Customer Reviews

Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm, and Meter (Third Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I can't understand why publishers can't leave well enough alone. I loved the first edition of this book. I found each successive edition more expensive and less useful. But this is finally the end; I can no longer require my students to purchase it or even recommend that they use it. In its current form it is bloated with unnecessary information, poorly organized, and, from a scholarly point of view, very much suspect. I am disappointed, frustrated, and upset.

I bought this book to brush up on my theory before returning to school for a 2nd undergrad degree in music, and I think it's helpful for three reasons. First, I've made it through the first 4 parts with relative ease, but I've also picked up enough tidbits of information to make it really useful. (I always knew how to play a major triad but never thought of the fact that it's made up of two 3rds, a major under a minor, or that a minor chord is a minor under a major.) Second, it is forcing me to memorize things like key signatures for minor keys, which I used to figure out by thinking of the relative major key. (That takes enough extra time to make it awkward at an audition.) Finally, it is a workbook, so you are expected to write the answers right in the book. It helps me to remember when I have to take the time to write the answer down, rather than just thinking of it. I haven't complete the entire book yet, but I know I'm just getting into the things I don't know!

All in all it is helping me to combine my practical performance knowledge with the reasons "why". I'm sure that understanding will lead to better performances.

The latest edition of this book has lost much of the classical simplicity and directness that made the previous editions so successful. Ugly icons crowd the page, statements are watered down, but still the text is far clearer than the other popular programmed text by Harder & Steinke. A student considering entering a conservatory or music school would be well prepared having worked through this book.

I'm dissapointed to see Norton's changes, and the increase in price, but I still recommend this text--it still is the best self-instruction program out there.

I have a degree in music performance and have used this book successfully many times with my fellow homeschool moms and their kids. In private lessons and in more formal group settings this book has been most helpful, even with those who have had no musical background at all. Children from age 10 to 18 have learned the lessons from *cover to cover* with weekly instruction over the course of a year with me.

Additionally, once the lessons were completed we moved into sight-singing and ear training books (also from the Norton editions) and early part-writing. I feel that this book is actually better organized than the texts used in the theory classes at my conservatory (it was published after I graduated). There are some typos in the text and I would prefer that the answers were not quite so readily accessible(you might feel differently though), but other than that, I highly recommend this text.

The previous edition of this book was set up in such a manner that the pages on the left side of the book were upside down. You would work through the book one way and then flip it over to work through the other way. Since you use a little card to cover up the answers on one side of the page it made it very easy to work quickly and drill yourself without revealing the answers until you needed them.

This edition while retaining the division of the page between answers and questions puts the instructions and information on the full page and is printed 'normally'. It takes a great deal more effort than the last edition to situate the card over the answers and you are constantly forced to remove it to read the instructions. A quick glance is all that is needed to come to ruin questions for drills. Also you have to write along the middle hump of the book which was not necessary in the previous revision due to everything being on the right side of the right page.

I am disappointed that they changed such a useful book and made it so cumbersome and poorly thought out. I would recommend tracking down a used (but unmarked) copy of the last edition as none of the information has really changed inside the book.

I bought this book to brush up on my theory before returning to school for a 2nd undergrad degree in music, and I think it's helpful for three reasons. First, I've made it through the first 4 parts with relative ease, but I've also picked up enough tidbits of information to make it really useful. (I always knew how to play a major triad but never thought of the fact that it's made up of two 3rds, a major under a minor, or that a minor chord is a minor under a major.) Second, it is forcing me to memorize things like key signatures for minor keys, which I used to figure out by thinking of the relative major key. (That takes enough extra time to make it awkward at an audition.) Finally, it is a workbook, so you are expected to write the answers right in the book. It helps me to remember when I have to take the time to write the answer down, rather than just thinking of it. I haven't complete the entire book yet, but I know I'm just getting into the things I don't know!

All in all it is helping me to combine my practical performance knowledge with the reasons "why". I'm sure that understanding will lead to better performances.

The information is laid out in a nice step-wise way. Repititions make it easy to assimilate the material. I am confident that working my way through the material will help me understand the music that I enjoy playing.

This book is very thorough. It is for advanced high school or college music students. It is a workbook, so be careful if you order it used that it has not been written in. Students cover the answers as they work, so they need to be self-motivated not to cheat. I would recommend it to students planning to major in music or anyone serious about learning music theory. It is not designed for young students.

As someone with eclectic and manifold interests I'm always on the lookout for books that can teach me something...anything. As a teacher myself I'm very sensitive (perhaps overly so) of the failings of most instructional texts. It is always a pleasure to encounter a book that is clearly written, unambiguous, and obviously created by authors who understand the pitfalls their previous students have experienced in learning the subject in question.

This book has those features. The format is very good and the exercises though pedantic and occasionally boring definitely facilitate learning. The concepts of the book could certainly be stated in a quarter of the pages actually used but it's the constant repetition that really makes those concepts stick.

I highly recommend this book. It's not the most "thrilling" read imaginable but you WILL learn the material.

I'm a self taught musician that wanted to learn music theory. I started taking private classes with a music teacher who recommended that I purchase this book to get all the basics on my own time as we progressed with my lessons. Previously, I had attempted to learn on my own by buying college-level Music theory books and I could not retain the information or really learn the concepts. Having said that, this book has been the only way that I've been able to learn theory and actually retain the information. I've worked through the entire book and since, I've been able to confidently move onto part-writing, counterpoint & orchestration lessons. I would highly recommend this book if you're starting at ground zero like I did.