(Part 2) Best products from r/musictheory

Congrats on starting! Thats often the hardest part! And the best bit? Even if it feels like you've started late, some of the best musicians did exactly the same and it never stopped them! In fact I only started singing when I was 16 and now thats my job!

There are loads of resources online which might be able to help you. It does depend a little on what your priority is though. If you would simply like to be able to play and work things out as you go there quite a good app/site called Yousician which helps you learn music on your chosen instrument in a guitar hero style way. Your listening skills will definitely get better with this but I don't think it does much theory.

https://yousician.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz8OE6t-W2wIVBZUbCh1LqQQBEAAYASAAEgIGmvD_BwE

For learning the theory side of things, Piano is definitely very helpful if you can afford a small keyboard. Thats awesome you've already transferred some of the piano stuff you watched onto the ukulele, aural skills like that are hugely useful particularly later on if you want to listen to something and then write it down.

I would recommend music theory.net, they have lots of lessons and exercises online which you can use for free but the lessons are particularly good to give you a full understanding of how to read and understand music.
https://www.musictheory.net/lessons
They also have an app (which is the same material as the website) which you could use, but you do pay for it.

As far as other apps go there is another very useful one called Meludia. I love this one, it helps you train your ear rather then the theory side of things and will play you a short phrase which you then play back within the app. - https://www.meludia.com

For the general practice and seeing how you're doing, I've also just released an app called Muso which lets you practice a load of topics (like recognising notes and chords, and also written stuff) and see where your strengths and weaknesses are. You can also add a teacher further down the line to set you little quizzes and help you learn faster if you ever start lessons.
It's totally free and theres no rubbish in app purchase stuff you can just practice and see how you're doing (we've got a basic AI that learns what you need to practice next which will hopefully kick in soon!). If you do want to check it out its at www.theoretical.xyz or search "Muso by Theoretical" on the app stores (UK).

Theres also a lot of resources through ABRSM (the music Exam body) in the way of books and practice tests for the theory.
This is the most comprehensive to my knowledge and is very popular, though quite in depth!- https://www.amazon.co.uk/AB-Guide-Music-Theory-Vol/dp/1854724460

Or they have a few practice apps you can use, I think you have to pay for some of the features but you might find one you like - https://gb.abrsm.org/en/exam-support/practice-tools-and-applications/

Really though, I think the best tip is to practice practice practice, but above all have fun! Music is awesome and if you can get a bunch of friends together and have a jam together it really is some of the best fun!
I hope that helps a little bit, good luck with all of your music and I hope you enjoy it!

I think every theory book I've ever read has opened up my mind in some way - while always being unsatisfactory in other ways (incomplete, too dense, too little on some forms of music, etc). My experience and interest is largely in popular music of all kinds, less in classical, so that has biased my reading somewhat; but I can recommend all the following (not 100%, but worth reading):

Eric Taylor: The AB Guide to Music Theory, pts I and II - good review of the basics, aimed at pupils studying for grades. Not deep in any way but good if you're just starting out. Solidly classical, which could be a downside for some. The concepts up to grade 5 are shrunk to useful pocket size in [this] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Steps-Music-Theory-Grades/dp/1860960901/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466150641&sr=1-1&keywords=theory+of+music+grades+1-5) - 100% recommended for any absolute beginner.

George Heussenstamm : [Harmony and Theory, pts 1 & 2 (Hal Leonard)] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hal-Leonard-Harmony-Theory-Diatonic/dp/1423498879/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466150878&sr=1-2&keywords=Hal+Leonard+Harmony+%26+Theory) Usefully split into Diatonic and Chromatic. I've read a few texts on standard classical theory, and this is the most approachable, IMO.

William Russo: [Jazz Composition and Orchestration] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Composition-Orchestration-William-Russo/dp/0226732150/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466151290&sr=1-1&keywords=russo+jazz+composition) Taught me more than I thought I wanted to know about counterpoint. Most of which I've now forgotten (not much call for it in the bands I played in...). But if you're not into big band jazz (at all), maybe not worth it.

William Russo: [Composing for the Jazz Orchestra] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Jazz-Orchestra-William-Russo-ebook/dp/B01EZ8OKQW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466149432&sr=1-1&keywords=william+russo) Neat little guide book on jazz arranging (NOT composition).

Mark Levine: [The Jazz Theory Book] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466151006&sr=1-1&keywords=levine+jazz+theory) 50% recommended. Well written and presented, eye-opening in many ways, but beware - chord-scale theory! (controversial stuff, in ways he doesn't admit.)

Robert Rawlins and Nor Eddine Bahha: [Jazzology] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazzology-Encyclopedia-Jazz-Theory-Musicians/dp/0634086782/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=41YkvVcCfEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR120%2C160_&refRID=ZR730GKYPSZYA2THNXGT) The somewhat dry antidote to the above. 50% recommended. Should have been good, but somehow hard to read, easy to put down. Unlike Levine, no quotes from jazz standards or recordings - all music examples are written by the authors.

Dominic Pedler: [The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Songwriting-Secrets-%2522Beatles%2522-Dominic-Pedler/dp/0711981671/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466151087&sr=1-1&keywords=pedler+beatles) Outlines the vast number of theoretical concepts that the fab four would be astonished to learn they employed. Includes a useful appendix on basic concepts of tonal harmony. If you like pop and rock (and theory) but don't like the Beatles, still worth reading.

