The 5 Music Theory/Composition Books That Most Influenced Me
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- These music theory and composition books were enormously influential on my development as a musician in one way or another. They came at the right time for me - maybe they'll come at the right time for you too!
If you decide to check them out, do me a favor and click my affiliate links below!
🎸The Advancing Guitarist
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🎸Building Walking Basslines
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🎼Twentieth Century Harmony
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🎷A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody
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🎼Harmonic Experience:
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(⌐■_■)
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Peace,
Adam
I'll just wait for the movie to come out.
Jake Wyatt i dont think jurassic world will cover that
Harmony - The Movie
@@linusorri Hey, they already made Emoji movie, so why not this
See you in 25 years
Bruh if this was Reddit I would give this comment gold lmao
Dad
@Minor socialist Son, stop the nonsense.
Mom
EVERYTHING is arriving too late for me, now, Mr. Neely. I’m nearly 73 and no longer able to learn what I would have learned had I chosen a different path. Medicine and music don’t have all that much in common, and neither profession allows all that much time for the other. But now, in my late years, I am learning to appreciate more the talent and intellect that some of the young musicians demonstrate using informational tools like UA-cam. You make me wish I had another 4 or 5 decades to try some things over again. Thanks for this video. You’ve made my day.
Hello, I hope you have a nice day 😊
you can and should still learn now. you won't get younger so the best time to start is now.
its never too late
I work at a music store & there is an over 80 year old man who has been coming in regularly for guitar lessons & I hear him every week get better & better
Michael, my dad is only 8 years younger than you and he is taking organ lessons and bought an electric organ for the house. He tortures my mum with it but he gets better every week, you can do it!
If there's ever an Adam Neely Book of Bass, I might buy it. Might even read it.
I wonder how many of the 166 people who gave this the thumbs up before me even play bass. I'm a definite "not really", but here I am...
Yes, please and thank you.
Great stuff, particularly like your last point about each book having a 'right time'. The chromatic jazz harmony book has the same effect on me. Exciting, but baffling in equal measure.
I'd be interested in seeing a video about your favorite books or scores that have been influential on you too. I think your channel is fantastic!
oh wow, thanks Ben, love your channel too! And your recent apartment rap was extremely cool! As for books, yeah I had been thinking of doing something on books that influenced me artistically more than technically.
Wholesome.
All three of you have fantastic channels, great resources. Thank you!
@@DBruce..yes,..book would be good.
Brilliant video, as always!! Had to come back to reference some of these books.
Timestamps:
0:16 The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick
1:19 Building Walking Bass Lines by Ed Friedland
2:38 20th Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti
4:28 A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody by Dave Liebman
6:50 Harmonic Experience by W.A Mathieu
Thank you
Thanks
The Study of Orchestration was a big one for me. I'm gonna check out The Advancing Guitarist, thanks!
MIGHT be the most important book for modern guitarist, ever.
indeed it is
What did you think of The Advancing Guitarist?
@@MrMangaman1 Not as good as The Retreating Sousaphonist. Now there's a tome for the ages.
Super handy, thanks Adam!
Cutest couple on UA-cam
David Freeman people emphatically remark about the shit smell on my face on a daily basis, but it doesn’t stop me from being a supportive friend.
With a friend like Mr. Adam Neely, you don't need books.
If shit smelled like Ben Levin, the world would be a better place. Wait... if shit smelled like Ben Levin liking what his friend does... no, if Adam's shit smelled great when on Ben's nose... if Ben liking Adam's output made shit smell good, then... oh I don't know. Ben, you are good and you do nice things. Adam, you are also good and also do nice things.
Wasn't " Super Handy " Adam Neely's high school nickname? 😂😂😂
5:27
T H Y L I C C H A T H A S C E N D E D
C H O A D
omg i didnt realize hahahah lol
It’s
G L O R I O U S
I did not clock that first time round.
1:33 is telling you to improvise a Christmas tune
the f o r b i d d e n c hor d
Can bass even play [a Christmas chord]? 🤔
Won the internet sir
I was just looking at 20th Century Harmony on Amazon and it grouped it with the Guitarist book and the walking bassline book from this video as a “frequently purchased together” thingy!
Not the first time that Adam's videos had an impact like that. A few years ago he mentioned the "Trio of Doom" (Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorious). Within a week, the Spotify monthly listeners more than doubled and for a while Sungazer was showing up in the "Fans also like" recommendations.
