Exploring Film Music
by Ian Dorricott and Bernice Allan
McGraw-Hill Australia

A completely new approach to teaching secondary music with Australia's first full colour music text. Exploring Film Music offers a completely new approach and level of flexibility to teaching secondary school music, through the study of pieces taken from a wide range of films, chosen for their appeal and, in many cases, for their 'classic' status in the genre, all of the essential musical concepts are discovered including rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, texture, tonality and form.

These concepts are discussed in context of the films in which they are used and the understanding of them is consolidated by the practical, aural and written activities offered in the book. Because of the wide-ranging nature of the examples elected, a broad cross section of styles is encountered including ethnic, folk, ragtime, jazz, marching band, rock, electronic as well as the major art music styles of baroque, classical, romantic and modern.

Thus interest in maintained because of the great diversity of content, even though the book deals with the one topic. Australian music and films are represented throughout. Developed to capitalise on the excitement and impact of the visual image from the medium of film, this innovative text is appropriate for use at all secondary levels.