Music Theory Essentials

Music Theory Essentials offers an antidote to music theory textbooks that are overly long and dense. Focusing on the essentials, this text provides a clear-cut guide to the key concepts of music theory. Beginning with no assumptions about music theory knowledge, the book covers the core elements of music fundamentals, diatonic and chromatic harmony, post-tonal theory, and popular music in a single concise volume. Emphasizing critical thinking skills, this book guides students through conceptualizing musical concepts and mastering analytic techniques.
Each chapter concludes with a selection of applications designed to enhance engagement:
Exercises allow students to apply and practice the skills and techniques addressed in the chapter.
Brain Teasers challenge students to expand their musical understanding by thinking outside the box.
Exploring Music offers strategies for students to apply learned concepts to the music they are currently learning or listening to.
Thinking Critically encourages students to think more deeply about music by solving problems and identifying and challenging assumptions.
A companion website provides answers to book exercises, additional downloadable exercises, and audio examples.
Straightforward and streamlined, Music Theory Essentials is a truly concise yet comprehensive introduction to music theory that is accessible to students of all backgrounds.

Jason W. Solomon is Associate Professor of Music at Agnes Scott College, Georgia, USA.

Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Part I: Fundamentals Chapter 1: Pitch and Notation Chapter 2: Intervals Chapter 3: Scales and Melody Chapter 4: Keys Chapter 5: Chords Chapter 6: Musical Time Chapter 7: Introduction to Voice Leading and Counterpoint Part II: Diatonic Harmony Chapter 8: Four-Part Voice Leading Chapter 9: Nonchord Tones Chapter 10: Tonal Function, Syntax, and Prolongation Chapter 11: Triad Inversions Chapter 12: Seventh Chords Chapter 13: Motive, Phrase, Cadence, and Period Structure Chapter 14: Harmonic Sequences Part III: Chromatic Harmony Chapter 15: Secondary Dominants and Tonicization Chapter 16: Modulation I: Phrase Modulation and Diatonic Pivot Chords Chapter 17: Modal Mixture Chapter 18: The Neapolitan and Augmented Sixth Chords Chapter 19: Modulation II: Chromatic Pivot Chords, Enharmonic Reinterpretation, and Common-Tone Modulation Chapter 20: Dominant Ninth Chords, Altered Dominants, and Embellishing Chords Part IV: Post-Tonal and Popular Materials Chapter 21: The Dissolution of the Tonal System Chapter 22: New Pitch Collections Chapter 23: Centricity and Harmony Chapter 24: Set Theory Chapter 25: Serialism Chapter 26: Introduction to Jazz and Pop Harmony Appendix: List of Set Classes Credits Index of Musical Examples Index of Terms and Concepts