17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT MUSIC THEORY BOOK, May 30, 2000
This book is an excellent work, written by Bruce Benward and Gary White. The explanations are limited to the indispensable minimum and written in a schematic way that makes it very easy to grasp, followed by plentiful musical examples, mostly from music literature that say more than a thousand words, and that is what I like best about this book, despite the theory you have to learn, you know you're talking about real music. It is divided in three parts. The first part, on the first volume, concentrates on the fundamentals of music and it explains very well the concepts of notation, scales, tonality, key, modes, intervals, chords, in a way understandable for any one; the second part, also in volume one concentrates on the structural elements of music like melodic organization, voice leading in four-part chorale writing, harmonic progression and modulation. There are lots of exercises in this book but for people who have no experience at reading music I would recommend, a specific book for that, because the ones on the first part of the book though helpful, aren't enough and you will need that ability to study the rest of the book. (This review concerns the 5th edition of the 1st vol.)
The third part of the book, in the second volume was written by Bruce Benward; it concentrates on analysis methods and analysis of musical examples from the 16th century until present day. I strongly recommend you to also take this part. After you do, a musical piece is no longer just a bunch of notes, or a beautiful melody, you see it as a meaningful organized whole. (see more)
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best music theory book out there today, April 11, 2000
As a graduate student in music theory, I have had to review different textbooks used to teach music theory. Even to the average musician, music theory can sometimes be hard to grasp. However, with the simple but sufficient explanations, this book is definately the best one on the market today. Used with the workbook and possibly a supplimental anthology, students can get a thorough grasp of the theoretical concepts from early music to 20th century music including a bit of jazz, pop, and modern music genres. I highly recommend it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Practical Theory, April 23, 2005
This review is from: Music in Theory and Practice Vol 1 w/ Anthology CD (Spiral-bound)
The CD helps with the theory part. I find most theory book lacks practical application. This book will be a good source for those who are interested in applying music theory into real world music playing.
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