If I had to spend rest of my life with one book, it would definitely be Harmonic Experience. Reading it first time felt like unwinding the sacred secrets of music. During the years this feeling has stayed vivid and I still get this almost spiritual feeling every time I open the pages of this wonderful book. Now back to singing in unison with my trusted drone!
I bought The Advancing Guitarist today based on your suggestion. Can't wait to get it
I have profound respect for your dévotion to put out all this information for us to grab. You're facilitating an inspiring journey that keeps me passionate to experiment further more as my relation to music constantly grows in maturity. Thank you Adam.
This video was so enlightening, love how open you are about the process of learning the thing you love
Q: Does gear matter?
A: 1:26
Pablo Berrotaran Hahahahhahah
Eduardo *Mr Mackey would like to know your location*
Eduardo •_•
Eduardo He’s a character from South Park, well known for saying ‘Drugs are Bad mkay’
Man - I totally get this. All of it. Having worked through and continually coming back to the Liebman book now for over 20 years, Adam is speaking the absolute truth. I’ve worked with Mick one-on-one as a peer and padawon alike when I was teaching at Berklee and he’s just a colossal resource. The AG is rite of passage for any guitar looking to really go there. I’m psyched to see Two I’m unfamiliar with! BTW - I always encouraged students to hibernate in the Getz Center. I don’t care what the internet has to offer, you can’t beat what’s contained in that place. Bravo, Adam.
I'm glad that you mentioned The Advancing Guitarist, and also thanks for the other recommendations.
I particularly enjoyed the Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony for when I started learning about, you guessed it, jazz harmony. Great info on extensions, tensions, functional harmony, substitutions and a bit of everything really.
2/5 I've read and I gotta check out the rest! Thanks Adam!
Ted Greene's 'Chord Chemistry' is another amazing reference. Thanks for all your awesome videos.
Own two of these. Fascinated to go further into all of your intoxicating enthusiasm for sound (and silence)! Thanks Adam.
I love your videos, I just want to be someone remembered in the world of music like a bassist.
I’m 16 years old and I start to play the bass since one year ago, I don’t know if I start in the right age or a little bit late.
I practice every day, I get into music classes and I bought a book that introduce me to the world of music.
I only want you to know that you are one of my inspirations and I love to watch your videos, I learn new things in every video.
Thanks Adam Neely I will never forget you!
Waking Bass, Talking Face: A Memoir by Adam “The Eargasm” Neely
“Our perspectives are not fixed” - thanks for that Adam. Such a difficult thing to remember & get comfortable with. But so true and helpful. We ARE a process. Knowledge and consciousness included.
I gotta pick up a couple of these books man! Thanks. Peace!
This is definitely my continuous struggle. It's especially strange how that knowledge sometimes makes living easier, and other times significantly harder, for me.
Your videos are always thought provoking....Thanks.
Please someone tell me what is the name of the piece at the end of the video!
It is Ether from Sungazer. Here is a bandcamp link to the album it is in: sungazermusic.bandcamp.com/album/sungazer-vol-i
I doubt I'll ever read these books or be advanced enough, but I love how Adam teaches and critiques.
"The Evolving Bassist', by Rufus Reid, had a major effect on me when I was younger. Still hope to get back to it someday.
Adam I'm looking forward to studying with you and your content as I prepare to go to music school anywhere at all. Thanks for your work and thanks for sharing!
Omg also as I typed this I spotted the lick at 5:26. Good heavens that is profound.
The Infinite Variety of Music by Leonard Bernstein was one of my first books that really inspired me to keep persuing music. It's extravagant and eccentric outlook on classical music is typical Bernstein fasion, and it really has a way of hyping you up. Thanks for the video, Adam!
Sometimes I ask myself why I watch this channel. Not that it's bad or anything but when Adam starts to talk about anything remotely about music theory I'm instantly lost.
If grasshoppa in grass, grasshoppa no lost
You must watch it for all the girls in bikinis. It's forgivable.
I’ve been impressed by ‘The Jazz Harmony Book’ by David Berkman. He uses the book in two graduate courses he teaches at Queens College. He introduces substitution in a very painless way. Beginning with Christmas songs to allow the student to know the melodies where the harmony is built.
