What do you think?
Rate this book
Harmony
This fifth edition of Harmony marks the forty-fifth year of its successful use. Years after Walter Piston's death, his students and their students can still take great pride in the enduring vitality of his teaching. By now it is plain that the book is different from what it used to be, but its essential approach and its basic substance remain as they were.
The major departure of the fourth edition was the addition of seven new chapters, including four on the complicated subject of harmony after common practice, which had not been discussed in the first three editions. However, then as now, the core of the book remains the exhaustive treatment of common-practice harmony, the subject of most one-year or two-year courses in tonal harmony. In the present edition, the entire text has been carefully revised with a view to clarifying the language and illuminating the essential principles. Wherever possible, the text has been "opened up" to allow the reader to adopt a more leisurely pace through what had been a terse and detailed presentation. The results will also be perceived in the more spacious design of this edition.
New exercises have been added to the early chapters as well as some fresh music examples. There is an entirely new chapter on musical texture that serves to clear up many difficult points encountered by the beginning student. Another innovation is the rearrangement of the chapters dealing with harmonic rhythm and the structure of the phrase as well as the inclusion of a short summary of analytical method.
This book has long been known as an introductory textbook, but because of its comprehensive range, it also serves as an invaluable reference book. The acquisition of an consummate knowledge of composers' practice―the goal of any study of harmony―is admittedly an endless assignment. Ars longa, vita brevis , but consolation may be derived from the thought that intellectual and artistic rewards are to be found at all stages along the way.
The major departure of the fourth edition was the addition of seven new chapters, including four on the complicated subject of harmony after common practice, which had not been discussed in the first three editions. However, then as now, the core of the book remains the exhaustive treatment of common-practice harmony, the subject of most one-year or two-year courses in tonal harmony. In the present edition, the entire text has been carefully revised with a view to clarifying the language and illuminating the essential principles. Wherever possible, the text has been "opened up" to allow the reader to adopt a more leisurely pace through what had been a terse and detailed presentation. The results will also be perceived in the more spacious design of this edition.
New exercises have been added to the early chapters as well as some fresh music examples. There is an entirely new chapter on musical texture that serves to clear up many difficult points encountered by the beginning student. Another innovation is the rearrangement of the chapters dealing with harmonic rhythm and the structure of the phrase as well as the inclusion of a short summary of analytical method.
This book has long been known as an introductory textbook, but because of its comprehensive range, it also serves as an invaluable reference book. The acquisition of an consummate knowledge of composers' practice―the goal of any study of harmony―is admittedly an endless assignment. Ars longa, vita brevis , but consolation may be derived from the thought that intellectual and artistic rewards are to be found at all stages along the way.
592 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
63 people are currently reading
722 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 29, 2012
Walter Piston's Harmony is, for countless reasons, a very widely acclaimed and widely used book within both personal and traditional education in music. It provides a very extensive understanding of the common harmonic practice of composers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the course of reading this work, one with the capability of comprehension of the subjects referenced would surely find that much research and impressive understanding of music was required for this book to be written. Furthermore, the basis of his principles and musical philosophy have always been, and likely will remain generally and commonly accepted in western music.
In this book, Piston seems to emphasize specifically the creating of harmonic phrases, rather than the harmonization of any particular melodies. This was a considerably large portion of the book for the reason that every chapter was followed by a series of exercises to be performed by the reader containing the previously taught information. These exercises, if performed correctly and recurrently will undoubtedly advance the musical knowledge of any given reader.
In this book, Piston seems to emphasize specifically the creating of harmonic phrases, rather than the harmonization of any particular melodies. This was a considerably large portion of the book for the reason that every chapter was followed by a series of exercises to be performed by the reader containing the previously taught information. These exercises, if performed correctly and recurrently will undoubtedly advance the musical knowledge of any given reader.
April 2, 2020
Il miglior trattato di Armonia musicale, perfetto anche per gli esercizi
December 27, 2019
Way too deep. This book assumes a high level of music competency going in. I had to drop off at the halfway mark. Good on ya if you can follow this stuff. I recommend reading it with a piano/keyboard handy to 'play' along as you read.
Even with my barrier of musical rudiments, the exercises are certainly dated and geographically placed. I cannot imagine an instructor both grading the student's assigned exercises, discussing them with the student, and then implementing the new lesson, all within the space of an hour lesson once per week.
Even with my barrier of musical rudiments, the exercises are certainly dated and geographically placed. I cannot imagine an instructor both grading the student's assigned exercises, discussing them with the student, and then implementing the new lesson, all within the space of an hour lesson once per week.
October 13, 2010
If you're looking for a good self-read book on the theory of harmony and want to take your understanding of music to level two, this is a good book. Not overly technical or too deep. Does require one to have at some basic understanding of scales and theory.
April 2, 2008
Best reference for Harmony
January 19, 2011
I would only recommend this book to someone who has already studied harmony and needs a review. Straight forward and lacks musical excerpts which are essential for understanding new concepts.
June 21, 2012
This is the hardest book I ever read.
September 11, 2012
A famous book on Classical Harmony. I found it useful, however, my interests lean more towards jazz influenced harmonies.
Read
December 1, 2013There are obviously many books on Harmony. This is one of the must reads!
