Rating: 
Summary: A good combination with the right teacher.
Review: This book is quite good despite some of the reviews presented here. The MAIN reason I adopted this book for my Harmony Class was due to the fact that my students reviewed it and they found it to be superior to the textbook we had been using. (5th Edition DeVoto/Piston-Ouch!) What I like about the book is that it teaches structure/color & structure/motion from the beginnning. Even though it doesn't use full blown Schenkerian analysis, my class and I have found the graphs to be extremely helpful in understanding the underlying structure of a work. It is one of the few texts that demonstrate that there is more to analyzing music than the, impressive but sadly inefficient, Roman Numerals. I have yet to find a perfect Harmony textbook, but this one is close. I recommend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Good ideas, Bad persentation.
Review: This is the textbook currently being used at the world-renowned Indiana University School of music, and I must say it baffles me as to why. The book can be described as mediocre in its best sections and downright pathetic in its worst. The writing quality is miserable, and Gauldin ofetn tries to make too much out of too little. Professor Gauldin does do well in presenting all of them most important points and principles of music theory, but the presentation itself is often confusing and excessivly verbose. The book's lack of a glossary of terms presented in the text does little to improve this situation. In addition, when used as a comprehensive course (along with the workbook and the accompanying CD's), the weaknesses are only compounded; as the workbook often moves too rapidly and elaborates poorly on points presented in the text (some of the most diffficult subject matter in the workbook often lies in interpreting Professor Gauldin's directions.) The publisher's review was accurate in one or two respects... the book is very concise (perhaps a little too concise), and the design of the text itself is very appealing to the eye, but don't be fooled, you buy a book for what's inside. If you are a student or musician looking for a good overall guide into theoretical and harmonic practices, bypass this one and go for Walter Piston's books "Harmony" and "Counterpoint".
Rating: 
Summary: College Music Theory
Review: This is the theory book my university uses for it's theory courses. We use it for Theory 1 through Theory 4 (2 years). I've loved this book with what I've studied this far. I do agree with those who have said you have to be ambitious to take on this book on your own. Our professors do well with their explanations and play the exerpts on piano (they use the pre-recorded examples when it's above their abilities). In combination with a good teachers, this book is awesome. I could personally sit in a theory class all day with this book, but then again, I'm a major music dork.
Rating:
Summary: The best harmony text I know of
Review: True, it's expensive (especially with the workbook). Also, the writing is sometimes so convoluted that I, a theory professor, had difficulty getting the point. That's because it's ambitious; it tries to present tonal harmony as music theorists understand it, with attention to the underlying principles, rather than trying to simplify and get quick results the way most of its competition does. It's just plain more interesting than any other standard theory text. One reviewer here complained about building the scale out of fifths; well, the possibility of doing that is an important aspect of tonal harmony, and the fact that it doesn't quite work is one of the tensions that makes tonal music vital.Another reviewer complained that the book starts at too high a level. The question is, for whom? This book is aimed at people who are fairly familiar with "classical" music and already read music fluently. I've only used it in the classroom, where I help students make sense of it. If you try to read it on your own, you'll find it quite a slog, but it might be worth it. Judging by student reviews on this page, students aren't as enthusiastic as teachers about this book, which suggests that we teachers think this book can be a very useful part of a course, though it may not quite stand on its own. I've been very happy; I adopted the book last fall and within a semester my students were doing better work than I had ever seen before. Those students are intellectually above average, but not brilliant musicians. I hope a future edition will have clearer writing.
Rating: 
Summary: If you are a teacher, don't choose this text.
Review: When I first bought this book, I flipped through the pages and thought, "ALright! all those concepts I keep hearing about explained in a straightforward, color-coded manner!" Unfortunately, as I started using the book in the introductory music theory class at the university of chicago, I was disappointed. Chief among its flaws are what I see as a classic case of "textbook multiple personality disorder." Gauldin can't make up his mind if he wants to write a serious book for the serious student or a superficial book for someone who has never seen theory before; although he feels compelled to explain utter basics such as scales and chords, at other times he assumes that the student knows far more is contained in the pages in the book - the examples in the book, and especially the excercises in the workbook are far harder than the rather high-schoolish level of explanation most topics are treated with. The book is ok for learning the facts and how to go through the motions. Not very insightful or stimulating. Rather dry and unexciting. Still, it is possible to learn from it, and it is quite logical (although like i said the examples I found often worthless). Still, if you are brand new to music theory, I would recommend a lower level text or workbook which supplies plenty of more basic excercises before getting to the harder ones. ANd if you already have had music theory, i dont think this book has much to offer except as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: If you are a teacher, don't choose this text.
Review: When I first bought this book, I flipped through the pages and thought, "ALright! all those concepts I keep hearing about explained in a straightforward, color-coded manner!" Unfortunately, as I started using the book in the introductory music theory class at the university of chicago, I was disappointed. Chief among its flaws are what I see as a classic case of "textbook multiple personality disorder." Gauldin can't make up his mind if he wants to write a serious book for the serious student or a superficial book for someone who has never seen theory before; although he feels compelled to explain utter basics such as scales and chords, at other times he assumes that the student knows far more is contained in the pages in the book - the examples in the book, and especially the excercises in the workbook are far harder than the rather high-schoolish level of explanation most topics are treated with. The book is ok for learning the facts and how to go through the motions. Not very insightful or stimulating. Rather dry and unexciting. Still, it is possible to learn from it, and it is quite logical (although like i said the examples I found often worthless). Still, if you are brand new to music theory, I would recommend a lower level text or workbook which supplies plenty of more basic excercises before getting to the harder ones. ANd if you already have had music theory, i dont think this book has much to offer except as a reference.
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