Books like A Player's Guide to Chords and Harmony by Jim Aikin

Arnold Schoenberg’s Fundamentals of Musical Composition presents a systematic, practical guide to the compositional process, drawing on over forty years of teaching experience across Europe and America.

Many people grimace at the sound of music theory. It can conjure up bad memories of grade school music classes, rattle the brains of college students, and make self-taught musicians feel self-defeated. Music Theory may seem tedious and unnecessary, especially since not many people can read music. Luckily, Music Theory for Dummies shows you the fun and easy way to understanding the concepts needed to compose, deconstruct, and comprehend music. This helpful guide will give you a great grasp of: Note value and counting notes Treble and bass clefs Time signatures and measures Naturalizing the rhythm Tempo and dynamic Tone, color, and harmonics Half steps and whole steps Harmonic and melodic intervals Key signatures and circles of fifths Scales, chords, and their progressions Elements of form Music theory's fascinating history This friendly guide not only explores these concepts, it provides examples of music to compliment them so you can hear how they sound firsthand. With a bonus CD that demonstrates these ideas with musical excerpts on guitar and piano, this hands-on resource will prove to you that music theory is as enjoyable as it is useful. Don't get discouraged by the seemingly complicated written structure. With Music Theory for Dummies, understanding music has never been easier! Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included.

Tonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne is a foundational musical theory text that elucidates concepts from basic consonance to advanced harmonic analysis, featuring exercises, score analyses, and a historical perspective.

Author's Description This book clearly relates the fretboard to the same musical principles all professionals on any instrument use, teaching the practical hands-on basics without glossing over the theory every guitarist should know. It does not invent its own terminology or pattern numbering system, a problem that has lessened the value of many books like this in the past. The CAGED-based fretboard system used has world-wide recognition and a long historic basis, refined and tweaked in Musicians Institute curricula since 1977 by hundreds of instructors after its introduction by Howard Roberts in the early 1970s. You'll cover everything you need for a rock-solid foundation, including modes and slash chords. You'll understand and play (anywhere on the neck!) any scale or chord you encounter or imagine. Besides offering you a chance to completely grasp the guitar, this method assures you will be able to communicate with other trained musicians no matter what their instrument. The book was designed for use in three arenas: private lessons, classroom instruction, and personal study by the motivated individual. There are 22 short chapters of very gradually increasing difficulty, suitable for teaching in 20-30 minute time frames. Each chapter has modest written and playing assignments, with all the answers in the back of the book. The text was written specifically to be concise, informative, and fun, yet easily understood by non-native English speakers.