Klarinet Archive - Posting 000999.txt from 2003/04

From: "Heinemann, Stephen" <sjh@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Theory & Composition books
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:45:35 -0400

> Neil Leupold wrote:
>=20
> --- Benjamin Maas <benmaas@-----.com> wrote:
>=20
> > Aldwell and Schacter has a lot of great information.... That said, =
it is
> > also very boring... well, dry reading. I have many bad memories of =
8am
> > theory class and having to trudge through this stuff... <G>
>=20
> It's all subjective, of course. I found it reasonably accessible, but =
granted, somewhat
> incomplete. There are certainly more thorough theory texts available.
>=20
By "incomplete," are your referring to the fact that Aldwell and =
Schachter don't step outside tonality? The "more thorough" texts =
achieve their thoroughness in part by slighting tonal practices that are =
not necessarily directly related to harmony (counterpoint chief among =
them). I think that the recommendation of Aldwell and Schachter is very =
perceptive: the A&S book is a masterpiece (unfortunate that Benjamin =
Maas's teacher didn't convey that) that, if anything, overdoes a lot of =
areas in attempting to account for the many, many quirks that tonal =
practice encompasses. =20

I taught out of A&S's _Harmony and Voice Leading_ for years, switching =
to Robert Gauldin's _Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music_ in part because =
of its concordance with the GRE exam. Now that the music portion of the =
GRE is no longer given, I'm seriously considering returning to A&S =
although I find much to like in the Gauldin.

For atonal theory and a stronger introduction to the problems of modern =
composition, I recommend Joseph Straus's _Introduction to Post-Tonal =
Theory_, 2nd edition -- a wonderful book in many ways, although I can't =
say how appropriate it is for self-instruction. Better than many, =
probably, but the extent to which learning theory well depends on the =
oral tradition is fascinating to me.

Steve Heinemann
Bradley University

****************************
Dr. Stephen Heinemann
Associate Professor of Music=20
Theory/Composition/Clarinet
Bradley University
Peoria, IL 61625
(309)677-2603
sjh@-----.edu
****************************

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