Colin Lee and Marc Houde (2011). Improvising in Styles: A Workbook for Music Therapists, Educators, and Musicians.

Williams, Stephen

Colin Lee and Marc Houde (2011). Improvising in Styles: A Workbook for Music Therapists, Educators, and Musicians. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers. ISBN 978-1-891278-58-7.

For full reviews, please visit the Australian Music Therapy Association webpage: http://www.austmta.org.au/publications/book-reviews-aimt/

Colin Lee and Marc Houde's large and impressive book on improvisation styles meets a gap in the music therapy literature. Music therapy and music theory are successfully interwoven to produce a resource that can be used by students in the classroom as well as by experienced therapists in the clinical setting. Improvising in Styles is divided into manageable sections on musical styles beginning with classical, then popular, and concluding with a sampling of world music. Each chapter includes a brief overview of the period, helpful linkages between the period implications and music therapy applications, and a multitude of music excerpts including audio examples in the two CDs that accompany the book. The book is a helpful and thorough resource that adds an informed tool to the music therapy literature, and deserves recognition on a global scale.

Stephen Williams, MCAT, BMus, MTA Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC, CANADA