15 Best Books On Music Theory You Must Read In 2024

Music theory books
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Hello folks! Am back with another fascinating topic for today and that is “music theory books”. Siachen is primarily dedicated to musical freaks worldwide. Hence, I am already hoping that you are for sure going to enjoy this article on music theory books. 

Furthermore, this article is highly recommended to people who are thinking of learning music theory or are already at the intermediate level. Not just that, this article also comprises the names of books that are designed for advanced levels such as, listed at number 7th, The Musicians Guide to theory and Analysis.

The article also holds a special place for certain books that are based on specific musical instruments such as The Practical Guide To Modern Music Theory for Guitarists, and Music Theory For Guitarists, these two books are highly recommended for guitarists across the globe.

Moreover, people often ask that we should opt for books and not rely on the digital world to learn easily. Well, it’s primarily because the music theory books will cut off any distractions that can come your way if you choose to learn music digitally.

Now I guess all these reasons are pretty enough to give this article a beautiful read. Hence without any further delay let’s dive straight into the list of music theory books. 

READ MORE – 5 Best Music Theory Books for Beginners

1- Music Theory For Dummies

To begin with, it’s a beautiful book that comes up with great ideas and techniques that one can use to learn music. If you are a beginner, then this book is a sure-sure best gift that you give to yourself. Let me tell you about the composition of this book.

At first, it will explain everything to you in chunks. After this, you will be able to master various scales, pitches, dynamics, melodies, chords, and a lot more. If you are intermediate, don’t think that you can’t learn anything from this book, because learning the basics will also allow you to learn something new and different for sure. 

2- Alfred’s Essentials Of Music Theory

This book is highly recommended for pianists, guitarists, instrumentalists, and vocalists, songwriters, arrangers, and composers. Not just that, as mentioned on the cover page it will come with 2 CDs that will help you develop your ear training. The book is designed in simple language which makes it superbly easy to learn and remember. 

3- How To Read Music In 30 Days

Who doesn’t wish to learn things early? We all do. Hence this book is best for those beginner students who wish to read music in 30 days only. Furthermore, this particular book is a complete package of over 150 music examples, over 100 written exercises, 10 listening challenges, expert tips, lesson summaries, a final test, online access to audio examples, and a 20-page bonus of music reading training. Well, overall it’s an excellent start for learning sight reading. 

4- Music Theory For Guitarists

This is one of two guitar books given in this article that is strongly dedicated to guitar learners. Reading below you will find another book named “The Practical Guide to modern music theory for Guitarists. Furthermore, the best part about this book is it is accessible online and gives an insight into 94 audio example tracks, which will greatly help you to learn and play every mode, chord, and more with absolute ease. 

5- The Jazz Theory Book 

This music book has significantly explained the mechanics of jazz, and the amazing depth of the content is matched by the care and accuracy of the presentation. People consider it the most amazing jazz theory book ever. Let me explain it to you in detail. If you are a music student at a university then trust me this is the only book that you need to get into every detail of jazz music. Furthermore, it comes up nicely organized, with a logical flow of material. Apart from this, it has easily comprehensible explanations and lots of well-explained transcribed examples.

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6- Music Theory For Computer Musicians

Computers are the only thing we can rely on for anything. Here we will talk about musicians who rely on computers as their main instrument. The primary reason why people are more interested in learning this form of computer music is that this allows you to play and create music only through your computer or even through your mobile devices. As we know music is not that easy to learn, it is very vast.

Hence, it doesn’t matter if you are learning a proper instrument or you are learning a computer, you sure-sure need guidance. Hence, this is the best book that you can count on for learning computer music. 

7- The Musician’s Guide To Theory And Analysis

Very excited to tell you about this. Let’s begin. As the name suggests this book is particularly about the musician’s guide to theory and analysis. The content that has been provided in this book is very rich and highly appreciated.

However, it has its co-books also, namely, workbook and Anthology. Maybe you find the cost of this book a bit exorbitant, nevertheless, considering the content that it has provided, I will say it’s worth every single penny. It’s definitely a top-notch book.   

8- Music Theory: From Beginner to Expert

For those people who are desperately looking for a book that can take you through ic theory in general, here your search ends, go for this particular book written by Nicolas Carter. However, the book has simple words and sentences which are easy to understand.

Topics like notations and others, you will find brief information regarding that in the book inside. Usually, this book is most liked by intermediate students, nevertheless, it’s also a great choice for those who are thinking of learning music theory from scratch. All you gotta do is be smart enough to understand things in detail. 

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9- Music Theory In Practice

To begin with, this particular book claims that it has helped more than one million musicians worldwide to learn music in the simplest ways. The book offers rich content that can take you through the notation and theory of music. However, the books come up with amazing print quality and a reasonable price. Furthermore, in case you wish to develop general music literacy skills, then go for this book without any single thought. 

10- The Practical Guide To Modern Music Theory for Guitarists

This book is all about guitar knowledge and it is highly recommended for intermediate guitar players. It’s righteous to mention that this book is highly appreciated by all guitarists worldwide. This book spots light on how one can improve their skills for using the guitar, it will introduce you to so many different techniques that you can learn for playing the guitar. Give it a read and then get ready to create masterpieces with the help of this book. 

11- Berklee Music Theory Book 1

To begin with, this is one of the finest books that will bring you the best knowledge of the music world.

However, this book is being taught in one of the best music colleges in the world, hence this makes it one of the best books to read. Furthermore, the book comprises a in-depth knowledge of musical instruments, and not just that it also comprises tons of useful information. 

12- Music Theory 101

To begin with, It’s a good and in-depth book. Good for intermediate learners and adult revisors. However, this book is highly suggested for those who are already aware of the basic theory of music such as you should be knowing how to read and write notes properly. Furthermore, the reason why this book becomes very quick to read is that it has very simple use of sentences.

13- Music Theory, 3E

Do you also find music theory a difficult subject? If so then firstly take this out of your head. Because music theory is not at all a difficult subject to consider. To stop this given statement let me introduce you to this book. It is one of the best-selling Idiot’s guide books. However, the book has explained the basics of tones so well and the building of rhythm which includes notes values, time notation, tempo, etc.  

14- The Everything Music Theory Book 

Speaking of this particular book it is highly recommended for those who are serious musicians. However, inside the book, you will also find a wide range of areas, where there is an ample amount of Western theory that consists of classical music and modern-day contemporary music.

Furthermore, when you draw your attention to the index page of the book, you will find a plethora of topics listed there. All I can conclude is that the book will provide you with an absolutely good grounding in music. 

15- Barron’s AP Music Theory

To begin with, this book allows you to go through the chapters which cover music fundamentals, harmonic organization, harmonic dictation, melodic composition, harmonic progression, visual score analysis, and a lot more.

As mentioned on the cover page the book consists of two full-length practice tests which include aural and non-aural sections and free-response. However, inside the book, you will also find some very helpful strategies for test-taking success.

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