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I have a keyboard, an upright piano, and soon my late grandpa's grand piano will be moved into my house, so it'd be horrible if I didn't learn some music theory!

Anyways, I can read sheet music (I'm rusty but I can do it), and I found some good pages recommending finger speed exercises. What I don't want to do is read off sheet music like a midi file player (kind of what I do on guitar right now).

Does anyone know of a good book about music theory? I have a lot of books at home but they're more geared towards kids being forced to study music by their parents (cough). I want it to be designed to be applied directly to a piano, and written for someone over ten years old.

Since there are some musical people on this forum I figured I'd ask here first before turning to reviews on amazon.com!

I used to have a good one, the theory in it is great for all music, but the book is geared towards guitarists.

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Guitar-Chords-Beginner-Guitarists/dp/0947183094

The books are great once you know what you are looking at, however I personally found that my best understanding of music theory came from my teachers explanation and demonstration of the theory in practical application. also through (of course) applying theory to my own practice and writing.

I'll see what I can personally put together so far as explaining the mechanics of music theory in a manner I feel is condensed and clear.

how simple you want to start?

do you know about triads?

modes?

chord/mode relationships?

sound wave theory?

tone and sound sculpting?

psycho-acoustics?

what exactly is your picture of an understanding of music theory?

then we can all load you up with knowhow.

Aha! I asked my music history teacher and I can get into her music theory class next semester. It's the second class in the series, but she says the first one is too slow if you know any music already. The description of the first class is:


I have a month to refresh my memory on all that stuff.

I already know things like DC al coda, words like "fortissimo", and slurs on sheet music. I'm re-memorizing key signatures using flash cards, and practicing scales on the keyboard.

I don't remember anything about modes/triads or much of what you listed :\

cool, music class will help you a lot.

the way I understand things, sheet music theory is like a road map.

whereas chord/modal harmony theory is more like a cars engine.

With the reading side you will be able to play anything written, it is a massive advantage to have and will get you into orchestras, recording session work, academic work, scoring etc.

With harmony theory you can listen to something and work it out. you can have an understanding of the inner workings of musical progression and can bend harmony to your will.

sheet theory is great, but if you want to be a music writer then you need harmony theory.

when in your class try to get some one on one time with the teacher to cover chords and modes. they will open up a whole new world. I'll write more here for you too when I get the wording right.