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 | | Tonal Harmony, With an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music by Stefan Kostka ISBN-10: 0072415703 ISBN-10: 0-07-241570-3 ISBN-13: 9780072415704 ISBN-13: 978-0-07-241570-4 Hardcover 2000-02 Mcgraw-Hill College Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Book Description Designed to meet the needs of the two-semester theory curriculum for music majors, Tonal Harmony is a straightforward book that emphasizes practicality and ease-of-use for both the student and the professor. By focusing on the core elements of the theory curriculum in a single-volume format, the text is both a complete coursebook and a handy and cost-saving manual for students. On the professors side, the supplements package (with a collection of CD audio examples and an extensive Instructors Manual) makes the book easy to use and to teach. | ||
Reviews | ||
Okay? I was kind of surprised by all the bad reviews. I think this book is very helpful to music theory students for the basic essentials of music. Of course there is more to music than tonal harmony and that's where one's own creative mind comes in, not an author's. I've been affiliated with several other theory books and this one by far is the most organized, understandable, and useful. The book is divided into sections based on broad categories, new terms are described in detail, several visual and audio examples are given, and there are several self-tests to test out the new knowledge. I definitely recommend this book to any music major or to anybody who just loves music. :) | ||
Tonal Haramony Recommended by my piano teacher, I have found this book very helpful for the theory I never studied when I began piano lessons over 20 years ago. I wish I had read this book when I began playing the piano. My practice time would be much more efficient if I had. | ||
Excellent Harmony Text This is an excellent introduction, covering most aspects of theory thoroughly. It is also MUCH easier to read than Walter Piston's Harmony. The problem is that this book is much more abstract than piston's book, breezes over inversions of chords much too quickly and is a tad lax in the rules of voice leading. I do suggest you consider that text as well. It's still a good introduction that you will ACTUALLY READ. It covers all triads, seventh chords, chord functions, chromatically altered chords like Neapolitan and Augmented sixth chords, covers non-harmonic tones, and even goes off onto other (more abstract) topics. As to the reviewer below who pointed out that it neglects counterpoint and focuses too much on the vertical aspect of music (for example, in the exercises EVER note is a different chord and almost no non-harmonic tones are employed): this is an ELEMENTARY HARMONY text. Counterpoint is generally approached after the student has mastered all that is contained in this book. The exercises are meant to teach voice leading and chord functions. Fux's treatise on Counterpoint from Gradus Ad Parnassum clearly states that what is learned in the "first part" on Harmony still applies in writing counterpoint. The horizontal aspect of music can be taught better if the the vertical aspect is understood first. Multiple times Fux also says that exercises, whether those in the book on counterpoint or those in this text, are designed to instruct and make future writing of music easier, but aren't the same as writing music. | ||
good book I thought this was a very good text. I have also had a wonderful theory professor who made great use of the book. | ||
Oh well ... nice try. I've been teaching music theory for 35 years, and have seen a lot of texts that I like less than this one. However, it doesn't make this one wonderful. As other reviewers have mentioned, there are a lot of errors. Also, there are far too many places in the examples where they say, "Ignore this note", or "Forget about this for now". You'd think they'd have found better examples without making the interested student wonder what's really going on, and the less involved student confused with excess. This book is heavy in overkill. It's the same problem as in computer manuals: they obviously feel like they have to tell you EVERYTHING, and that nothing is more important than anything else. For example, they go on for pages and pages about chord spacing and voice leading, where a simple grounding in how to write and recognize decent melodies would go a lot farther and reduce dependance on mastering mountains of scrupulous finicky detail. The authors obviously feel that the inner voices are no more or less important than the soprano-bass counterpoint, whereas perceptually, the soprano and bass carry most of the weight of what's heard and experienced. The emphasis is on recognizing the vertical component of harmony at the expense of the horizontal, but music is experienced as ongoing linear motion, not as successive blocks of stuff. On the other confused hand, they treat Alberti Bass as a note-to-note melodic line, where it's exprienced as just a rhythmised chord with the bass predominant. Minor scales and harmony are introduced as soon as major, and this much complexity before students know what's going on is pedagogically weak. It's the same with triads and seventh chords. And so-on. You need to understand the simple before getting into the complex. If you are good at taking a long string of finicky detail where all is of equal importance, and developing it all into a bigger picture with hierarchies, this book might be good for you. Otherwise, keep looking. | ||