Home   I   About Us   l   Contact Us 

Reference Texts       (Grades 6 to Diploma)
by Josephine Koh

Click here to view sample pages

Musical Forms and Terms
by Josephine Koh

A comprehensive handy reference which has been specially compiled to provide the necessary information to support the study of music history, score reading and analysis at advanced level. The book serves to define and explain some of the most commonly used musical forms and terms from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Authentic musical extracts illustrate the ideas and concepts, while cross references make the reading and learning process a pro-active one.

Click here to view sample pages

Quick Study Practice 
Compiled & edited with study points by Josephine Koh

Specifically compiled for diploma students, this book contains selected piano works that aim to help them acquire the skills needed to meet the basic requirements of Quick Study and to demonstrate the musicianship expected of a convincing performance. Informative study points are provided as a useful guide which may be referred to prior or after having played the pieces. Teachers and students will find the students musically interesting and technically adequate for the various levels, being chosen to present the various levels of difficulty.

Understanding Orchestration, The Orchestra & its Instruments
by Josephine Koh

The study of orchestration is an integral part of every musician’s education - the composer, conductor, performer, teacher or advanced student.  Numerous treatises have been written on the subject and on instruments of the Western orchestra.  Yet this volume takes on a practical, comprehensive approach by presenting useful information essential for the effective mastery of score-reading and analytical skills. Structured in two parts, it introduces the world of instrumental sounds and gradually unravels the art of instrumentation in canonic works.

Part I, Orchestral Instruments, provides useful information about each instrument from the different orchestral groups - the strings, woodwinds, brasses and percussion. The range, mechanism, timbre and idiomatic features are discussed, with playing techniques, sound effects and limitations clearly explained. Melodic extracts illustrate these characteristics, along with dynamics and articulation. 

Part II, Understanding Orchestration illustrates how sounds are combined and scores are laid out. From the 17th to the 21st century, the various representative composers’ works reveal a diversity of styles and orchestration techniques. An extensive selection of annotated scores presents the spectrum of instrumental combinations, including those with voices, soloists and unsual ensembles.

Most interestingly, Josephine Koh completes her approach to the art of instrumentation with coverage on:

Period Instruments 
Orchestral Transcription
Gestures of the Conductor
Foreign names and Abbreviations
Glossary of Performance Directions