Tonal Harmony

For a generation of professionals in the musical community, Tonal Harmony has provided a comprehensive, yet accessible and highly practical, set of tools for understanding music. With this new edition, twenty-first century technology meets a time-honored tradition. Now available in McGraw-Hill’s Connect® with SmartBook®, students are better equipped to understand and master the vocabulary of music efficiently,allowing them to move on more quickly to advanced musical skill-building.

Designed to meet the needs of the two-year theory curriculum for music majors, this straightforward market-leading text emphasizes practicality and ease of use for both the student and the instructor. Its outstanding ancillaries, which include a collection of audio examples on CD (for both the text and workbook), Finale Workbook Software, and an extensive Instructor's Manual, round out the comprehensive teaching package.

The groundbreaking theory text that students read and understand

Each set of exercises in the Workbook is closely correlated with the corresponding chapter of the text and with a particular Self-Test within the chapter. Each set of Workbook exercises begins with problems similar to those found in the corresponding Self-Test, but the Workbook exercises also include problems that are too open-ended for the Self-Test format as well as more creative types of compositional problems for those instructors who like to include this type of work.

An exploration of musical harmony from its ancient fundamentals to its most complex modern progressions, addressing how and why it resonates emotionally and spiritually in the individual. W. A. Mathieu, an accomplished author and recording artist, presents a way of learning music that reconnects modern-day musicians with the source from which music was originally generated. As the author states, "The rules of music--including counterpoint and harmony--were not formed in our brains but in the resonance chambers of our bodies." His theory of music reconciles the ancient harmonic system of just intonation with the modern system of twelve-tone temperament. Saying that the way we think music is far from the way we do music, Mathieu explains why certain combinations of sounds are experienced by the listener as harmonious. His prose often resembles the rhythms and cadences of music itself, and his many musical examples allow readers to discover their own musical responses.

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.