Jazz Theory Book

mouzer · #1 09-20-2001, 02:52 PM

I just bought the Jazz Theory Book from Amazon and it cost me $42! Is the book worth my money? I could of gotten 2 cartons of smokes and ate at a nice restaruant for that cash. And how many pages does it have? It didn't say on the website!

heffster · #2 09-20-2001, 03:04 PM

whats the title?

David Kaczorowski · #3 09-20-2001, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mouzer
I just bought the Jazz Theory Book from Amazon and it cost me $42! And how many pages does it have?

I has 3-400 pages and is worth every penny. Everyone I know has a copy. For student, it's the best resource for all the music theory stuff that is occassionally discussed here.

Boplicity · #4 09-20-2001, 07:31 PM

The book in question will do far more for you far longer than "two packs of smokes and a nice restaurant meal." For one, once the smokes and meal are gone, they are gone. But what you learn in that book will help you forever.

melvin · #5 09-20-2001, 10:43 PM

That book rocks an incredible amount. Ive only read to page 54 or something and Ive already learned a whole heap.

And after having it for less than a month its already helped me get mad props from my band teacher on an improvising excersise she used for jazz band tryouts.

Bruce Lindfield · #6 09-21-2001, 03:12 AM

I've had a copy for 2-3 years and certainly haven't exhausted what it can do for me. I think it's the best value music book I ever bought.

And the theory can be applied to any style of contemporary music really - Bach might have disagreed, but it's the same basis for rock,pop,blues,gospel, etc. etc.

I think that Jazz just takes in all the more interesting aspects of theory and actually uses them in tunes, so it's not just academic.

APouncer · #7 09-21-2001, 03:25 AM

Could you let me know the full title, author, publisher and ISBN number if possible. It sounds like just what I need.

brianrost · #8 09-21-2001, 06:47 AM

Here's alink to the publisher. You can order direct online.

http://www.shermusic.com/tjtb.htm

surf_slave · #9 09-21-2001, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by brianrost
Here's alink to the publisher. You can order direct online.

http://www.shermusic.com/tjtb.htm

And it's cheaper/est on the Sher site too!

melvin · #10 09-21-2001, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by APouncer
Could you let me know the full title, author, publisher and ISBN number if possible. It sounds like just what I need.

The full title is "The Jazz Theory Book" its by Mark Levine, dont know the rest of the info you wanted though.

Yvon · #11 09-24-2001, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by melvin

The full title is "The Jazz Theory Book" its by Mark Levine, dont know the rest of the info you wanted though.

The Mark Levine book is the best one out there.

David Kaczorowski · #12 09-24-2001, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Lindfield
And the theory can be applied to any style of contemporary music really - Bach might have disagreed, but it's the same basis for rock,pop,blues,gospel, etc. etc.

Actually, there is *nothing* in rock, pop, jazz, or any other genre of western music that can't be found in Bach.
Some names may have been changed since, but that is all that is new or different.

surf_slave · #13 09-24-2001, 01:36 PM

I'm no Bach expert, but I do love a lot of his work and have a teensy grounding in music theory. (A dangerous thing...)

I don't see too many tone clusters or 9th chords in the usual repertoire. And his atonal stuff is just way over my head.

Times change. We have more tools now. Yay! Bach was great at using and stretching the rules he had at the time. Yay!

I think we agree, deep down, but I'm calling you on the no-innovations-since-Bach line.

David Kaczorowski · #14 09-24-2001, 01:59 PM

I should have said in tonal western music. So, no, you won't hear tonal clusters or atonal music. However, Bach did use chord extensions (9,11,13), tritone substitutions, the so-called "backdoor" dominant, and just about every other, if not every other tonal device of tertiary harmony (I don't know whether Bach used any quartal voicings).

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #15 09-24-2001, 08:45 PM

Anybody who doubts whether Bach is capable of stretching tonal music to the breaking point needs to check out his "Musical Offering". It manages to be both "in" and "out" at the same time.

Bruce Lindfield · #16 09-25-2001, 02:57 AM

I have no doubt that Bach's music was very complex and certainly more so than a lot of the composers who followed him! I was being a bit "tongue in cheek" when I mentioned him as I was thinking about a website that mentions that some of Bach's chord changes wouldn't be out of place in a hip Jazz band!

http://www.standingstones.com/bachharm.html

I think that Bach obviously knew about all the stuff that you find in the Jazz Theory Book and a lot more - he just might not have expressed it in the same way.