Customer Reviews

Music in Theory and Practice, Volume 1 with Audio CD

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
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as someone who learned harmony from Arnold Schoenberg's 'Theory of Harmony' and other very good books like Macpherson's 'Melody and Harmony' , I have found this book excellent. It is a very well-rounded book for undergraduates students and musicians who want to increase their well-roundedness in general music composition, regardless of styles. It comes bundled with a fantastic audio resource and the book has other optional additions, all very useful, like workbooks.

Also, I liked it's approachability, and the really good point of this book is that it spans illustrations from antique folk songs to baroque ,classical and contemporary music as well as popular music, so you will find his material varied and kept interesting.

Usually, the material of books that try to mesh and explain all these different styles, are very weakly assembled. It's usually a mesh of things explained without real expertise. Basically,you can't illustrate classical music unless you know what you are talking about, because the classical approach needs a special training, and the books about 'classical and rock' who try to 'illustrate it all' are written by average people who know nothing about classical harmony and composition. But a classical composer can easily write in any style, it's just a matter for him to figure out why things sound the way they sound.

This book, has been written by such very good teachers with a large teaching experience on their shoulders, who can ALSO teach about contemporary music or any music style for that matter, and it's the best book I know in it's genre. Highly recommended.

As a theorist, composer, and educator of advanced theoretical subjects, I found the book impractical for teaching purposes. The presentation and sequence of the theoretical materials could be better organized. Some concepts such as circle progressions and stylistic practice are impractical and does not teach proper techniques in harmonization and voice leading. Circle progressions can be easily explained as harmonic sequences. The book does not cover enough on rhythm and rests. There are errors in the 16th c counterpoint with a couple of examples containing major 6th intervals, which is not permitted in the style. No mention about 18th c. counterpoint. There are several other theoretical concepts I do not agree with that conflict with other well-known theory texts. Non-harmonic tones are not clearly defined and several are missing. I could understand why students are coming to me for help considering how difficult it is for them to interpret the ideas presented in this book. Not all the information is bad, but much can be presented in a much clearer and understandable way.

Harmony and Voice Leading
Harmony

This is a recommended text for my theory class. I must say it hurt to purchase this book but I am so glad I did. Most of the questions I find myself asking while practicing piano are answered in this book. Easy to understand even for the beginner. However, I might suggest you take your time on the first few chapters because everything in theory builds on itself. Book buyback will not be enticing enough for me this year, I WILL be adding this to my music library. THIS BOOK IS A KEEPER!

I bought this book and its workbook for my Fundamentals of Music class and the following Music Theory I class at my community college. It has a lot of information, but it is hard to understand the author. It is written in the typical academese of college professors. He uses the technical language of music (all specialties have their own jargon). But as a beginner, I often don't understand what he's explaining. The exercises are particularly irritating. I often have to ask my teacher what he's asking for in the exercise. The exercises are useful and indispensable once I know what I'm supposed to do. I see no reason whatsoever that the book could not have been written in plain English.

If you are a beginner, don't start with this book. It will make a very good reference book, once I know the language, and have learned the information from my instructor and other sources.

And just so you know, I have a college degree, a lot of continuing ed credits including journalism school. So it isn't that I lack the education or the smarts to understand this. It's just very badly written.

This is an excellent book to start with if you are a musician or completely new to the scene. It covers everything you need to know to get going and will set you up for success. I still flip through it to keep the info fresh in my mind for when I play.