Acknowledgements

I cannot sufficiently express my thanks to my parents, Jeanmarie Chenette and Jonathan Chenette, who taught me my earliest music lessons. From them, I learned that thinking about music and making music are inseparable. I wish everyone were so lucky as to have the music education I had as a child.

Though he is listed as a “collaborator,” Daniel Stevens was an integral part of the creation of this book. I have long admired Danny’s creative and empowering vision of aural skills, and reached out to him early in the process of creating this text. Since then we have met regularly, shared ideas, co-edited text, co-created activities, and more. As I was on sabbatical in fall 2022 and Danny was not, I had more time to write text and in the end we decided to distinguish between an “author” and a “collaborator.” However, Danny’s authorial voice is recognized in many chapters, and his invaluable advice and ideas have been influential throughout the book.

Sarah Gates was another early collaborator on the text. Sarah brought important expertise on cognitive science and particularly a sophisticated understanding of how the brain’s various representations of music and musical ideas work together. While Sarah eventually needed to focus on other projects, she was integral to the planning process, and I hope to get her involved again in the future!

My thanks also to Textbook Assistants Meghan Hatfield and Ryan Becker. Both are incredibly creative, dedicated, and passionate about sharing music. Meghan and Ryan created graphics, populated playlists, expanded sketchy text and activity descriptions, and gave their own suggestions for how the textbook could be better.

Finally, a huge thank-you to the wonderful folks at the Utah State University Merrill Cazier Library who have supported this project, and particularly Stephanie Western, OER Program Manager.

A project like this takes a village, and I’m very grateful to those who have been a part of it!

-Timothy Chenette