Any good books/methods to learn basic to advanced harmony?

[Matthew_84]

I’d like to eventually (multiple year goal) get to a point where I can compose some complex metal/prog. Maybe similar music to 70’s era Rush.

I don’t have anywhere near the knowledge to achieve this though, and don’t know the best way to go about it.

I understand changes in a key well enough, but once a composer adds in non-diatonic chords, or starts moving to other keys without it sounded terrible is beyond me… I don’t even really understand how to use the circle of fifths, tbh.

So, does anyone have any good books, methods, or resources to check out that can start leading me on the way? Or maybe things to look out for as I analyze pieces?

 

[IamGroot]

The piano is your friend.

 

[Papageno]

The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony
This is for jazz. But it may be useful for other genres as well.

 

[bholder]

The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony
This is for jazz. But it may be useful for other genres as well.

May as well just change "may be" to "is" right now.

 

[IamGroot]

May as well just change "may be" to "is" right now.

At the music school where I went, there was a fight between the jazz and classical departments on "which" musical theory would be taught. You couldn't graduate unless you had 4 semesters of classical theory. Serious language barrier. If you said 2 5 1 to a classical guy, he gave you a blank stare. And I couldnt give a crap about Neapolitan chords. Stoopid. Main reason I left.

 

[bass12]

Are you able to take a chart for a tune such as “Have You Met Miss Jones” and find the ii-V-Is?

 

[GastonD]

If you are not exclusively set on the book format, this is an excellent resource:
https://www.thecontemporarymusiccourse.com/

 

[Matthew_84]

Are you able to take a chart for a tune such as “Have You Met Miss Jones” and find the ii-V-Is?

Yes, I just took a look at it and was able to spot them and the key changes… Took me a bit more time than something like “All the Things You Are” but yes, I could do it.

 

[Matthew_84]

At the music school where I went, there was a fight between the jazz and classical departments on "which" musical theory would be taught. You couldn't graduate unless you had 4 semesters of classical theory. Serious language barrier. If you said 2 5 1 to a classical guy, he gave you a blank stare. And I couldnt give a crap about Neapolitan chords. Stoopid. Main reason I left.

Yeah, I know jazz and classical theory can be pretty different. I would prefer to learn classical theory, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn jazz, I’m sure. I do like jazz, and I also don’t want to make super complex symphonic kinda stuff. I love the hell out of 70’s Rush and King Crimson but that would be about as complex as I’d want to go. I’m not interested in competing with Yes or Dream Theater anytime soon.

 

[bass12]

If you’re more interested in classical than jazz then maybe “Harmony and Voice Leading” by Aldwell and Schachter. This is the book I used in university more than twenty years ago and it seems to cover the basics well. But for all I know there might be much better resources out there.

 

[Alper Yilmaz]

Barrie Nettles & Richard Graf - "The Chord Scale Theory & Jazz Harmony"
As far as I can tell, it has a lot in common with the Berklee book Papageno has recommended, FYI...
Best,
Alper

 

[brianrost]

One book on classical harmony is "Harmony" (doh) by composer Walter Piston. It's 500+ pages and not something you can blow through in a few months, but it covers more than I will ever need to know.

I've been using the Nettles course mentioned above (google it) and it's good text on jazz theory, too.

 

[Paul New]

The bible:

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-...ocphy=1012993&hvtargid=pla-497931278317&psc=1

 

[Minus]

Joe Hubbard's book "Funtional Harmonic Concepts" is real good.

SIGHT READING COMPENDIUM FOR ELECTRIC BASS

 

[Spin Doctor]

Yeah, I know jazz and classical theory can be pretty different. I would prefer to learn classical theory, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn jazz, I’m sure. I do like jazz, and I also don’t want to make super complex symphonic kinda stuff. I love the hell out of 70’s Rush and King Crimson but that would be about as complex as I’d want to go. I’m not interested in competing with Yes or Dream Theater anytime soon.

I think writing some Metal songs based on Classical Harmony would be very cool

 

[Bob_Ross]

Any good books/methods to learn basic to advanced harmony?

The problem as you'll soon discover is that "basic to advanced" is a vast distance to cover, and so any tome that would even attempt to cover that span would of necessity be an enormous book. And what student who needs the "basics" has the patience/dedication to work through the entirety of that large a book? If you didn't dedicate enough time and study to completely digest the early chapters, the later chapters would be meaningless.

Plus, after a certain point, "advanced harmony" means a variety of different things; the evolutionary tree of musical harmony has many branches as it develops from early/simple to later/advanced. No one harmony textbook could contain enough info about all modern advanced concepts to offer more than a general overview, if that.