Another good book on composition?

[beboop]

I too looking for information on counter point,but what got me started was Jerry Mullgan jazz. Chet Baker, on trumpet, and Jerry on bari sax put a new sound in music, but this was in the 50's and 60's. No chord instrument was used in that group, you might want to check it out and draw your own thought's.

yeah, that's some great stuff -- first thing that popped into my head when I saw your post is a calypso-ish arrangement of 'I'll Remember April' they did with Konitz -- never got around to transcribing it (so much music, so little time)...

edit: occurred to me after I posted, another thing like that -- on some of the Getz / Jimmy Raney stuff from the '50s Raney plays a contrapuntal line against Getz's melody -- pretty much just on the head as i recall, but something to check out if ya like this kind of stuff.

[beboop]

Jeppesen is good and inexpensive IMHO. Some other books are available as well.

yeah, that does look like a good companion to Fux, thanks! OK, one more Amazon order, Jeppesen and the Bartok book Herodotus mentioned.

[StudioDave]

... perhaps some acquaintance with Babbitt's work would help before getting into Wuorinen.

Just out of curiosity, why?

History, mainly. Wuorinen was a devoted student of MB's, his approach was highly influenced by him. Alas, the only relevant material I know of (by Babbitt) is available only in relatively obscure journals and books.

Thinking on it, I suppose no harm is done by starting with Wuorinen. The book is very clearly written, I certainly got a lot out of it. I'm not enthused about the rather crude derivation of his time-point system, but it's just a method, not really any worse than some of Schillinger's suggestions.

And while we are discussing Arnold, has anyone mentioned his Structural functions of Harmony?

Ah, how could I forget ?! Alas, many of my books were lost when I had to make hasty retreat from living with a psychotic bitch (sorry for the language, but it's an accurate description of the woman). I had to leave most of my library with her (she's also a gifted pianist, just crazy as the day's long).

...the Boosey and Hawkes score of Bartok's 5th string quartet has a really good analysis by Ligeti from the same era that is quite informative. Although he doesn't appear to understand humor.

Where can I find that analysis ?

Two more books that are much more useful than they might seem to be:

John Rahn's Basic Atonal Theory.

Yes, another excellent text. Definitely a *theory* book though, not a guide to composition technique or methods.

And The Music of Bela Bartok by Elliot Antokoletz.

I'll look it up. You've rekindled my interest in Bartok. When I lived in LA I frequented Musician's Supply, a neat place up on Pico Boulevard that sold scores and other items useful to composers. The old guy who ran the place then took pity on me (I was very poor then) and sold me a bound volume of the Bartok quartets for cheap, a very kind gesture. I miss that volume, I learned a lot from it (and I still love those quartets).

Both books cover material that is discussed in the 'Equal interval system' (another overpriced 'system' with 'packages' of materials), and also, in a less scientific way, by Messiaen.

Ah, I left out Messiaen's pedagogical work. I'm losing my wits...

Thank you for the recommendations !

[silenthill2006]

i just bought the idiots guide too but its still on the way

I bought both the Idiots Guide to Music Theory and the Idiots Guide for Music Composition. The 2nd book (Music Composition) is a rehash of the first book in the beginning, but goes into alot more detail with advanced techniques. It does gloss over certain things though. I wanted to learn more about orchestration. The excercises were very good, even though I didn't do every one. I was still able to compose small piano pieces which were 2 minutes long after reading both books. Both books are very accessible and have a wealth of material, and you will find yourself constantly going back to both books for reference. In fact I'm going back over them now so I can write more sophisticated pieces.

[TristezaOrange]

I love the Jimmy Webb book (called 'Tunesmith'). It's not strictly theory (it discusses lyrics and the business side of things too) but I found it endlessly fascinating. Also, one other book that has nothing (well, not a lot) to do with composition but which inspired me is Dan Levitin's 'This Is Your Brain On Music'. I think you're gonna love it.