But then if you like the Beatles AND theory... [Alan Pollack's site] (http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-alphabet.shtml) is essential reading. (Pedler is deep, but doesn't examine EVERY song. Pollack is briefer, but does.

Allan F Moore: [Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Popular Song] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Song-Means-Analysing-Interpreting-Recorded/dp/1409438023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466151140&sr=1-1&keywords=allan+moore+song+means) Does what it says in the title - and goes deep! (way beyond the plain old superficial harmony concepts peddled - sorry - by Pedler :-))

Walter Everett: [Rock's Tonal Systems] (http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.04.10.4/mto.04.10.4.w_everett.html) More stuff to raise the eyebrows of any rock musician. "Wow - we really do all that?"

Paul F Berliner: [Thinking in Jazz] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Jazz-Infinite-Improvisation-Ethnomusicology/dp/0226043819/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466151218&sr=1-1&keywords=thinking+in+jazz) Not a music theory book in the usual sense, but discusses how jazz musicians think about improvisation.

Ahh, that makes sense, sorry \^\^;

There are books on a huge variety of subjects in music, so it does depend a little bit on what you are interested in specifically. For a broad overview, I liked A History of Western Music - the current edition is the 8th, but much of the materials from the 7th edition are available online. Another book I recommend is Harold C. Schonberg's The Lives of the Great Composers. It is less in-depth, but is written in a more narrative style while still hitting on a lot of the "who's who" in classical music from the Baroque to the 20th century (although it's maybe a tad outdated in the later 20th and 21st century).

Besides those two, I actually don't have any others on the top of my head that are good overviews. /u/m3g0wnz does have a guide to music theory textbooks on the sidebar that details out some of the main texts in that area. And, of course, there are books that specialize on a variety of subjects within music theory and history - Ebenezer Prout's book on fugues is one such example that I've looked at, as well as both the Kennan and Adler on the subject of orchestration. (Actually, Kennan also wrote a book on Counterpoint.)

On the subject of sight-singing, I've used both Rhythm and Pitch and A New Approach to Sight Singing in my aural skills classes - I like the Berkowitz a little better in the way it's organized, but both offer plenty of examples for practice. Alternatively, picking up a hymnal is possibly an easier alternative to sightsinging that gives you lots of tonal material for practice.

With most of my other suggestions, though, you don't really need a book. Print out some scores on IMSLP or pick up a cheap study edition (like this one of Mozart piano sonatas) and work through a harmonic/formal analysis.

With transposition, I think probably just working through some scores on IMSLP would be a good start, as well - I can't think of any other better way to get exercises for that. It's one of those topics that's pretty easy to quiz yourself with as long as you keep yourself honest. :)

Edit to add: As far as specifics of literature, that is obviously pretty instrument-dependent. I am a vocalist, and I usually choose language first and then begin exploring pieces that might work with my current technical goals. I know a lot of instrumentalists treat genre/time period the same way. So depending on your instrument, you may have a different approach, but it helps to narrow things down to a few composers you might like to explore for your instrument, and then seeing if anything works for you. Although be wary - for me I end up getting so involved in lit studies that I have a list a mile long of pieces I want to study in the future. It's a double-edged sword for sure.

I posted this in our still-being-created FAQ, hope it helps!

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I always recommend Robert Gauldin's books on 16th- and 18th-century counterpoint, mostly because they're just what I used as an undergrad. I realize there are others out there that are just as good, but I do think Gauldin is extremely smart and knows what he's talking about.

I've also used Evan Jones's book on modal counterpoint. It's newer so not as time-tested, but it seems like a nice book. It quotes some passages directly from Fux's Gradus where they are relevant, which is nice.

Speaking of which, I don't recommend learning straight from Fux's Gradus. It was written nearly 300 years ago (in 1725) and you are not its target audience! It's an extremely important treatise in relation to the history of music theory and music in general, but it is not flawless and there are other books written with a more updated style of pedagogy that will be easier to learn from. Feel free to read Fux to supplement your work, but I would not make it my primary text.

Turning now to species counterpoint, I'd like to plug what I think is a fascinating book for academics and beginners alike: Counterpoint in Composition by Carl Schachter and Felix Salzer, two brilliant minds in music theory. The book does teach some counterpoint, but what I think the interesting part is is where they relate counterpoint to "free composition"—i.e., pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, and others who were not literally writing species counterpoint, but composing freely. Every student I've assigned readings to from this text has loved the readings and it encouraged them to keep working at counterpoint since the relationship to "real music" became that much more tangible after reading this book.

Well, all of that stuff you've studied so far (modes, scales, note names) is NOT the bulk of what music theory is all about. Those are just definitions and the basic musical vocabulary. You have to understand English words, and what English letters look like before you try and write down an English sentence, right? The same goes for music theory. Trying to write down a chord progression is impossible without knowing this basic terminology, let alone understanding why you would use certain chords in certain places during that progression. The beginning sucks, but it gets so much better very quickly. I think the best thing you could do is expedite the process of learning these basic terms so you can fully engage with the “good stuff”.

You can do that here:

https://www.amazon.com/AB-Guide-Music-Theory-Part/dp/B004NWH0CW/ref=nodl_

Reading the book takes about a day, two days if you’re taking notes. Totally worth it.

It seems like you are looking for the “why (you would do BLANK)”, in music theory rather then a “what (this BLANK is)”. The good news is, the majority of all of music theory deals with the “why” rather then the “what”. None of these “why” concepts are hard “rules”, however, just what people have observed to typically happen over the past few hundred years in western music.

