The Fundamentals of Tonal Music

The Fundamentals of Tonal Music: Concepts and Skills was written to help students better understand and develop proficiency in music fundamentals and to prepare them for further study of music theory. Intended for high school students, beginning college students, and other musicians who desire a greater understanding of music, the text is divided into "Basic Fundamentals," which include basic pitch notation, rhythm, major and minor scales, intervals, triads, and seventh chords, and "Advanced Fundamentals," comprising elementary counterpoint, partwriting, harmonic progression, cadences, phrase structure, common chord modulation, small forms, and a culminating composition project. Five appendices cover "A Summary of Nonharmonic Tones," "A Brief Survey of Six-Four Chords," "Instrumental Transposition and Ranges," "The Secondary Dominant Principle," and "Modes and Non-Tonal Scales." Assignments and exercises are provided in the last section of the text.