# Suggestions for our recommended readings



## Patrick de Caumette

Please post suggestions and comments relating to harmony/orchestration/theory book recommendations here.

Thanks!


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## Leandro Gardini

Good idea Patrick...but I wonder why you missed counterpoint books?!?!
Also, fugue is extremelly important, but the resources are rare!!!

I´l be posting many new books later on!!!


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## sbkp

leogardini @ Thu Jan 18 said:


> ?!?!



:shock: 

Not a triple!


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## Leandro Gardini

sbkp @ Thu Jan 18 said:


> leogardini @ Thu Jan 18 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ?!?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> :shock:
> 
> Not a triple!
Click to expand...

Ho yes, it usually happen, I´m not drunk...when I mean !? I put two of both :wink: !!!


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## Patrick de Caumette

leogardini @ Thu Jan 18 said:


> Patrick de Caumette @ Thu Jan 18 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Leo, I'll be happy to add your recommendations to the list!
> 
> There are actually a few counterpoint books in there but they are in the composition section...
> 
> I don't know if this is possible but I was thinking that including readers' feedback on a given book might be cool. If it was possible, for example to click on a link next to the specific title and have a pop-up with reviews that would be very cool.
> I did the database in Excell but I am not sure whether this feature is possible to implement or not,
> 
> I also wonder if we should classify those books by level of recommendation and if so, how to determine our classification...
> 
> How about other sections, such as film music, sound design?
> I put everything under other for now but we probably could use a little more clarity...
> 
> 
> 
> Readers feedback would be great...all the books have advantages and disadvantages...so, whenever someone is looking for a book, he or she will have a better idea of witch book is the best for him/her...but classify the books by level is not good I think...I´ve seen many sites in the net classifying the books from the best to the less good and most of the list order I don´t agree...I mean, this is always personal opinion based on personal knowlegde witch leave room for not being totally justice with some books!!!
> I have a list with comments that I posted last years in a national forum here in Brazil...I need to find it, than I´l post here!!!
Click to expand...


Cool Leo, I agree with the unsorted list. 

Now I need some help in trying to determine how to include readers feedback in a smooth, interactive way...


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## synergy543

Great idea Patrick, thanks for doing this. Another interesting book you might include is Orchestration by Joseph Wagner. Although its out of print, its sometimes available at Amazon. It shows interesting connections between keyboard and orchestral writing.


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## Patrick de Caumette

You got it Gregory, thanks for your input.
Eventually, once I get the readers' feedback setup, it would be great if you could write a few lines to assess the book...


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## Dave Connor

It appears that Wagner's name is misspelled _Wanger_ in the suggested readings (although some may want it spelled that way as it is perhaps more descriptive of the fellow.)


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## Patrick de Caumette

Oops, that was not intentional :razz: ... how funny that it is totally fitting for the character :wink: 
I'll make the change, thanks for pointing it out!


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## david robinson

recommended reading: 20th Century Harmony by V. Perschetti.
Thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns by N. Slonimsky.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.


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## Patrick de Caumette

Thanks David. 
The Perschetti book is already listed. I had forgotten about the Slonimsky's (though I have it in front of my eyes)

Happy birthday old man :wink:


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## david robinson

hi Patrick, thanks for the birthday thumbs up.

why the Stoker reference?
i believe the first four chapters in this novel lend themselves to a great musical treatment. this has never been achieved in any film adaptation, including the Coppola
1992 version.
am thinking seriously about spending a year on it.


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## Kaatza_Music

Elementary Harmony and Advanced Harmony by Robert W Ottoman
Counterpoint by Walter Piston
Form in Music by Wallace Berry
Complete Guide to Film Scoring by Richard Davis

Art of the Fugue by Bach. (Great way to learn fugal writing is to analyze this work by the master of the fugue.)


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## Patrick de Caumette

Thanks for those Leon.


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## synergy543

This isn't a book but rather a link to thousands of online orchestral scores that are now in the public domain. Its quite an impressive resource that maybe should be added to the "Multimedia" section of the recommended readings?:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page

For example, here is the complete Art of Fugue that Leon mentions above:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Art_of_the_Fugue% ... bastian%29


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## Patrick de Caumette

A great ressource indeed.

The idea of a multi-media section is appealling too.

Thanks for your input Gregory!