Harmony, Composition/form and Orchestration/arranging are the main fields of theoretical study, but were just going to focus you in on the first two. If you’re looking for rigorous study, look for the textbooks that major universities use, preferably textbooks that have an accompanying workbook with exercises in it. If you’re looking for something more casual, here are some of my suggestions:

Start here:

https://www.artofcomposing.com/how-to-compose-music-part-six-simple-functional-harmony

Then here:

http://openmusictheory.com/contents.html

Skip through the “strict 2 voice composition” and “strict 4-voice Composition” sections for now and go straight to the “Harmony” section. After that hit the “thematic structure in classical style” section and go nuts. Those two articles were pretty mind blowing for me. There’s a ton of more stuff there that’s really cool as well. If you don’t understand what’s going on, the “Fundamentals” section can bring you up to speed.

Here’s a solid beginners Harmony Book:

The Songwriter's Workshop: Harmony https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634026615/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pcYKAbPQK5Z9M

Here’s a solid beginners Composition Book:

Melody in Songwriting: Tools and Techniques for Writing Hit Songs (Berklee Guide) https://www.amazon.com/dp/063400638X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MbYKAb6XE2FPG

Both are super useful and practical. You’ll start learning things you can apply right away.

After that you could do read this book here if you want a more in depth look into how motives can develop and the logic behind compositional “form”:

Fundamentals of Musical Composition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0571196586/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_neYKAbH8HCFKN

You can find this one for free on the internet somewhere.

>I guess I'm still confused as to where they are structurally important so that I can go where I'm trying to go harmonically in the piece?

You're asking a much larger question here: how do I compose? You need to learn the rules of the game and work around them. I would suggest you find a good teacher.

>In the 1:1 counterpoint you mention, chords theoretically show up all over the place but they don't all seem to have the same role.

Yes, precisely. This is even more true in free composition. It's hard to articulate this without getting deep into the theory of prolongation, but the idea is that there are arrival points in music, and these are usually tied to formal boundaries.

Now bear with me, and I'll do a quick analysis. Let's take the Richard Marx song, performed by NSYNC, This I Promise You. Here is a transcription. A weird thing about this song that you might miss if you "turn off your analytical brain while listening" is that the tonic chord is virtually absent from the verse. Why might that be? I'm going to summarize what is happening in each section. Each phrase gets its own line.

Intro:
I V vi IV
I V IV I

The transcription says that bars 7 and 8 are both Gmaj9, but this is a lie: bar 7 is G and bar 8 is D. There is a G hanging around in the bass, which is a bit odd, but the voice leading tells me that the chord in bar 8 is D, and G is the non-chord tone. It has some motivic significance, as G interrupts the arrival of D at multiple points in the song. Anyway, this is a period with IV acting as dominant in both the antecedent and consequent phrase.

Whatever is happening motivically, the important thing about this introduction is that it establishes the tonic. You can think of the overall progression as I...IV...I. I'm just taking the heads and tails of the phrases, as these tell us where we start and where we end up. The stuff in between simply prolongs the journey from the beginning to the end. If we zoom back another level, the whole intro is simply I, with the sense that this is the start of a larger cycle.

Verse:
V vi IV V
V vi IV V
ii V I V vi
ii iv V

There is a tonic chord in the middle of the third phrase. Notice that it does not have the effect of arrival we would expect of a tonic chord. That's because it's not a tonic Stufe here, but a prolongational harmony in between a bunch of V chords.

Let's cut out the stuff in the middle again.

V...V
V...V
ii...V vi < Including V because it's involved in a cadence.
ii...V

A lot of V. In fact, I would be comfortable zooming out and assigning V to the whole verse. I pointed out the deceptive cadence (V vi) in there. A conclusive cadence would have a strong affirmation of I, what we call an "authentic cadence." The verse systematically avoids authentic cadences for inconclusive half and deceptive cadences. It is putting off the authentic cadences for the chorus.

Chorus
I V vi IV
I6/4 V IV I

This one begins with an elided cadence on the downbeat of the chorus, which is typical. However, that cadence is not as strong as the one that comes at the end of the chorus. You'll notice that this is similar to the intro progression, at least at the beginning. The I6/4 V progression is what we call a "cadential 6/4" progression, and it is usually analyzed as V with a suspension figure. I am labeling it as I6/4 here to point out that it does have the same pitches as the tonic chord. However, it does not function as a tonic chord! It embellishes, prolongs V. Listen for the bait-and-switch: After I6/4 V, we're ready for an authentic cadence, for the arrival of I. But IV, that rascal, interjects. The cadence is interrupted. Another cadence is needed to confirm the tonic.

After this point, my Roman numeral analysis is inadequate. Do you hear the E on "this I promise you"? That's a structural scale degree 2. It should be attached to a V chord, but it's floating over IV. This is a weird thing that happens in rock music, something that has been dubbed a melodic-harmonic divorce, and more specifically a syntax divorce. What the syntax divorce says is that the melody line is expressing a cadential figure—3 ("I") 2 ("promise") 1 ("you")—and so is the harmony, but the harmony is doing a different kind of cadence than what the melody is doing. In this case, we have IV supporting 2. If that sounds like a stretch, the other option is to say that the 2 is* attached to V, the cadence is in fact V I, and IV is inserted between them to "soften" the cadence.

