Berklee Music Theory - Book 2, 2nd Edition | Music Theory Workbook with Answer Key and Online Audio | Harmony, Chord Progressions, Voice Leading | Instructional Music Theory Book for All Instruments Paperback – May 1, 2011

Great music theory book. Great service.

Great book. Exactly what the professor requested.

This book was highly engaged, it helped tremendously for my Music Theory Class 101 at Berklee College of Music, I would high recommend it to anyone who want to expand their knowledge of Music Theory and learn the basics for composition.

This is an excellent learning tool. There are a plethora of exercises. You will be well versed in music theory especially if you start with book one. I am very happy with this purchase.

When you finish book one. This book is great. I haven't finished it yet, but the knowledge for me from book 1 and now book two has help me fit in with guys that have a college background in music. I'm not saying to substitute these books for college, but if you are not financially able. These books are an excellent tool for teaching some good music theory.

I chose this rating because it gets straight to the point about how chords work. I know this book is designed for use in the classroom but you can use it outside of the classroom as well. I recommend this book to people who are wanting to learn the beginning stages of chords and their basic use. Then you can go further with more advanced instruction.

I found this book to be the perfect add-on to the theory course at Berklee and really helped me learn the principles I needed. This book could stand on its own and teach you what you need to know as a foundation of music theory.

Berklee has been in the business of teaching music to a diverse population of students for decades. They are experienced professionals at this. So there should be no surprise that the instruction in their music theory books is clear, concise, complete, well organized, and well-sequenced. The instruction is specifically targeted to piano/keyboards; even so, guitar players may also benefit from this training.This book was designed to be used in a class at a music college, with a music teacher. As a student workbook for such a course, this book would deserve a five star rating. I gave it a four star rating because it does not include the explanations that the instructor would (perhaps) normally provide. It would probably be best if you went through these music theory books with a music teacher (perhaps two or three chapters per week) as an integrated part of instrument instruction. Because of the lack of detailed explanations, I doubt that a self-studier could learn this material.Book 1 focuses on learning how to read and write music notation, as well as the major and minor scales. Book 2 focuses on harmony, including chords (triads, seventh chords, etc.), inversions, and voice leading. Each book develops listening, reading, and writing skills through exercises and "ear training" (included on audio CD).By way of contrast, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition is much better at providing detailed explanations (with an easy-to-read narrative). I would highly recommend reading the Idiot's Guide before starting the Berklee Music Theory books.List of lessons: major triads; minor triads; augmented triads; diminished triads; chord symbols; triad inversions; bass/chord theory; voice leading; open-position voice leading and chorale notation; contrary/parallel motion voice leading; major 7 chords; dominant 7 chords; minor 7 chords; minor 7 flat 5 chords; diminished 7 chords; inversions of seventh chords; voice leading seventh chords; contrary and parallel voice leading of seventh chords; third, fifth, and seventh over bass; harmonic accompaniment chords; arpeggiating accompaniment chords; using the third, fifth, and seventh over the root as accompaniment chords; accompaniment pattern; melodic motion; writing chord-tone melody; melodic motion over change of harmony; repeating a melodic phrase on different chords; the melodic sequence.My book came with an answer key. A great number of people have given this product a lower rating because they were mad that their book did not have an answer key. If you obtain an older edition without an answer key, simply contact Berklee (at berkleemusic dot com slash contact) and ask for the answer keys to Music Theory 1 and Music Theory 2.For a (literally) heavier book on music theory, take a look at Tonal Harmony by Kostka and Payne. This is a textbook that is intended to support a music college classroom/lab course with a music teacher. I really doubt if anyone could self-study their way through this book. You might want to try to get your public library to buy one, so you can take a look before buying. (It is rather expensive.)