Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, Complete (Lessons * Ear Training * Workbook) [Spiral-bound]

Andrew Surmani (Author), Karen Farnum Surmani (Author), Morton Manus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999 | ISBN-10: 0882848976 | ISBN-13: 978-0882848976

Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory is designed for students of any age, whether listeners or performers, who want to have a better understanding of the language of music. In this all-in-one theory course, you will learn the essentials of music through concise lessons, practice your music reading and writing skills in the exercises, improve your listening skills with the available ear-training CDs (sold separately), and test your knowledge with a review that completes each unit.

The Student Complete Book includes Books 1-3 in a spiral-bound format.

Book 1 (Lessons 1-25):
Staff, Notes and Pitches
Treble & Bass Clefs
Grad Staff & Ledger Lines
Note Values
Measure, Bar Line and Double Bar
2/4, 3/4 & 4/4 Time Signatures
Whole, Half & Quarter Notes/Rests
Dotted Half & Quarter Notes
Ties & Slurs
Repeat Sign, 1st & 2nd Endings
Eighth Notes & Rests
Dynamic Signs, Tempo Marks & Articulation
D.C., D.S., Coda & Fine
Flats, Sharps & Naturals
Book 2 (Lessons 25-50):
Tetrachords & Major Scales
Key Signatures
Chromatic Scale
Intervals, Circle of Fifths
Perfect, Major & Minor Intervals
Augmented & Diminished Intervals
Solf?ge & Transposition
Sixteenth Notes & Rests
Dotted Eighth Notes & Eighth Note Triplets
Common Time & Cut Time
3/8 & 6/8 Time Signatures
Pick-up Notes & Syncopation
Primary & Major Triads
Scale Degree Names
Dominant 7th Chord

Book 3 (Lessons 51-75):
1st & 2nd Inversions of Triads
Inversions of V7 Chords
Figured Bass
Major Chord Progressions
Minor Scales, Minor Triads
Augmented & Diminished Triads
Primary Triads in Minor Keys
Minor Chord Progressions
Modes
Harmonizing a Melody in Major and Minor Keys
Broken Chords & Arpeggiated Accompaniments
Passing and Neighboring Tones
Composing a Melody in Major and Minor Keys
12-Bar Blues Chord Progression & Blues Scale<br>Basic Fo

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 120 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Music (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882848976
• ISBN-13: 978-0882848976
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Theory

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Alfred's Essentials of Musical Theory June 24, 2002

By M. Chapple

Format:Spiral-bound

This is a very good book for those who have little knowledge of musical theory, and those who have none. It contains three books which can also be bought seperatly. This book was used as a textbook for me for my voice lessons. It proved to help me a great deal since I am going to be studying music in college this fall. It's best to buy the CDs so you can do the ear trianing as well. You have no way of checking your answers unless you also purchase the teacher's answer key. I gave it a three just because you have to buy the CDs and teacher's answer key to get the most out of the book.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand; Good solid exercises March 20, 2006

By G. Sigman

Format:Spiral-bound

I just used this book to teach an introductory music theory class for adults (primarily community members with a recreational interest in playing/knowing more about music). I must say I was very pleased with this book in general. It offers straghtforward theory lessons with appropriate drills for getting a grip on the content. This is not an in-depth tome by any means, but it worked out well for my purposes.

I have the following minor gripes:

-This is really three books spiral bound together as one. A combined table of contents would have been most welcome.

-The CDs with the listening examples are not included and it seems the only way to acquire them is to buy the answer key book at almost $40. Phooey. How about offering the CDs with the student book for an extra $10?

-I don't care for the way this book teaches the compound meters 3/8 & 6/8. The method used is very practical and straghtforward, however, so it works out okay. It just never mentions 'compound' or 'simple' in presenting meters.

-9/8 & 12/8 are not presented. Ever.

-No asymmetric meters are presented. Ever.

With all of that out of the way, I'm happy to recommend this book for your middle school level band kids or even high school students looking to pick up some written theory, and of course as I used it for your bare-bones beginning adults with an interest in the subject.

A motivated student with the listening CDs could run through the course on his or her own, but I think you really still need a teacher for best results. Particularly as this book lacks the depth of background and explanations that an engadged student will inevitably be curious about.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning Basic Theory February 9, 2003

By Jen Durelin

Format:Spiral-bound

This is a terrific book for any age. I teach theory to students who are all under the age of 12, the youngest is 6, and it makes sense to all of them, but I would also reccomend it to adults who know nothing about Theory, or a small amount, because it covers everything clearly and the excercises are great for anyone.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Alfred's Utterly Confusing Line of Music Theory Books September 26, 2009

By Robert Felice

Format:Spiral-bound|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a good series if you are trying to learn music theory. The material is well organized, and clearly explained. Anyone can learn the essentials of music theory from these books.

Unfortunately, the material is available in so many formats, you can get lost trying to figure out which version to buy.

1st up, you can buy 3 separate books. Since each book is only about 40 pages long, this really doesn't make that much sense. Also, you are going to want the ear training CDs. There are only 2 CDs for the 3 books. and you have to buy them as a complete set.

So, you want to buy all the material at once. That brings us to this collection, which contains the text from all three books, but lacks the CDs.

As I mentioned, the CDs are available separately, but if you could buy the book plus the CDs as a single package, you could save a little bit over purchasing both items separately.

But, where is this all-in-one package? You might expect this to be called "Alfred's Essential of Music Theory Complete (Books 1 - 3 plus Ear Training CDs)."

Alas, it is not. It's called "Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A Complete Self-Study Course for All Musicians (Book & 2 CDs)", and you can find it on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Essentials-Music-Theory-Self-Study/dp/0739036351/ref=sip_rech_dp_10

This version also appears to have the Answer Key (which you would have to purchase separately, for even more money, if you wanted to check the answers to the quizzes). I say "appears" because I foolishly purchased this version of the product, along with the separate CDs. But glancing at the Table of Contents of the other edition has convinced me that it includes the Answer Key as well....

To summarize: this material is well worth buying, but there are too many ways to purchase it. Do yourself a favor, and buy the Complete Self-Study Course, not this edition. Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars For self-study, get Alfred's other book. May 4, 2009

By Retired Engineer

Format:Spiral-bound

This Alfred book does not contain the ear training CDs or the answers to the exercises. For those wishing to self-study, the following Alfred book includes all the material in this book plus the ear training CDs and the answers to the exercises: "Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A Complete Self-Study Course for All Musicians."

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Transparency Needed November 16, 2008

By G. Vitug

Format:Spiral-bound

Music Lovers,
This book is not a stand alone book it say complete version but in reality it is not. You need to buy another book to find the answer, then.you need to buy again, their CD's to listen to ear training. Beware of this kind of business strategy that will end up, you buying their 3 products to learn little. You can buy one book with CD for half the price of these three books.
They should give WARNING telling the buyer that they need to buy another sets to complete their music education.
If there is zero star I will give this book zero rating