(Walter Everett talks about this softening effect in The Foundations of Rock, page 138: "Also in blues, the cadences are somewhat softened: the first four bars may have no harmonic motion at all, simply prolonging I for that entire phrase. The second four bars typically move from two bars of IV to two of I, making for the weak plagal decoration of tonic. The third phrase of four bars typically moves from V to a concluding two bars of I, often through an intervening, softening bar of IV that eases the full cadence.")

At any rate, the arrival of the tonic at the end of the chorus is the functional goal of the whole intro-verse-chorus module. I think that's pretty easy to hear, but feel free to argue another viewpoint. We can play our "cut out the middle" game and arrive at the conclusion that the chorus does this: I...V...I. You could say that if we zoom out, the entire chorus could be represented simply by I. I'm not going to do that though. I mentioned before that the cadence that enters us into the chorus is not as strong as the one that ends it. In fact, I don't think the I at the beginning is structural at all: I want to privilege the tonic at the end of the chorus as the one that ends the cycle, so I'm going to say that V is in fact prolonged all through the verse and almost all of the chorus right up until the final "this I promise you." All those other chords, all those other notes, are decorations, icing on our structural counterpoint cake.

This is a lot to digest, I'm sure, so I'll let it sit for a while. I can come back around to your other question later, but I think I've sort of answered it here.

>It's perhaps the least romantic gift ever

Hahahahaha! I would definitely agree, though—I think the CHWMT would be an excellent book. If she goes through any sort of History of Theory course (which most PhD programs do), I can't imagine she wouldn't use this book. Even if she didn't have such a course, this book is a collection of (with perhaps one exception) excellent essays written by top scholars on almost every major theoretical approach or issue in the history of Western music.

I won't speak for other sub-disciplines—vornska's suggestions are definitely some of the central books in present theoretical studies—but let me make some suggestions for books more oriented towards Schenkerian analysis.

Schenker's Free Composition — this is Schenker's magnum opus in which he lays out his mature theory. For any Schenkerian, this is definitely a Bible of sorts, and a must-have. Just be sure, if you end up purchasing this, to get both volumes; one volume is the text and the second is the examples. You can also find the hardcover first English edition, sometimes even for less than the price of the two paperbacks.

Cadwallader and Gagné's Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach — this has become the standard textbook for teaching Schenkerian analysis, and I still find myself referring to it after years of Schenkerian studies. A somewhat dry but very clear and beneficial book.

Schachter's Unfoldings: Essays in Schenkerian Theory and Analysis — Carl Schachter is one of the greatest Schenkerians; nearly everybody who's anybody in the world of Schenkerian analysis studied with him. This book is a wonderful collection of some of his greatest essays. His writing style is exceptional and his analysis are some of the best I've seen.

If you ever feel like really delving into this stuff in depth, there are two books you can get that will be invaluable to you.

1. Robert Gjerdingen's Music in the Galant Style. This is an incredibly useful overview to the language of the 18th century. Gjerdingen also runs the website that collects these exercises together and is the narrator of that YouTube video I posted that walks you step by step through an exercise.
   
   
2. Giorgio Sanguinetti's The Art of Partimento. This is really the definitive guide to how to work with Partimenti today.
   
   > I'm wondering how you come up with phrase lengths actually.
   
   Phrase lengths are completely derived from the bass line. After looking at the exercise a couple of times, I realized that the piece was about 90% the same descending circle of fifths pattern (which means you can basically copy and paste what your right hand is doing for these passages and have 90% of the exercise done). The couple of measures that aren't circle of fifths patterns suggest the kinds of things Insanguine tells you are indicative of cadences. So the bass line by itself tells you "okay, Circle of fifths, then cadence, modulation and cadence, Circle of fifths, cadence, Circle of fifths, cadence."
   
   >That chord progression/bass line though - was that by Bach? I'm sure I've heard that before!
   
   It's a bass line written by Giacomo Insanguine, a teacher at one of the conservatories in Naples around the end of the 18th century. It sounds familiar because it is mostly circle of fifths motion in a minor mode. It's extremely close to the jazz standard "falling leaves," It's just realized using 18th century figuration rather than Jazz figuration.
   
   >I don't play the piano so I can't improvise, but I guess I could give it a go on Sibelius but it would be a lot slower.
   
   You can do that, sure. But learning some keyboard skills is never a bad thing. One simple keyboard exercise that can help you a lot with these exercises can be found here. This is known as the Rule of the Octave and is one of the basic ways that Baroque musicians constructed their chord progressions. The figured bass in this case indicates how your right hand should be spaced. So the "3/8/5" figure that starts the second exercise tells you that your right hand should have the 3rd of the chord in the highest voice, the root underneath, and the 5th in the lowest voice.
   
   It's basically scales practice with chords in the right hand.
   
   If you can become fluent in this exercise, you will do a lot to improve your keyboard skills and your understanding of how Baroque harmony woks.
   
   >Your pieces sound awesome!
   
   Thank you very much!

http://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-Stefan-Kostka/dp/0078025141?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

A book refering mostly to classical music (probably exclusivly) but its an immense source of knowledge of music theory and practice in general. It's written for academic purposes but is easily read by laymen :)

if you want a book that covers classical theory and harmony this probably the best.

Phillip Tagg's 'Everyday Tonality' is also good but a bit more advanced :)

I disagree with /u/vornska about Kostka and Schoenberg. They both have great perspectives and I think they are both good tools.

But I TOTALLY agree when it comes to counterpoint. Counterpoint is like the capstone of music theory (from my perspective). It really brings theory all together, at least for me. Still, I'd say that in order to study counterpoint it helps to have a background in basic theory first, which is why I characterize it as a capstone.

