Rating: 
Summary: Very Dry....
Review: (Note: I've been using this book for independent study, and thus I'm not comparing it to other institutionalized texts). A few reviewers have mentioned that this is a "college text". As a college graduate, I know from experience that "college text" is a euphemism that professors use to describe a boring, poorly written text. Although the information is not presented optimally, it's all there, and you can still learn a great deal from this text (especially if you have a teacher to call upon for clarifications). Each section of every chapter provides a set of exercises, but the authors don't offer many ideas for creative applications, and they don't even feel the need to explain the importance of the information they're presenting or tell you how to use the material to make yourself a better musician. If you have a good teacher, this text isn't really worth complaining about, but if you're on your own, I'd suggest going elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: This book has some good points but a lot of flaws
Review: Anybody who has seen the latest edition, knows it's got the theory there, and of all the editions, it was more clearly written than in any of the other ones, however the examples are crap and there are quite a few typographical errors. i guess if they ever proof read their book and make a next edition, it'll get another star from me, and also another thing they did in the book, which is probably not the best of ideas, is in their examples quite often towards the beginning having secondary functioning chords there before they're even introduced in the book. but with the errors in the text it still is probably one of the best in print. i don't think too many people would buy this book for independant studies, so there will be a teacher there to clear the confusion and hopefully spot the errors for the students.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful, necessarily dry, and best, educational.
Review: I am quite amused by the complaints I hear from students and professors about this text. Perhaps these folks who exude grunts and groans about this text have not had the grave misfortune of encountering Gauldin's bare-bones tonal-harmony survey. I would jump quickly to recommend Piston's original text, but the deVoto bastardization destroyed any sense of "fun" or instructional continuity present in the original version (which I am lucky - and old enough - to own).Let's face it: expository writing is tedious. It is not meant by nature or design to be a page-turning writing device. Nonetheless, Kostka's survey is complete, providing adequate and clear examples, and written in a very succinct manner. True, Kostka does dwell in a few places, but these minutiae-explanations are necessary (if you have ever taught elementary theory, you will understand immediately). The organization of the text is second to none, and the authors are consistent in explanations and refrain from "inventing" jargon or becoming unnecessarily nebulous (Gauldin, for one, is notorious in this regard).
Rating:
Summary: review for the fifth edition
Review: I'm a guitar major and this book, to some extent, frustrates me. All the examples are given on the piano. I have a limited knowledge of piano. That aside, I had no problems understanding the book, especially the parts about the various kinds of chords. However, the book features several obvious mistakes, such as an instance where a 32nd note is listed as a 16th note (how obvious could you get? It's not as though you could miss the extra stem!) In a few other instances the book mismarks a few chords. It also has several typos in it, which caught me by surprise. This book is also a little dry. But as far as music theory books go, I have seen far, far worse. This book is the better of the lot. I've seen more errors an mismarkings in my guitar and bass guitar books, so I gave this one 4 stars. It's not too bad.
Rating:
Summary: review for the fifth edition
Review: I'm a guitar major and this book, to some extent, frustrates me. All the examples are given on the piano. I have a limited knowledge of piano. That aside, I had no problems understanding the book, especially the parts about the various kinds of chords. However, the book features several obvious mistakes, such as an instance where a 32nd note is listed as a 16th note (how obvious could you get? It's not as though you could miss the extra stem!) In a few other instances the book mismarks a few chords. It also has several typos in it, which caught me by surprise. This book is also a little dry. But as far as music theory books go, I have seen far, far worse. This book is the better of the lot. I've seen more errors an mismarkings in my guitar and bass guitar books, so I gave this one 4 stars. It's not too bad.
Rating:
Summary: A great book.
Review: I've been studying music theory for (too) many years and out of all the books on this subject I would say that this is the most user friendly for the beginning student. It's easy to understand; it has a FABULOUS format and its cheaper then most textbooks out there. The authors defiantly understand that the reader will most likely be a BEGINNER and so it is written that way.
