It's truly astounding, the sheer variety of music books on the market today. They are music books covering every historical and modern composer, both musically and biographically. Whole genres are described in 500 pages or more, musical movements detailed to their very core. Individual popular artists with authorized and unauthorized biographies; musicology; lyrical analysis; how to start a band, join a band, manage a band, destroy a band -- it's all covered in the pages of thousands and thousands of music books. And that doesn't even crack the crème brulee of music books filled with sheet music and theory and various lessons. College bookstores are stacked to the walls with these kinds of music books and elementary schools all over the country rely on the basic forms to teach children the basics of music
Those instructional music books are by far the most common type, though they're usually found in educational bookstores as opposed to your local bookseller's shop (or even one of the virtual book mega-malls). The basis of the lessons in music books vary greatly; that, of course, is beauty of them. Some music books will be filled with solely sheet music; though you'll most frequently see these type of music books for piano, they come intended for nearly every instrument imaginable. Music books of this sort are usually divided into volumes based on skill level and frequently used for individual instrument lessons.
Other types of instructional music books, usually those used in required music classes, will contain a combination of sheet music and other lessons, such as theory and history. For instance, music books used in elementary schools will sometimes have a section based on a particular musical genre, such as American spirituals or rock & roll; this section in the music books will contain a brief history of the genre, the rhythmic or thematic elements of the genre and a short excerpt of sheet music (usually vocal) to be played by the students. These music books function as an early primer for young students, teaching them a wide array of various genres and forms.
For piano books online a good source is Top Piano Books
