Customer Reviews

Contemporary Theory And Harmony - Berle

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book takes you all the way from the beginner's level up to the advanced level. If you're looking to polish up your theory, and learn to use altered chords, this is the book for you. Arnie has kept this book simple to read, chapters are short and thorough, a must for every contemporary musician.

This book is a very well written overview of music theory for any kind of instrument. The answers to the "homework" assignments should have been added to the back of the book, but overall it is concise and thorough presentation.

I was familiar with a lot of the stuff at the beginning of the book, but there is definitely mucho here even for the advanced player toward the end. The holy grail of what scales sound good (great) over which chords in different situations is addressed here, and if you play you know that those ideas are as good as gold. For example he suggests C Lydian scale (C scale with an F sharp over a CMaj7; and a C Lydian flat 7 over a C Dom7; and many other useful ideas. Further the book was written in a very readable way. This book was perfect for my stage of development.

It makes absolutely no sense to not include the answers for this book. There are plenty of other theory books that do,,I would recommend one of those instead (IE, Harmony & Theory by Wyatt & Schroeder).

No answers to "Worksheet" pages. Answers would clarify the accuracy of the learning explained in the preceding chapter.

My friend said: If you have insomnia, just read a harmony book or textbook and you would fall asleep in 10-15 minutes. I did not fall asleep with this book because it gave me helpful explanation about chords and chord progression than other books. May be it is too simple for an advanced student but it is enough for me. With a piano/keyboard in front of you, you would learn Simple, Elementary concepts in harmony with not too much diificulty. I think Arnie Berle wrote a lot of good books.

The book has sat on my shelf for a while...i finally decided to just go through it. Its great...its little over 100 pages so how daunting can it really be?? On the other hand to my satisfaction there is very little wasted in those 100 pages. Meaning its just terse enough...i found it just perfect.

Working through the exercises i was actually happy that the solutions werent sitting there. It forced me to go back and reread some things or make sure i understood the material. They werent very difficult, its easy to find the solution you are looking for for any question in the example material albeit probably in a different key. But the nice thing about music theory is that once you understand it in one key the rest is just transpositional work which the exercises seem to be there to encourage you to do.

Its the strangest thing, i take this book around with me during the day and read it when i get a chance and do the (non instrumental)exercises and then when i go home i find i sound much better! :)

looking for a good follow up book, so far iv been disappointed. The other books iv seen have not been nearly terse enough and too short. The great thing about this book is that he doesnt assume just because you may be unfamiliar with music theory that you are a completely inept thinker.

Theory & Harmony for the Contemporary Musician is a great theory book for musicians who would like to learn practical theory. Instead of focusing on symphonic theory, specific instrumentational theory, tone rows, or the like, Arnie Berle goes over the basics of theory that all musicians can use, whether they play jazz, classical, pop, or 12-tone styles.

The book starts the reader with the basics and fundamentals of musical concepts, and quickly jumps into scales, modes, chords, and progressions.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to have a better grasp on what is going on "behind the scenes" in music, or even for those who want to get a head start to learning and playing music at a more professional level (ie, great for teens who will study music theory in college).

This book covers most aspects of modern harmony. I think it's great for self-training usicians who has some gasps out there.