This music theory book: Harmony and Theory by Schroeder and Wyatt

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0793579910/justinguitar-20

I'm about to take the plunge and get this book for my kindle. It came recommended from a good guitar source so I think i can trust that it will be good - a pro guitarist and teacher.

It also has good reviews on Amazon

Has anyone here used it.

I signed up for the berklee free course but it doesn't start until 22 august which seems weird and i think i need a book anyway. I figure it won't go to waste.

It looks like a good book, I would try it for 10 bucks.

Just curious, which Berklee course did you sign up for?

Looks decent, though potentially a little dry like a lot of relatively old theory books. Personally, I went with "The Everything Music Theory Book" and the companion volume "The Everything Reading Music Book" (the former builds up the latter, same author). I also tried the Dummies book, but didn't get on with the tone/writing style.

Mivo said:

Looks decent, though potentially a little dry like a lot of relatively old theory books. Personally, I went with "The Everything Music Theory Book" and the companion volume "The Everything Reading Music Book" (the former builds up the latter, same author). I also tried the Dummies book, but didn't get on with the tone/writing style.

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Mivo, that does look like a better book. Here is a link for the lazy:
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Music-Theory-Book-understanding/dp/1440511829

The berklee course was the one in music theory that someone here recommended. I can't remember her name. A regular here. Sorry i can't remember any more than that at present. I wasted a lot of time trying to find out what was going on there. I will still have a go at it but I've dived into chapter one or two on this music theory book and i like it. Its got lots of exercises as you go which will help embed the knowledge. Of course i haven't done the exercises as yet but I will go through it all again and do them because its clear that if you want to really know this stuff, you have to do a little more than just read. It's a practical book. Also i also know a fair bit of basic music reading so it might be less dry for me than if you are starting from scratch.

It doesn't feel dry so much as very concise and I like that though a couple of the sentences i've come across so far are a bit mindbending. I find the word tonic diffcult to digest. I know it comes from "tone" but i struggle to get the concept of the word as used in this context.

Some of the diagrams are quite small for reading on a kindle and you can't enlarge them. They are still readable but would be better if bigger.

Because I'm not lazy i went and dug up the link myself ha ha. Actually i didn't read your post first. I could have saved myself a big effort.

Anyway it wouldn't have worked for me because its not on kindle and I wouldn't have bought this book either if it wasn't on kindle. I need books that weigh nothing for my trip.

I always admired Schroeder's musicianship, so I'd love to read his book.

I generally prefer e-books, too, but I found e-ink readers (Kindle, Kobo, etc) to be particularly unsuitable for graphics-heavy books. Both of the Everything books I mentioned contain a lot of diagrams, notation, and so on, so I was glad there were paper versions of these. But on your trip probably every gram will matter.

In response to Johnson430's question about possible courses the original poster might have signed up for, it may have been one of these.

This one started yesterday (8/15) on Coursera and is presented by a Berklee Associate Professor. I actually went through this one with my niece (she wanted someone to take it with her), even though I've been playing guitar for over 20 years. Actually, it was very well presented.

This one called Developing Your Musicianship by Berklee is starting August 22nd

Hope that helps....

This one called Developing Your Musicianship by Berklee is starting August 22nd

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That's the one and I remembered who recommended it too now. LeLouden.

Hi all,
Yes I have talked about the the Berkley online class. Developing your musicianship. I have been involved over on the seasons for several years now. I joined as a complete newbie to any instrument. Funny because my mother was a music teacher to hundreds but her kids were never taught. We sang but thats about it.

On the seasons there are many people that have an extensive background in music and conversation would come up all the time about how things work. All of it went right over my head. Then someone mentioned the Berkley course, and that it was free so I singed up.

It is very interactive and fun once you figure out that you do have to spend a little time with the site. There is an area at the left of the page that is very important to get to know. Conversations about the weeks assignment (on the left) are very important. Once you get to know that area you will have a great time learning from all kinds of people around the globe.

The instructor is fun. He takes you through things on the piano which I found important because of the piano layout. It makes it very visual because piano keys are side by side. It is good to have a piano or a small keyboard or an online virtual piano. I did my assignments on the uke.

If I remember right it lasts 6 weeks. You are assigned something each week. The assignments are fun and the teacher is great. It is very basic and easy once you get the hang of maneuvering the site.

All of a sudden I understood what the others in the season were talking about. That basic music theory language that sounded so foreign now made sense

I am a very visual person. I personally had a hard time trying to stick with a book so the course was great for me! There is a lot more to learn once the course is over but I haven't felt the need to go any further. It was just what I needed for the Uke.

gtomatt has already linked this but I thought I would do it again. https://www.class-central.com/mooc/1726/coursera-developing-your-musicianship

lelouden said:

I am a very visual person. I personally had a hard time trying to stick with a book so the course was great for me! There is a lot more to learn once the course is over but I haven't felt the need to go any further. Its was just what I needed for the Uke.