Greatly appreciate your advice here, adam. Thanks!
Love the sound effects on this vid, listening in my car with subs😍😍😍
I recommend you review the contents of Adam Neely's 5 recommended books on Jazz Theory/Composition before you purchase. Most of these books are catered to college students and professional musicians who have the perspective. Most of us don't have the time to carefully study each or any of these books unless, of course, you are "ready and receptive" for specialty training. With the focus on playing jazz and not becoming a theorist, I recommend the following approaches: (Approach #1) Study "The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony" followed by "The Advancing Guitarist" by Mick Goodrick, (Approach #2) Study "The Jazz Theory Book" by Mark Levine followed by "The Advancing Guitarist", (Approach #3) Either Approach #1 or #2 followed by studying "The Jazz Harmony Book" by David Berkman. Understanding the contents of these books will give you the perspective to learn specialty topics.
"The songwriting secrets of the Beatles" by D. Peddler is also a great way to learn music theory and have fun at the same time. Highly recommended.
Way late, but this is an awesome book. I'm not sure about music theory (from zero), but I like the way he picks examples from Beatles songs and explains where/from who they picked up these things. I went through music school and never had much use for the augmented chord until reading this book.
I agree too - brilliant book but not something you can carry with you on the bus
I bought The Advancing Guitarist at a used book store when I was in high school, and like you mentioned, it was too much for me at the time. You've inspired me to pick it up again. Thank you!
Exactly what i was looking for, thank you so much Adam!
That Persichetti is a banger. Also agree about the Tonal Harmony book, but Kostka's follow-up, Material's and Techniques of Non-Tonal Music, is pretty damn great. For my own part, some of the most exciting stuff has been more philosophical or essayistic. The writings of Schoenberg, Morton Feldman and Theodor Adorno have been hugely important to me.
man thanks
I've been hoping on a Neely video like this one for quite some time!
I think on almost any other channel, a video titled "The 5 books that influenced whatever blah blah" would have ended up being filler content. But you put such care and effort into this, and as far as I can tell, all of your videos. It's rad. I'm recently rediscovering my love for music after taking up saxophone at 34 years old. Your channel has been a really cool place to be exposed to some of these interesting concepts we used to talk about a lot in music school. I'm glad I happened upon this channel. Keep up the great work!
Really love the lighting setup on this one.
The Advancing Guitarist is so great
Hi Adam. I gotta say thanks for these book references 'because I appreciate them a lot. I have acquired a couple of them before and didn't regret it. Thanks again and please keep up the good work you put on every video. Bass!
The Advancing Guitarist is one of the single most important books I've ever read and completely changed my perception of the fretboard. Fantastic book. "Chromatic Approach..." sounds pretty interesting too. I'll have to check it out
Another insanely well delivered lecture to my front room, thanks!
Aka The five theory/composition books that are now in my shopping cart
Joji Matthews if twentieth century harmony by vincent persichetti was not already in there i dont even know bc adam talks bout it pretty much twice per video
Torilovem Interwebs is it a good book? 😂
As a novice bassist, I can second the recommendation for Ed Freidland's Building Walking Basslines. It is on my music stand right now.
But even before that, Hal Leonard Bass Method Complete Edition 2nd Edition (three books spiral bound into one) by Ed Friedland is the best first bass book for electric bass. Beware there is an older Hal Leonard Bass Method book by a different author. Why so good? Ed builds up concepts from the basic, uses standard music notation, has many songs to play along to, with left track is bass and right track is accompaniment so you can listen to just the bass, play along without the bass, or hear everything together. And the songs are satisfying, and the song titles are frequently terrible puns. Together it makes it fun and rewarding.
Sounds great for prospective beginners (like a certain someone);
thanks for the recommendation!
I've got the Hall Leonard Blues Bass, by Jon Liebman. It's helped with my grip on the basic blues format, and the history of that fine genre. But I still can't pull off a decent walking bass line; at least not without serious thought, and then only with a fixed 1-6-2-5 progression.
I was working my way through the HLBM and need to get back to it. I agree, its the best intro to bass out there. I was making videos of my progress through the book, and writing about it on my bass blog, but haven't made it past the first 1/2 of book one yet. Everything Ed Friedland writes is gold.
