Elementary Rudiments of Music: "Recommended for Use in the Study of Theory at the Royal Conservatory of Music"

Rating:
Summary: The perfect no-nonsense theory book
Review: I first picked up Elementary Rudiments of Music when I was 17 years old and frustrated as a folk guitarist. I wanted to know why a "D chord" was a D chord and just how exactly this music stuff worked. Two music degrees later, I still look back to that book as one of the reasons I have never flinched at music theory. It presents ideas, and then gives the student pages and pages of exercises to practice. There is no short cut to learning theory, one just has to be immersed in it. This book is totally no-frills, and packed with all the right questions and answers. It's probably not for children, but for the teenager or adult student who wants to figure out how it all fits together, this is the book.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect no-nonsense theory book
Review: I first picked up Elementary Rudiments of Music when I was 17 years old and frustrated as a folk guitarist. I wanted to know why a "D chord" was a D chord and just how exactly this music stuff worked. Two music degrees later, I still look back to that book as one of the reasons I have never flinched at music theory. It presents ideas, and then gives the student pages and pages of exercises to practice. There is no short cut to learning theory, one just has to be immersed in it. This book is totally no-frills, and packed with all the right questions and answers. It's probably not for children, but for the teenager or adult student who wants to figure out how it all fits together, this is the book.