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Thank you for your informative post.
You have sold me. I just signed up for the Aug. 22nd session.

LL, are the lectures in real time or do you watch them when you want. I don't think i set my clock but it would probably be hard to do things at the same time as those in california.

The site itself is pretty annoying but i shall give it a decent shot. Although i'm already sick of going over the same ultra basic introduction stuff. But i am afraid not to do it in case i miss out on something and i find each time there is something new. oh that reminds me i do have something to say that ai learned today in choirguys thread. From my book i learnt about WWHWWWH to make a scale. I hope thats right. If its not, i realise it when i look in my book next time.

Free Online Uke Syllabus

Free Online Uke Theory Syllabus

Notes for the Beginning Uke Player

http://www.lakesidepress.com/UkeSyllabus.pdf

It's a "Sticky" under Beginning Uke Players in this Forum

AndieZ said:

LL, are the lectures in real time or do you watch them when you want. I don't think i set my clock but it would probably be hard to do things at the same time as those in california.

The site itself is pretty annoying but i shall give it a decent shot. Although i'm already sick of going over the same ultra basic introduction stuff. But i am afraid not to do it in case i miss out on something and i find each time there is something new. oh that reminds me i do have something to say that ai learned today in choirguys thread. From my book i learnt about WWHWWWH to make a scale. I hope thats right. If its not, i realise it when i look in my book next time.

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Andie,
You can watch them anytime. I like Coursera. I have done some Python and IoT classes. They were very well done.
What do you find annoying about the site? Just curious.

Joramy,

Thanks, i took a look but its not in a convenient format for me at this time. If i could download it to a pdf that would be better then i could get it up onto my kindle. I actually don't like reading books online and i prefer hard copy books for text but since i'm going travelling i have to learn how to read and learn from a kindle. A big part of my dislike is the sitting in a regular chair. Its not comfortable for me and the uke is in the way if i have to do it all together. At least with the kindle i can sit in my armchair or lean against the tree and just pick it up and put it down like a real book.

The other sticky on theory someone put up there is just not my cup of tea at all in terms of content. I don't even think its good enough to be a sticky and i think there are far too many sticky's on this site. Can you tell i don't like stickies. In my view no forum should have more than one sticky cluttering up the page. It makes life inconvenient.

I will scan through your syllabus from time to time to see where i should be up to or if i've forgotten to look at something but I can't use it as a regular day to day tool. As you said writing it helped you learn and that's the main thing.

Johnson, thanks.

I can't actually remember what it was about the site i didn't like. I just wasn't able to find out any answers to my questions. But you are settled in and obviously its not a bad place its just that orientation thing. It wasn't clear enough for. Some things were ambigous.


I think i was looking for this or something like this but couldn't find it and couldn't log in. I think maybe i can only log in after the course starts.
gtomatt has already linked this but I thought I would do it again. https://www.class-central.com/mooc/1...r-musicianship

If you like, I can email you the pdf file of the uke syllabus. I will be revising it from time to time, though.

Ok you can do that. i'll pm you. cheers

AndieZ said:

LL, are the lectures in real time or do you watch them when you want. I don't think i set my clock but it would probably be hard to do things at the same time as those in california.

The site itself is pretty annoying but i shall give it a decent shot. Although i'm already sick of going over the same ultra basic introduction stuff. But i am afraid not to do it in case i miss out on something and i find each time there is something new. oh that reminds me i do have something to say that ai learned today in choirguys thread. From my book i learnt about WWHWWWH to make a scale. I hope thats right. If its not, i realise it when i look in my book next time.

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It is a prerecorded online class. You can watch at your convenience and participate at your convenience.

WWHWWWH is one of the things they go over.

There is also this Music Theory - Ask Aaron Keim here on UU.
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?60805-Music-Theory-Questions-Ask-Away

I'm well into the coursera course now. It's very "fast". Yes its a great course but if you blink you miss important things which you discover when it comes time to do the quizzes. Also the order of content seems rather unusual. But i am enjoying it and hope to continue. It strikes me that although its not said, ideally you need to learn a lot of this stuff by heart.

So I'm doing this and when i get on my bike, i will resume the music theory book cum course on my kindle and this will help cement the knowledge better.

Actually i've been doing the wrong course. I"ve been doing one associated with Edinburgh university. Its probably harder than the berklee one. lol. Typical but that's what i mean about the coursera website being confusing etc. Although that was because i couldn't remember the name of the course. The one i've been doing seems to be one for composers and serious musicians. If you want to try it, i like it. Its called the fundamentals of music theory.