August 11, 2019
If Domenico Scarlatti, Pachelbel, Vivaldi,Telemann, Adolph Adam, Ambroise Thomas, Paganini, Fanny Hensel, Gounod, Gottschalk, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Massenet, Delibes, Raff, Saint-Saens, Goldmark, Smetana, Glinka, Glazunov, Elgar, Percy Grainger, Delius, Vaughn Williams, Reger, Rachmaninoff, Puccini, Sibelius, MacDowell, Amy Beach, Hindemith, Barber, Korngold, William Grant Still, Honegger, Gershwin, Britten and Richard Rodgers continue to be heard it will be on their own merits without any mention from Walter Piston and Mark DeVoto in this widely distributed textbook.
Of course this book's cited composers (e.g. Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Wagner et al) have much to offer and should not be neglected by any would-be musician - nevertheless this so-called standard work falls way short of being comprehensive. The great Renaissance polyphonists are very frugally mentioned as well, though these days they continue to spark interest and enthusiasm. To me this book's notion of a precisely defined "common practice" would lack relevancy - even were such precision really achievable. Most people study music to produce it in one way or another. Interesting as analytical problems may be, the spirit of music will almost always transcend them. Nevertheless errors can do damage to the spirit of any performance and effort should be made to avoid them. Helping that effort - and as an aid to fix musical materials in memory - is what these tools of analysis can expedite. Occasionally I think tempo is more important to the spirit of music than harmony, counterpoint and instrumentation together! Obviously everything has to work together for any desirable outcome.
While in my teens I checked an earlier edition of this book out of the public library and found all the rules to be a little bewildering. I still do - but I recognize that the effort of teaching comes at a cost. Sometimes the teacher's insights fail to match the student's perceptions and vice versa - especially in such a topic as musical harmony. It is correct that some mention is made here of the importance of rhythmic context to harmonic function. An entire volume should be devoted to that topic alone. We all still have a lot to learn! If the above first mentioned composers have something to teach you (and it may well be that this is the case!) write out examples from their scores a la Piston and DeVoto and stuff them into the text (or some other file). There is zero here about the work of contemporary rock bands but I think much (if not all) of what they do is harmonically simple enough to figure out by ear once one knows the functions taught in this text. My cursory perception is that a good deal of the harmonic essence of rock can be found in modal (especially Mixolydian) functions.
Of course this book's cited composers (e.g. Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Wagner et al) have much to offer and should not be neglected by any would-be musician - nevertheless this so-called standard work falls way short of being comprehensive. The great Renaissance polyphonists are very frugally mentioned as well, though these days they continue to spark interest and enthusiasm. To me this book's notion of a precisely defined "common practice" would lack relevancy - even were such precision really achievable. Most people study music to produce it in one way or another. Interesting as analytical problems may be, the spirit of music will almost always transcend them. Nevertheless errors can do damage to the spirit of any performance and effort should be made to avoid them. Helping that effort - and as an aid to fix musical materials in memory - is what these tools of analysis can expedite. Occasionally I think tempo is more important to the spirit of music than harmony, counterpoint and instrumentation together! Obviously everything has to work together for any desirable outcome.
While in my teens I checked an earlier edition of this book out of the public library and found all the rules to be a little bewildering. I still do - but I recognize that the effort of teaching comes at a cost. Sometimes the teacher's insights fail to match the student's perceptions and vice versa - especially in such a topic as musical harmony. It is correct that some mention is made here of the importance of rhythmic context to harmonic function. An entire volume should be devoted to that topic alone. We all still have a lot to learn! If the above first mentioned composers have something to teach you (and it may well be that this is the case!) write out examples from their scores a la Piston and DeVoto and stuff them into the text (or some other file). There is zero here about the work of contemporary rock bands but I think much (if not all) of what they do is harmonically simple enough to figure out by ear once one knows the functions taught in this text. My cursory perception is that a good deal of the harmonic essence of rock can be found in modal (especially Mixolydian) functions.
February 26, 2026
This is a really useful, concise book that covers a lot of scope with an appreciated directness. It hasn’t aged particularly well in places and certain terminologies around harmony seem to be weird choices of words, by it’s a really useful reference book. It is, of course, pretty dry reading and at times things are explained in slightly confusing ways, but sometimes the perspective Piston gives is a really useful way into otherwise complex or confusing ideas.
September 29, 2024
A classic music theory textbook geared mainly for music students. The detailed analysis and exercises are likely overwhelming for a casual reader, but this is what makes it so practical. Rather than just telling about concepts Piston provides countless examples from familiar pieces and also assigns exercises to test your own understanding and skill.
April 23, 2021
Didn't read this cover to cover but it's an excellent reference.
February 16, 2022
A great harmony reference for its time.
July 13, 2025
Lo que sufrí con este libro no está escrito. No se lo recomendaba ni a mi peor enemigo.
Want to read
June 30, 2016To say that I am starting to read this is a bit of a stretch, because it is a textbook rather than something that one reads and sets down. But, I wanted to get some music theory into my reading list, so here it is.
I was given this 1944 printing of this book about 40 years ago by a friend who saw my interest in learning music. Now I am starting to make a more serious study of music theory. Here goes.
I was given this 1944 printing of this book about 40 years ago by a friend who saw my interest in learning music. Now I am starting to make a more serious study of music theory. Here goes.
Read
August 7, 2015not suitable for iranian student but i must keep on reading it.cause we are still encountering lack of basic tutorial books of music theory and harmony and undoubtly walter piston harmony is nnnnnnot a "basic" choice.
June 26, 2008
An indispensable companion to a career in music. Piston is capable of uncovering the purport of any musical nomencleture no matter the obscurity. I own the 3rd edition, but it was stolen.
January 13, 2010
Absolutely indispensable music text. Don't leave home without it!
January 14, 2015
If you're a musician and you have not read Piston's Harmony yet you're doing it wrong.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews