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| |  | Author: Walter Piston
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Ltd
Category: Book
Buy Used: $1.50
Used (20) Collectible (2) from $1.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1349121
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 369
ISBN: 0393097374
EAN: 9780393097375
ASIN: 0393097374
Publication Date: April 1, 1962
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 One Approach To Harmony Instruction August 30, 2004
38 out of 38 found this review helpful
I'm hearing a lot of politics and bad music school flashbacks from some of these reviews of Piston's Harmony, but I think the book's usefulness depends on what you're looking to learn. When I first came across the book (late 70's, early 80's) I was more interested in composition than performing or analysing existing music. Piston's Harmony teaches by demonstrating snapshots of particular harmonic practices from more or less standard classical pieces. These illustrations are then combined with variations on figured bass or melody harmonization exercises. For what I was interested in at the time, this approach left little room for creativity. A composer-friend suggested Schoenberg's Theory of Harmmony, which approaches harmony from the standpoint of a beginning composer learning the craft of connecting chords and gradually mastering the material by composing his own chord progressions. There are no illustrations of existing pieces and no "half-filled in" exercises to complete. Sure, there are also pages of Schoenberg's rants and diatribes to wade through (what a blogger he would have made!), but this approach made sense to me and I was on my way.
So why four stars for Piston? Well, years later as a player and lifelong student, I became more interested in understanding existing tonal music. I came back to Piston and discovered that I was now more familiar with many of the examples and could better appreciate the harmonic effects as one aspect in the overall context of the whole piece of music. For myself, the written exercises still have limited value, although I feel better prepared for them and, as Schoenberg himself might have said, worked on seriously they won't do anyone harm.
 A classic text, not dumbed down June 22, 2004
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
As the other reviews make clear, you'll only like this book if you truly want to study harmony! Those who do tend to give the book high marks.I read the book on my own, because I was finding that in my other reading about classical music I was encountering ideas and terminology that I didn't understand. For this purpose, it really helped me a lot to read Piston. The examples, taken from throughout the history of classical music, are intriguing and helpful as illustrations.
A great book April 13, 2004
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
If you feel that your knowledge in harmony is incomplete, that is the right book for you! It is very systematic and not hard at all(even for me: english is not my mother tongue) Some people complain about the fact, that it is dry.Well what do they expect from a harmony book? It gives you all the knowledge you need starting from zero, building it gradually to more sophisticated exercises. You really don't have to be super-intelligent to be able to understand it, you just have to work on it systematically and with discipline, you might even enjoy it (I did) By the time you finish the book, you will not feel anymore that your knowledge in harmony is insufficient, on the contrary the word harmony will be more associated as a friend than as an enemy.
Take all reviews with a grain of salt.... June 20, 2003
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Interesting to read the reviews about this book. Just because a book is "hard" or confuses you doesn't mean it's a bad book. Look, I'm a professional musician, composer and teacher. This book is the most complete and best harmony text out there. There's plenty of room for personal preference, and it's probably not fair to say one book is better than another. This book, however, is truly exceptional, and the 5th edition is the best so far...
Take all reviews with a grain of salt.... June 20, 2003
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Interesting to read the reviews about this book. Just because a book is "hard" or confuses you doesn't mean it's a bad book. Look, I'm a professional musician, composer and teacher. This book is the most complete and best harmony text out there. There's plenty of room for personal preference, and it's probably not fair to say one book is better than another. This book, however, is truly exceptional, and the 5th edition is the best so far.BTW, I taught myself harmony from this book when I was in high school (with the guidance of a teacher reviewing my exercises) and tested out of all theory at a prestigious university. Basically I got the equivalent of an undergrad theory background from studying this text.
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