Music Theory Book - Free Download

[BassyBill]

I found this online and thought it could be useful to a number of people who come to the GI forum looking for help with theory at a range of levels. It's quite nicely written and although a quick scan of this forum will show that almost any aspect of theory can be discussed at length, this little book is certainly not a bad place to start for those who want a solid background on which to base further study and investigation.

Note that the book was originally in three separate parts (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced) to keep filesizes down, but I merged it into one PDF of eighty pages as the size of this single file is very reasonable these days with current connection speeds available to most Internet users.

The descriptions Basic, Intermediate and Advanced are relative to each other and of course there are aspects of theory that aren't covered (for example, the mathematics of temperament and hence how we get our usual chromatic scale). It's also somewhat guitar-orientated and inevitably there's a few typos here and there. But hey, it's only eighty pages and it's FREE.

Music Theory Basic Level (the one in my signature)
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I'm sure it's okay to post this here as the information can be freely downloaded, used and copied for educational and non-profit purposes (it says so in the introduction). Acknowledgement is due to "Eowyn" at www.mysongbook.com

I hope some of you find this useful and interesting - enjoy the read!

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Thanks, this looks like it is the all in one book everyone wants.

 

[that-guy]

Fantastic!! I've been looking for something like this, Thankyou bassybill (and all the writers/contributers etc)!!!
T_G

 

[Basshoofd]

Finished it in one read, great book! There are some really interesting concepts that gave me a ton of new ideas. This is the kind of information that you don't see everywhere. Thanks!

 

[Warfender]

Awesome. Thanks for posting this. Always good to refresh on some stuff and having in one book is nice.

 

[mambo4]

excellent intro to theory for sure, thanks for sharing Bill.
honestly, it covers practically all you will ever really need to know as a working musicians.
I particularly appreciate the emphasis on chords in the basic level and saving modes for the advanced level. Exactly how it ought to be.

 

[diehard70]

Thanks for posting, Bill

 

[Art Araya]

great resource

 

[Hawaii Islander]

Downloaded.

Thanks for providing the file!

 

[Sketchy]

Thanks, Bill. I've been looking for advanced theory for a while, it's ridiculously hard to come by. You rock.

 

[garmenteros]

Just downloaded it, lets see if I can benefit from it...

 

[paganjack]

That is a really well-laid out introduction to theory; it definitely makes the most sense to put modes at the end. I like it!

 

[wke]

Thanks for this! I'm always searching for new information regarding music theory (since I'm to stubborn to go to a teacher... :scowl This will be a great help.

 

[dvh]

Page 4 - isn't a 13th the 6th an octave higher?

 

[Joe Nerve]

Thank you. This book can't hurt me none.

 

[dozicusmaximus]

Thank you
I'll print it out from work tomorrow mwahahahaha.

 

[loinmute]

Thank you, sir

 

[younggun]

Page 4 - isn't a 13th the 6th an octave higher?

Yes. In the same way the 9th is also the 2nd, and the11th is the 4th. Anytime you have an extension above the octave, just subtract 7 and it will give you the scale note.

I agree with everyone's assessment, this is a well laid out quick synopsis of basic theory. Thanks for posting it.

 

[dvh]

Yes. In the same way the 9th is also the 2nd, and the11th is the 4th. Anytime you have an extension above the octave, just subtract 7 and it will give you the scale note.

I agree with everyone's assessment, this is a well laid out quick synopsis of basic theory. Thanks for posting it.

So that's a mistake on page 4 then: (a "13th" is a 5th an octave higher)

Fantastic resource just the same...

 

[Morning Beer]

Cheers!! I need this!