# Recommendations on theory books



## mazza

Hey, 

I started taking piano lessons a few months back, and my teacher taught me some theory (pretty much all of music theory 101, he said). While my progress at actually playing the piano has slowly grown, my thirst for comprehending and learning theory has grown significantly larger.

One problem though, I don't know where to start, and I don't want to skip anything. I have been reading the third edition of tonal harmony by Kostka & Payne, but I know its not all im after. I want to study counterpoint, but I don't know what version (post-Bach?), fugue, in-depth forms, and more. 

My purpose for this? Besides intense curiosity at the structure, syntax, and aesthetics of the language, I want to be able to read along the score of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Satie, etc. etc. and be able to point out what they are doing and why they do it. Doing this, I feel I will gain an intimate relationship with music and will give me a better ability to adequately express myself. 

Any pointers or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## mazza

Nevermind. Should have used the search function :/

http://www.talkclassical.com/2150-music-books-quick-reference.html


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## Mike Saville

Also don't forget Ricci Adams Musictheory.net - that's a very useful resource!


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## Jeremy Marchant

Well, you could do a lot worse than _Counterpoint _by Walter Piston (Gollancz in the UK)


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