides an overview of the major topics covered.
• At the beginning of each chapter, following the outline, a list of questions under the heading "In This Chapter" gives a preview of some of the material to be learned.
• A List of Recommended DVDs, appearing as Appendix A, gives instructors and students suggestions for additional exposure to performers and styles of music.

Supplements

For the instructor, we offer an Instructor's Resource CD-ROM (0-07-312702-7) that includes the following elements:

• Instructor's manual
• Test Bank
• Computerized Test Bank
• PowerPoint slides

In addition, the text-specific Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/willoughby6 provides an abundance of resources for both instructors and students, including multiple-choice and true/false quizzes, projects, and links to useful Web sites.