Practical Exercises in Music Theory

Author: Jiang Kui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The purpose of writing "Fundamentals of Music Theory Exercises" is to help students who have just started formal music studies to master basic music theory knowledge and skills, lay a solid foundation for further music learning, and meet the needs of student exams. There are 7 points of note about this book:
1. Issues with Clefs: From the beginning, the book requires students to gradually learn to practice in seven clefs, not only in violin clef and bass clef but also in treble clef, alto clef, tenor clef, baritone clef, and sub-bass clef. This is because these seven clefs are all useful in musical practice, and they are used in reading full scores, writing full scores, and transposition. Some may worry that starting with so many clefs at once will be too difficult for students to master. However, this is not a problem. This "early differentiation" approach is far more effective than first firmly mastering two clefs and then learning the other five.
2. Symbols for Notating Pitch Names: The symbols for notating pitch names in this book are borrowed from acoustics and have already been adopted by musicians.
3. Keyboard Practice: A significant portion of the exercises in this book are keyboard-based. These exercises are an integral part of the workbook and are not optional. They help students associate solfege with keyboard positions, which is crucial for developing their listening skills and auditory imagination.
4. Modes of Traditional Chinese Music: This book adopts the "Tongjun San Gong" system, the latest achievement in the field of traditional Chinese musicology in the nearly two decades. The establishment of this system is a major contribution by Mr. Huang Xiangpeng.
5. Mode Analysis of Melodies: This workbook does not include exercises on this topic. This is because such materials are extremely easy to obtain and would be unnecessary to include, adding to the readers' burden.
6. Reading Simplified Notation on the Piano: The book emphasizes practicing with fixed solfege because most students learn the piano using fixed solfege.
7. The "Logarithmic Antilogarithm Table of Cent Values" mentioned in the book has been published as an internal teaching material by the Teaching Materials Department of the Central Conservatory of Music.
Music theory is not just a course in knowledge; it also has very high technical requirements. Therefore, students need to practice diligently based on understanding to master it proficiently.