Members keevo01 Posted February 10, 2005 Members Share Posted February 10, 2005 I've been reading a lot of old posts that seem to recommend Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book", but I have never been too deep into jazz (I couldn't even name a single jazz song without a few minutes to think). Would his book be applicable to other styles of music? Obviously the fundamentals are the same, but I'm wondering about the application of them. Any recommendations for learning music theory from a more classical standpoint, perhaps? I don't even know where to start, actually. I've been playing guitar for some eight years now, learning almost entirely technical things and very little theory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members H535 Posted February 11, 2005 Members Share Posted February 11, 2005 I am currently taking private lessons from a college music professor and she teaches out of these bookshttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0130910732/qid=1108151879/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-0041645-5405772?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music: A Programed Course, Part I & II Not cheap though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Auggie Doggie Posted February 11, 2005 Members Share Posted February 11, 2005 Originally posted by keevo01 I've been reading a lot of old posts that seem to recommend Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book", but I have never been too deep into jazz (I couldn't even name a single jazz song without a few minutes to think). Would his book be applicable to other styles of music? Obviously the fundamentals are the same, but I'm wondering about the application of them.Jazz certainly isn't my thing, but that's the ONE jazz-oriented theory book that I recommend to people. Of course, that's mostly to people interested in jazz. Any recommendations for learning music theory from a more classical standpoint, perhaps? I don't even know where to start, actually. I've been playing guitar for some eight years now, learning almost entirely technical things and very little theory... If you're completely new to theory, then you might want to start off with Miller's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory and/or Feldstein's Practical Theory Complete: A Self-Instruction Music Theory Course. Those cover the generic basics in a simple manner.In terms of classical theory (most likely harmony in your case), there are a LOT of excellent books, many of which can be found on Ebay dirt cheap. (I've become a master at finding good music texts for peanuts on Ebay...just this week I spent ~$30 total on half a dozen books that would have cost me at least $250 through even the cheapest Amazon affiliate!)The first question, however, is a very fundamental one: Can you read music in treble and bass clef? (You don't have to be an ace sight-reader...just able to recognize the notes.) If so, the number of options available is enormous. If not, you'll either have to learn basic reading skills or look into guitar-based books.Walter Piston's Harmony is an absolute standard.Arnold Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony is a fantastic book, but it's not for beginners, and it's got a LOT of extra-musical thought. His Structural Functions of Harmony, though tiny, is a brutal book not meant for the uninitiated. These I recommend to people who are fairly experienced that want a different perspective on harmony.Ebenezer Prout's Harmony: Its Theory and Practice is very good....IF you can find a copy. (I scored a hardcover version in unused condition for $8 )JP Rameau's Treatise on Harmony is really only for those with a special historical (as opposed to practical) interest and for those who like poor writing skills. Goetschius' The Theory and Practice of Tone Relations is, like all his other books, great but incredibly dry. (we're talking Griswold's xmas turkey dry!)Payne and Kostka's Tonal Harmony, With an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music is good, but difficult to find cheap.There's a lot of material out there, and I'm the type that's not satisfied to have just one book on any given topic. I typically shoot for half a dozen or so for each topic. But I'm a 'theory geek'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted February 11, 2005 Members Share Posted February 11, 2005 What I'm using these days, with great success (though I wish work wasn't kicking my ass), is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Solos and Improvisation." Theory is one thing, but the application of it is what I've found to be what I want. Probably the same for you since you have eight years under your belt. So, drop by your local book store, and check out the "Idiot's Guides" to either "Music Theory" or "Solos and Improvisation." Leaf through both if you can find them together, and see which one cuts the mustard for you. When I leafed through the Solos one, I couldn't put it down...it was just what I wanted and had been looking for. I usually don't buy these books because they don''t adddress my problem of wanting to play effortlessly, with out stumbling around. The Solos book gives you just enough theory and then stresses implementation. And isn't that what it really is all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blarg Posted February 11, 2005 Members Share Posted February 11, 2005 Sweet fancy Moses, where was this thread when I posted this (http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=854394) yesterday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LDF Posted February 12, 2005 Members Share Posted February 12, 2005 If there's a community college that offers music theory nearby, I would recommend that. It really helps. It worked for me at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hetfieldinn Posted February 12, 2005 Members Share Posted February 12, 2005 How about The Guitar Grimoire by Carl Fischer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Auggie Doggie Posted February 12, 2005 Members Share Posted February 12, 2005 Originally posted by Hetfieldinn How about The Guitar Grimoire by Carl Fischer That's more of a reference/encyclopedia than an instructional manual. It's a huge supplement/companion to a harmony or theory text, but not a standalone book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TubeAddict Posted February 12, 2005 Members Share Posted February 12, 2005 Apart from building chords from scales, The Jazz Theory Book takes an approach that strongly emphasizes jazz and may not translate well to other styles. It does not teach traditional harmony and voice leading, which is probably what you want to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigMac5 Posted February 13, 2005 Members Share Posted February 13, 2005 Originally posted by H535 I am currently taking private lessons from a college music professor and she teaches out of these bookshttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0130910732/qid=1108151879/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-0041645-5405772?v=glance&s=books&n=507846Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music: A Programed Course, Part I & IINot cheap though. I have been using those books to teach myself. There great. You might want to start with "Basic Materials in Music Theory" by the same authors. It covers all the basics. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0130993336/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-4488965-1656807?v=glance&s=books&st=* Another good book after these is "Modal and Tonal Counterpoint : From Josquin to Stravinsky" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0028721454/ref=wl_it_dp/002-4488965-1656807?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=ISKQISR595CRZ&v=glance&colid=2LIMU3TOTNZZP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keevo01 Posted February 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted February 14, 2005 Whoa, my internet went down for four-ish days, but I still wasn't expecting this wealth of replies. Thanks guys, you gave me a lot to dig through (as opposed to doing school work, but psych. degrees are near-worthless anyways). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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