What amazon.ca is calling the 'Workbook' is actually Workbook II, covering the later chapters of the textbook.

Buyer beware!


An excellent book, even for beginners   September 19, 2003
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I am an adult beginning keyboard and music student, learning on my own at my own pace. I am in the process of reading this textbook (the first 100 pages or so of more than 400) and have found it most helpful in explaining in detail difficult musical concepts. I also plan to use this book as a reference.


Ehh....zzzzzz............   May 11, 2002
 10 out of 56 found this review helpful

I just can't fully explain how silly this book really is. For the most part, if the disorganized format won't annoy you, then the extra long explanations of things that could easily be said in a sentence or two certainly will.
Other problems I saw includes the lack of pages spent on certain topics like rhythm and meter for example (9 pages?) At any rate, without going into too many details, this book is simply bad. It's just going to confuse the beginner.
...I would say that the most `user friendly' is called Tonal Harmony by Payne, Schindler, and Kostka (ISBN #0-07-035874-5). It's easy to understand; it has a FABULOUS format and its cheaper then the above dribble. The authors defiantly understand that the reader will most likely be a BEGINNER and so it is written that way.


This is the basic western common practice *BIBLE OF THEORY*   January 30, 2001
 12 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book is outstanding! I was a beginning student, and this book really really helped! I would recomend this to anyone who wants to study theory! The only catch is that this book explains things so completly, that if you are a total beginner, and have no instruction, it can be a bit confusing! But treat it like the bible or somthing else that you would read small portions at a time and re-read alot! I belive that once you understand the concepts, that this book explains things very well, in an extremly coherant manner...the only drawback being that if you are a bit confused, reading further doesnt end your confusion, just brings more stuff to the table! Buy this book and take a class or get an instructor or tutor!!!! THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE THAT IS SERIOUS ABOUT LEARNING BASIC THEORY!!!!!!


A good music theory book? I think not   November 20, 2000
 4 out of 15 found this review helpful

This is just a terrible book for learning beginning theory. It's just not good at explaining things. I would recommend it to people already with a decent knowledge of theory. Picking this book up if you want to learn on your own is a waste of money.