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## mducharme

Orchestration - Cecil Forsyth
Has great instrumentation info

Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music: A Programed Course - Harder/Steinke
Great for self-study of Tonal Harmony

Modal Counterpoint: Renaissance Style - Peter Schubert
Species counterpoint text with lots of exercises and examples

Form in Music - Wallace Berry
form and analysis text


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## VonRichter

Orchestration - Cecil Forsyth
(Already included, I'm sure.)

Filled with mostly outdated info... but that's not the reason to read it. The book is a laugh a minute hellride of hilarious dry humor. I busted up more than once reading it. Highly recommended purely for entertainment value. More textbooks need to have the balls to show some personality and flair!


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## Patrick de Caumette

Thanks for the latest recommendations!


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## alphabetgreen

Hi Patrick, I have a recommendation for an orchestration book.

"Anatomy of the Orchestra" by Norman Del Mar (published by Faber & Faber of London/Boston) - ISBN 0-571-13185-9

Not only is this book invaluable as a reference book for information and advice of EVERY instrument in the orchestra in the minutest detail, including ALL the various techniques and 'tricks of the trade', it is also a pleasure to read. It contains a lot of titbits of information where composers have sometimes written for instruments outside the range (and got away with it), and eccentric ideas of some composers calling for various other additions to the orchestra. All written quite humourously.

I'd recommend it to anybody who composes, orchestrates and/or arranges. From beginners to more advanced/experienced composers.

Cheers,

Simon

_(for more information, go to_

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... +Orchestra


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## gsilbers

composing for film from jack smalley

http://www.jacksmalley.com/com-ab.htm

very good book.


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## Patrick de Caumette

Thanks to the both of you!


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## Kabur

Is there a book about harmony and general composing(focusing more on orchestra) for a bit less advanced people? Having only basic knowledge of music theory and such. I intend buying a book of this kind but I don't want to waste money on something I would have to struggle with to understand.


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## Connor

Henry Brant, Textures and Timbres. Simply the most scientific and categorized look at orchestral combos out there, the most advanced and narrow scoped look of the subject of orchestration proper. Seems like most 'orch' books are just instrumentation manuals with a chapter on orchestral combos that is very unsystemized. 250 pgs of this book later and you will learn a thing or two.

For film guides, emerging film composer by richard bellis, and reel world by jeff rona or for some reason both not currently on the list. let's change that!


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## dimtsak

This is a great one for ear trainig, trancribing, and much more.

HEARING AND WRITING MUSIC By Ron Gorow


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## Vin

Mixing Secrets for The Small Studio by Mike Senior. Amazing book, by far the best resource on audio production I've read.

http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Secrets-Small-Studio-Senior/dp/0240815807?tag=honestlyhones-20 (http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Secrets-Sm ... lyhones-20)


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## mohurwitzmusic

Your DAW's manual, from cover to cover. :lol: 

The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony, Nettles and Graff


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## Tolly

Hey guys, the link on the first post takes me to another page but the link on the page no longer exists. Am I able to get an updated link?

The link is currently http://vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=70718#70718


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## Patrick de Caumette

Tolly said:


> Hey guys, the link on the first post takes me to another page but the link on the page no longer exists. Am I able to get an updated link?
> The link is currently http://vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=70718#70718



Hi Tolly, I am no longer hosting the book database, but people can still make recommendations here. A lot of great books have been suggested so far!


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## dreamtuned

http://petruccilibrary.ca/files/img...in_C_Trait___de_l_harmonie__Max_Eschig__2.pdf

_Traite de l'Harmonie_ by CH. Koechlin [French]
and
_Harmonie - Lehre _by Josef Foerster [German but the author is Czech] 
https://urresearch.rochester.edu/fi...onalItem.action?itemId=20987&itemFileId=68686

Are, in my opinion, two of the best/top 5 books on traditional Harmony. 

I would really like to see translation of these two books in English.

Another book which is combination of the two above is "_Harmonija_" by Natko Devcic [Serbo-Croatian].

Great book on XXth century composition is "_Tehnika komponovanja u muzici XX veka_" [Composing Techniques in Music of the XXth Century] by the Czech composer and teacher Ctirad Kohoutek. Originally written in Czech but I've read it in Serbo-Croatian translation.


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## Nikolai Winge

And books on Contemporary notation of extended techniques is interesting also .

This one is good but a bit outdated some places:

Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook
Kurt Stone

this is the new bible :

Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation
Elaine Gould

When it comes to orchestration this is also a valuable resource. An online version of the Rimsky Korsakov
Principles of Orchestration:

http://northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/77-Principles-of-Orchestration


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## thereus

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Hi Tolly, I am no longer hosting the book database, but people can still make recommendations here. A lot of great books have been suggested so far!


