Music theory is the language of music. It helps musicians understand how music works, how to create songs, and how to communicate their ideas to other musicians.
While it's not a requirement to learn all the fundamentals to be skilled, our "6 Essential Music Theory Basics Every Musician Should Know" post highlights that it provides a universal language that musicians can use to communicate messages effectively and can take you further in the music world.
With insightful guidance from experts, you can get the foundation you need to perform, compose, and produce music beautifully and improve your craft. There are many great music theory ebooks available for beginners and professionals because no matter your experience, you can still benefit from going back to the basics.
Ebooks can offer various benefits for musicians looking to learn music theory. Since they can be accessed on different devices, you can read them anywhere, anytime.
Ebook platforms also provide access to diverse titles so you can find something you enjoy. Ebooks on Everand showcase a wide selection of music books, such as Basic Music Theory by Joe Procopio and Music Theory 101 by Brian Boone and Marc Schonbrun.
You can also find a host of exclusive titles for a monthly fee that costs roughly one book. Other apps like Libby offer free ebooks if you have a library card.
You can borrow and return them easily while saving a trip to the library. And though you can read about music theory online, you'll have a higher assurance that the insights you're learning come from experts in the field.
Here are a few of the best ebooks to start with:
The Circle of Fifths: Visual Tools for Musicians tackles music theory in a way that leverages visual memory. The ebook highlights the Circle of Fifths as a tool for understanding the relationships between notes, keys, and scales.
Jackson emphasizes clear explanations and memorable imagery to make complex topics like chord progressions and key signatures easier to grasp. This method aims to help musicians of all levels, including improvisers and composers, internalize these concepts for faster application in their playing and writing.
The ebook goes beyond the basics, exploring major scale degrees, sharps and flats, intervals, and transposition. It equips musicians with a solid theoretical foundation while offering practical techniques for real-world music creation.
The For Dummies has long provided easy-to-understand and non-intimidating instructions and guidance for beginners new to a specific field, and the Music Theory for Dumies guide is no exception.
This is a great introduction to music theory for beginners, but it's also beneficial for intermediate players who want to refresh their knowledge. It covers all the essential topics, from notation and rhythm to scales and chords.
It is written in a clear and concise style and includes many examples and exercises to help you learn and apply the concepts you are learning.
This ebook takes a unique approach, tracing the origin and interconnection of scales, modes, and chords. It starts with the basic laws of physics that govern musical intervals and explores the overtone series, a natural phenomenon that lays the groundwork for scales.
The book delves into the development of the pentatonic scale, the major scale, and its various modes. It explains how seemingly complex scales can be understood as extensions of these fundamental structures.
Modalogy goes beyond basic definitions, offering in-depth examinations of how these scales and modes function harmonically and how they are used to create chord progressions.
If you're looking to jumpstart your passion for music, visit Yona Marie Music for more tips and resources.
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