OMG thank you! that 3rd book is exactly what iv been craving. im an improv pianist and composer for fun. iv just been learning random progressions and songs to build up a better foundation for creating myself but its been stagnating a bit. learning harder songs is good for getting slight theory tips and organizing compositions, dynamics and contour. but this just seems like its giving me all the bare materials. a lot more musical tools for use than any one song can give.
Great to see Harmonic Experience in here. Hell of a book, and beautifully written.
I definitely recommend Jazz Theory by Mark Levine to anyone interested in jazz harmony and improvisation. I've learn a lot from it.
what about non jazz musician? but i interested in harmony and improvisation
First listen to Liebman's "Gargoyles" reminded me a ton of listening to either Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto or anything in Scriabin's later works. He has some really beautiful dissonance that also seems very fluid. You move from place to place easily and it doesn't seem aggressively dissonant for its own sake.
I'm so happy you posted this!
Totally agree about “the right time.” That was me right now with Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner. Music began to bring me a lot of anxiety and internal pain, and this book really helped me find why I loved it and centered me.
I wish I’d had Building Walking Bass Lines when I played piano for my high school jazz band and was too self-conscious to improvise
Hey there! question for your next Q&A: have you heard of the french 70s band Magma? they play weird minimalist symphonic jazz compositions and sing in a language their drummer invented, I would really like to hear your opinion on them and I think their weirdness deserves attention
You continue to be one of the most interesting channels on this platform. Well done, thanks for the great info.
I love reading this ... now that my kids are both in college I am getting back to putting time into my music - bass playing and general music theory and composition skills, which have really not advanced since my own college years. I have already discovered new things by approaching things very differently, letting go of ego and what skills I ‘used to have’ and forcing myself through beginner level stuff again with dedication (and a patience I would never have had even when I WAS a beginner). I have been doing some music reading, looking forward to checking some of these out.
i would also recommend The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
Terrific book. I worked with it for a year, and still go back to it for voicing ideas.
+1 to that: it hit me at the right time in my life (college undergrad), and really helped me sort out what to practice. The discography in the back also tuned me into Woody Shaw, Kenny Garrett, and Mulgrew Miller. What someone should really do is put together a CD (or even a UA-cam video) of all the various musical examples from the book so that you can follow along with your ears without trying to play things on a piano.
Thanks! Looking forward to checking these out. Had the same copy of Advancing Guitarist for 25 years but every time I go back to read it's always a little different.
Thanks Adam for sharing your books. Very valuable review. I will check out Pershetti and Matthieu.
Cool! I've already saved one or two of them in my wishlist. Thanks for the recommendations!
That's interesting. I played with Ed Friedland when I was just learning guitar. No idea he had been so influential.
6:53 thank you for including my meme!
Your videos have re-sparked my interest in music theory. Thank you!
This is even more amazing now after spending a summer learning some music theory!
1:34 you’re supposed to stand up and announce that you’ve found The Christmas Chord
Just ordered the first three!
Loving the 4k camera upgrade. Congratulations. Video was great, I'll definitely have to look at these.
Awesome video. Thank you for this. Will be looking into these books in the very near future!
Ab ≠ G#
MIND BLOWN.
Aug6 does not equals m7. That sounds cooler. It's by Rick Beato by the way and blew me an hour ago.
Welcome to the world of string (and clever wind) players
Why am i even watching these i’m a “classical” musician
Excellent! Thanks for the recommendations.
Excellent synopsis, Adam. I know some of these but not all. Thanks!
5:44 sounds like a meme edit of Fireflies.
Glad I'm not the only one.
Schoenberg's Harmony, Walter Piston's Harmony (4th edition is best) and The Geometry of Music by Tymoczko if you are into classical
Thanks for the tip. Will check them all out. 👍
Thabks, Adam. I've actually got Expanding Walking Basslines and it's been very useful. I'll take a look a this one now!
+1 for Harmonic Experience. A book that really opened my eyes to what music is and can be.
Small comment on the G#/Ab thing: Most classical ensembles (at least in my part of the world) do play those tones differently as long as all instruments are non-tempered. The reason why is somewhat simple: It sounds perfectly "in tune" (at least with the harmonic overtones of the root in the chord). I remember back in HS the conductor for the school choir would get angry at us if we sung a chord in equal temperament because to him it sounded "like shit". At least when we started the concert series for the piece (Ein Deutches Requiem by Johannes Brahms), we nailed it. It only took three months of being shouted at :)
It's not only G#/Ab and the other enharmonic equivalents. The same note is not the same in different keys. A D in D major should be intonated "on spot" because it's the root note. In Eb major you should intonate D a bit higher, because the equal tempered major 7th is smaller than the just major 7th.
