Harmony and Voice Leading

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book, even for beginners
Review: I am an adult beginning keyboard and music student, learning on my own at my own pace. I am in the process of reading this textbook (the first 100 pages or so of more than 400) and have found it most helpful in explaining in detail difficult musical concepts. I also plan to use this book as a reference.

Rating:
Summary: Everything you always wanted to know about tonal harmony¿
Review: I first encountered this book when I already had done my master's thesis in music theory and considered myself as quite competent in the field of tonal harmony. Nevertheless, reading the book produced several experiences of finally apprehending clearly something that earlier had only been more or less vague practical knowledge. For this reason I enjoyed every section of the book, even though it starts from the very basics. Yet, its way of expression is so simple, even artless, that surely nobody will find it hard to follow. In fact, at first I was a little irritated by what seemed to me as somewhat patronizing style of the book - occasionally it seemed to me as being written for schoolchildren rather than adult students - but I soon learnt to ignore this stylistic feature (which seems typical of American textbooks in general). In any case, I think the book is simply the best ever written on tonal harmony, containing practically every harmonic usage of classical tonal music and integrating them to a grand overall view. This is a classic book in its field.

Rating:
Summary: Be Warned!
Review: I just can't fully explain how silly this book really is. For the most part, if the disorganized format won't annoy you, then the use of "scholarly jargon" certainly will. You know what that is. That's where some nerd wants to make himself sound prolific so he writes an entire paragraph where a couple of sentences would've worked just as well.
Other nonsense includes the amount of/lack of pages spent on certain topics like rhythm and meter for example (9 pages? THAT'S IT?! Huh...I would think the major difference between Western music and all else deserved more then THAT). At any rate, without going into too many details, this book is simply bad. It's just going to confuse the beginner. There's no need for that.
...I would say that the most `user friendly' is called Tonal Harmony by Payne, Schindler, and Kostka (ISBN #0-07-035874-5). It's easy to understand; it has a FABULOUS format and its cheaper then the above dribble. The authors defiantly understand that the reader will most likely be a BEGINNER and so it is written that way.

Rating:
Summary: This is the basic western common practice *BIBLE OF THEORY*
Review: I've never found an undergraduate theory text book that I didn't have some problems with, but this one isn't bad. This text has a good table of contents, indices of terms and musical examples, and an appendix of keyboard progressions. There is a fundamentals section suitable for review, but not for teaching. Curiously, after the fundamentals section, rhythm and meter are never discussed, except in relation to harmonic rhythm and dissonance placement.

Harmony and Voice Leading takes a Schenkerian approach, concentrating on harmonic function. There is no introduction to post-tonal music, although there are sections on chromatic voice leading techniques and equal subdivision of the octave. There is also no discussion of form.

The strengths of this book are (1) the order of the concepts; and (2) the comprehensiveness of exposition of the topics. Harmonic topics are presented in logical order according to the functional approach of the text: first root position dominants, then embellishing dominants, structural pre-dominants, then less common pre-dominant chords. There is also an excellent section on diatonic sequences. Each topic is presented in an extremely detailed manner. The authors have determined that students can handle a large number of rules, examples and exceptions for each harmonic entity they present. The only danger is that the students may be overwhelmed by the level of detail. Thankfully, however, the broadest principles for each concept are presented at the outset, and finer detail is added as the chapter progresses.

The primary shortcoming of the text is the use of all-capital roman numerals for harmonic analysis (instead of capital and lower-case roman numerals that reveal the quality of the chords they symbolize as well as their root and function). Obviously, this is a result of the Schenkerian perspective that dominates the book.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good overall
Review: I've never found an undergraduate theory text book that I didn't have some problems with, but this one isn't bad. This text has a good table of contents, indices of terms and musical examples, and an appendix of keyboard progressions. There is a fundamentals section suitable for review, but not for teaching. Curiously, after the fundamentals section, rhythm and meter are never discussed, except in relation to harmonic rhythm and dissonance placement.

Harmony and Voice Leading takes a Schenkerian approach, concentrating on harmonic function. There is no introduction to post-tonal music, although there are sections on chromatic voice leading techniques and equal subdivision of the octave. There is also no discussion of form.

