Rating: 
Summary: The most over-praised musical textbook of the 20ty centruy
Review: Piston's Harmony was the worst book I used in six years of classes on the undergraduate and graduate levels. While there were many reasons for this one of the most important was that Piston's theory of harmony makes no sense. The figuring taught by this book is useless for anything but showing your teacher that you can write the numbers under the chords. If you are lucky enough to be able to choose your own textbook Roger Session's out of print Harmonic Practice is a far better book. I didn't really learn anything about harmony until after doing counterpoint exercises (from Jeppesen's Counterpoint) at the keyboard. Eventually learning to play from a figured bass and training your ear is the only real way to learn diatonic harmony. Short of that try to improvise. Just about anything which deals with actual music making is better than Piston's note drawing exercises.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful book if you're ready to do some serious studying
Review: This book has helped me alot even though it can be tedious and tough to comprehend in certain portions of the book ; but through careful reading, it shouldn't be a problem. It contains examples taken from classical literature and its very in depth, beginners should consider reading other books first before getting to this one. ( I recommend Mark Harrison's "Contemporary Music Theory Level 1" ). If you had read the review before mine you would see some really bad comments from the professor about this book. He may be right due to his vast experience, but learning is still excellent and possible through this book, no doubt about that.
Rating:
Summary: Book in need of an excorcism
Review: This book is a nightmare, all attempts of trying to use it as a text at the colleges where I teach were abandoned (sp?) three years ago. The text has simply become incomprehensible. Why there is an example of a secondary NINTH chord in chapter tow is beyond all logic and reason. I would suggest finding a used 1st-3rd Ed. (ALL supervised by Piston at a used book store) For something more current try Gauldin's wonderful "Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music"
Rating:
Summary: inferior college textbook
Review: This is tedious, but I suppose it must be said. Unlike Mark Harrison's "Contemporary Music Theory Level 1", for example, this book is not intended for amateur pop musicians; it is a college textbook intended for freshmen music students. Thus useful reviews will be addressed primarily to college teachers, those who assign textbooks. On the other hand, a prospective student may wish to choose his teacher by what text he assigns or he may wish to supplement his assigned text. There are many freshmen harmony textbooks available. This is not more "serious" than any other, but its current (fifth) edition and the edition preceding it make a complete botch of teaching harmony. (Self-styled autodidacts beware: The essence of harmony is part-writing, and part-writing skill can not be acquired without objective and independent critical evaluation of part-writing exercises--you can't learn it solely from a book.)
Rating:
Summary: This Edition: Bloated and Tedious
Review: Walter Piston's 'Harmony' is the finest book with this title (there have been many) ever written. This edition turns that great work into a bloated, tedious, clumsily-written monstrosity. Its introduction admits that Walter Piston, had he lived to see it, would not have approved of much of its additions and deletions. Let's take it at its word and prefer an earlier edition.
Rating: 
Summary: just too laborious for a freshman music student
Review: When I was a freshman music composition student over 20 years ago, I bought the 4th edition of this book (also expanded by Mark DeVoto) to help supplement my classroom theory texts. I had heard that it was the standard text and that everybody should have one. Well, after reading through a few pages I found that it was just too laborious. I needed a lot of useful, authoritative information and I needed it fast. Extra time for studying was not very easy to come by, and the book was going to need a whole lot of extra time to wade through it. So I never used it again while I was in school. I much rather preferred our classroom text - Music Theory: A Syllabus, by Ellis B. Kohs. Now this is a great text book. It gets right to the point and gives you exactly what you need to know to succeed. It is interesting that Mr. Kohs actually studied with Piston and also with Willi Apel (Harvard Dictionary of Music.) While the book may be quite useful, I would not recommend it for first year theory students, which is what it is normally used for. If you are wondering, the Kohs book actually laid a very good theoretical foundation for me as I was able to score in the top 3% on the theory portion of the graduate record exam in music. (I also later studied with Kohs so I guess I am a little biased in that respect.) However, it is now unfortunately out of print, but if you can get a copy of it, do it. It's a much easier read.
Rating:
Summary: just too laborious for a freshman music student
Review: When I was a freshman music composition student over 20 years ago, I bought the 4th edition of this book (also expanded by Mark DeVoto) to help supplement my classroom theory texts. I had heard that it was the standard text and that everybody should have one. Well, after reading through a few pages I found that it was just too laborious. I needed a lot of useful, authoritative information and I needed it fast. Extra time for studying was not very easy to come by, and the book was going to need a whole lot of extra time to wade through it. So I never used it again while I was in school. I much rather preferred our classroom text - Music Theory: A Syllabus, by Ellis B. Kohs. Now this is a great text book. It gets right to the point and gives you exactly what you need to know to succeed. It is interesting that Mr. Kohs actually studied with Piston and also with Willi Apel (Harvard Dictionary of Music.) While the book may be quite useful, I would not recommend it for first year theory students, which is what it is normally used for. If you are wondering, the Kohs book actually laid a very good theoretical foundation for me as I was able to score in the top 3% on the theory portion of the graduate record exam in music. (I also later studied with Kohs so I guess I am a little biased in that respect.) However, it is now unfortunately out of print, but if you can get a copy of it, do it. It's a much easier read.
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