Customer Reviews

The Everything Music Theory Book: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level

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

 

 

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.

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).

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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I've been studying this book for about one year and as a result have accumulated a large amount of notes. Initially I was just planning to read up on a mysterious topic. After two months, I came to the conclusion that I was going to spend some serious time studying. In my mind, understanding 'theory' can help the reader enter a larger and more interesting musical world and has helped maintain and grow my interest in music-making and music-playing. Currently I am on Chapter 10, 'Chord Progressions'.

I am reading this book as a person studying the piano and this has seemed to make the entire learning process just a bit easier. I recently changed instruments from guitar. A keyboard is also illustrated in the book which can be a great help. Anyway, the author accommodates both as it mentions in the preface: "The notation is presented for single-line instruments, mainly the piano and guitar."

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The first chapter of the book is a 'Review of the Basics' which includes:
· Clefs, Time Signatures, Rhythm, Rests and Meter

In the first section, there is a three page review of note reading and understanding clefs. This includes reading notes on the Treble, Bass and Movable 'C' Clef. The section concludes with a sixteen measure exercise. (see Fig. 1.7 on page six)


Here is a breakdown of each chapter in this book:

01. Review of the Basics
02. Intervals
03. The Major Scale
04. The Minor Scale
05. Musical Keys and Key Signatures
06. Modes and Other Scales
07. ETUDE ONE: Scales and Keys
08. Chords
09. Seventh Chords and Chord Inversions
10. Movements: Chord Progressions
11. More Chord Progressions
12. Melodic Harmonization
13. ETUDE TWO: Chords and Harmony
14. Advanced Harmony
15. Jazz Harmony
16. Transposition and Instrumentation
17 ETUDE THREE: Advanced Harmony, Jazz Harmony and Transposition

The most important thing you may possibly learn about involves the subject of intervals. Intervals seem to be the building block of everything else. You will have plenty of time and opportunity in this book to learn about it.

Here is just a sample taken from my notes regarding chord construction:

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CHORD CONSTRUCTION - Triads:

Major Triad - Major 3rd interval + Minor 3rd interval
Major Triad - Root + Major 3rd + Perfect 5th (1-3-5)

Minor Triad - Minor 3rd interval + Major 3rd interval
Minor Triad - Root + Minor 3rd interval + Perfect 5th interval (1-b3-5)

Diminished Triad - Minor 3rd interval + Minor 3rd interval
Diminished Triad - Root + Minor 3rd interval + Diminished 5th interval (1-b3-b5)

Augmented Triad - Major 3rd interval + Major 3rd interval
Augmented Triad - Root + Major 3rd interval + Augmented 5th interval (1-3-#5)

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There is a lot of information contained in that small amount of text. As you can see, understanding intervals is KEY.


CONCLUSION:

If you love music then you will be in good company! Marc Schonbrun makes a difficult topic easy to understand and effectively conveys his enthusiasm and love for music to the reader.

Here is a quote from my piano book:

"To play this music, you have to love music. So if you love music, then it follows you love to listen to it - which makes the ear the most important instrument on earth." Duke Ellington, 1973.


ADDITIONALLY:

· The book comes with a CD of 88 playing examples performed on digital piano.
· There is a 10 page glossary of musical terms in the back.
· Finally, a page of additional resources (books and web sites) is included.

· It is important to read each section carefully and complete each exercise.
· Taking notes will help you.
· A book of staff paper will also help, for example: Notenblock Staff Paper


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A better musician than myself (Washington State) recommended this book to me. Otherwise, I'd probably have to keep calling him and asking, "hey, you know how you told me how that F chord was related to another chord...well, do remember which chord you told me?"

I have not been terribly disciplined in reading it, but I will tell you this: If you have some understanding of reading music, it will help you. If not, the author presents rudimentary lessons to learn, or re-learn, that skill on which you can build more knowledge later. (I believe also that he has another book that addresses that issue more fully than does this book.)

For the kind of music I do, it is not imperative that I do read music, but to learn what I need/want to learn about theory and chord relations, hence, enabling me to become a better writer, I am willing to undertake this challenge!

One thing I dig here later in the book is the Chord Ladder. It shows you which chords can and often do substitute for one another.

I was trying to spend a little time each evening working on this, but then, life got in the way. I'm sure I'd write a more glowing review, but all in all, I do think it's a good book. I like the author's writing style, and I do think he genuinely cares about his reading audience!

Concurrent to this purchase, I also bought this: The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians (Instructional)

I have had several private guitar teachers; two of which had Master's Degrees in music and until I bought this book I still could not understand many musical concepts. This book has really unlocked the puzzle of majors, minors, scales, etc. It is written mostly for guitar and piano players but anyone intersted in understanding why music seems to follow certain patterns will really benefit from this book. The book includes chord diagrams and tablature for guitar and music for piano and others. I didn't really put much thought into the etudes and I certainly won't reduce the rating because of missing answer keys; everything is presented in the chapters.

This book was a bit too complicated for me. But then I have no experience in music, and probably should have started with the music reading book. Still, for the beginnner it probably would have been a good book. I'm just more of a classroom guy. I'd say give it a try.

Excellent primer on music theory, with easy explanations. Particularly helpful for students who take college level music theory... with texts which are too detailed, and too difficult to read.... This book makes it simple..

I have bought 3 books by this author on Amazon and think they are all great books...
I have learned alot from this book and like the style in which the author writes...
Thanks,
Randy

I downloaded the Kindle version of this book a couple years ago and I'm now going to buy the paperback version so that I can complete the practices and use the CD. The book is well organized and superbly written in a conversational reading style. Virtually every page contains an "Ah-ha" moment, where the reader gains a new insight into music theory that increases his/her understanding. This is one of those books that you'll use over and over again, initially to learn theory for the first time, later to refresh your understanding and improve your music skills and finally as a reference. I only regret not having found this book many years ago!