Beginner Books - Music-Web Forums

Ron Ofir · #1 12-12-2006, 04:17 PM

Hi everybody!

My name is Ron Ofir, I'm a guitar player from Jerusalem. I've been practicing my guitar for 2 and a half years now, and I have reached a fairly good technique, and have also learnt some theory. Though my training (both technique and theory) is from a Rock/Metal point of view, I have recently started getting into Classical Music.
That said, I'm looking for good beginner books about theory and composition.
What I currently now about (learnt from a theory book written from a Rock point of view):
-triad chords (is that the right name? I mean minor, major, diminished and augmented) and their relation to a scale (harmonic grades?) and also septa chords.
-Major and minor scales (harmonic and melodic. I also know pentatonic and blues scales but I've never learnt the theory behind them)
-Intervals.
-Modes of the Major scale (only basics though).
-I also somewhat know about chord progressions.

Thanks in advance!

Ron Ofir · #2 12-12-2006, 05:44 PM

I have found two books which seem interesting:
How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony -http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...93062279&itm=9
Treatise on Harmony - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...86224619&itm=3 (this one seems terribly cheap so I'm not sure how good it actually is)

Boneman · #3 13-12-2006, 12:15 AM

Take a look at a few Delius scores and check out how to harmonise simple melodies.

ttw · #4 13-12-2006, 05:15 AM

Goldman's "Harmony in Western Music" is pretty good.

So is Shir-Cliff, Jay, and Rauscher's "Chromatic Harmony."

More in-depth would be Harder's programmed learning books.

These are all a bit older than what most would recommend.

Thorolf · #5 13-12-2006, 05:28 AM

As the art of composing is intrinsically interwoven with the understanding of what works in music in general, I suggest the classic “Principles of Orchestration” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, where all practical examples on how to do it are drawn from his own works, and the sample scores needed is indeed included in the book.

I also suggest the general “How to produce a written work of art” article provided here: The n00b’s guide! How to compose!

Regards

Ron Ofir · #6 13-12-2006, 04:14 PM

Thank you for all your replies!

I suggest the classic “Principles of Orchestration” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, where all practical examples on how to do it are drawn from his own works, and the sample scores needed is indeed included in the book.

Sounds interesting. I'll see if I can find it in the library. But if I don't, do you know where I might find it?

More in-depth would be Harder's programmed learning books.

What do you mean by "programmed learning books"?

Take a look at a few Delius scores and check out how to harmonise simple melodies.

Where can I find those?

ttw · #7 13-12-2006, 04:28 PM

"Principles of Orchestrataion" is available on line (with examples) at

http://www.northernsounds.com/

reith · #8 13-12-2006, 07:17 PM

You don't give us details like how well you read music, can write scales, and such. (Excuse me if I got that wrong - my rock-playing friends know lots of scales, which is not to say they could write them out.) Even so, Maestrox' lessons on theory are a valuable resource, particularly "Scales" (assuming you can read music) on which the basis of conventional harmony is built.

Once you've sorted out triads, modulations and things like that, you can move on to the secondary 7ths etc. Being able to write scales is pretty vital - if you can do that, you can work out basic harmonic progressions and recognise them fairly easily, modulations and the like. Theory helps you abstract from key/arrangement. So you can recognise what's happening no matter, key, by recognising the relationships in progressions. When you're composing this helps you to know what to do without masses of experiment and that.

Reith

Ron Ofir · #9 13-12-2006, 08:46 PM

Oops... Sorry I didn't clear that out. Yes, I can write and read music perfectly well (well, not sight-reading, but I can read). I know what scales are, and how to build them (both by formula, and by fifth and fourth [how is that called ? Circle of Fifths and Fourths?]). I'm not very familiar with modulations though, I know it has something to do with the Dominant or Sub dominant of a scale, but I could use some more info. If by triads your mean chords built with thirds (by scale, or by interval), then I know them too. I do not know what Arrangement is, though.

Anyway, I've picked up a book in the library. It's called "An Introduction to Tonal Theory" by Peter Westergaart, and seems to be rather good. It contains exercises and examples, and is pretty clearly written. Does anybody know about this one?

stevel · #10 16-12-2006, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by Ron Ofir

I have found two books which seem interesting:
How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony -http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...93062279&itm=9
Treatise on Harmony - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...86224619&itm=3 (this one seems terribly cheap so I'm not sure how good it actually is)

Ron, If you're still reading these,

If it's Rameau's Treatise on Harmony, that's a "must have" book for Music Theorists. Not so much for musicians. It's very technical, hard to read (written in 1725-ish so the language is a bit old-fashioned), and not the "rock"-oriented approach you wanted.

The other book about how equal temperament killed blah blah blah is just psuedo-scientific crap. People write those books for no good reason other than to focus attention on themseleves.

Steve