Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis

by Jane Piper Clendinning, Elizabeth West Marvin

Overview

A theory text for today’s music student

What began as a conversation between two colleagues about music theory textbooks has grown into a leading music theory and aural skills curriculum. Clendinning and Marvin set out to write a textbook that puts the student musician at the center, using clear prose and interesting, accessible music examples to show students how the theory they are learning can be applied to their performance and understanding of the music. A strong pedagogical framework throughout the courseware reinforces core concepts and provides lots of opportunities for students to build and practice their theory skills, while coordinated workbook, anthology, and aural skills volumes provide you with a complete, integrated curriculum for your students.

Highlights of this edition’s new content:

• Two new chapters—Chapter 10: Analysis of World and Traditional Music I and Chapter 39: Analysis of World and Traditional Music II—introduce tools and topics for the study of traditional and world music to incorporate a broader perspective on music theory and expose students to a wider range of music.
• The new Norton Illumine Ebook engages students more fully in the material, placing audio clips next to every music example, incorporating interactives for key concepts, and using concept check questions to ensure students understand key material.
• The anthology of complete scores—previously available as a print supplement—is now available digitally and included with access to the textbook courseware so all students can benefit from the complete scores.
• The two chapters on popular music theory and form—Chapter 32 on Popular Music, Jazz, and Blues and Chapter 33 on Recent Popular Music—have been revised and expanded with new examples and recent trends.
• Examples have been updated throughout the text and workbook to include even more works by historically marginalized composers, giving students exposure to a wider variety of music and helping them better see themselves in the examples.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324120124
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/01/2026
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Jane Piper Clendinning is professor of music theory at the Florida State University College of Music. She has published articles reflecting her interests in the history of theory, theory and analysis of twentieth-century music, computer pitch recognition, and computer applications in music. Her current research interests include theory and analysis of popular and world musics. She has served as the chair of the Advanced Placement Music Theory Test Development Committee and as an AP reader, and is a regular consultant at AP workshops and summer Institutes.

Elizabeth West Marvin is Minehan Professor Emerita of Music Theory and former dean of academic affairs at the Eastman School of Music. She has published in the areas of music cognition, music theory pedagogy, theory and analysis of atonal music, contour theory, history of theory, and analysis and performance. She is past president of the Society for Music Theory and past co-chair of the Advanced Placement Music Theory Test Development Committee. Marvin is the 2012 recipient of the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Music Theory Teaching and Scholarship.

Table of Contents

Part I	Building a Musical Vocabulary: Basic Elements of Pitch and Rhythm
1	Pitch and Pitch Class	2
2	Beat, Meter, and Rhythm: Simple Meters	19
3	Pitch Collections, Scales, and Major Keys	38
4	Minor Keys and the Diatonic Modes	54
5	Beat, Meter, and Rhythm: Compound Meters	78
6	Pitch Intervals	94
7	Triads and Seventh Chords	112
Part II	Linking Musical Elements in Time
8	Intervals in Action (Two-Voice Composition)	134
9	Melodic and Rhythmic Embellishment in Two-Voice Composition	153
10	Notation and Scoring	172
11	Voicing Chords in Multiple Parts: Instrumentation	183
Part III	The Phrase Model
12	The Basic Phrase Model: Tonic and Dominant Voice-Leading	198
13	Embellishing Tones	220
14	Chorale Harmonization and Figured Bass	235
15	Expanding the Basic Phrase: Leading-Tone, Predominant, and 6/4 Chords	250
16	Further Expansions of the Basic Phrase: Tonic Expansions, Root Progressions, and the Mediant Triad	276
17	The Interaction of Melody and Harmony: More on Cadence, Phrase, and Melody	298
18	Diatonic Sequences	323
19	Intensifying the Dominant: Secondary Dominants and Secondary Leading-Tone Chords; New Voice-Leading Chords	350
20	Phrase Rhythm and Motivic Analysis	372
Part IV	Further Expansion of the Harmonic Vocabulary
21	Tonicizing Scale Degrees Other Than V	396
22	Modulation to Closely Related Keys	418
23	Binary and Ternary Forms	440
24	Color and Drama in Composition: Modal Mixture and Chromatic Mediants and Submediants	457
25	Chromatic Approaches to V: The Neapolitan Sixth and Augmented Sixths	478
Part V	Musical Form and Interpretation
26	Popular Song and Art Song	508
27	Variation and Rondo	530
28	Sonata-Form Movements	551
29	Chromaticism	574
Part VI	Into the Twentreth Century
30	Modes, Scales, and Sets	614
31	Music Analysis with Sets	635
32	Sets and Set Classes	653
33	Ordered Segments and Serialism	671
34	Twelve-Tone Rows and the Row Matrix	685
35	New Ways to Organize Rhythm, Meter, and Duration	698
36	New Ways to Articulate Musical Form	725
37	The Composer's Materials Today	745
	Appendixes
1	Try it Answers	A3
2	Glossary	A55
3	Guidelines for Part-Writing	A77
4	Ranges of Orchestral Instruments	A81
5	Set-Class Table	A85

Editorial Reviews

"It attempts . . . to put the music first and the theory second."

Brad Osborn (University of Kansas)

"It is a complete undergraduate education in music theory, and then some, in one package."

Peter Silberman (Ithaca College)

"It is . . . accessible to every music major in a conservatory or university setting and chock-full of practical musical insights. I have had more success teaching with this text than with any other."

Christopher Doll (Rutgers University)

"Including video micro-lectures is fantastic."

Greg McCandless (Full Sail University)

Including video micro-lectures is fantastic.--Greg McCandless (Full Sail University)

It attempts . . . to put the music first and the theory second.--Brad Osborn (University of Kansas)

It is a complete undergraduate education in music theory, and then some, in one package.--Peter Silberman (Ithaca College)

It is . . . accessible to every music major in a conservatory or university setting and chock-full of practical musical insights. I have had more success teaching with this text than with any other.--Christopher Doll (Rutgers University)

From the Publisher