The 10 Best Music Theory Textbooks

Editor's Notes

February 03, 2020:

Whether you play the guitar or violin, are a composer or singer, one of these music theory books is worth picking up. Thankfully, much of the information covered in volumes like these is evergreen, but we still feel it's important to provide readers with tried and true classics like Jazz Theory Book alongside recently updated and expanded selections like the newly-added Music Theory: From Beginner to Expert. That being said, the latter was included at the expense of Theory of Harmony, which was written a century ago, contains frequent philosophizing, and is showing its age. We still recommend it to supplement your understanding, however, we no longer feel it's advisable as a first choice, especially if you're a beginner.

Because we felt this list was heavy on scholastic works such as The Complete Musician, The Elements of Music: Concepts and Applications, and Basic Music Theory, as well as books with advanced concepts like Twentieth-Century Harmony, we added Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory. This book offers a crash course and is ideal for newbies who are casually interested in the subject but don't want to go overboard. When placed alongside Music Theory: From Beginner to Expert and Music Theory for Dummies, we feel the list is balanced favorably toward both beginners and serious students looking to get into advanced topics.

We know everyone learns differently, so we wanted to provide a range of options to cater to that. Many of our selections are written succinctly and in a straightforward manner, with plenty of exercises and examples, as well as hard-won tips and tricks.