It starts with the basics of pitch (it even explains how the keyboard is sometimes used as a TOOL for those who don't study keyboard). It also clearly states how scales are used/studied, what scales are more popular then others and why, and what can be done with scales. How chords are constructed, where they come from, why they are the way they are, the different ways to make a chord. Trust me, it's all here.
I suppose I should just say that format is the key with this book. Pretty much the difference between a good textbook on theory and a bad one is just that: format. If things are in order and explained systematically, anything can be taught/learned.
Rating:
Summary: Much improved but still has a ways to go
Review: I've used this book for my first-year theory class for nine years, through three editions. I haven't found any better but that doesn't mean I think it's perfect. I agree with some of the other commentaries about the errors and the poor choice of musical examples. Students of mine have frequently complained about this. In addition, the book is very keyboard-centric and thus creates difficulties for people who don't play the piano and who aren't used to reading keyboard score. One can argue, of course, that keyboard facility is a skill any serious musician ought to have (being a pianist myself, I agree in principle), but still, there ARE good musicians who are not pianists who will struggle unnecessarily with this material. Other, specific things I would change about the book: 1) The chapters on part-writing emphasize too heavily the minutiae of voice-leading and thus obscure the point that we're talking about the relative motion of complete melodic lines. More exercises involving only two parts, to give students a thorough grounding in the basics (i.e., no parallel fifths and octaves), would really help. 2) Although including discussions and examples from popular music is a good idea, the section that tries to explain the concept of "suspension" in pop chord symbols is skimpy and confusing. 3) I find the whole explanation of harmonic progression, based on the circle-of-fifths progression, unconvincing. Piston's looser cataloging for me better fits the reality of tonal music.
Rating:
Summary: It's quality stuff.
Review: It's ridiculous to say that this book is hard to understand; I use this book for my high school theory class and I can understand it. It's true that it is a little dry and has some errors, but overall it's really helped me learn theory.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding and thorough guide to music theory.
Review: Music theory is kind of like math. Some people are good at theory, but hate studying it; some have a complete theory block and can't understand even the fundamentals. And some, like me, love it, are good at it, and enjoy it for its own sake. For those who are interested in this vast and sometimes intimidating subject, Kostka's "Tonal Harmony" is a superb, well written, extremely thorough, and largely lucid guide. This is the text I used in both college theory classes and in the independent study I did with a University of Oregon doctoral student, and in both cases I found it very useful. To get much out of it, one really should have some background in theory, but with at least a modest understanding of the subject, this book is one that can be used alone by the self-motivated musician. Everything from four-part writing and figured bass to secondary functions and French augmented sixth chords is covered here. In fact, unless you are getting a Ph.D. in music theory, there's a lot here you'd never need to know. Kostka and his co-writer include many exercises at the end of each chapter, and there are a couple of chapters on post-tonal theory at the end of the book. There will never be a perfect guide to music theory, since it's such a complex subject. There will also never be a perfect guide to physics. That doesn't mean this book can't be of use to you. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding and thorough guide to music theory.
Review: Music theory is kind of like math. Some people are good at theory, but hate studying it; some have a complete theory block and can't understand even the fundamentals. And some, like me, love it, are good at it, and enjoy it for its own sake. For those who are interested in this vast and sometimes intimidating subject, Kostka's "Tonal Harmony" is a superb, well written, extremely thorough, and largely lucid guide. This is the text I used in both college theory classes and in the independent study I did with a University of Oregon doctoral student, and in both cases I found it very useful. To get much out of it, one really should have some background in theory, but with at least a modest understanding of the subject, this book is one that can be used alone by the self-motivated musician. Everything from four-part writing and figured bass to secondary functions and French augmented sixth chords is covered here. In fact, unless you are getting a Ph.D. in music theory, there's a lot here you'd never need to know. Kostka and his co-writer include many exercises at the end of each chapter, and there are a couple of chapters on post-tonal theory at the end of the book. There will never be a perfect guide to music theory, since it's such a complex subject. There will also never be a perfect guide to physics. That doesn't mean this book can't be of use to you. Highly recommended.
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