The jazz theory book
by Mark Levine · first published 1995
77% recommend15% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Dense, well-organized jazz theory that starts with basics and builds to advanced concepts, taught in the context of improvising over jazz harmony. Suited to musicians who want deeper theory.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Back in the early 2000s I quit my engineering job and went to music school for a few years. We used Mark Levine's excellent "Jazz Theory Book" to cover the theoretical aspects. It presents theory in the context of trying to understand how to improvise over jazz harmonies - I found it very useful. It's a textbook though: you're going to have…
on “Ask HN: How Can I Learn Music Theory?” ↗…do remember a series that had 4 books from intro to advanced. I spent a lot of years learning guitar technique while not progressing much on the music theory side until I started reading Mark Levine's Jazz theory book. It's probably the best material on music theory I've read, though it's slightly based on jazz, or at least references it a lot. But I think you could use it as a general theory guide. Another favorite…
on “Show HN: Guitar Dashboard – Open source music theory explorer for guitarists” ↗The Jazz Theory book - Mark Levine High Performance Browser Networking - edit: Ilya Grigorik Effortless Mastery - Kenny werner
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗Wow, never expected The Jazz Theory Book or Effortless Mastery to show up on HN. I'll add The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine and Jamey Abersold vol. 1 How To Play Jazz and Improvise
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗…with high information density, with pieces that I can chew on for a long time - even if much of it is beyond my understanding at the beginning (or even at the end). Here are some of my favorites: The Jazz Theory Book (Mark Levine) Huge series of play-along books by Jamey Aebersold The Geometry of Musical Rhythm (Godfried Toussaint) Harmony (Walter Piston) A Geometry of Music - Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended…
on “Ask HN: What are you learning in 2019?” ↗…the things that later 20/21C music does (eg if you can understand Miles you can understand Hindemith pretty much). For Jazz there are two books I would recommend, which are the Jazz Piano book and the Jazz Theory book both by Mark Levine.
on “Ask HN: Tools to Learn Music Theory?” ↗…it every single day and it will come with time. If anyone else is interested in books that I would recommend for theory: - Elementary Rudiments of Music by Barbara Wharram (a good intro book) - The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine (this is my "theory bible" and, despite the title, is not limited at all to only jazz music)
on “Ask HN: Tools to Learn Music Theory?” ↗…improvise a solo over the changes. The theory part helps only in that I know how a dim7 chord looks, sounds and feels but most importantly how it is used by composers. That being said, Mark Levine’s Jazz Theory book is excellent. And get a copy of a Real Book and watch YouTube videos on the voicings used by players and you’ll expand your harmonic palette immensely!
on “Awesome Music Theory: books, links, videos, research, visuals, composition” ↗…playing I strongly recommend you just follow whatever tutorials for your instrument and style and if you get to the point where feel you want to learn more and take it seriously in and of itself, buy “The Jazz Theory Book” by Mark Levine[1]. In spite of what it says, there really isn’t any such thing as Jazz theory - it’s just music theory, and this book is a great presentation with lots of good examples. If you like…
on “Music Theory for Programmers” ↗…fretboard. I greatly prefer to discover and play around with new musical ideas on the keyboard first for this reason. Others' mileage may vary! As far as resources go, I'm a fan of Mark Levin's "The Jazz Theory Book". It starts with basic theory then works through more advanced concepts.
on “The Real Book” ↗Props for mentioning “The Jazz Theory Book”! It's an excellent book. The only thing I'd add to your recommendations is: Listen! When you hear a song, some melody, a rhythm, listen carefully, try to deconstruct the components, how they interplay,…
on “Music Theory for Programmers” ↗> In _The Jazz Theory Book_, Mark Levine defines playing in the pocket simply as grooving, where the rhythm section is locked in and working as a unit. > in the pocket - When the music is rhythmically in a groove. > groove…
on “Imitate, Then Innovate” ↗> if you get to the point where feel you want to learn more and take it seriously in and of itself, buy “The Jazz Theory Book” by Mark Levine[1]. In spite of what it says, there really isn’t any such thing as Jazz theory - it’s just music theory Your recommendation seems to mostly apply to western music (I assume so since you…
on “Music Theory for Programmers” ↗…math nerds. Any statement made in TFA is true (at least to a basic level, and, for some of claims, when focusing on western music). You'll learn nothing of the sort you learn in TFA by reading "The Jazz Theory book" suggested by the parent. The opening paragraphs of TFA explicitly address why that doesn't cut it: "The problem was never the practice. It was that every explanation of music theory seemed to miss out…
on “Music Theory for Programmers” ↗Man that top comment is such a combination of "sneering to show off" and completely wrong that I'm shocked I'm not on reddit. Recommending The Jazz Theory Book to someone starting from scratch, especially someone self studying, is like recommending CLRS or TAOCP to someone who asks "I'm curious about learning the basics of algorithms and data structures, any…
on “Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom” ↗