I am astounded by what some people are saying about this book, even the people who give it good reviews and praise Schoenberg's brilliance say that as a textbook on tonal harmony (not atonal harmony as some might presume) this book really does fail. I emphatically disagree on a number of accounts! First, this was written to be used as a textbook and people should keep that in mind when reading it. You are reading it to learn things that presumably you do not know. Second, Schoenberg takes a very compositional approach to teaching Harmony, which in my opinion is great for numerous reasons, chiefly because you actually get to apply the rules/principles in a meaningful way, which aids memorization and enjoyment. Prior to buying this book I had purchased Kostka's and Payne's "Tonal Harmony" which is as dull as can be, as they make you do numerous exercises which are of little value and even littler enjoyment. Furthermore, they introduce too much too fast. What I mean by this is that they teach you piles of stuff and then have you apply as much of it as possible to as few cases as possible. Schoenberg takes a different tact by having the student make their own exercises, to which he provides some basic guidelines, and for every new concept introduced a new exercise is required. By forcing you to make your own assignments you really internalize the information and it becomes more than just facts (e.g. this chord is constructed in this manner, that chord is constructed in that manner). You get the sense with Schoenberg that you are studying composition as opposed to just theory.



However, there is one drawback to Schoenberg's text, it is excessively wordy and there is a lot of needless philosophizing in it (that is why I give this edition 4 stars). However, there are editions of the book that "trim all the fat" so to speak. I found a copy at my school's library and it is an absolute gem. It gets right to the point and if you are lucky you can find a copy on some online used bookstores. This shortened edition was translated by Robert D.W. Adams and was published by the Philosophical Library, New York, 1948; it is 336 pages and has officially become my Bible.

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