Graduate Review of Tonal Theory: A Recasting of Common-Practice Harmony, Form, and Counterpoint

First off this book does a very good job of being a review of harmony.I don't want to say the same things other reviewers have said.My points on this book:This book is a graduate level book. The writing is at the level of a university text(no more difficult than would be expected at the upper division undergraduate level) and is very clear.The book is very concise, so it may have only a sentence on something that a paragraph would be dedicated to in a normal book on basic harmony. Don't expect an exposition explaining a statement to a fundamental level. An example would be that it says "there is one situation in which we may move to an octave or a faith in similar motion: when an upper voice moves by step." It explained octave, fifth, similar motion, upper voice, and step, previously and does not take the time to explain it again, it just shows a few examples of direct fifths and octaves that are good and bad, and leaves it to the reader to review these matters and apply them if they have forgotten them.The excerpts are not orchestral as was mentioned by another review, at most they are small chamber ensemble(orchestral would suggest a large score of 16+ staves with transposing instruments, this has at most a string quartet or choir with piano accompaniment). However I would specifically mention that string quartet implies viola, which means you need to read alto clef(easiest way to read it is seeing it as the top two spaces at the top of the bass clef(G and B) combined with the bottom two spaces of the treble clef(D and F) providing the four inner spaces of the alto clef(G B D F) this has the added advantage of having the correct special relationship to the bass and treble clefs).There are mistakes in the book. For example on page 26, line -13 it says that there is only one perfect consonance in the example, but the example opens with a P5 and ends with a P8 with another P8 in the middle. The workbook also has mistakes. For example page 13 I. Should say violin 1 not violin 2, otherwise you end up writing an F major chord with an added Ab, which is clearly not the intention, and a check of the original score confirms that.This book covers 1st and 2nd species counterpoint early on to set the stage for later work. I mention this because some theory sequences don't touch species counterpoint at all.

An excellent text for reinforcing concepts lying behind the structural elements of music. Elegant in its directness and simplicity, yet quite detailed where it counts. The accompanying CD is a great addition, and I'm looking forward to seeing how both the textbook itself and the CD work with the student workbook (to be purchased shortly)..

Used to study for entrance to grad school. Very informative and a great tool for review.

This text is a handy reference to Common Practice harmony and form. Also nice is the small size and weight, which makes it easy to lug around in a backpack, unlike larger harmony texts. I would not recommend learning harmony from it (I much prefer the approach in  Theory of Harmony  for self study), though it is nice to have around to look up details on sequences or applied dominants or so forth.

Great

It's come into hand, a lot of matter to learn. I would just put an answer key for the workbook together with it. I don't know if there is any, I couldn't find one yet.

Thank you

Student preparing for graduate coursework and need to refresh? Hobbyist/enthusiast who wants to delve deeper into tonal theory? This book is the standard by which other books are judged on the topic. It came highly recommended to me.

Bien, el libro está bien para refrescar las cuestiones de teoría que a uno se le olvidan después de acabar la carrera. No es un libro exhaustivo, no es un libro de consulta ni un tratado.El libro puede ser de ayuda para aquellos que han terminado una carrera de interpretación y quieren superar una prueba de teoría para entrar un máster, por ejemplo. No servirá para aquellos que han estudiado teoría en la carrera a un nivel más avanzado (compositores, directores...) y pretendan seguir con esos estudios a nivel de postgrado.Las explicaciones son claras y sencillas y especialmente acertado me parece el uso de ejemplos musicales reales (sonatas, sinfonías etc.). El capítulo dedicado al contrapunto, por otra parte, es muy elemental y sólo cubre las Primera y Segunda Especie.Evidentemente este libro está en inglés, y si no se domina el idioma no merece la pena.