Music Theory Books

Mel Bay proudly endorses Tom Bruner's beginning text on arranging and orchestrating music. This is a hands-on approach designed to impart essential information to the serious student!

A practical guide to professional orchestration featuring recorded musical examples performed by Henry Mancini. Included in the book are sections on the woodwinds, brass, the rhythm section and the st...

Originally published in 1948, this orchestration manual is one of the cornerstone texts on the topic, but has never before been published in English. Profusely illustrated with musical examples, this...

Arrangieren für Chor, Streicher, Blech, Big Band, Blasorchester, u.a.

Arranging for the Concert Band and the separately available workbook are intended to introduce students to basic techniques of arranging for the concert band. Arranging can be divided into two separat...

A unique book that authoritatively discusses how to create effective vocal arrangements and techniques in virtually every major kind of vocal ensemble; sacred, secular and Baroque to Jazz. Contains mo...

Provides students with music from the great composers to study before attempting to write themselves. Discussion of the elements of music pertinent to an understanding of the 18th century counterpoint...

Riarmonizzare una melodia significa darle nuovo colore cambiando il suo substrato armonico. Sia che tu scriva colonne sonore, diriga una band o un coro, o suoni il pianoforte o la chitarra in solo per...

'Prima di metterci al lavoro su un brano dobbiamo riflettere, analizzarlo, spremerlo, distillarne il materiale melodico, armonico e ritmico fino ad intravedere la nostra strada per rileggerlo e dargli...

All technical orchestration for non classical Orchestra ensembles, Small Bands, Big Bands, etc. This book includes the study of styles and instruments.

Write more compelling songs! Song form, or the way a song's ideas are structured, is one of the most powerful dimesnions of songwriting. These practical, hands-on lessons teach you to structure song's...

Learn to write songs! This book presents the basic concepts of popular songwriting, such as song construction, creativity techniques, melodic and harmonic development, how to write memorable lyrics, a...

Take your songwriting to the next level! This book breaks down the processes used by hit songwriters and dives deeply into the craft of songwriting. Discover the tools and techniques for melody, harmo...

Create effective film scores! This book presents a framework for creative decision-making that will lead to producing the best music for a given scene. It supports artists working in film, television,...

Become a more productive songwriter! Learn to organize the full range of your creative content, from starting inspirations to finished songs. This book offers pragmatic tools, resources, practices, an...

A Composer's Insight, Volume 1 - with a foreword by Michael Colgrass - is the first in a five-volume series on major contemporary composers and their works for wind band. Included in this initial volu...

With a foreword by Norman Dello Joio, this book is the second in a five-volume series on major contemporary composers and their works for wind band. Included in this volume are rare, behind-the-notes...

A Composer's Insight, Volume 3 - with a foreword by John Corigliano -is the third in a five-volume series on major contemporary composers and their works for wind band. Included in this initial volume...

Produce music for profit! Learn to create commercial music for the contemporary marketplace - for advertising, music libraries, TV, and more. Understand the creative, technical/production, and busines...

An effective new songwriting vocabulary supported by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC! The Elements of Song Craft does for songwriters what William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's The Elements of Style did for Engl...

A great tool for all songwriters looking for creative resources. 1000 Great Songwriting Ideas is a handy book of creativity exercises that stop writer's block and spark the fire of your imagination. I...

Counterpoint is the technique of composing two or more melodic lines that are sounded at the same time. Whether a guitar riff against a vocal melody, a bass line against a keyboard melody, or a violin...

This complete reference guide takes you through StaffPad, the music notation and composition app available for Microsoft Surface and Apple iPad tablets. This phenoenal app allows you to write music no...