CONTEMPORARY MUSIC THEORY LEVEL TWO - AUTHOR'S FOREWORD and TABLE OF CONTENTS
For your information we have included below the Author's Foreword and Table of Contents from the Contemporary Music Theory Level Two Book.
This web page contains excerpts from the Contemporary Music Theory Level Two Book ©1995 Mark Harrison. All rights reserved.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC THEORY LEVEL TWO - AUTHOR'S FOREWORD
Welcome to Contemporary Music Theory Level 2. I have personally taught these concepts to hundreds of students in Harmony classes held at the former Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. As such I know that this book represents a proven and 'battle-tested' approach to the subject matter! The internationally-acclaimed Grove School provided a unique learning experience for the contemporary musician, and in this exciting environment I was responsible for a significant amount of the school's musicianship instruction. During the years I was teaching Harmony & Theory at the Grove School to students from all over the world, I had the best possible opportunity to determine what the music theory needs of the contemporary musician were, and what the best method was to communicate these concepts! This process has now led to the creation of these Contemporary Music Theory Level One and Level Two methods - the most thorough music theory courses available for the pop and jazz musician!
If you really want to understand how harmony and chord progressions work in today's pop and jazz styles, this Level Two course is the best method available! Following on from our Level One course, in here we completely derive and explain five-part chords, 'definitive' II-V-I- style progressions (widely used in jazz and standard styles), chord substitutions, harmonic analysis of tunes, voiceleading, triad and four-part 'upper structures' (widely used in pop, rock and R'n'B styles), and pentatonic & blues scales and their applications. Everything is presented from the viewpoint of the contemporary musician and is information you can then use right away in your playing or composing/arranging! To get the best out of the material in this Level Two book, you need to have some familiarity with music notation, major scales, intervals, triads and four-part chords, as presented in detail in our Contemporary Music Theory Level One book (this information is also reviewed and summarized in Chapter One of this book).
Today's pop and jazz styles are very 'ear-oriented' - in other words they tend to follow a set of rules and expectations that an 'educated ear' will understand. You may have already seen or used our Contemporary Eartraining courses (see page v), which were a fundamental component of the musicianship program at the Grove School. For music theory instruction to be of value to the contemporary musician, the concepts must be presented in a way that is consistent with how the ear works - this is the whole philosophy behind our Contemporary Music Theory courses. For students wishing to strengthen their overall musicianship, the combination of our Eartraining and Music Theory methods represents the most efficient and 'targeted' contemporary music program now available!
Each chapter in this book (except for the Chapter One review) is divided into three main sections:
Textbook, containing a complete explanation for each subject area addressed, with various examples of how to apply the theory concepts
Workbook Questions, containing written exercises for each subject area
Workbook Answers, containing answers for all of the written exercises.
This book is ideally suited for self-study, one-on-one music tutoring, and group classes. In a school classroom situation, I have typically covered this material in a ten-week class 'session', although of course the material can be covered at a slower pace or be adapted for use within different length semesters/courses, at the discretion of the teacher. There are hundreds of written exercises throughout the book, all with answers provided - a perfect way to cement your understanding of how today's pop and jazz harmony really works!
At the back of the book, I have provided appendices listing 'II-V-I' definitive chords and
substitutes in all major and minor keys, voiceleading of 3- & 4-part chords around the circle-of-5ths/4ths, 'upper structure' chords in major and minor keys, and all pentatonic & blues scales. These are followed by a complete glossary of terms used in the book, for your reference and convenience.
Good luck with your study of Contemporary Music Theory - and I hope it opens many doors for you as a musician!!
MARK HARRISON
Harrison Music Education Systems
Los Angeles, California
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC THEORY LEVEL TWO - TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Chapter One: | Review of Contemporary Music Theory Level One | Page 1 |
| Chapter Two: | Five-part chords and the II-V-I (two-five-one) progression in major keys | Page 19 |
| Chapter Three: | Plural substitute chords and harmonic analysis in major keys | Page 63 |
| Chapter Four: | Five-part chords and the II-V-I (two-five-one) progression in minor keys | Page 99 |
| Chapter Five: | Plural substitute chords and harmonic analysis in minor keys | Page 143 |
| Chapter Six: | Voiceleading of triads and four-part chords | Page 177 |
| Chapter Seven: | Chords using triad 'upper structures' | Page 207 |
| Chapter Eight: | Chords using four-part 'upper structures' | Page 251 |
| Chapter Nine: | Pentatonic and blues scales, and their applications | Page 277 |
| Appendix One: | II-V-I (two-five-one) definitive chords and substitutes in major keys | Page 299 |
| Appendix Two: | II-V-I (two-five-one) definitive chords and substitutes in minor keys | Page 305 |
| Appendix Three: | Voiceleading of triads and four-part chords, using the circle-of-fifths and circle-of-fourths | Page 311 |
| Appendix Four: | 'Upper structure' chords in major and minor keys | Page 317 |
| Appendix Five: | Pentatonic, minor pentatonic and blues scales | Page 341 |
| Glossary: | Glossary of terms used in this book | Page 347 |
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