But it sounds like you have that basic theory knowledge (I think), so counterpoint might be awesome for you. If learning counterpoint is your endgame, I would go with neither Kostka nor Schoenberg. My counterpoint textbook was by Kent Kennan. Now, I only have experience with that one counterpoint book, so while I do recommend it, there could definitely be some better books on counterpoint out there. I just wanted to say that counterpoint is amazing to learn for any musician, no matter what books you read on it. (Well, unless the book is objectively bad.)

I think theory as a whole has reached a very comfortable spot. Sure, we might still not have a tuning with perfect ratios of its harmonics on the octave, perfect fifth, mayor third, etc etc. But humanity knew how to adapt to what was already available and theory has gone beyond music to blend itself with non-functional sounds very useful for movies, video games or theater.

​

I think the guinea pigs are the people themselves: we collectively decide what we like and the people who write for the big names take note.

​

With that said there's a lot of experimentation with microtonality in both music (king gizzard & jacob collier are the first to come to my mind) and we have books that look to implement math into theory and expand whats possible:

​

a geometry of music: a study in counterpoint: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195336674/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

​

The geometry of rhythm

https://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Musical-Rhythm-Godfried-Toussaint/dp/1466512024/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=geometry+of+rhythm&qid=1563542715&s=books&sr=1-1

Here are two awesome books:

• Composing Music, by Tony Russo
  
• The Composer's Handbook by Bruce Cole
  
  They are both chock-full of awesome, fun exercises. (I love exercises because it's a great way to learn about composition and practice composition without launching the inner dialogue of "omg i am writing a composition is this any good?" Exercises let you practice writing without the inner critic, just like you practice pieces outside of a performance context, etc.)
  
  Can you give more information about your field of study? What skills do you think you'll need?

I learned a lot from taking classes and private lessons, as well as self study by reading books and analyzing music. I'm not really aware of that many good resources for jazz theory online unfortunately, but there is this site: http://community.berkleejazz.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

EDIT: I love the Jazz Piano Book, it's not really a theory book but I thought it was great. The author has also written a Jazz Theory Book which a lot people seem to like, but I haven't really gone through it yet. Some other options are the Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony and the Jazz Harmony Book

Sithu Aye's Motif


The more you improv and learn licks, the more tricks you can fit into 16 bars. I learned on Piano but a great transcript to study for bebop is Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce," especially this part which is a lick he did a lot on the final 2-5-1. Also, maybe study some walking bass. You can speed those approaches to the final note for effect.


Lastly, some John McLaughlin. It's part knowing the song and transitions well, and having those familiar riffs and melodies at your disposal.


Edit:RELEVENT "The Lick"

Edit part II: I saw you were asking about modes. My favorite book is Mark Levine's THE Jazz Piano Book who covers the standards and the permutations of jazz, bebop, afro-latin (not trying to list each one), and general harmony. He's really good about modes.

I super recommend reading Tonal Harmony! (I'm sure you can get a better price though, amazon is notorious for overpriced textbooks). It explains things really well in an easy to understand way, and it still goes deep into harmonically challenging and interesting waters.

There are some great books about writing melodies, but I would recommend starting to study counterpoint. Grab Fux's book and start there. Not only does he give great guidelines for learning to write counterpoint, but in the process, you start learning what makes up good melodies. From there, I would start looking at the Salzer book and applying those principles.

"Harmony" comes from counterpoint... Remember - Music theorists didn't start writing about functional harmony until the 19th century.

I would recommend going to your theory teacher's website/class website and look at what book they want you to get. This is a big sign of the approach the university will take in teaching from Theory I and upwards. This way, you will know the "common language" professors will use at your school regarding theory. What I mean are specifics, ranging from calling something an "accented passing tone" vs. making no distinctions between a regular passing tone, to various systems of abbreviations, and to differences in how the cadential "V^6/4 - V^7 - I" is viewed. Some people interpret this as " I^6/4 - V^7 - I." Basically, do you call a cadential^6/4 chord a V or a I chord? One use is not universal. Little clarifications like these, which can only been gleaned from your actual theory book, will make you better prepared and less confused on day one than learning one book's method, only to be presented with a completely different approach.

I think, given your background in theory, you will be surprised how far ahead you are compared to many people. A lot show up to their freshman year with a low level of theory competence.

I went to a university that used the Laitz textbook, so its about all I can recommend.

I've also been exposed to the Straus book for post-tonal theory.

For Species counterpoint, you can't beat the Schacter and Salzer book: "Counterpoint in Composition,"

For Schenkerian analysis, there is the Salzer book: "Structural Hearing." That is a bit more specialized, but it may pique your curiosity.

Great theorists like Felix Salzer and Carl Schacter, students of Heinrich Schenker, along with the acclaimed Steven Laitz, are good to learn about and be knowledgeable about. Looking into them, their associates, and their teachers can lead you to other good books.

> Was it to simply introduce something more melodically interesting?

I can only assume so. The bass's independence is thematically necessary since it's where the opening motif is repeated. It gives meaning to the G-E-D-G-E-D line. If a line has structural/thematic significance, it should remain independent so the listener can pick it out.

