Music Theory For Dummies

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 360 pages
• Published by: For Dummies; Pap/Cdr edition April 2, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0764578383
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0764578380
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Book Description
Many people grimace at the sound of music theory. It can conjure up terrible memories of grade school music classes, rattle the brains of college students, and make self-taught musicians feel self-defeated. Music Theory may seem tedious and unnecessary, especially since not many people can read music.

Luckily, Music Theory for Dummies shows you the fun and easy way to understanding the concepts needed to compose, deconstruct, and comprehend music. This helpful guide will give you a great grasp of:

• Note value and counting notes
• Treble and bass clefs
• Time signatures and measures
• Naturalizing the rhythm
• Tempo and dynamic
• Tone, color, and harmonics
• Half steps and whole steps
• Harmonic and melodic intervals
• Key signatures and circles of fifths
• Scales, chords, and their progressions
• Elements of form
• Music theory’s fascinating history

This friendly guide not only explores these concepts, it provides examples of music to compliment them so you can hear how they sound firsthand. With a bonus CD that demonstrates these ideas with musical excerpts on guitar and piano, this hands-on resource will prove to you that music theory is as enjoyable as it is useful. Don’t get discouraged by the seemingly complicated written structure. With Music Theory for Dummies, understanding music has never been easier!

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Back Cover Copy
Helpful hints on melodies, chords, and music development

The fun and easy way to read, write, and perform any style of music

Need to grasp music theory? This hands-on guide explains the concepts in plain English — from scales, intervals, and tempos to chord progressions, phrasing, harmonizing, and arranging — and shows you how to apply them in compositions ranging from pop and rock to jazz and classical. It's also packed with musical examples you can hear on the CD!

Discover how to:

• Read notes and understand tones
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  Keep proper rhythm
• 
  
  Master major and minor scales
• 
  
  Build chords and cadences
• 
  
  Write in popular musical forms

Demonstrations of music theory concepts

Musical examples performed on both piano and guitar

Reader Reviews
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. Comment | | (Report this)