Scott Eriksen: Music - Classical and Opera by Nicolas Brasch

Classical and Opera Music by Nicolas Brasch gives a good overview of classical music, and opera music. Although some people lump these two genres under the umbrella term "classical," they are actually quite different. Brasch explains the differences without confusing the reader with all the jargon we learn at the college level. For classical music, the book gives a history of the genre in 7 periods (Early music, medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and modern), goes over different types of instruments associated with classical music in sections, such as strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Some specifics are given but the book has plenty of pictures to help readers identify instruments. There's also a part about classical composers and compositions of note, so that the students could do some more research after reading. The opera section is very similar, except instead of an instrument section, there is a "Great Opera Performers" section. I could use this in a class to introduce students to these genres and help them classify music using just listening.