I can't tell if the vocals or the instrumental was written first, sorry. Reading material on this subject would be any harmony/counterpoint book you can find. You seem pretty knowledgeable about those topics already though, so maybe it's just getting the style down. Books like [this] (http://imslp.org/wiki/Guide_to_the_Practical_Study_of_Harmony_%28Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr%29) and this. You may have read those already as they're pretty popular. If you haven't, you can most likely find them for free somewhere.

I took an arranging course for my music degree and I really love the textbook they made us purchase. It's this! http://www.amazon.com/Study-Orchestration-Third-Samuel-Adler/dp/039397572X/
I personally think it's very helpful. :) I know it's expensive, but I think the investment is worth it.

As for counterpoint, I like Joseph Fux! There was a textbook that I used, but unfortunately I don't remember it. (It's at home and I live at an off-campus apartment) http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772

I hope this helps :) But if you want somethiing free there's this .... http://imslp.org/wiki/Principles_of_Orchestration_%28Rimsky-Korsakov,_Nikolay%29

Here's a couple that I've found useful:

• Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition by Michael Miller - http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Music-Composition/dp/1592574033/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418209745&sr=1-3&keywords=music+composition+for+dummies&pebp=1418209748985 – this is the first book I read on composing and I found it was a great introductory text. Not too heavy, entertaining but still informative. Will provide you with a basic foundation to build upon.
  
  
• Fundamentals of Music Composition by Arnold Schoenberg - http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Musical-Composition-Arnold-Schoenberg/dp/0571196586 – this one is more theoretical but packed full of good information. A classic.
  
  
• Composing Music, A New Approach by William Russo - http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-A-New-Approach/dp/0226732169/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZNR3GJFDSRX6Z2PGS4R – this one's a bit more modern and full of practical exercises, will get you composing straight away.
  
  And the one I'm reading at the moment, Jazz Composition and Arranging in the Digital Age by Richard Sussman and Michael Abene - http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Composition-Arranging-Digital-Age/dp/0195381009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418209939&sr=1-1&keywords=jazz+composition+and+arranging
  
  Hope that helps!

Well, you can use broken chords/arpeggios. Use whatever variations you can think of. Maybe you can start by copying composers you like. Brahms wrote some really fantastic piano parts in his chamber music. Having a good sense of counterpoint might help too. An accompaniment part can be melodic while supporting other instruments. Try checking out Kent Kennan's book on counterpoint. It's a great resource and the main ideas can be used and developed so that you don't end up writing in a strict Baroque style (unless that's what you're going for).

There is no one size fits all bible of music theory. To be extremely well rounded you need to look at a few different books:

For just starting out in the sense that you don't know how to build chords or intervals, Carl Fischer's grimoire books are excellent.

For classical harmony this is the book I used in my classes:
http://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-Introduction-Twentieth-Century/dp/0073401358/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465247193&sr=8-2&keywords=tonal+harmony

For jazz harmony:
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465247235&sr=8-1&keywords=jazz+theory

For deeper classical/counterpoint:
http://www.amazon.com/Counterpoint-4th-Kent-Kennan/dp/013080746X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465247274&sr=8-3&keywords=counterpoint


Also, try to get lessons with a university teacher because none of these books are comprehensive or perfect.
I remember in one of my beginning classes we went over the omnibus, and the deepest the book went was "this is an omnibus".
It wouldn't be until college where a professor ACTUALLY explained to me what the omnibus is and how to make one.

Also, the mark levine book can probably be condensed into 20 pages of meaningful material. He uses a lot of filler/examples...

Hey, similar situation here and this is what I recommend

The Everything Music Theory Book has lined up pretty much exactly with my high school music theory class, but I haven't finished yet. It seems to be a great baseline to make sure you know what you need to: it has the same tricks everybody uses, workbook questions/answers, and you could look back in it anytime you need to remember something. (I have the second edition, not sure if it's superior)

Although I don't own it, my teacher has taken a lot from it: Tonal Harmony, apparently any music theory class you'll take in college will use this book, and my director says there's no need for the newest edition.

These two books should be enough of an entrance to music theory, without boring you. Supposedly there's plenty of resources online; I especially love the youtube community around it.

William Russo's "Composing Music a New Approach" answers your question very well. Basically the author presents a rudimentary ensemble that can be thought of as a game, with certain rules.

In Chapter 12, titled "Imitation: A Useful Game," he identifies 7 rules and shows examples. Basically one player introduces a "simple figuration of one or two measures," then the next player player either imitates the first figure or introduces their unique figure. Each player is only allowed 1 unique figure, they can rest at any time, and they can imitate at any time (and not necessarily consecutively).

The examples explain it better than the text, but this "game" is basically a band. This helps with the rhythm and melody aspect, while the harmony and structure would probably benefit from a composition or thematic approach.

nnngh I see what you're asking, but it's really just plain old theory about keys and then we can get a bit more complex.

I write atonal music which uses all 12 tones freely, but I still use the rules of the road to guide my decisions. You shouldn't ever throw pitches in willy nilly.

Buy these books. They're produced by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music here in the UK. They are AMAZING and are a complete guide to everything you need to know. Heck, I'm doing music at degree level and I sometimes still find them useful.

1- http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Guide-Music-Theory-Vol/dp/1854724460

2 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Guide-Music-Theory-Part/dp/B00144C78E

There are a lot of courses. Any specific topics you're interested in?

Edit: I'll just list a few anyway that I've used in classes (this may not reflect all professors' choices for the same subjects).

