Reddit Reddit reviews Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint

We found 4 Reddit comments about Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint
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4 Reddit comments about Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint:

u/hrm-uh-huh · 7 pointsr/musictheory

Nail + Head = Hit

OP: The best way to learn is by a combination of listening, reading, writing and (I think) most importantly, playing.

Some places you could start are, of course the master BACH. For something more contemporary, the band Cake actually used some quite sophisticated counterpoint.

Some reading can be done with schoenberg HERE (sorry, I couldn't find a PDF, but if there is a university library nearby, they should have a copy.)

The book simply called "Counterpoint" By Walter Piston is a good alternative.

What else? I read a really good Schenckerian analysis of Dark Side Of The Moon, once, but now I can't find it. It's a pity, because I remember thinking it would be a good way to get into it.

u/allemande · 6 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

For anything that involves advanced music theory, or more technical elements of music, your best bet (IMHO) is to stay clear from jazz/rock books or anything "popular" and read from traditional academic/classical composers. That is, if you're looking to understand music from a more historic point of view of how is was used, and how it worked for hundreds of years and how it still works today.

There are tons of good books out there, but off the top of my head I reccomend:

Regarding the art of counterpoint:


Preliminary exercises in Counterpoint - Schoenberg

Also, you could check out the traditional Fux's Study of Counterpoint, but I think Schoenberg's book is far more complete and incentive.

Regarding the art of Harmony:


For a long time I've always thought that books could educate you in any way, until I met my harmony teacher. After studying with her for a couple years I find it hard to believe how much information, technique, and art is missing from almost every book on the subject, some are exceptions, obviously, but my recommendation is that there is no better way of learning this but with personal intruction. Also, the teacher needs to be someone who has had a strong education in music from well-known masters of the past, as was my teacher.

Anyways, regarding harmony in the more poetical and theoretical sense I reccomend :

Rameau's Treatise on Harmony

and of course, Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony

For a more technical approach to harmony I haven't found any books I'm really fond of, but I do think that Paul Hindemith's book is a very good option.

For something in the middle I recommend this

Regarding form and structure in music:


Once again, I have never seen information and instruction similar to that which I received with my professors, however here are a few good picks...

Schoenberg's Fundamentals of musical composition

and 2 books that I found very useful were...
(these I didn't find on amazon.com)

from German composer Clemens Kuhn: "Formenlehre der Musik" (this is only in German)

and from Spanish composer Joaquin Zamacois: "Curso de Formas Musicales" (this is only in Spanish I believe)

Well, surely there are more books, but I think these are good options for you to start. However, always with a grain of salt

u/ralphstrickerchapman · 4 pointsr/musictheory

It is probably true that everyone who has aspirations to become a composer should read Fux at some point, but there are other books on the subject that might be more accessible to someone who's just starting out. Schoenberg's book is excellent. There's also Harold Owen, for a less rigorous, more inclusive approach.
In my opinion we are doing our students a disservice in not teaching them that clefs are movable objects. With three clefs and five lines, one can represent every pitch on every line or space in several different ways, which is more important than it seems. If you can imagine a change of clef (and key signature, if necessary) at the far left side of the page, you can transpose anything to any key at sight.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/musictheory

There are a couple I know of, none of which I would wholeheartedly recommend. Teaching someone composition is a tricky task as it can never truly be taught. There are two that were relatively interesting, most likely due to their author:

-Fundamentals of Musical Composition - A. Schoenberg

Written along with the below book for his composition students at university when he noticed a substantial lack of the basics.


-Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint - A. Schoenberg

Forwarded and edited by his pupil Leonard Stein, who did the same for "Structural Functions of Harmony" and whose brother did "Arnold Schoenberg Letters"