Octave Park Elementary

Octave Park™ Elementary was written for students of all ages who want to learn music theory and apply it to practice and performance on any instrument. This interactive textbook covers the elementary musical principles of rhythm, harmony, and melody and also offers resources for music listening, reading, and practice.



OPE is beautifully illustrated by author David M. DiFilippo, immersing the student in a colorful and cohesive visual environment of innovative musical imagery. The abstract nature of music theory is presented in an accessible and tangible form for even the most inexperienced music student. The visuals are complemented throughout the book with simple and effective audio examples to train the student’s ear in the fundamentals of pulse and pitch.



The body of text is written in a concisely straightforward and densely packed style. Embedded in the pages of text are over 100 images in galleries that can be swiped through to accompany the reading, paragraph by paragraph. Each of these images can also be viewed in full-screen, high quality detail.



Chapter 1, ‘Musical Centers,’ helps students to understand and find the center of pulse, known as the beat, and the center of pitch, known as the key.



Chapter 2, ‘Rhythm 1,2,3…,’ explores the concepts of rhythm and meters and offers practical rhythmic patterns to apply to piano, guitar, and drums.



Chapter 3, ‘The ABC’s of Harmony,’ explores the concepts of harmony and chords and offers common harmonic progressions to apply to piano, guitar, and harmonica.



Chapter 4, ‘The Art of Melody,’ explores the concepts of melody and scales and offers useful melodic paths to apply to piano, guitar, harmonica, and voice.



An extensive Glossary offers clear definitions and colorful diagrams for musical terms used throughout the book and also in-depth explanations that go beyond what is discussed in the main body of text.



The ‘Methods’ chapter offers information for specific instruments including Piano, Guitar, Harmonica, and Recorder. There are over 100 full-screen images of color-coded chord and scale charts and color-coded musical notation with musical accompaniment.



The ‘Resources’ chapter offers tips for music listening and reading. Links are provided for Octave Park™ custom playlists, appropriate for all ages, in a variety of genres, and available on iTunes® and on Spotify®.



While Octave Park™ Elementary gives the reader all of the knowledge necessary to practice music literacy, the student will acquire much more than the ability to read musical notation. OPE is designed to empower the student with the underlying understanding of how music really works, so that it may be applied freely to the creation of musical performance and composition.