afoster87 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I've been looking around for a good music theory book. There are so many out there so I thought I'd ask for opinions. I'm a non-music major in college just wanting to learn more about music. I play snare and am taking piano classes as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euphomism Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) There was this one book I've used since my freshman year of high school... I'll dig it out and PM you with its Title. I do remember that it was phenomenal, though. Edited February 20, 2008 by Euphomism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicpal24 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) I've been looking around for a good music theory book. There are so many out there so I thought I'd ask for opinions. I'm a non-music major in college just wanting to learn more about music. I play snare and am taking piano classes as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tonal Harmony This is a very practical book that is used successfully by high schools and colleges around the country... Edited February 20, 2008 by musicpal24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euphomism Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) AHA! Just found it actually, It's called Music Theory and Practice by Bruce Benward, and Marilyn Saker. Volume 1 is more or less what's covered in high school up to the AP courses. I think it also covers college freshman material as well. Starts with the fundamentals (Notation, Modes, Intervals/Transposition, Chords) Music's Structural elements (Cadences & nonharmonic tones, Organization-such as motives, sequences, phrases, periods, etc- Voice leading, harmonic progression, modulation, 7th chords, secondary dominants/leading tone chords, binary form, and finally ternary form. (I just listed the table of contents basically) Hope this helps. Edit: here's a link to amazon Amazon Edited February 20, 2008 by Euphomism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Essentials of Music for Audio Professionals This book, but drum corps icon and recording engineer Frank Dorritie, is the single most comprehensive and amazingly readable book on music theory I've ever seen. From the Amazon.com write-up. <<The most concise training course ever written on music fundamentals for engineers, producers, directors, editors, managers and other audio/video recording professionals! This exciting book covers music theory in a way that's easy to understand and demystifies the whole process of working with musical notation, arrangements and scores. Features detailed instruction on: basic rhythmic and pitch notation, musical expression, sound production, melody and musical form, harmony and harmonics, sound in space, modes and scales, chords, intervals and much more! Includes an audio CD that further illustrates the author's easy-to-understand approach to teaching music theory.>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 The "Tonal Harmony" book by Kostka is ok, but sometimes wordy. The Benward book that was recommended is ok as well. I also recommend my personal favorite as far as college texts go: "Techniques and Materials of Tonal Music" by Benjamin, Horvit and Nelson. I also think there may be some good computer programs out there but I don't know what they are. I graduated with my bach of music in music theory and masters in the same field long before most of the computer programs for self-study had gotten off the ground. Lastly, get involved in singing somehow. Much of the secret of music theory comes from training the brain to recognize scalar patterns by making them yourself with the voice. (for all you music majors, that's what those pesky sight-singing/ear training courses are/were about.) It's very interesting to see the truth in that now that I'm working with children in general music classes as well as my ensembles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny Drum Corps Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 musictheory.net is a place to start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rd_Star_Brigade Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) Yeah, Tonal Harmony is the standard for college theory. My professor didnt like it and wrote his own book that we use, because the book works only on the technical aspects of music. But yeah, get Tonal Harmony or the Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory if you have trouble understanding some things. Oh, and there is a website that helps all this kind of stuff nd gives you exercises to work on in Aurals and Thoery: www.teoria.com Good luck buddy Edited February 20, 2008 by 3rd_Star_Brigade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildabeast Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 http://www.dolmetsch.com/theoryintro.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDWEX1117 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 The Practice Of Harmony by Peter Spencer is what we use in school. I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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