Fundamentals of Music Theory

Reviewed by MARK ZANTER, Professor, Marshall University on 12/28/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

It's difficult to comment on the comprehensiveness of the text without knowing to which audience the author is writing. For an independent adult learner or music hobbyist, the text is an enjoyable introduction to the subject with enough general information to learn the basics of musical notation, pitches, and rhythms on the staff, intervals, scales (major, and minor), keys, key signatures, triads, seventh chords, harmonization, secondary dominants, and modulation. Materials in the written text link to online videos with a discussion of topics (video transcript included after the text). Students and young learners will welcome the easy-going pace of video content. Some pages in the text link to Wikipedia pages on various topics, the text offers tangents into various other topics that might interest a student (e.g, historical notation, just intonation, microtones, etc.) Information in the first five Topics (chapters) would be included in most Music Fundamentals texts (in the U.S.). Modulation and secondary function are typically covered during the second semester of most music theory sequences (in the U.S.).
The text would be suitable for hobbyists, high school students or could be used in college courses aimed at non-majors. As it currently stands, it is not comprehensive enough to be used in a college music theory sequence where the primary audience is music majors. The reasons are the: lack of depth of what is covered, sequence of materials, lack of many examples from the literature, and the lack of exercises.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Accurate enough but lacking the depth necessary to train music majors. Fine for hobbyists, young students, and non-professionals. The text introduces the U.K. jargon for identifying chord inversions. See comment on comprehensiveness.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

Relevant and useful especially for non-professionals. Updates can easily be added to the text as needed. If there is a desire to continue to develop the text, it might be developed using a framework that facilitates exploring the material in more depth. For instance: Chord Functions presents inversions and shows harmonizations using inversions from the get-go. In most texts, this topic is presented using many steps. I propose these steps be added, and accessible as "drop-down" topics so an instructor/student can go deeper into the topic.
The link to Harmonization on Wikipedia lacks a clear strategy that will yield "good" results. The use of Wikipedia could negatively influence the adoption of this title. These are a few examples of where the good intentions of the text run afoul of what is generally considered sound pedagogy. As I've mentioned this book will be good for amateurs, but will likely not replace any of the standard music theory texts currently available.

Clarity rating: 4

Very clear and easy to follow. There is a consistent approach, but the learning objectives are not well defined. An instructor using the text will need to supplement material and exercises to help students gain mastery.

Consistency rating: 4

There is a consistent approach throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes, the text could be reorganized, but its current form follows the general outline of most music fundamentals texts (U.S.).

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

It follows the general outline of most music fundamentals texts (U.S.).

Interface rating: 4

Using the text online without downloading it, presents some issues when links are not opened in a new tab or window (the PDF reloads when you wish to go back to the text). Overall the interface and navigation are easy to use and intuitive. Pages flow like web pages, which I prefer to online texts that emulate page turns.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No egregious grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Overall sound.

Comments

Overall, there are many learners who could benefit from a text of this sort. It's well organized, easy to navigate, and features videos that are clear and easy to follow. Though I don't think this text is suitable for use in a college music theory curriculum, high school instructors might find it a useful resource when paired with another resource such as Teoria.com, or app-based MusicTheory.net.