Some music education for old men.
May 7, 2018 4:37 PM Subscribe
What books or online courses would you recommend to get the basics of music theory down? What's music theory 101 that a reasonably smart person could digest in his spare time?
I've played guitar for a few decades but never actually studied music beyond knowing how to play major, minor and pentatonic scales. Lately I've been catching up, learning a bit of harmony, &c., and it's fascinating, plus my guitar playing has improved a lot with just a small amount of musical learnings.
A part of me wishes I'd become a musician/musicologist, and while it's too late to actually go back to school (47 yo, family, business, mortgage), I would like to at least get the basics of an actual musical theory education.
Not really looking to take real world courses of any kind, this is more a read before going to bed thing.
I've played guitar for a few decades but never actually studied music beyond knowing how to play major, minor and pentatonic scales. Lately I've been catching up, learning a bit of harmony, &c., and it's fascinating, plus my guitar playing has improved a lot with just a small amount of musical learnings.
A part of me wishes I'd become a musician/musicologist, and while it's too late to actually go back to school (47 yo, family, business, mortgage), I would like to at least get the basics of an actual musical theory education.
Not really looking to take real world courses of any kind, this is more a read before going to bed thing.
This is the standard music theory textbook used in college theory courses. I’m sure you can find earlier editions used for cheap. There’s also a workbook if you want to really get into it.
posted by charmedimsure at 6:13 PM on May 7, 2018
posted by charmedimsure at 6:13 PM on May 7, 2018
Hooktheory
Their focus is on pop music and they deconstruct a lot of songs you may already know, and I think that familiarity makes the material (which I think is super arbitrary) more approachable.
Don't be put off by the idea that it's "for songwriting" -- I think it's solidly general interest.
posted by Sauce Trough at 9:51 PM on May 7, 2018
Their focus is on pop music and they deconstruct a lot of songs you may already know, and I think that familiarity makes the material (which I think is super arbitrary) more approachable.
Don't be put off by the idea that it's "for songwriting" -- I think it's solidly general interest.
posted by Sauce Trough at 9:51 PM on May 7, 2018
Toby Rush's Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People is my personal favorite.
posted by aerosolkid at 5:54 AM on May 8, 2018
posted by aerosolkid at 5:54 AM on May 8, 2018
I've played guitar for a few decades but never actually studied music beyond knowing how to play major, minor and pentatonic scales.
I think I have the perfect, free, book for you:
garageband theory. It's targeted at experienced musicians who know songs and how to play, but never learned the theory stuff. It's a 587-page PDF, so I've never printed it out, but it's got a decent TOC and is searchable.
If you're looking for something printed, I really recommend Ricky Rooksby's How to Write Songs on Guitar. I've *never* used it for its intended purpose, but I love how it explains how the chords in a key work together (like why some of the chords in a progression are minor). The section on chord progressions is great; a strength of the book is that he provides examples drawn from 50 years of rock songs for most of the progressions, to give you a quick sense of how they sound.
posted by mabelstreet at 8:57 AM on May 8, 2018
How Music Works by David Byrne isn't an academic text but it's a great book about music development and technology.
posted by Polychrome at 9:53 AM on May 8, 2018
posted by Polychrome at 9:53 AM on May 8, 2018
This isn't a Youtube channel about elementary music theory, but you may enjoy some things on it:
David Bruce Composer
posted by thelonius at 6:46 AM on May 10, 2018
David Bruce Composer
posted by thelonius at 6:46 AM on May 10, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:37 PM on May 7, 2018