Reddit mentions of Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

Schenkerian analysis takes everything you learned in harmony and makes it useful. It helped me make sense of counterpoint too. I link some sources in this thread.

Then there's neo-Riemannian theory, which is more or less about chords that don't behave well under traditional analysis. I learned from bashing my head against really dense academic articles, but I hear Richard Cohn's Audacious Euphony is supposed to be good. What you want to do is learn PLR-family transformations and the triadic Tonnetz, learn the concept behind compound transformations, then jump into Cohn's writing on cyclical progressions and wrap your head around Douthett & Steinbach's graphs.

Form is super important, especially Caplin's theory of formal functions. This stuff meshes well with Schenkerian theory, in my opinion. Schmalfeldt's book is also a very useful for the study of form. I always feel a little strange recommending Hepokoski and Darcy, because that book is so dense and I don't want to push anyone into purchasing a 600-page book on the analysis of sonata forms that's just going to end up collecting dust on their shelf. However, it's easily one of the most important music theory treatises of the 21st century so far (and the other ones I'm mentioning are right up there too), so I feel I should mention it.

Question is, what are you into? What do you want to learn? What do you hope to do with this knowledge?

Yeah... I really don't condone self-teaching for many reasons, but obviously you don't want to hear that right now, so this is just a bit of a disclaimer.

Personally, I think if you're going to study on your own, it's really worth it to get a good background in the "bookwork" elements of singing, like vocal anatomy and pedagogy, as well as language work.

On that end, I would recommend books like Doscher's The Functional Unity of the Singing Voice, McKinney's The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults, Miller's The Structure of Singing, and McCoy's Your Voice: An Inside View. These are really not easy reads, per se, but they should give you a really good foundation in understanding what's going on physically, and being aware of potential problems in vocal health and hygiene, which is arguably the biggest reason to study with a teacher. (In other words, a good understanding of the physical vocal structure can help prevent unknowingly contorting it in an unhealthy way).

I would also strongly recommend some study in language, diction, and text. Even for non-classical singers, it's worth it to know about how diction and articulation works. Diction for Singers, A Handbook of Diction for Singers, and International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers would be a good start. (And in general, a working understanding of IPA is crucial).

You can also work on text analysis - I'm not really a poetry/text specialist so I can't recommend any specific books, but I'm sure there are many out there.

Marchesi's Bel Canto: A Theoretical and Practical Vocal Method is another resource to look into, as it contains many exercises designed for technical practice - I liken it to the Hanon exercises commonly found in piano curricula. However, I will definitely warn that these exercises can be easily done incorrectly and can lead to the development of very bad habits, so please proceed with caution and be aware that there are many ways to execute the exercises, some of which are not healthy.

In addition, I would recommend a broad study in music theory, music history, and ear training. [Musictheory.net](http://www.musictheory.net] and Teoria.com are well-respected websites that offer lessons and exercises to learn beginner to intermediate level music theory concepts. Good-ear.com is another website I often recommend that focuses more on ear training. I would also recommend checking out the sidebar and FAQs over at /r/musictheory for more details.

In addition to these websites, some books worth mentioning include Berkowitz's A New Approach to Sight Singing, Music for Analysis, Caplin's Classical Form, Taruskin's Oxford History of Western Music, Grout's A History of Western Music, and Schoenberg's Structural Functions of Harmony. While of course you don't need to have a doctorate in music theory to begin singing, I think it can only be helpful to have a really broad basis of understanding in various parts of music, as they directly affect your ability to read, understand, and interpret music.

Anyway, that should give you a pretty decent start. Please feel free to post if you have any additional questions.

Note: All the books I recommend are expensive and I suggest you torrent them before buying them to make sure you like their style. Then if you decide to use them buy them of course. The vocabulary used in the book can be a real bitch too, but if you stick with it and google the words you don't know, it'll be worth it.

I've self studied classical and pop music, even composed a few rondos and sonatas in my time. The easiest book you can read is Harmony for Computer Musician http://www.amazon.ca/Harmony-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1435456726

It explains everything in piano roll. It's one of the first book I read and the only thing I didn't like about it is that it left me with so many unanswered questions. It will teach you how to form and use all chords.

