A Cappella

This book is for everyone who loves a cappella and wants to get better at it. Whether you're an a cappella novice or the best a cappella coach in the world, this book has a LOT of practical information for everyone! Deke Sharon, Ben Spalding, and Brody McDonald are three of the best in the a cappella world and have put together a comprehensive "how-to" book that even brings in other experts (such as JD Frizzell, Nick Girard, Bill Hare, Peter Hollens, and others) to share their vast knowledge of key a cappella topics. This book is a must have for any a cappella performer or director and the best part is that Deke, Ben, and Brody are accessible to you if you have any questions. You can spin your wheels in musical mud or you can buy this book and get moving on the a cappella highway....your choice!

"A Cappella" exceeded my expectations in laying a clear path for anyone who wants to start, maintain, market, record, tour, and succeed with an a cappella group. Deke Sharon, the book's enthusiastic author, is responsible for turning me into an a cappella groupie, and I'm headed to two a cappella festivals in the next few weeks. Looking forward to them. Thanks Deke!

This book has been very thoroughly put together to cover all aspects of a cappella from history, performing tips, competitions, staging, how to be successful, competitions, vocal warm ups, starting a group, plus many more topics from the experts! I'd highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to gain knowledge about how A Cappella works! Great read and great information! An invaluable resource for your library!

This is a solid resource for anyone in a cappella! The guides to every piece of running a group, using microphones, and other musical techniques of the modern era are a refreshing change of pace from most other a cappella resources that are available at the moment.

Deke is THE authority on a cappella music, performance, arranging, performing, etc. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand and/or get into the wonderful world of a cappella music making.

This book is basically the Bible for any a cappella group. As someone who's been lucky to have had a great career performing around the world with an a cappella group, I can tell you that this is the REAL deal. Whether you're in a school group, a pro group, or interested in putting together an amateur group, this book gives you the tools you need. Just look at the chapters and you'll see how thoroughly this covers all the topics you deal with in a real-life a cappella group today. (Um, there's even an entire chapter on FX pedals. Amazing.)If you want to learn how to succeed in any field, you read the book written by THE undisputed expert in that field. That's what this book is for a cappella.I'm confused why some other reviewers are focusing on a specific detail that they feel is missing in one of the history chapters. I think they're missing the point of this book. I'm recommending this book because, as a performer, I think it's the most valuable resource for any a cappella group performing today. The history part is interesting context -- for the other 42 chapters.

This is a great book, full of really useful information. The chapters cover everything from the history of a cappella (classical and pop) to rehearsal, performance, recording, competition, etc. The authors are experts in the field who know what they're talking about. There are tons of pictures, diagrams, etc. The advice here is worth way more than Amazon is charging for the book!It looks like there's some kind of smear campaign going on here on the Amazon reviews, I suspect it's been organized by one person whose spouse's name was not prominently featured in one of the chapters. I've read the other book by the ethnomusicologist that critic picked on (Duchan's "Powerful Voices") and can say that the scholarship there is absolutely solid -- as someone familiar with the academic study of music I can say that that book has received glowing reviews from high-level academic journals, so clearly Duchan's work is high quality in the eyes of other experts. Seems kind of silly for one or two Amazon reviews to pick apart such a valuable book as "A Cappella" simply because one readers disagrees with one choice among thousands made in this book.

This is a fine collection of well-researched and well-written essays about a cappella's history and how it's currently created, performed, and produced. I've bought copies for the two college students (and lovers of college a cappella) I know already. Really glad to see Deke Sharon carrying on and spreading the a cappella tradition, which has a fascinating and rich history.To the Jerry Lawson fan club...please take your petty protest elsewhere. I come to reviews section on Amazon to find out whether or not a book has merit from people who have actually read it. Comments focusing on the perceived omission of one particular artist from a book that never claims to address every artist strike me as extremely petty. They are a waste of space on this page. Read the book and respond to the quality of the writing and scholarship. Don't just comment negatively on something you haven't read because someone told you your favorite artist doesn't get a mention. Leave this page to people who want to read real reviews of a book. I'm not sure why Amazon permits personal vendettas and smear campaigns in the review section in the first place.

This is the most comprehensive volume written on the topic of contemporary a cappella music. It can be recommended to just anyone from folks who just want to learn for the first time about the artform of a cappella to college students wanting to broaden their repertoire and deepen their knowledge to seasoned pros who are interested in special topics like editing, mixing or recording vocal percussion. This book is most likely the new reference and standard concerning anything related to a cappella for the coming decades.

Good book! I like it!