Basic Music Theory, 4th Edition cover art

Basic Music Theory, 4th Edition

How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music

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About this listen

What do all those lines and squiggles and dots mean? Basic Music Theory takes you through the sometimes confusing world of written music with a clear, concise style that is at times funny and always friendly. The book is written by an experienced music teacher using methods refined over more than 30 years in schools and in his private teaching studio. Lessons are fun, well-paced, and enjoyable. Whether you're a beginner of any age, whether you're an experienced player who wants to bone up on your theory, or whether you teach music and need a fun way to do it, you'll find this book valuable and will refer to it again and again.

©2013 Jonathan D. Harnum (P)2017 Jonathan D. Harnum Instruction & Technique Music Funny Celebrity Guitar
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To learn music, one must play, experiment, be inquisitive and explore. This is a book, so it was hard to imagine how useful it could be and how much could be learned.

The great thing about this book, is that it encourages you to put it down. This is not a book one picks up and reads systematically from cover to cover in order to take in all the golden nuggets of information. This book, is more like having a teacher waiting, prompting and guiding you, as you play, comprehend & internalise concepts that are first felt and then understood (or sometimes vice versa).

Granted, musical examples within an audiobook would have been a bonus. However, the supporting PDF is comprehensive and the links to videos, sounds and pictures are rich. I was also glad that the Kindle version of this book was free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription meaning that I could read along and see the diagrams whenever I wanted.

All in all, this book does exactly what it’s supposed to do… it fills in the gaps of one’s musical knowledge while dropping pearls of wisdom.

Every player will be at their own level, so more experienced musicians will skip certain parts. However, there is something for everyone. A book that should be part of every musicians collection, as part of their passion-for-music journey as well as a reference.

Knowledge is worth more than silver and gold!

As Perfect as a Music Theory Book Can Get

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The book contentwise is pretty good. Examples, explanations and so forth.

But it seriously misses out on every opportunity to make it an audiobook.

The examples are all on the website and the narrator reads them out aloud “c d# followed by g” you get the picture.

This is an audiobook. I’m sure I’m not the only one listening to it during commute.
PLAY the examples. Read the notes and play them. Read the chords and play them!

What is the point of making an audiobook on a topic like this if you leave the most important part in print format?
As a book this would be a 4 or 5 star from me. As an audiobook 🤷‍♂️

It’s supposed to be an audiobook. Make it one

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Constantly refers to a website which is annoying. This interrupts the learning process. Easier to buy a book and have complete lessons.

Incomplete, annoying website referrals

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