It takes probably about 20 hours to go through the book with no prior knowledge. I don't recommend this book unless the only time you want to invest is 20 hours. Knowing only 50% of theory can really restrict and fuck with your mind.

The other books I'll recommend are written in music notation, but the thing with music theory books is that you don't need to know music notation, just look at the examples you want, and slowly transcribe them into pianoroll. It takes me like 5 minutes to read an 8 bars music notation (slow as fuck) and it didnt prevent me form learning all my classical knowledge from theory textbooks with music notation.

So if you want a real and full unrestricted understanding of western music, from classical to pop to EDM, I'd recommend this book http://www.amazon.ca/Harmony-Voice-Leading-Edward-Aldwell/dp/0495189758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381010907&sr=1-1&keywords=harmony+and+voice+leading

The difference with this books and the other one, is that it goes through all exceptions you will see in western music, so you see that almost anything is possible in music, and after you've finished the book you won't really have any questions per say regarding theory. Looking at a midi from a beatles song or a mozart's song won't really puzzle you.

The book probably takes about 200 hours to go through from start to end with no prior knowledge. I highly recommend it. Even if you start now and it takes you 10 years to finish it.

Now that you know everything about harmony, you might want to end your learning here, and that would be fine. This would allow you to create your own style.

But you also might to be able to analyze and imitate a composer or style that you like. You might still be confused about why a composer decided to use which harmony in the verse and which harmony in the chorus, and which harmony in the bridge, and which harmony before the chorus, etc. You might also be confused about how to create your melodic motives, how long should they be? how many times should they repeat? Why should my bridge be 12 bars or 8 bars? Why should my chorus be in a different key? Why did he use the same melodic motif (pattern) twice and then then the harmonic rhytmn accelerated before the chorus?

For this I recommend this book http://www.amazon.ca/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381011568&sr=1-2&keywords=classical+form+caplin

It also takes about 200 hours to go through (and that is if you have prior knowledge of harmony). After that composition of classical music won't have much secret to you. You'll know how to write a sonata and rondo, which most pop music is a simplified version of. I highly recommend this if you really want to be able to compose highly musical pieces, maybe something similar to video game music, or film score. I highly recommend reading at least the few chapters, where they talk about how to form 8 bars sections and ABA' sections (which most pop is based on).

Keep in mind that those 2 books are timeless and their information takes you from complete beginner to advanced. They are like bibles. So even if you buy them are read 1 chapter per month for 10 years, it will be invaluable to your musicianship. Like I'm sure you all know, music is an endless learning experience, so don't be intimiated with their size and complexity.

Now after reading that you want to get back to pop music but your brain is all about classical now (which is like western pop but on steroids). Don't worry, now that you know how to analyze classical, you will be able to understand and analyze most type of music. I would go with the classics and read those analysis of the beatles songs to come back full circle and write pop/EDM music with simple form. http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-notes_on.shtml

You can try reading the beatles analysis without prior knowledge, but a lot of the vocabulary you won't understand. You could also skip the Classical Form book and skip strait to the beatles analysis but then again, you might not fully understand what you're reading.

If anyone is interested I've made some video tutorial on the topic (it doesn't go in depth like the books) http://www.youtube.com/user/DaveCoutureMusic

And here's some examples of classical pieces I've composed (I dont play any instrument and learned everything from books by myself):

https://soundcloud.com/dave-couture/rondo-for-strings

https://soundcloud.com/dave-couture/creepy-piano-piece

Also anyone that wants to PM for tips or get me on facebook if you have questions, I'm always glad to help.

The part of theory that made composition most accessible to me was studying form. By that I mean the high-level organizational structure. For example, Sonata form, verse-chorus form, 12-bar blues form, etc. It's not just about those specific templates, but rather why they actually work. For example, what is it about verse-chorus form that makes it so universal for most of pop music. Once you feel comfortable analyzing form, it's easier to start composing with that sort of road-map ahead of you. For example, with a song, if you know you'll want to use verse-chorus form, it's a lot easier to proceed with writing music with those pieces in mind (the chorus should be catchy, the verse should properly showcase the lyrics, maybe I want a really unexpected bridge to build up tension before the final chorus, etc). Without having form in mind, writing music ends up being sort of free-form and doesn't have a sense of direction or "journey" (which of course can be intentional).