The strengths of this book are (1) the order of the concepts; and (2) the comprehensiveness of exposition of the topics. Harmonic topics are presented in logical order according to the functional approach of the text: first root position dominants, then embellishing dominants, structural pre-dominants, then less common pre-dominant chords. There is also an excellent section on diatonic sequences. Each topic is presented in an extremely detailed manner. The authors have determined that students can handle a large number of rules, examples and exceptions for each harmonic entity they present. The only danger is that the students may be overwhelmed by the level of detail. Thankfully, however, the broadest principles for each concept are presented at the outset, and finer detail is added as the chapter progresses.

The primary shortcoming of the text is the use of all-capital roman numerals for harmonic analysis (instead of capital and lower-case roman numerals that reveal the quality of the chords they symbolize as well as their root and function). Obviously, this is a result of the Schenkerian perspective that dominates the book.

Rating:
Summary: Important text, but not for beginners
Review: One thing to understand about this book - it was not written with amazon.com beginners in mind. It is a college-level theory textbook, and is probably one of the few books that present basic theory concepts in a coherent, unified fashion. The "restrictions" some reviewers complain about, are actually part of a time-honored approach to teaching theory (think "species counterpoint"). To understand the book, a teacher needs to understand something of the ideas and approach of Heinrich Schenker (Schachter was one of Schenker's students). Unlike many theory books, which are into quick summaries and labels, this book is based on a deep understanding of how western tonal music works (at least from the Schenkerian perspective). Even basic concepts like scale degrees, intervals, and triads, are presented in such a way that important relationships among tones become evident. Chords are not merely chunks of notes that deserve a label, but are part of a larger, contrapuntal whole. Sticking with the early chapters, and especially getting a good grasp of the contrapuntal nature of even the most basic chords (insights gained into the similar "passing chord" functions of the V4/3 and viio6 chords, for example) are well worth the effort. Upon successful completion of the first 10 or 11 chapters, a student should have a new understanding of how tonal music works.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but don't expect it to cover everything
Review: The main reason that I want to write a review here is on the off-chance that any AP music theory teachers or students are coming across this and are considering buying the book. My teacher made the mistake of using this as our primary textbook for the year, hoping that it would cover the AP curriculum. Well, it doesn't. It only helps on about 20% of the test, and for the rest you will be dead in the water.

That said, it does a pretty good job introducing and expanding the concept of basic four-part voice leading. It doesn't expend very many pages teaching the absolute basics like major and minor chords, so it helps to approach the book with some understanding of chords, intervals, and the like.

The progressions and rules that it allows do seem a little bit stringent and antiquated considering the many changes in classical music over the past century, but at least you can voice-lead like Bach after reading this!

Rating:
Summary: Good, but don't expect it to cover everything
Review: The main reason that I want to write a review here is on the off-chance that any AP music theory teachers or students are coming across this and are considering buying the book. My teacher made the mistake of using this as our primary textbook for the year, hoping that it would cover the AP curriculum. Well, it doesn't. It only helps on about 20% of the test, and for the rest you will be dead in the water.

That said, it does a pretty good job introducing and expanding the concept of basic four-part voice leading. It doesn't expend very many pages teaching the absolute basics like major and minor chords, so it helps to approach the book with some understanding of chords, intervals, and the like.

The progressions and rules that it allows do seem a little bit stringent and antiquated considering the many changes in classical music over the past century, but at least you can voice-lead like Bach after reading this!

Rating:
Summary: A very strong text teaching the foundations of tonal music
Review: When I was a student at the University of Michigan School of Music in the late seventies and early eighties, we used the then brand new first edition of this book. I thought it was quite good then, and I believe this third edition to be an even better book. It treats the subjects of tonal harmony and voice leading quite well. There have been some solid improvements in the way a few things are explained and some changes in the musical examples. However, it is still fundamentally the same sound course for undergraduate music theory it has been since 1978. However, it now comes in one volume instead of the two volumes of the first edition.

The text begins with a quick review of the basics of musical grammar, a brief introduction of the rudiments of musical notation, intervals, rhythm (and meter), chords, and four-part harmony. Part II talks about the powerful relationship between the tonic and dominant chords, chord progressions elaborating that relationship, and even the dominant as a key area (whether you call it tonicization or modulation is up to you). Part III discusses the implications of root position, first inversion, and second inversion chords in elaborating harmonies and in sequences. Part IV is actually about contrapuntal issues, but is framed in a discussion of melodic figuration. Part V introduces chromaticism, modal mixture, and extends the discussion on uses of seventh chords. Part VI extends the discussion of chromaticism and includes ninth and eleventh chords, Phrygian II (Neapolitan chords), augmented sixths, and more types of mixture. There is also important discussion of the implications all this has for voice leading and modulation to other key areas.