Tonal Harmony: Kostka-Payne - Tonal Harmony

Counterpoint 1: A Berklee book by the late professor Rick Applin. Some also use this Fux translation/adaptation

Counterpoint 2: Bach Inventions & Sinfonias (any edition, really)

"Advanced" Counterpoint: The Well-Tempered Clavier (again, any edition)

Early Twentieth-Century Harmony: Persichetti - Twentieth-Century Harmony

Post-Tonal Theory/Analysis: Straus - Intro to Post-Tonal Theory

Instrumentation/Orchestration: Adler - The Study of Orchestration &
Casella/Mortari - The Technique of Contemporary Orchestration

Western Music History - Burkholder/Paiisca - A History of Western Music (8th or 9th edition)

Conducting 1 - Notion Conducting

Conducting 2 Notion + Stravinsky's Petrushka

Berklee's own (jazz-based) core harmony and ear-training curricula use Berklee textbooks written by professors which, as someone else mentioned, come unbound and shrink-wrapped at the bookstore. You can find older (PDF) versions of the Berklee harmony textbooks here. Of course this list only represents explicit book choices - there are a lot of excerpt-readings, and there's a lot of instruction that isn't found in these books even in the associated courses.

Justin's Practical Music Theory PDF is an excellent resource.

If you'd like to take things further, and as Justin recommend on the site, I'd also highly recommend MI's Harmony and Theory:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793579910/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486590104&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=harmony+and+theory&dpPl=1&dpID=617snwalTUL&ref=plSrch

If you would like to end with Chopin, you only need to study tonal theory. So twelve tone topics are not of any use since that topic is 20th century, after tonality.

If you didn't do voice leading (SATB harmony): Are you interested in voice leading? If you want to get to the more advanced topics of tonal theory, you'll need to cover that. If so I would suggest this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Guide-Theory-Analysis-Third/dp/0393600491/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936804&sr=1-1&keywords=clendinning+theory

Have you done species counterpoint? Species counterpoint will be very helpful in dealing with just about all music. I would recommend Fux's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936929&sr=1-1&keywords=fux+counterpoint

If you've already done species counterpoint: For more advanced counterpoint (not useful for Chopin, but necessary for anything with fugues in it, obviously) I would suggest Mann's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Study-Fugue-Dover-Books-Music/dp/0486254399

For a complete discussion of forms I would suggest Berry's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Form-Music-2nd-Wallace-Berry/dp/0133292851

For an in depth and modern discussion of sonata theory (remember that symphonies are also often times in sonata form), I would suggest Hepokoski's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Sonata-Theory-Deformations-Late-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0199773912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937360&sr=1-1&keywords=hepokoski+sonata

If you already know species counterpoint and voice leading you can study Schenkarian Analysis. For this there's two books I would suggest:

https://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Tonal-Music-Schenkerian-Approach/dp/0199732477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937496&sr=1-1&keywords=schenkerian+analysis

https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Analysis-Schenkerian-David-Damschroder/dp/0393283798/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937488&sr=1-2&keywords=schenkerian+analysis

​

If you're interested in composition, that's the other side of the coin and so all the above are of limited use. Let me know if you want books for composition.

Learning shd be interactive, you read, you play, you write on staff paper... The FAQ listsings are excellent. here are some boosk i like, for people that like to yellow highlighter all over their books

http://www.amazon.com/Edlys-Music-Theory-Practical-People/dp/0966161661/



http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Theory-Comprehensive-Musicians-Essential/dp/0793579910/

It's interesting, but it's getting a little old now...

Of course, it's still important as a historical document, but some of the informations are outdated (some of the techniques, registral qualities) since orchestras, and instruments themselves, have changed since Berlioz wrote his treatise.

I, personally, use Adler's Study of Orchestration, which I think the best orchestration book for modern orchestras.

Usually a good idea to include:

• The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory
  
  
• Strunk's Source Readings in Music History
  
  For the kids to read:
  
  
• Music in Ancient Greece and Rome
  
  
• On the interpretation of Greek music (free on archive.org)
  
  Accessible primary sources:
  
  
• The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean
  
  
• Ptolemy Harmonics: Translation and Commentary
  
  You might want to get/read:
  
  
• Apollo's Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
  
  
• The Science of Harmonics in Classical Greece
  
  
• Ancient Greek Music
  
  
• Ancient Greek Music: A New Technical History
  
  
• Greek Reflections on the Nature of Music
  

I don't know what you mean by the "science" of it, but Gardner Read's Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice is a great reference (and covers microtones). Someone also recently recommended Elaine Gould's Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation to me, which is much more recent, but I don't know anything else about it.

I can highly recommend "The Jazz Piano Book". It covers a lot of ground and is very readable. Best jazz book I ever bought. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151/

Thanks that was exactly what i was looking for and also explains the length of the exceptions! Perfect!

Gould, is that in reference of this book: https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Bars-Definitive-Guide-Notation/dp/0571514561

Most college music theory texts have a companion workbook filled with quizzes and practice problems/questions. Where I went to undergrad we used Tonal Harmony and the school I'm going to now uses The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. Not sure if that qualifies as being "accessible," but it's good material if you're willing to part with all those dollars. Text books sure are expensive.

This is, to put it simply, awesome: http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/rhythm-and-mathematics.html

I also recommend his book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Geometry-Musical-Rhythm-Makes/dp/1466512024

As Elaine Gould establishes in her book:

>Notes are easiest to read and to pitch when they are spelled according to the following conventions, whether or not the music has a tonal context:

>
>i. Use the most familiar intervals — perfect, minor and major — rather than augmented and diminished intervals
>
>ii. Chromatic-scale figures use sharps to ascend, flats to descend
>
>iii. Spell stepwise figures as a scale, i.e. as adjacent pitch letters: F# G Ab or D Eb Fb, not Gb G G# or Eb E Eb.