If you're ok with learning from a very classical point of view, I highly recommend "Classical Form" by William E Caplin. (There's also a workbook version). This book has nothing to do with teaching composition directly, but it really opened my eyes in terms of understanding how a piece of music is structured so that it "makes sense." Simple things we might take for granted but actually make a big difference in keeping music sound coherent, like how do you introduce a melody but highlight its importance? How do you develop a melodic idea so that the listener can follow along with your thought process? etc.

It does require a decent amount of theory background though. There is a classroom workbook version that goes over a some of it, but you'll need to feel comfortable at least with reading sheet music and analyzing chords. I would say at the very least, you want to be familiar with everything past a college Music Theory 1 course.

textbook:

https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X

workbook version:

https://www.amazon.com/Analyzing-Classical-Form-Approach-Classroom/dp/0199987297

The A section ('refrain') can be cast in several different forms, from something as simple as a period to a small-part form in itself. Check out William Caplin's book on form in the classical era. There's a whole chapter on rondo form.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Sonata-Theory-Deformations-Late-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0199773912/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41kEvM8h4GL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR222%2C320_&refRID=0TNPE9A46S86HNNVY1PS

those two are a good start

If you're interested in Sonata form (and form in general), I'd also recommend Elements of Sonata Form by Hepokoski and Darcy, and William Caplin's Classical Form.

All of these works are highly technical, though, and probably won't be of much interest unless you really want to get crunchy with the theory. It's also important to know that all of these authors differ on the specifics of their theory, so even though they're describing the same musical structures, they do so in different ways and have different conceptions of how and why things work the way they do.

bad advice so far imo. You shouldn't try to learn something by randomly messing about until you eventual 'learn' it. Learn theory by reading books written on theory. Start with the basic conceptual stuff like what melody and harmony is and why it works the way it does. Learn your ABCs: major and minor scales, modes. How to build chords, Scale degrees and intervals. the cycle of fifths. The consonant < > Dissonant spectrum and how it relates to melody and harmony e.t.c.

THEN you can 'mess about', but in a structured way and explore the stuff you're learning as you learn it. Simply knowing scales is the equivalent of being able to say "hello" "yes" "no" "my name is" e.t.c. You've really got to get into the underlying relationships of intervals and harmony to begin getting a grasp of how to apply meaning (emotion/rhetoric/feeling) to your music.

the books by Michael Hewitt are a decent start as they apply this stuff in a computer music context. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

later down the line you can get into more complicated stuff like diatonic harmony, classical form, post tonal theory e.t.c.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195336674/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=masschairevio-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0195336674

It all depends on how far you want to go with it and ultimately how much control and scope you want to have. A lot of EDM producers are relatively theoretically mute. But it doesn't stop them from making decent music within the practice/genre they're versed in (but that's a different conversation a little outside the scope of your question ;) )

Also, study your favorite tracks, use what knowledge you have to deconstruct music you like, copy the chord progressions, arrangements, mimic timbre, vibe and theme e.t.c. Get familiar with the nuts and bolts of what makes the music you like sound so good to you, and then apply that general orientation in a creative manner to your own workflow.

Hope this helped!

It's actually an intro to his theories and it's written in a very modern and clear way so it doesn't require any prior knowledge of Schenker. I forgot that it assumes good knowledge of classical voice leading though so if he doesn't know that yet I would get him this http://www.amazon.ca/Harmony-Voice-Leading-3rd-Edition/dp/0155062425 (3rd or 4th edition is fine) which is my second favorite book. Again that book is very modern and clear and covers pretty much everything someone will ever need to know about voice leading and counterpoint, which is a must for improvising, composing and memorizing pieces.

It really depends if he has interest in composing and understanding and analyzing pieces. If he does the Schenker book is going to be amazing to him and also this book http://www.amazon.ca/Classical-Form-Functions-Instrumental-Beethoven/dp/019514399X.

If he doesn't have much interest in analyzing and composing then I'm not sure which books he should get. Maybe just the Harmony and Voice Leading one. Anyway those books are pretty expensive, maybe try to get them at a library or some pdf online to make sure he likes them before you buy them.