Techniques and Materials of Tonal Music

Rating:
Summary: Not a good book for a Theory student.
Review: I'm rather surprised at the positive reviews of this book. It is, in my opinion, the poorest excuse for a Theory book I have ever seen. It is nothing more than a skeletal outline. The language is extremely dense with new terms. For example, the paragraph describing V7-I chord resolution uses the terms "leading" and "tendency" tones, having never introduced them before.

I have an Engineering degree, and am studying for a degree in music composition. This book is more difficult to read, and more poorly written, than most of the books I used in engineering school.

The thought of using this book for three semesters is excruciating. The authors were clearly more interested in showing off their knowledge, instead of teaching it.

Can you tell I hate this book?

Everyone in the class is utterly baffled, and some have just stopped coming to class, thinking that they are not smart enough to get music theory. This book has broken the spirit of young musicians. Way to go.

Rating:
Summary: Clear and to the point
Review: My theory pedagogy class reviewed about a dozen theory textbooks and the general consensus was that the Benjamin and the Kostka/Payne books were the only two that were worth using.

The Benjamin book is the best book for serious teachers. It provides the most complete description of tonal music of any text, and is always accurate, efficient, and very clear. In the hands of a good teacher it is the ideal tool. For students who have already studied theory, it is the perfect reference guide.

However, it is not a good "self-programmed guide" for students who wish study music theory on their own. Neither is it a good book for inexperienced theory teachers. For both of these cases, I would recommend the Kostka/Payne book.

[Full Disclosure: I was a student of Dr. Benjamin at the Peabody Conservatory for several years, studying composition and music theory, where we used his books]

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Text on Music Theory
Review: This text is an outstanding book on music theory. Complete with exercises, concise examples and reference materials packed into the 282 pages of this text. While not the complete reference manual for theory, it is a great general tool/text for education in music theory and the fundamentals of music notation, musical structure and musical form. Fat paced book covers all the details, and includes a reference section which details and demonstrates the handling of many musical techniques and analysis in a concise, direct way.

Highly recommended!