How to Choose the Best Music Theory Book for You!

There are many music theory books out there.

So which one is the the right one for YOU?

After studying many of the books on offer I've found that one of the biggest barriers to understanding the subject is how to learn the basics without being thrown in at.......

So here we'll look at how the subject has been approached in the music theory books commonly available today.

According to Amazon.com the top selling Music Theory titles are:


1. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition Click here for a Full Review

2. Music Theory for Guitarists:Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask Click here for a Full Review

3. Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A complete Self-Study Course for all Musicians Click here for a full review of Alfreds Essentials of Music Theory

4. The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for all Musicians

5. Edly's Music Theory for Practical People

6. Music Theory for Dummies Click here for a Full review

On Amazon.co.uk we have quite a different list, which reads as follows:

1. First Steps in Music Theory: Grades 1 to 5 Click here for a Full Review

2. Music Theory for Dummies Click here for a Full Review

3. The AB Guide to Music Theory Vol 1 Click Here for a Full Review

4. Music Theory in Practice (Grade 1)

5. Music Theory in Practice (Grade 2)

6. Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask Click here for a Full Review

It's quite interesting the differences in the the 2 lists.

Firstly there must be more budding guitarists in the USA, pushing the guitar theory book higher up the list.

Also you will see the titles in the UK list are geared more towards the graded exams from the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music),as in the UK every child who takes the graded practical exams has to tackle music theory at some point, even if it is only at Grade 5.

(For those of you who aren't familiar with the Associated Board system, there are Grades 1 to 8 for both practical and theory. But in order for you to take the Grade 6 Practical Exam and above you need to have a pass in Grade 5 Theory)

One book I have also had some success with is Teach Yourself Music Theory. This book is listed at number 9 in the Amazon UK Chart. For a full review CLICK HERE.

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