Some might wish that it contained some treatments of graphical (Schenkerian notation), and I am one of them, but that is a quibble compared to this books many strengths. The counter argument is that until the students really have a handle on the basics of harmony and how voice leading is handled through the music of the early twentieth century, there really isn't a way for them to grasp the meaning of the larger structures Schenker's graphical notation was created to represent. I think that is a fair point, but still think there are some basics in notation that could be introduced early in the process when talking about the basic structure of melodies and supporting harmonies and candential formulas.

The explanations are clear and the musical examples apt. In fact, someone could actually work through this book on his own and grasp what is being presented. Of course, an instructor is helpful to check work and explain things that remain unclear in the student's mind, but that is really true for any book on any subject.

There are some wonderful materials to supplement this text. The most important are the two work books (WB I - ISBN 0-15-506226-3 / WB II - ISBN 0-15-506234-4. They are useful exercises that help the student learn the material by actively working through the application of the materials discussed.

Another resource that should not be overlooked is the two-CD set (ISBN 0-534-52216-5) that contains performances of the hundreds of musical examples in the textbook (not the workbooks). It can really help a student to listen to examples that are unclear. If a student can play them herself or hear them in his head, so much the better, but these discs can enrich reading through the textbook and making sure that you understand what is being presented to you.

Kudos to Professors Aldwell and Schachter for this wonderful text and supporting materials.

Rating:
Summary: A very strong text teaching the foundations of tonal music
Review: When I was a student at the University of Michigan School of Music in the late seventies and early eighties, we used the then brand new first edition of this book. I thought it was quite good then, and I believe this third edition to be an even better book. It treats the subjects of tonal harmony and voice leading quite well. There have been some solid improvements in the way a few things are explained and some changes in the musical examples. However, it is still fundamentally the same sound course for undergraduate music theory it has been since 1978. However, it now comes in one volume instead of the two volumes of the first edition.

The text begins with a quick review of the basics of musical grammar, a brief introduction of the rudiments of musical notation, intervals, rhythm (and meter), chords, and four-part harmony. Part II talks about the powerful relationship between the tonic and dominant chords, chord progressions elaborating that relationship, and even the dominant as a key area (whether you call it tonicization or modulation is up to you). Part III discusses the implications of root position, first inversion, and second inversion chords in elaborating harmonies and in sequences. Part IV is actually about contrapuntal issues, but is framed in a discussion of melodic figuration. Part V introduces chromaticism, modal mixture, and extends the discussion on uses of seventh chords. Part VI extends the discussion of chromaticism and includes ninth and eleventh chords, Phrygian II (Neapolitan chords), augmented sixths, and more types of mixture. There is also important discussion of the implications all this has for voice leading and modulation to other key areas.

Some might wish that it contained some treatments of graphical (Schenkerian notation), and I am one of them, but that is a quibble compared to this books many strengths. The counter argument is that until the students really have a handle on the basics of harmony and how voice leading is handled through the music of the early twentieth century, there really isn't a way for them to grasp the meaning of the larger structures Schenker's graphical notation was created to represent. I think that is a fair point, but still think there are some basics in notation that could be introduced early in the process when talking about the basic structure of melodies and supporting harmonies and candential formulas.

The explanations are clear and the musical examples apt. In fact, someone could actually work through this book on his own and grasp what is being presented. Of course, an instructor is helpful to check work and explain things that remain unclear in the student's mind, but that is really true for any book on any subject.

There are some wonderful materials to supplement this text. The most important are the two work books (WB I - ISBN 0-15-506226-3 / WB II - ISBN 0-15-506234-4. They are useful exercises that help the student learn the material by actively working through the application of the materials discussed.

Another resource that should not be overlooked is the two-CD set (ISBN 0-534-52216-5) that contains performances of the hundreds of musical examples in the textbook (not the workbooks). It can really help a student to listen to examples that are unclear. If a student can play them herself or hear them in his head, so much the better, but these discs can enrich reading through the textbook and making sure that you understand what is being presented to you.

Kudos to Professors Aldwell and Schachter for this wonderful text and supporting materials.