I generally don't like books with a lot of who, when, and where filler.
Can anyone recommend some good music theory books that are straight to the point and teach "how to" with exercises and homework? Also I would like to read them on a tablet preferably a lot of authors are moving to digital but some stay 100% paperback.
Thanks in advance!
Can anyone recommend some good how to music theory books?
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- KVRian
- 1115 posts since 6 Jul, 2009
If you want anything of a "how-to" nature, then I'd recommend the books published by the Berklee School of Music. They tend to be quite hands-on, filled with plenty of practical advice and exercises. Other theory texts tend to be more encyclopedic/for reference than they are instructional.
You will need a theory text that is more encyclopedic in nature too, though. Many of the Berklee texts assume certain knowledge (although they make it clear what you need to know before using a particular book--so that's where having a reference book will be useful).
On a tablet? I wouldn't recommend it, bluntly. While the Berklee texts often do have a Kindle edition, I have found that tablets tend not to be any good for reading books that use illustrations (like a music theory book). I think you would be significantly better off getting the physical book.
You will need a theory text that is more encyclopedic in nature too, though. Many of the Berklee texts assume certain knowledge (although they make it clear what you need to know before using a particular book--so that's where having a reference book will be useful).
On a tablet? I wouldn't recommend it, bluntly. While the Berklee texts often do have a Kindle edition, I have found that tablets tend not to be any good for reading books that use illustrations (like a music theory book). I think you would be significantly better off getting the physical book.
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- KVRian
- 1002 posts since 1 Dec, 2004
My personal fav: The Jazz Theory Book, by Mark Levine.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 260 posts since 14 Mar, 2008
A reviewer said "Want to know why it somehow sounded right when that V chord resolved down a major third instead of a fifth? Read this book." I was just experimenting with that last night on guitar how going from verse to chorus as a major third sounds great sometimes and sometimes not.MadBrain wrote:My personal fav: The Jazz Theory Book, by Mark Levine.
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- KVRer
- 6 posts since 19 Apr, 2016
Why not you check some on google books hope you get a pdf music theory book there which you can easily read on tablet and other mobile devices.
Nothing To Say:D
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- KVRAF
- 7830 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
Who, when, and where often make all the difference.
Theory in the abstract is very dry and in/of itself may not lead you to where you want to go. What's more it often can be specific to a genre or person. As an example rubato applied to edm will simply sound like you don't know what you are doing. However rubato applied to ... Bill Evans music has a free floating experience for the listener and the performer.
If you aren't ready or willing to embrace a theorem then you won't learn it. Learning requires understanding the basic nature, hearing it applied, performing it. Performance requires practice. Just as one can't learn jujitsu from reading a book.
Theory in the abstract is very dry and in/of itself may not lead you to where you want to go. What's more it often can be specific to a genre or person. As an example rubato applied to edm will simply sound like you don't know what you are doing. However rubato applied to ... Bill Evans music has a free floating experience for the listener and the performer.
If you aren't ready or willing to embrace a theorem then you won't learn it. Learning requires understanding the basic nature, hearing it applied, performing it. Performance requires practice. Just as one can't learn jujitsu from reading a book.
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
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- KVRian
- 673 posts since 6 Dec, 2015
If you're lucky enough to be able to read or decipher french:
Adolphe Danhauser
Théorie de la Musique, 1889
Organized in lessons. Concise, precise, thorough. Requires zero prior knowledge, only some basic acquaintance with music, and by the end, you are able to decipher an orchestral score.
Still one of the best texts (if not the best) as of today. And free. Can't believe it's never been translated into english.
edit: Teaches you how to read music and all its vocabulary, *not* how to write it. For that you need a treatise of harmony (like the ones by written by Arnold Schoenberg (or the Guide to Arnold Schoenberg's Theory, which is an abridged version) or Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, for instance), which already require having mastered Danhauser's book first.
Adolphe Danhauser
Théorie de la Musique, 1889
Organized in lessons. Concise, precise, thorough. Requires zero prior knowledge, only some basic acquaintance with music, and by the end, you are able to decipher an orchestral score.
Still one of the best texts (if not the best) as of today. And free. Can't believe it's never been translated into english.
edit: Teaches you how to read music and all its vocabulary, *not* how to write it. For that you need a treatise of harmony (like the ones by written by Arnold Schoenberg (or the Guide to Arnold Schoenberg's Theory, which is an abridged version) or Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, for instance), which already require having mastered Danhauser's book first.