Customer Reviews

Harmony: Fifth Edition

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'm hearing a lot of politics and bad music school flashbacks from some of these reviews of Piston's Harmony, but I think the book's usefulness depends on what you're looking to learn. When I first came across the book (late 70's, early 80's) I was more interested in composition than performing or analysing existing music. Piston's Harmony teaches by demonstrating snapshots of particular harmonic practices from more or less standard classical pieces. These illustrations are then combined with variations on figured bass or melody harmonization exercises. For what I was interested in at the time, this approach left little room for creativity. A composer-friend suggested Schoenberg's Theory of Harmmony, which approaches harmony from the standpoint of a beginning composer learning the craft of connecting chords and gradually mastering the material by composing his own chord progressions. There are no illustrations of existing pieces and no "half-filled in" exercises to complete. Sure, there are also pages of Schoenberg's rants and diatribes to wade through (what a blogger he would have made!), but this approach made sense to me and I was on my way.

So why four stars for Piston? Well, years later as a player and lifelong student, I became more interested in understanding existing tonal music. I came back to Piston and discovered that I was now more familiar with many of the examples and could better appreciate the harmonic effects as one aspect in the overall context of the whole piece of music. For myself, the written exercises still have limited value, although I feel better prepared for them and, as Schoenberg himself might have said, worked on seriously they won't do anyone harm.

Interesting to read the reviews about this book. Just because a book is "hard" or confuses you doesn't mean it's a bad book. Look, I'm a professional musician, composer and teacher. This book is the most complete and best harmony text out there. There's plenty of room for personal preference, and it's probably not fair to say one book is better than another. This book, however, is truly exceptional, and the 5th edition is the best so far.

BTW, I taught myself harmony from this book when I was in high school (with the guidance of a teacher reviewing my exercises) and tested out of all theory at a prestigious university. Basically I got the equivalent of an undergrad theory background from studying this text.

Walter Piston's 'Harmony' is the finest book with this title (there have been many) ever written. This edition turns that great work into a bloated, tedious, clumsily-written monstrosity. Its introduction admits that Walter Piston, had he lived to see it, would not have approved of much of its additions and deletions. Let's take it at its word and prefer an earlier edition.

If you feel that your knowledge in harmony is incomplete, that is the right book for you! It is very systematic and not hard at all(even for me: english is not my mother tongue) Some people complain about the fact, that it is dry.Well what do they expect from a harmony book? It gives you all the knowledge you need starting from zero, building it gradually to more sophisticated exercises. You really don't have to be super-intelligent to be able to understand it, you just have to work on it systematically and with discipline, you might even enjoy it (I did) By the time you finish the book, you will not feel anymore that your knowledge in harmony is insufficient, on the contrary the word harmony will be more associated as a friend than as an enemy.

When I first learned Harmony in the ninth grade, I was taught on an aged and practically antique fourth edition of Piston's Harmony. The first thing I noticed is that the fifth reworked some of the chapters and the order they are in. For example Chapter 10 in the 4th edition was Cadences, but the 5th it is the six-four chord.

After many years away from practice and learning harmony, I came across it again and was tempted. Should I buy it? Would it be changed after all those years?

I am glad to say that it's like an old friend came by. Despite some of the chapters are different in order, the structure remains the same. Piston uses a lot of musical examples to show what he is trying to teach. He starts out with very easy concepts (positions of notes in a chord and intervals). It is assumed that the reader can read music and knows the difference between a whole note and a quarter note, etc.)

The concept of inversions is covered quite thoroughly, giving the reader time to ingest and start to feel comfortable with first inversion, he gets into the second. Finally, in the section on dominants, he gets into third. In between there are chapters on harmonization of a melody, cadences (the old ii-V-I, etc.), triads, modulation, seventh chords, textures, Neapolitan sixths, etc.

One of the greatest strengths of this book is the musical examples that it is drawn from. Once you start getting into triads, etc. you start seeing output from actual composers (usually keyboard reductions) for teaching the works with a piano or keyboard.

If you are a reader interested in learning the craft and the technique of composition, Piston's book will not steer you wrong. It is good to welcome back an old friend.

As the other reviews make clear, you'll only like this book if you truly want to study harmony! Those who do tend to give the book high marks.

I read the book on my own, because I was finding that in my other reading about classical music I was encountering ideas and terminology that I didn't understand. For this purpose, it really helped me a lot to read Piston. The examples, taken from throughout the history of classical music, are intriguing and helpful as illustrations.

Interesting to read the reviews about this book. Just because a book is "hard" or confuses you doesn't mean it's a bad book. Look, I'm a professional musician, composer and teacher. This book is the most complete and best harmony text out there. There's plenty of room for personal preference, and it's probably not fair to say one book is better than another. This book, however, is truly exceptional, and the 5th edition is the best so far...

Pay no attention to the reviews bashing this book. True, it IS a hard book, but once you've made your way through this book from cover to cover, your understanding of music and classical harmony will be SO much stronger. The excercizes are thoughtful and offer many challenges, which help to enforce the points taught in each chapter. And it isn't TOO hard. I'm a junior in high school (and a DRUMMER, to boot), and I've really enjoyed this book thus far (I'm on chapter 14). Grab this book. With the proper amount of dedication paid to it, it will serve you well.

This is volume is basically a text on traditional harmony that is riddled with examples taken from classic music. It is well-organized, very readable and in my opinion the best of its kind.

While this book is indeed a textbook, it is a very readable one and engages the reader while systematically presenting important concepts. I looked at many books before buying this one and I have been using it for years.

If you are not looking for this much depth and instead are focused on practical concepts for modern music, I recommend Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians (Essential Concepts (Musicians Institute).). This is a very concise and well-written book that covers a lot of territory in a small space.

This book has helped me alot even though it can be tedious and tough to comprehend in certain portions of the book ; but through careful reading, it shouldn't be a problem. It contains examples taken from classical literature and its very in depth, beginners should consider reading other books first before getting to this one. ( I recommend Mark Harrison's "Contemporary Music Theory Level 1" ). If you had read the review before mine you would see some really bad comments from the professor about this book. He may be right due to his vast experience, but learning is still excellent and possible through this book, no doubt about that.