35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic book for anyone interested in (or intimidated by) music theory, July 13, 2007
This review is from: The Everything Music Theory Book: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level (Paperback)
I have been playing music since elementary school band and have played guitar since I was 20 years old (I am now 32), so music theory is not new to me. I have long had a cursory understanding of basic theory, but there were a lot of things I knew but did not understand, and a lot more that I just plain didn't know.
For example, I knew about the different minor scales (natural, harmonic, and melodic), but had no idea why there were three of them and how they were used. I knew that a "root" chord usually follows a V7 chord, but did not understand why the V7 chord has such a strong pull back to the tonic. I knew what a "tritone" was, but not why it is musically important or when and how to use one. I had seen the circle of keys (aka circle of fifths) but did not understand its purpose or how to apply it to the music I read and play. I had only the most basic understanding of things like harmonization, chord progressions, inversions, and augmented/diminished chords, and I found many explanations of these things to be intimidating at best and confounding more often than not.
This book explains all of those and a good deal more, as well as when and how to apply the concepts, in a way that is very easy to follow and comprehend. The author goes into why things are the way they are with bits of historical information and examples that help you understand where different musical concepts came from, but he does not get bogged down in the "how and why" like a lot of theory books do, and he never loses focus on the topic at hand.
The Everything Music Theory Book is fantastically written, easy reading, and informative, and I do not hesitate to recommend it to anyone I meet that is interested in music, regardless of their current level of understanding or which instrument they currently play or want to learn. The material presented in the book is invaluable to anyone that wants to learn about music or improve their ability to play, comprehend, and analyze it, and you would be hard pressed to find it presented in a manner that is plainer, friendlier, or easier to understand.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent theory book, big mistake is no answer key for exercises, March 21, 2009
This review is from: The Everything Music Theory Book: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level (Paperback)
I'd rate the content of the book a 4. It is well written, organized decently and does a good job explaining the concepts of music theory.
I knocked it down one additional point (to 3) because 50% of the paper in the book is useless - the exercises you are supposed to work through -- because there is no answer key in the book - a colossal mistake. If you think you understand a concept and want to test it, you'll have no way of knowing if you answered correctly or not. Perhaps the author plans a "teacher addition" but frankly, the key should have been included here. It's a big miss.
Instead of this, I recommend spending $60 on Alfred's Music Theory Complete version 2.0 on CD-ROM. You will learn more, faster, and be able to prove it to yourself. The Alfreds material is also available in book form but I recommend the CD-ROM which is computer based training. (72 lessons).
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great refresher book, missing one thing, May 28, 2007
This review is from: The Everything Music Theory Book: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level (Paperback)
Having studied music performance as a child, I wanted to freshen up on my theory skills. I like the book because it didn't talk "down" to you, like you were a six year old. The author covers a range of topics that will get you up to speed quickly. The only gripe I have: In certain areas in the book he gives you "Etudes"--tests to see how your comprehension is. However, there are no answers provided in a book, or no online link give to where the answers are. So you could be self-teaching your way through the book and you would have no clue on if you were right or not. Other than that, I really do enjoy this book. If you don't play piano or guitar, a CD of audio examples is included, which I think is a nice touch.
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