The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis

With The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis, students understand that what they learn in theory relates directly to what they do in the practice room and onstage. Every chapter starts with a list of repertoire students know and perform, many end with implications for their own performance. Each lesson begins with music, drawing concepts from the music itself. Many homework assignments are based on real music literature, often asking students to play examples and compose short works. 

The Anthology features over 100 works (40 new) and includes music for all standard instruments and ensembles—instrumental and vocal, solo, chamber, and orchestral—and in contrasting musical styles: from popular songs to German Lieder, from piano rags to minimalism, and from marches for band to anthems for choirs. Music selections are revisited throughout the text, adding layers of understanding as new concepts are mastered.  

The phrase model approach looks at chords by function (what they do in a given piece) and how those chords work together to propel a piece of music forward. This approach teaches that some chords are structural, and some are embellishing—allowing students to hear harmonic progressions hierarchically, to distinguish what is important, and to write music with harmonic logic and melodic beauty. 

All 100 pieces in the Anthology and most of the literature excerpts featured in the text and workbook are available on the companion recordings.

• The Music Examples Recordings are available in two formats—in mp3 format on a DVD included with the text, or streamed on StudySpace.
• The Anthology Recordings are available in mp3 format on DVD, available as a stand-alone item or bundled with the text at a great package price.

A coordinated teaching and learning package provides the theoretical foundation and practical musicianship skills students need to become well-rounded, versatile musicians—and all the teaching materials instructors need to offer a comprehensive, coordinated two-year theory and ear training curriculum. 

The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis takes a spiral-learning approach to music repertoire, giving students multiple encounters with a core group of familiar works and providing new perspectives as new skills are mastered. 

The Second Edition serves the needs of students from all backgrounds and skill levels. The text, workbook, anthology, and recordings all offer new strategies, features, and selections based on extensive feedback from theorists around the country. 

Students have easy access to the musical examples in the book: StudySpace, the student website, contains streaming Listening Examples, and the ebook contains links to audio examples within it. Students can also access flashcards of each chapter's key terms, Finale-formatted worksheets from the Workbook, an Online Keyboard, and tools for practice, review, and assessment.

Instructors can download free Coursepacks, which include chapter-based assignments, quizzes, Finale worksheets, flashcards, and an index of musical examples. Norton Online provides a high-quality online course for distance or hybrid learning that instructors can use right away, or customize to suit their specific needs.