That is true. it generalizes to every individual case in chordal intonation and intonation during phrases. I just tried (and maybe failed) to make it as general and concise as possible.
no worries, nothing you said was wrong. I just wanted to add an example where intonation on a "normal" note is important.
But how would any temperament other than equal work for Brahms's German Requiem? The orchestra includes woodwind instruments and a harp, so, to sing in tune with them, you must sing in equal temperament.
@@rosiefay7283 why? Brahms himself didn't use equal temperament.
5:28 Was that a chromatic L I C C ??
Hmm... So basically what Fredrik Thordendal does on every one of his solos is just chromatic improvisation?
..basically
There's some fantastic stuff here I will look forward to checking out
Hi Adam, thanks for sharing your thought on the books. I have three of the books you mentioned (Twenty Century Harmony, Harmonic Experience and Advancing Guitarist) and totally agree with your comment. I will check out Dave Liebman’s book as well, thanks for the advice.
From my personal experience, if I may add one more book of this kind, I will suggest Hindemith’s “The craft of musical composition book 1”. His treatment of harmony movement and chord classification just feels like fresh air.
How would one go about "putting in the work" when reading a book? Just reading something over and over doesn't seem overly helpful, but sometimes it's hard to put the concepts into practice. Like with twentieth century harmony, being aware of the harmonic approaches is one thing, but being able to use them and understand them is another. How would you go about moving from awareness of the concept to being fluent in the concept so that it is a usable skill? Also love the video Adam, your videos make my every week much better :)
Any of these books to do with practical things (cooking, gardening, music, sex) only come to life if you are doing the things in the book.
“Improvisation” by Derek Bailey.
Best book about music.
“Silence” by John Cage isn’t too bad either.
Thanks for the recommendation. Would be good to know why you rate these book as the best ones.
Awesome! Thanks Adam!
Thank you Adam!
Hi Adam! Question for your next Q&A. I'm planning to practicing scales this summer and I play bass and guitar, so thought that if I practice scales only with guitar I would learn them with bass too. Is it the same?
if you dont mind the difference in size and that the guitar has to more strings then a base (the thin 2, and if we are talking standard tuning) you should be ok
Rather the other way around. Practice on bass to learn bass and guitar scales. At least from my xp.
Practice both. Each instrument has its own nuances and fingering approaches. Purely for getting them under your fingers and ingrained in your head though, you can get away with just guitar. Make sure you mix it up and sometimes only limit yourself to the first 4 guitar strings so it translates better over to bass. Try to practice them on bass sometimes too, or better just 50/50 - you'll find that you'll need to do a lot more shifting on bass which requires practice in itself.
the lick at 5:28
THE LIGHTING LOOKS SO GOOD
You telling me about building walking basslines just might save my schools band next semester so thanks, you did a good
Thank you Adam, although I don't think there will ever be a 'right time' for me for most of these books :P I guess I'll just let you explain the most interesting concepts :) Regarding the 4K, yes image detail and resolution have increased very noticeably. I would however suggest you adjust the color temperature very slightly to make the skin tone a little less cold.
Reinier Weerts Flh
Reinier Weerts I actually prefer this color temperature if that means anything
Down to taste I guess. When compared to last video there's a blueish hue, maybe due to the background and extra perceived (skin) detail -> imgur.com/a/jO6w5Eh (sorry Adam :P)
Regards Ab/G#, you can find very, very old organs in the UK/Europe that have a split key for those two notes. It's quite cool. I'm actually a little surprised that you hadn't heard of this before; you're awfully knowledgeable. (NOT a backhanded compliment, seriously.)
Again the only real news I need to watch.. Adam Neely 'Weekly" Thanks!
Great video Adam! Super insightful
The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine - industry standard.
that music at the end... sungazer? :)
his band, at the end of every video :)
Song name is “Ether”
Romano Zattoni thank you!
Amazing recommendations. That 20th century harmony one looks particular challenging!
gawd I love your channel, Adam.
I hope to soon have income to express this to you financially. You inspire me to keep up the plasticity of my brain.