That's the best one for instrumentation. Very thorough.

EDIT: Here's the amazon link to the book

>Method book

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151


What about this? I don't play a lot of piano and I have a keyboard (61 keys), still worth it? I don't mind investing in it if you think I can do it. I have done classical theory (still doing) for a while. Do you think my knowledge will help in Jazz?


>Yes, this is called dominant substitution. The first one is commonly called tritone substitution (C7 to F7). The second two are a little more exotic, and come from Barry Harris's theory.

Ah, yes! So, CEGBb - GbBbDbFb or F#A#C#E. So, Eb7 and A7 are Barry Harris's theory, huh? Ok.
Did he mention it somewhere or... was it in the books?


I am guessing you saying

>A G7sus4 chord is normally voiced as C-F-A (4-7-9).

Is because of this

>First of all, Cmaj7 with a 9 is Cmaj9. C9 is C7 with a 9.


This is all so juicy to learn but I dont want to spread myself thin than what I already am.

Music composition in medieval and early renaissance, and classical period can be analysed as pattern based.

Some good books - https://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Problems-Practices-Renaissance/dp/0816669481

https://www.amazon.com/Music-Galant-Style-Robert-Gjerdingen/dp/0195313712

https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Western-Music-Theory/dp/0521686989

The same can be said for many traditional/ethnic music styles. (Get any good book on X folk/pop/ethnic style depending on your interests,)

This guy is a college music theory teacher and he's uploaded like 50 videos of his classroom lectures and he's excellent at explaining things. Every lecture is very clear, concise and too the point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICDPWP6HUbk&list=PLw9t0oA3fHkxx1PgYpiXrMUPXaOiwh6KU&index=1

​

I think his lessons are based around readings from this book, which is a little confusing to some people, but is a very standard college level music theory texbook https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-Stefan-Kostka/dp/0078025141/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550514584&sr=8-3&keywords=tonal+harmony

There are a couple I know of, none of which I would wholeheartedly recommend. Teaching someone composition is a tricky task as it can never truly be taught. There are two that were relatively interesting, most likely due to their author:

-Fundamentals of Musical Composition - A. Schoenberg

Written along with the below book for his composition students at university when he noticed a substantial lack of the basics.


-Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint - A. Schoenberg

Forwarded and edited by his pupil Leonard Stein, who did the same for "Structural Functions of Harmony" and whose brother did "Arnold Schoenberg Letters"

IMO on a meta level, it's because our ears have been conditioned to favor some frequencies and intervals over others.

When I was getting into jazz, I read Mark Levine's Jazz Theory Book and Jazz Piano Book. Lots of interesting examples in those

The reason you can't find any is that you're searching for melody. Search for counterpoint instead. This is my favorite book to teach it from: http://www.amazon.com/Counterpoint-Composition-Study-Voice-Leading/dp/023107039X

Though the standard for the last ~300 years has been Fux's Gradus Ad Parsanum, which is now public domain. I myself learned from Knud Jeppesen's book, just called Counterpoint.

Also check out Thomas Benjamin's The Craft of Tonal Counterpoint.

Please don't pirate books that you can buy on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393002772/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm a theory n00b of the highest order; this is way beyond anything i could handle, but anyway…

Schoenberg wrote books on composition and harmony.

http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Musical-Composition-Arnold-Schoenberg/dp/0571196586

As an amateur composer, I can recommend this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Music-New-Approach-Russo/dp/0226732169

This book will guide you from very basics.

I think you will fine Dmitri Tymoczko's A Geometry of Music much more substanial. Or perhaps Godfried T. Toussaint's The Geometry of Musical Rhythm.

Forget all the other books: Sam Adler's is the one you want to read & reference. Highly comprehensive, and it uses a ton of examples (not just Rimsky-Korsakov works). Plus, the third edition is updated for 20th century writing.

This book.

Also, all of Bach.

Get a copy of this book. It helped me immensely with writing melodies and a lot of other things

Counterpoint in Composition - Shadwell & Schachter.. Chapter 9 covers imitation.

http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309724749&sr=8-1

I believe anyone studying counterpoint should read Johann Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum, nowadays published as two separate volumes translated and edited by Alfred Mann, namely The Study of Counterpoint and The Study of Fugue.

This is the standard orchestration text that will cover this stuff more in-depth.

> "Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice"

While we're talking about notation books, I can't not mention 'Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation' by Elaine Gould. It has 46% more pages than the Read and was published in 2011, so when it comes to books about music notation, it's about as relevant as you're going to get!

check out the table of contents of this book using amazon's "look inside feature"

i'd have them do a chapter or so of this book every week:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0793579910/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’ve yet to buy this book but maybe....

The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

Aside from this, from performing arts high school, throughout Juilliard's theory program, and because conservatories are assholes about transferring, once again at Curtis, I've never even seen a music theory text book.

Staff paper. Examples from music literature. DIY practice/homework sheets. Save everyone $.

Hey there, - no, the book is by Salzer and Schacter, if memory serves!

Here it is: https://www.amazon.com/Counterpoint-Composition-Study-Voice-Leading/dp/023107039X

Learn how to write invertible counterpoint. It's an extremely difficult form. I used this book in school