Could you please post the final version you had so that we can reference it? Thanks


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## Patrick de Caumette

Sure thing: here it is!


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## axb312

Perhaps this is interesting? A study on orchestration...

https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/243665/656210_FULLTEXT01.pdf?sequence=1


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## mikeh-375

These two books are excellent for a composer with aspirations outside media, having said that, if you plough through these and are in media, then more power to your elbow. Oh and they are free.....

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.166045/page/n5

https://archive.org/details/harmonicmaterial00hans/page/196


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## eph221

*The Magic Mountain* by Thomas Mann. All musicians need to read it, but few do.


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## Rowy

Not a reading, but a video. A documentary about Nadia Boulanger, one of the important teachers of the 20th century.


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## muk

Not directly books about composition, but these two books are fundamental reading if you want to understand (classical) music: 

Charles Rosen, 'The Classical Style'. Fantastic analyses, and explains what art music is all about. Helped me understand much of the deeper meaning of music and art. Nicely written too, so it is a pleasure to read. 

Hepokoski/Darcy, 'Elements of a Sonata Theory'. Revolutionized the way we understand sonata form. It's a voluminous theory book, so no easy read. But it's essential if you care about sonata form - the most important form in western music. Knowledge about form can help greatly for composition. In fact, I think that many times people get stuck and don't know what to do with a sketch or musical idea, it is because they don't know about musical form and thus can not use it's concepts to help them build a piece. Tough but rewarding read.


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## gohrev

Just discovered this Instrument Reference Chart, and I find it very useful.
http://api.ning.com/files/d4Ril5vezVLAdT3M3SjjZz6qqdex00o57b9pp*svq-qK3V9UOBisw9P8nj1pnNusbGLGRBo93k-3EOKZXt3iMQ__/InstrumentReferenceChartv4.pdf


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## LouieTaylorCompose

*Hi everyone!*

I'm a composer from England and wanted to show everyone a great new pamphlet my friend JJay Bertume, a great composer, made. JJay truly is a master of his craft and knows all the ins of outs of music theory.

(I'll leave His YouTube channel link here: https://www.youtube.com/user/JJBerthume)
(And his Website link here: https://jjayberthumemusic.com)

The recently released 30 page Thematic Development pamphlet is a phenomenal and thorough resource, and in my opinion a must have item in the composers tool kit.

It's extremely comprehensive and well written; it includes all there is to know about the topic with great examples often linked to YouTube in the footnotes.

It's really cheap ($5), I highly recommend buying it, I can't stress how much it's helped me!
I hope you consider giving it a look through, here it is: https://sellfy.com/jjb-music-education-resources/p/nm5mjh/


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## Gene Pool

LouieTaylorCompose said:


> I'm a composer from England and wanted to show everyone a great new pamphlet my friend JJay Bertume, a great composer, made. JJay truly is a master of his craft and knows all the ins of outs of music theory.




Whenever I hear the words "great composer" and "master of his craft," certain names come to mind. Names such as Palestrina, Telemann, J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Fauré, Grieg, Bruckner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mahler, Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov, Elgar, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ives, Messiaen, Respighi, Sibelius, Vaughn-Williams, Shostakovich, etc.

Now I get to add another one to the list!

But for anyone who doesn't already know how thematic development works, here are some links to free coverage of this already thoroughly covered subject, plus an excellent book you can purchase on Amazon that examines the leitmotif aspect of thematic development as it crosses over from the Romantic period to film scoring. So, for serious-minded composers—_in addition to score study of course_—here is _truly_ all there is to know about the subject, and nearly all of it, free:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_transformation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permutation_(music)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation_(music)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)#Melodies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_(music)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmentation_(music)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragmentation_(music)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variation_(music)

http://jkornfeld.net/motive_development_1.pdf

http://jkornfeld.net/motive_development_2.pdf

https://gottrypercussion.com/wp-con...ory_MotivicDevelopmentHandoutandWorksheet.pdf

________________________________________

Excellent purchase for composers:

_Understanding the Leitmotif: From Wagner to Hollywood Film Music_

by Matthew Bribitzer-Stull

________________________________________

In addition to all of the above, there is:

• development by texture
• development by re-harmonization
• development by orchestration
• development by canon


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## Antkn33

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Please post suggestions and comments relating to harmony/orchestration/theory book recommendations here.
> 
> Thanks!


