The Everything Music Theory Book, 3rd Edition: Take Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level

by Marc Schonbrun

Master the fundamentals of music with the updated edition of The Everything Music Theory Book that features online audio examples, challenging practice exercises, and hundreds of illustrations so you can take your understanding to the next level.

The Everything Music Theory Book, 3rd Edition is your comprehensive guide to mastering the essential tools needed to read, play, and comprehend music. Whether you’re a new student or an intermediate musician, this book offers a complete educational package that teaches you a deeper understanding of music.

Learn how chords and scales are constructed, how rhythm works, and how to understand complex time signatures. Discover how to identify a key and how keys are organized. Gain insights into how composers and musicians think about songwriting.

Each chapter includes several Etudes—focused practice exercises—that test and reinforce your newfound understanding of music theory. With hundreds of illustrations and helpful audio examples, this book ensures you grasp every concept thoroughly. So grab a pencil, tune your instrument, and become a better musician without missing a beat!

Genres: Music, Reference, Nonfiction, How To

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2006

Reviews

[David Gustafson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of you budding musicians without a formal music education, eventually you are going to want to taste the very addictive opioid of music theory to kick-up the mastery of your chosen instrument.

The 2nd edition of this volume is a wonderful, concise help-mate a notch or two above the ones written for “dummies.”

[Gabby McWethy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is nothing wrong with the info in this book, but it is so condensed that following along became impossible. Music Theory is such a broad topic, and there should have been more refreshers and exercises. Also, if a third edition ever comes out, I would recommend an answer key for the quizzes.

[Al Maki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exercises in second edition are better than in first.

[James Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

It covers the basics of modern Western music theory but not everything.

The text includes numerous pages of exercises, but I can't find the solutions to check the results. No matter. I use musictheory.net for exercises and it's referenced in the book's appendix. See the web site to learn & test your knowledge of notes, staffs, intervals, chords and more. (n.b. I have no affiliation with the web site.)

[Alex Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did a quick read through this as a refresher on beginners' theory before diving into the Aldwell & Schachter book I used during my undergrad. Very fine intro material for the novice and someone just trying to immerse themselves into the world of harmony. Those who took something like AP Music Theory in high school probably wouldn't get much from this, however.

[Stephen Gallup · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many subjects that we learn in a somewhat haphazard fashion, a bit at a time, in whatever sequence the information arrives. That's the way I have absorbed music theory up until now. Even when sitting in on a weekend class being presented to my son, I wasn't starting from a point suited to where I (or he) was. (I believe the first lesson of that class presented a mnemonic device for remembering the number of sharps in major keys: Cats Go Down After Eating Breakfast.)

Knowing only disjointed bits and pieces of a topic like this leads to a feeling of discomfort. I had to find a textbook to study from start to finish. This one served the purpose.

Once or twice I felt the sequence in which material was presented might not be quite right. For example, fairly early on the author says keys with sharps have only sharps and keys with flats have only flats, but then says that isn't always true for harmonic and melodic minor scales. This before ever mentioning their existence. I think someone coming in with no prior knowledge might be unnecessarily confused there. But that's just a quibble.

On the other hand, I like the opportunity it provides to analyze (or reverse-engineer) familiar works of music to see how their composers made use of the principles taught here.

I should also mention that a few topics were apparently not covered here, or at least I could not find them (e.g., cadences). So I followed up with a quick perusal of a very similar book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory . Between the two of them, pretty much all the bases are covered.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this as the textbook for an Introduction to Music Theory course I taught in my family's homeschool co-op. I added in a bunch of YouTube videos and a few lessons/lectures of my own, but it was a good framework for introducing the concepts to my class. The one thing I'd do differently if I taught through this again is to discuss the major scale before talking about intervals, but otherwise I really enjoyed the way the material was presented.

[Nis · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd edition is good. Has full answer key and reference pages are helpful, especially the transposition reference. Challenging "etudes" (practice problems) at the end of each chapter. As for information, it's good enough. Tells you what you need to know and the basic hows and whys. Youll have to search up if you need to know more because it cannot go very in depth. But it serves as a good intro and refresh.

[thuys]

The last two chapters about jazz harmony and transposition are real hard core (I get lost from the part of extended intervals), but you could easily get through others with the author explaining in a very friendly way.

[Sens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best music theory book for self-taught beginners.

[liindalisten · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a beginner/intermediate pianist, I absolutely love this music theory book. It explains one thing at a time starting with simple theory and gradually it becomes quite complex. Many graphics along the way to have a better understanding as you are reading but always best to practice on your piano.

This is not a book to read from beginning to end. I use it as a "study" book.

While learning your instrument, I recommend to read one Chapter at a time until you fully understand the topic until moving on to the next Chapter. If you have to back track on a few things, don't worry it's normal. Music theory takes time to understand and apply. Take your time and enjoy your instrument.

[Richard Pohl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent volume for a high school theory class, perfectly understable and too heavy coverage, dealing mainly bit only with basic harmony issues (scales-modes-chords), but covering also some intermediate extensions/voicings, also transposition.

[Alejandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually couldn't finish this. I felt it was too abstract for subway reading and I needed to sit by a piano and actually listen to these things (and that's hard for me to do at the moment).

[Chris Nitsas · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as a newbie like me can tell, this book is a good overview of music theory.

I feel like I now have a good map of all the different areas of music theory, with enough detail to start exploring. Now I can go into more depth, using other books, and by analyzing existing musical pieces - as the author often suggests you do.

So, what does the book talk about? In short: everything. There's 16 chapters in total, which can be thought of as 4 parts:
1. the first two chapters are the basics: notes, clefs, time, rhythms, rest, meter, and intervals
2. chapters 3-7 talk about scales: major and minor, keys and key signatures, as well as modes and other important scales
3. chapters 8-13 discuss harmony: chords (triads) and their inversions, seventh chords & inversions, chord progressions, and harmonization of a melody
4. the last 3 chapters go into more advanced topics: advanced harmony and modulation (i.e. moving to different keys), jazz harmony & progressions, as well as an explanation of transposition and instrumentation. (Spoiler alert: you get to analyze a tiny part of Beethoven's 9th symphony and find out that it's just simple triads voiced through a whole orchestra!)

To close, I loved "Everything Music Theory" and I'll definitely read through it again as I try to improve my understanding of all these different topics. Have fun learning!