Revisiting Music Theory: Basic Principles

by Alfred Blatter

Overview

Revisiting Music Theory: Basic Principles, Second Edition, surveys the basics of music theory and explains the terms used in harmonic and formal analysis in a clear and concise manner. Students will find Revisiting Music Theory to be an essential resource for review or reference, while instructors of introductory theory courses will find in these pages a solid foundation for cultivating musical thinking. Musicians of all kinds—amateur and professional alike—will find great value in augmenting and informing their knowledge of the art of music theory.

The text covers the basic principles of music theory, including:
• Musical notation
• Key signatures and scales
• Intervals, chords, and progressions
• Melodic and harmonic analysis
• Counterpoint and voice leading techniques
• Musical forms and structures

This second edition has been revised and reorganized to promote learning. Each section now includes an all-new selection of exercises, allowing readers to practice key skills and improve understanding.

For students, instructors, and practicing musicians, Revisiting Music Theory offers an indispensable guide to the foundations of musical analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138915893
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/20/2016
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alfred Blatter joined the faculty for Musical Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1989 and is Professor Emeritus at Drexel University.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Notes on the Use of This Book

Part 1. Notation: The Symbols of Music

1. The Components of Sound and Music

2. The Notation of Pitch

3. The Notation of Duration

4. The Organization of Time

5. Movement, Language, and Musical Rhythms

6. The Notation of Loudness and Style

7. The Notation of Tone Quality

8. Conducting Music

Part 2. Melody: Note Following Note

1. Intervals

2. The Modes

3. The Major Scale

4. Key Signatures for Major Scales

5. The Minor Scales

60 Other Minor Scales

7. Key Signatures for Minor Keys

8. Scale Degrees

9. The Melodic Structure

10. Expanded Melodic Sources

Part 3. Harmony: Note(s) with Note(s)

1. Intervals

2. Triads

3. The Inversion of Triads

4. Triads within Key

5. Seventh Chords

6. Harmonic Progressions

7. Harmonic Rhythm

8. Cadences

9. Secondary Dominants

10. More Chords on the Secondary Level

11. Other Chords

Part 4. Melodies in Harmony

1. Part Writing

2. Creating the Harmonic Structure

3. Non-Harmonic Tones

4. Analyzing Later Styles

5. Nineteenth-Century Analysis

Part 5. Texture, Structures, Techniques, and Form

1. The Textures of Music

2. Fundamental Structures

3. Melodic Manipulation

4. Form

Part 6. Appendices

Appendix I. Systems for Identifying Pitch

Appendix II. The Harmonic Series

Appendix III. Tuning and Temperament

Appendix IV. The Circle of Fifths

Appendix V. Transposition

Appendix VI. All Major Scales in Four Clefs

Appendix VII. All Minor Scales in Four Clefs

Appendix VIII. Inversions of All Triads on All Pitches in Two Clefs

Appendix IX. Inversions of All Common Seventh Chords on All Pitches in Two Clefs

Appendix X. Primary Chords in All Major and Minor Keys in Two Clefs

Appendix XI. Chord Symbols Used in Lead Sheet and Fake Book Notation in Two Clefs