I'm often asked to recommend a good book on theory or composition. I
recently put this list together for a friend. Many of these are out of
print but readily available on Amazon. There are any number of newer
texts, easily found at the top of most searches. Often, the only
advantage to the new texts is that they're more expensive and say too
much about too little. More seriously, not all cover each topic equally
well, and not all cover each and every topic. The books in this list are
pretty direct and complete in the topics they cover. And it's very
likely that most of the modern authors studied these books, themselves.
For basic theory
Music Theory by Thaddeus Jones, a really good overview and reference
Harmony Walter Piston
Tchaikovsky and Rimsky Korsakov, great Russian composers, each published a book on harmony. They are surprisingly thin volumes with an emphasis on "practical" harmony. In effect, these are books for the use of theory in composition by composers. These are available in current printings.
Paul Hindemith, a German composer of the early to mid 20th Century has an even slimmer volume called
Traditional Harmony with an emphasis on exercises and a minimum of rules or somesuch.
I have a publication 3Handbooks; Harmony, Arranging, Songwriting that I highly recommend for a compressed but complete view of harmony, available here
https://tsw.createspace.com/title/3561578
And then there is Hindemith's two volume Craft of Musical Composition - more contemporary than traditional but very worth while. The first of the volumes deals with theory and the second with topics concerned with composition.
Another very useful volume, especially for an understanding of the early 20th century tonally-based styles is Vincent Persichetti's Twentieth Century Harmony. A great advantage to this book is long lists of works that illustrate each topic, pinpointed down to the measure.
For counterpoint there are books on 16th Century or Renaissance counterpoint, and 18th Century or tonal counterpoint, primarily of the Baroque era.
Kennan Counterpoint focuses on the 18th.
Ernst Krenek has very slim, practical manuals in both styles. They are titled Modal Counterpoint, Tonal Counterpoint, and there is even a volume on Counterpoint in the 12-tone style. Krenek identifies the organization of these handbooks as outlines.
Jeppsen Counterpoint (a good deal more scholarly) is the bible of 16th counterpoint, a must for every library.
And speaking of bibles, for atonal music (also not out of print) Forte The Structure of Atonal Music.
I have a volume, Basic Atonal Counterpoint, that discusses the use of set theory in counterpoint, presented in a series of exercises that cover many topics relating to composition.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Basic+Atonal+Counterpoint
I'd like a review after you read them all.
Happy musicing
For basic theory
Music Theory by Thaddeus Jones, a really good overview and reference
Harmony Walter Piston
Tchaikovsky and Rimsky Korsakov, great Russian composers, each published a book on harmony. They are surprisingly thin volumes with an emphasis on "practical" harmony. In effect, these are books for the use of theory in composition by composers. These are available in current printings.
Paul Hindemith, a German composer of the early to mid 20th Century has an even slimmer volume called
Traditional Harmony with an emphasis on exercises and a minimum of rules or somesuch.
I have a publication 3Handbooks; Harmony, Arranging, Songwriting that I highly recommend for a compressed but complete view of harmony, available here
https://tsw.createspace.com/title/3561578
And then there is Hindemith's two volume Craft of Musical Composition - more contemporary than traditional but very worth while. The first of the volumes deals with theory and the second with topics concerned with composition.
Another very useful volume, especially for an understanding of the early 20th century tonally-based styles is Vincent Persichetti's Twentieth Century Harmony. A great advantage to this book is long lists of works that illustrate each topic, pinpointed down to the measure.
For counterpoint there are books on 16th Century or Renaissance counterpoint, and 18th Century or tonal counterpoint, primarily of the Baroque era.
Kennan Counterpoint focuses on the 18th.
Ernst Krenek has very slim, practical manuals in both styles. They are titled Modal Counterpoint, Tonal Counterpoint, and there is even a volume on Counterpoint in the 12-tone style. Krenek identifies the organization of these handbooks as outlines.
Jeppsen Counterpoint (a good deal more scholarly) is the bible of 16th counterpoint, a must for every library.
And speaking of bibles, for atonal music (also not out of print) Forte The Structure of Atonal Music.
I have a volume, Basic Atonal Counterpoint, that discusses the use of set theory in counterpoint, presented in a series of exercises that cover many topics relating to composition.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Basic+Atonal+Counterpoint
I'd like a review after you read them all.
Happy musicing
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