Table of Contents

Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started with Music Theory 7 Chapter 1: What Is Music Theory, Anyway? 9 Chapter 2: Determining What Notes Are Worth 15 Chapter 3: Giving It a Rest 29 Chapter 4: Introducing Time Signatures 37 Chapter 5: Playing with Beat 51 Part II: Putting Notes Together 59 Chapter 6: Music Notes (And Where to Find Them) 61 Chapter 7: Mastering the Major and Minor Scales 79 Chapter 8: Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths 93 Chapter 9: Intervals: The Distance between Pitches 109 Chapter 10: Chord Building 133 Chapter 11: Chord Progressions 157 Part III: Musical Expression through Form, Tempo, Dynamics,and More 175 Chapter 12: The Building Blocks of Music: Rhythm, Melody,Harmony, and Song Form 177 Chapter 13: Relying on Classical Forms 189 Chapter 14: Tapping Into Popular Genres and Forms 199 Chapter 15: Creating Varied Sound through Tempo and Dynamics207 Chapter 16: Instrument Tone Color and Acoustics 219 Part IV: The Part of Tens 225 Chapter 17: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Music Theory227 Chapter 18: Ten Valuable Music Resources 233 Chapter 19: Ten Music Theorists You Should Know About 239 Part V: Appendixes 247 Appendix A: On the CD 249 Appendix B: Chord Chart 255 Appendix C: Glossary 293 Index 297

About the Author

Michael Pilhofer teaches music theory and percussions atMcNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota. He's touredand recorded with Joe Lovano, Marian McPartland, Kenny Wheeler, andothers. Holly Day is a writing instructor at the Open BookWriting Collective in Minneapolis.