Music Theory for Dummies [With CDROM]

I got this book for my own free reading and learning time. I got it for a steal at the time. I got a great copy of the book and I'm happy with the purchase.

I was gifted with the musical talent of playing by "ear". For over 20 years I tried to study music theory but I found it complicated and boring. Having read and actually "studied" Music Theory for Dummies I am now able to understand exactly what and why I am playing. Music Theory for Dummies changed my whole understanding and heightened my abilities. At the very least, Music Theory for Dummies is highly recommended.

Music Theory for Dummies is the best of both worlds for those of us interested in learning music theory for the first time or refreshing our musical memories. As a child music student I was inundated with music terms which meant little or nothing to me. I faked my way along, despite my ignorance of proper theory or terminology, never thinking it might pertain to me. Only as an adult, who has now written a few songs with the desire to share them, has it occurred to me that I need to know how to write music others can read rather than trying to express myself by humming my songs out. Music Theory for Dummies is a necessity for anyone who wants to truly understand the basics of music, or anyone who already does but needs an excellent reference for refresher or support in learning or comprehending the more difficult aspects of music theory. Music Theory for Dummies is essential for all students, be they beginners, or the more advanced, in need of a simplified backup source for more difficult concepts. Additionally, the drawings and CD are simply a delightful topping on a very solid foundation.

Man, this book is exactly what I needed to get back into learning music. I took piano lessons as a kid and again in college, and didn't retain much from the experience except how to count off four-four time. That, and an incredible dislike of structured music lessons. This book starts way at the beginning of note-reading and counting off beats and takes you through to the basics of improvisation and composing your own music. The process is easy and gentle and the information delivered sticks. I remember everything I've read in this, and at no point did I feel like an idiot trying to figure any of the topics out. The CD is almost worth the price of the book itself, especially if you are a complete beginner. Every major and minor music scale is played out on guitar and piano, and make a great practice aid to play along with. All the chords discussed in the book are played on the piano for you to listen to--which is great, because I didn't know the difference between one 7th chord to the next just by ear, but now I'm learning to. Also, how cool is it that the book has a short interview with Steve Reich on the composition process in it? I think it's cool, anyway, I'm assuming it's an original interview--had to check and make sure Reich was still alive when I saw that, and voila, he is! There's also a fairly recent interview with the late Robert Moog in it on keyboard design (saw another interview with Moog on-line by one of the authors, so I'm thinking that's original, too). It was a pretty cool way to break up the fairly heavy-duty chapters on chord construction and chord progressions. Overall, this book left me feeling like all my previous experiences with formal music teachers were mostly wasted ones, and that I could have saved myself a lot of time and agony if I had just had this book.

I ordered this book with some skepticism. I could read music before I go this book but I guess at a very rudimentary level. I have looked through other music theory books and have been left a little bewildered about musical keys, cord construction and such. This book demystifies these and many other musical concepts. I now understand musical keys and many other things that had always seemed very mysterious to me. The book starts off very basically and slowly advances as it introduces you to more advanced concepts by adding more information about how music is constructed. Someone with a firmer background in music may be board by the pace but for others of us it is just right. I recommend it if, like me, you always wanted to understand music but never found someone who could describe it in an understandable way.