By Paul Schmeling - Berklee Music Theory Book 1 (2nd Edition) (1/30/11) Paperback – January 1, 2011

I'm a bass player who's self taught and has been playing for many years. I want to learn music theory and to read music and hoped this would help. So far, it's just been ok. I have to go through the audio exercises several times to understand what the exercise actually is. The text in the book is quite well written, but the accompanying online audio isn't easy to follow. It's almost as if someone just felt like that had to put something online to say "we have something online" to sell the book, but didn't really put in the effort to make it really good. I know it's affiliated with Berklee, but it feels like they just held something back. I guess since we only pay a few dollars for the book we don't get the full benefit of the $1100 course at Berklee. I'll continue with the book, but they could have made the book and audio a lot better together. 3 stars. Meh. Let's hope the 3rd version is better. Adding in some video would have made this MUCH better. Frankly, I expected better from something with Berklee's name on it.

I figured if there is any go to source for music theory, Berklee would be it. This book was tough, but ANYTHING worthwhile is NOT easy! Not knowing scale degrees really stumped me but now I feel really confident in all keys. I always had nagging doubts concerning theory, but this book was a godsend. I learned more from this book than all my previous schooling/training etc. And I have been playing guitar for 47 years!I HIGHLY recommend though that you 1. Have a keyboard handy and 2. Have a Circle of Fifths handy. This will make life much easier!

For some strange reason, I cannot seem to hold the knowledge of music theory in my head. It's almost as if I am learning another language and I can't quite utilize the information. Lucky for me that I learn music by playing and singing it by ear but as of reading and writing it, it's too much for me to learn. This book couldn't do that for me

I went to berklee years ago and wanted to refresh my memory on music theory, so I bought this book because over the years I have lost my old harmony books. I have looked through it and have to say it's pretty basic to me, I mean I did go to berklee, but I can't recommend it more to anyone just starting out. I plan on buying book two once I have fully read through it and made sure I really do remember it all. But I will say this, I learned something new in lesson 1 that I don't recall learning while in school. But it has been 12 years since I took harmony at berklee.

Basic music theory concepts. If you are familiar with elementary theory/have been playing an instrument/taking classes for few years, I recommend looking for something little more complex. For a complete amateur-this book is what you are looking for!

Information is great! However the book says the course comes with online audio samples, the link and code provided in book are useless, because link provides error code. Contacted publisher but no response.

If you know nothing about music theory, this is a good place to start. I bought this to aid my students in learning about music theory and how to write it out, count it, etc.But, to some it may seem simplistic. However, in order to get someone interested in the idea that music theory is about opening doors of creativity, you have to start somewhere. Here you go. It has a 'learn by doing' quality that is very good. So it's a workbook, too.Others have addressed the "where's the answer sheet" question, so I'll not bother.I will be getting book 2 also, again, because I will be using it with my students.A good foundational knowledge of theory is always helpful and gives you an idea how creative you can be if you understand what the notes can do, what they can imply by the way you employ them. You don't need a degree to take advantage of the possibilities, but you do need basic knowledge at the very least to explore ideas with 'new eyes'.Anyone who tells you learning theory destroys creativity is arguing from ignorance; they have no knowledge of theory, so cannot say that it ruins the creative spark. Are you going to listen to an opinion with no facts to back it up, or to someone who knows the subject, and so can speak with knowledge and authority - and the ability to demonstrate the possibilities - about the potential of theory to unlock your creativity in ways you might never have discovered otherwise?There may be more comprehensive books, but this gets your feet wet with an easy to understand walk into the subject of music theory.

I kid you not, my copy arrived missing 20 or so pages. Not blank, not torn out, just they didn't put 16 of the pages in the book. Cuts straight from the introduction to lesson 6. Insane! I'm not gonna return a 20 dollar book, but you should not buy this. Also very overpriced for a basic primer on music theory, this covers what a high schooler might learn in 3-6 months.

Nice tutorial, explains some basic concepts, also some advanced topics, gives a good idea what's important to know in Music.

Great book really helped me learn about reading music while teaching myself to play the keyboard

The book was Very Good, but there was not a CD inside as described

Pensé que viniendo de la prestigiosa Berklee, el libro valdría la pena. De teoría la justa, sólo lo básico sin ninguna explicación. Creo que hay publicaciones más actuales mucho más interesantes. Recomiendo All about Music de Marc Harrison. Muy didáctico y entretenido.

For the price, very cursory. Low page count.Wow - low page count. Lots of wasted white space on every page. When compared with Dummy series (over 300 pages ) this is terrible value. There is just not enough content for the price. It's well written, concise - comprehensive - just way too light on actual content. My fault for not snooping around to determine actual page count before ordering, but to be honest, I think part of me wanted to say 'hey, yeah, I'm learning theory from Berklee.' I fell for the pretension I guess. I ended up giving this away and ordering the Music Theory for Dummies - as I was a bit of a dummy.