Berklee Contemporary Music Theory Book/Ola

Berklee Contemporary Music Theory Book with Online Audio 

Learn to Read, Understand and Create Music 

Learn to read, understand, and create music. This book will help musicians of all levels communicate more effectively, learn new music faster, and memorise repertoire more easily. This approach has been developed and refined at Berklee College of Music since the 1950s and has been used by many thousands of musicians worldwide—currently as a textbook in Berklee’s Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive program.

Included here are the essential concepts and terminology of music, with hands-on exercises and many listening recommendations so that you can hear how these principles are used in real music—to help you “see what you hear, and hear what you see.” Online audio tracks illustrate every concept. Whether you are interested in rock, country, jazz, hip-hop, or any other contemporary musical style, this book will help you become a more capable, more expressive musician. 168 pages. 

With this Book You Will Learn To:

• Understand and use the basics of music theory, such as how to read notes, rhythms, key and time signatures, and other essentials.
• Play and use scales, such as major, minor, pentatonic, blues, and modes.
• Construct chords, such as triads and seventh chords.
• Identify and use the most common chord progressions, cadences, song forms, and arrangement techniques.
• Develop more advanced chord voicings, as well as use modal harmony.

About the Authors

Vessela Stoyanova and Jeff Perry are both composers, performing musicians, and faculty members at Berklee College of Music. Vessela is the assistant director and Jeff is the associate director of Berklee’s summer program, Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive.

Reviews:

“Vessela Stoyanova and Jeff Perry have really done a great service for our community by authoring Berklee Contemporary Music Theory. It is by far the most comprehensive music theory book I’ve ever encountered and will give music students the tools they need to be great, helping them to better understand the theory behind what they aspire to do. I wish I had this book when I was a student at Berklee, but am very happy to have it now. This book leaves no stone unturned!” —Terri Lyne Carrington NEA Jazz Master and Four-Time GRAMMY Award-Winning Drummer, Producer, and Educator. Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice

“Berklee Contemporary Music Theory is an invaluable book for both beginner and advanced musicians. I especially enjoyed the real-life song examples and Drill Corner segments, which are extremely effective in testing the reader’s understanding of the material. Presented in a very clear and comprehensive manner, I highly recommend it to any serious musician who wants to reinforce their theory knowledge and fill any gaps in their musical education.” —Steve Fekete ’96 Guitarist (Gwen Stefani, America, Avril Lavigne) and Guitar Educator

“I am delighted that Berklee Contemporary Music Theory will be our Aspire program’s new textbook. It is great for many levels of theory for any musician. The emphasis on tying in the oral and written traditions of music is necessary, and the supplemental material puts theory into practice. I find this to be a great guide for the program and also for anyone looking at starting self-study in music theory from a contemporary standpoint. A must-have! —Ayn Inserto Acting Chair of Harmony and Jazz Composition, Berklee College of Music/ Member of the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network