Music Theory is a subject that used to be a part of standard curriculum but over the last 80 years or so it has completely died. There is no curriculum for it. There is no TEK for it. There is no UIL for it. With this lack of focus it might surprise the ley-person that it is the bare beginning, starting, general education requirement of every single music student in college. It is a disservice. I am fortunate in the extreme to be allowed a music theory class to teach. I create my own content. My own lessons. My own lesson plan. These books I have used as supplemental reading is pretty minor but I could definitely recommend each of these for the less confident music theoretician.
Music theory is the study of everything other than playing an instrument or singing. It is the science of how music works. It is the math of sound and wave ratios. It is the application of rules and guide-lines which make music great. It is detailed analysis and artistic interpretation. It is music history and the understanding of musical form. It is how to compose music and how to dismantle composition. I tell my students that as far as anyone else in the school is concerned we might as well be studying alchemy or potions… it is just as foreign and seemingly mystical for those who don’t study it.
The books I have chosen would be suitable for middle school, high school, or college music theory classes and the only difference would be the required precision and the speed the students should be asked to master the subject. They range from instrumentation books, to harmony, and arranging books. I have put special emphasis on the 20th century idiom. Mostly because it is often overlooked in the sometimes stuffy society of classical music. This list will grow as I have time.
Music theory is the study of everything other than playing an instrument or singing. It is the science of how music works. It is the math of sound and wave ratios. It is the application of rules and guide-lines which make music great. It is detailed analysis and artistic interpretation. It is music history and the understanding of musical form. It is how to compose music and how to dismantle composition. I tell my students that as far as anyone else in the school is concerned we might as well be studying alchemy or potions… it is just as foreign and seemingly mystical for those who don’t study it.
The books I have chosen would be suitable for middle school, high school, or college music theory classes and the only difference would be the required precision and the speed the students should be asked to master the subject. They range from instrumentation books, to harmony, and arranging books. I have put special emphasis on the 20th century idiom. Mostly because it is often overlooked in the sometimes stuffy society of classical music. This list will grow as I have time.