Harmonic Experience


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## ZeroZero

Hmm No one Mentions Adler The Study of orchestration - this also comes with audio samples (at a price) and is well regarded


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## Mike.

I’m missing something. Where is the actual reading list?

Or does one simply scroll thru the replies to gather the reading suggestions?


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## Patrick de Caumette

Mike. said:


> I’m missing something. Where is the actual reading list?
> 
> Or does one simply scroll thru the replies to gather the reading suggestions?


When i started this thread, in 2007, i was hosting the list from my site.
I am no longer able to do so (i don't even know where the file is...) so unfortunately, the list is no longer available.


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## Miklós Vigh

Suggestions for our recommended readings


composing for film from jack smalley http://www.jacksmalley.com/com-ab.htm very good book.




vi-control.net





@Mike. - Not sure, but Patrick posted an XLS file with book recommendations in the post above.


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## marc.hman

It's back! https://music-theory-books.tumblr.com

I updated it with some recommendations from the thread. A good and very amusing list. There is everything in there, from beginner to expert to "of historical interest only".


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## shponglefan

marc.hman said:


> It's back! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/music-theory-books
> 
> I updated it with some recommendations from the thread. A good and very amusing list. There is everything in there, from beginner to expert to "of historical interest only".



I get a login prompt when I click on that link. I guess one has to be a member of Tumblr first?


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## marc.hman

shponglefan said:


> I get a login prompt when I click on that link. I guess one has to be a member of Tumblr first?


Sorry, wrong link. This one should work: https://music-theory-books.tumblr.com


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## Patrick de Caumette

marc.hman said:


> It's back! https://music-theory-books.tumblr.com
> 
> I updated it with some recommendations from the thread. A good and very amusing list. There is everything in there, from beginner to expert to "of historical interest only".


Thank you for hosting it Marc!
The baton is in your hands now!


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## marc.hman

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Thank you for hosting it Marc!
> The baton is in your hands now!


Thank you for having the idea and compiling the list in the first place. I will try to be worthy!


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## Mark Kouznetsov

Walter Piston: Harmony / Counterpoint / Orchestration


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## Barrel Maker

Here's a few personal favorites from my library:

Harmony
Theory of Harmony - Schoenberg
Structural Functions of Harmony - Schoenberg
Twentieth-Century Harmony - Persichetti

Counterpoint
Counterpoint - Jeppesen
The Study of Counterpoint - Mann/Fux
The Study of Fugue - Mann
Preliminary Exercises in Counterpoint - Schoenberg

Orchestration
The Study of Orchestration - Adler
Principles of Orchestration - Rimsky-Korsakov

... Ravel considered writing a book about how not to orchestrate ... Imagine that ...

Form/Style
Fundamentals of Music Composition - Schoenberg
Style and Idea - Schoenberg
Sonata Forms - Rosen
The Classical Style - Rosen
The Romantic Generation - Rosen

Music Notation 
Behind Bars - Gould

Misc.
Lutoslawski and His Music - Stucky
The Music of Lutoslawski - Rae
Beethoven's Sketches - Miles
The Unanswered Question - Bernstein

... Last but not least, scores, scores, and more scores.


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## marc.hman

Barrel Maker said:


> Here's a few personal favorites from my library:


Impressive, so much counterpoint, so much Schoenberg.
I will add Samuel Z. Solomon: How to Write for Percussion. Here is a podcast episode with the author, here is a video.


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## youngpokie

James Perone (a music professor at Mount Union College, according to book blub) published several guides in the mid-1990s which provide the bibliography only - a huge, _huge_ list of books published on:

- _orchestration_,
- _harmony_ and
- _form_ .

The books listed were written in English, French, German, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Italian and other languages, many never translated into English. No idea if it has ever been updated (I do have a couple of older books on orchestration that are not listed here for some reason), but in any case the list on orchestration is simply gigantic, spanning 1772 to 1994.


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## Allure

> Charles Rosen, 'The Classical Style'. Fantastic analyses, and explains what art music is all about. Helped me understand much of the deeper meaning of music and art. Nicely written too, so it is a pleasure to read.



I totally agree: I will also add "Sonata Forms" by the same author: a must to understand the problem of the form in music.


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## Allure

I would also suggest:

"What to Listen for in Music"
by Aaron Copland

a series of subtle observations under an apparent surface of the obvious.


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