I have to admit I was reluctant to buy this book, because of its title. Never mind the title--it's well written. You don't have to be a complete idiot to understand this book; in fact, you shouldn't be. The author assumes you can think, but that you're coming in pretty close to the ground floor on knowing anything about the topic. I'm almost finished with the book, and I'm very happy I bought it.

By the way, I'm a musician, but with little or no theory background except what I've absorbed accidentally. This book has been really helpful in filling in the large gaps in my musical education.

I haven't read the whole book, but so far, its very easy to read and understandable. I play piano, so I am familiar with a lot of terms, however, I do not have a strong foundation of theory. This book is a great supplement for me and has made my understanding of theory a lot more enjoyable and interesting.

This is a great book for someone who didn't try to seriously learn music until their mid forties (like me).

I'm in 11th grade and have played the piano for 10 years. I've performed at the Lincoln Center in New York City and have accompanied many musicals. Having said that, I realized that I knew everything about music - except the theory behind it. I began looking on the internet for a music theory book and this is the one I found. I was a little hesitant about buying it because some reviews stated that it was for beginners only. I bought this book anyways and yes, the first third of this book is the basics - tempo, dynamics, time and key signature, ect. But this book has so much more (and the beginning section serves as a great reference when you need to know how to count 9/4 time and stuff like that). This book has everything I wanted and more in it from building chords, writing music, following a lead sheet, and directing music. It is a great resource that I think every musician should have sitting on there bookshelf.
Bravo Mr. Miller

Based on the reviews, the first book I bought on this subject was Edly's Music Theory for Practical People. Don't waste your money on that book, or you may very well feel like an idiot due to the incomplete and confusing presentation of music theory. Instead, be intelligent and become well informed on this subject by buying The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory. The subject is presented thoroughly and in a logical manner. Michael Miller is a skilled author and a skilled musician who not only is very knowledgeable about music theory, but knows how to teach it.

I am 'musician' for some time. I've had some music education, but that was a long time ago, so I have decided to purchase this book and I was overjoyed with simplicity of Mr. Millers writing. Right now I know some stuff that I couldn't figure out before thanks to great exercises and great examples that are in the book. Instantly I've ordered the other book 'The complete idiot's guide to music composition' from the same author and soon as I get it I will write the review for it.

This is a very thorough approach to ear training, complete with a CD to demonstrate pitch, intervals, etc. Good instruction on chord-building, chord progressions, transposition, and many aspects of composition. Highly recommended.

Couldn't recommend this more highly. Easy to understand with concepts that build upon one another in a logical fashion. Very helpful.

I love this book. If you are really intrerest in music this book really gives you to the next lever. Michael Miller teach you what do you need when do you need it. The structure of this book keep you learning from the intro till the index, but be careful make shure that you really learn before you jump to the next chapter becaues it can confuse you. It is as a complette course!! But do not discard lessons whith teachers. The experience of the teacher really help and improve the learning prosses.
I think that is difficult to find an easy and at the same time a complete book of music theory than THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO MUSIC THEORY

I've tried several music theory/music composition books, but most authors lose me on what I believe should be easy enough stuff to comprehend. Over the years, though I've wanted to branch out and create my own music, I get frustrated and continue just playing other people's music as I lack the understanding of how to take my music (in the form of chord progressions) to the next step.

This book is different -- I like it very much so far! It explains the material in real terms, and I am having many "Oh! So that's what that means!" and "That's how that works!" moments. The book provides nice exercises that allow you a chance to try some of the things you learned in each chapter.

I think the ear training CD is a great addition too! Ear training is another goal of mine so I can transcribe my favorite songs, and just be a better, self-sufficient musician.

Even if it gets me half-way to where I want to be, it'll be worth it. I think this is the best money I've spent on learning music theory yet.

Really great book, takes you by the hand explaining everything step by step. I am always the amateur drummer and had no previous in-depth understanding of music theory. I really enjoy reading this book (I am still on it). It has helped me enormously to understand what music is all about, using simple language and to the point.
I am very content I chose this book and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to fully understand music theory from scratch.

I haven't gotten all the way through the book, but seems to be well written.

I have recommended this book to my 15 to 17 year old music pupils, especially those with just performance skills, but little formal background. They really like the info and the tone: not at all patronising. "Really helpful". It's well laid out and assumes only a desire to find out what to call what you already know. "Hey, that's a 'key change'! I do that already!" Not a theory book designed to pass dry theory exams, but a survival manual to keep in your music case. Great for primary school teachers too! Handy CD for ear training.

This is the perfect book to review basic music theory. I have not practiced the clarinet for years, nor have I studied music. This text helped me to review and relearn basic music concepts.
Back from the Bardo: Three Short Stories by James Cage

This book is fantastic. Just have your students read the first sentence in the book...

"This is the book I wished I had in high school."

It immediately creates a connection with your students who have the musical interest. I use the book as my student's study guide and supplemental book for the class. The ear training is VERY helpful and if you teach theory, the more ear training you can find the better. I will keep this book as a part of my curriculum.

Very good book!! From the beginning to the end. I personally recomend this book for anyone looking to learn about music. You will end playing your instrument.

I've loved music and been playing for a long time but always had difficulty understanding just what those teachers were getting at when they discussed scales and other theory. This book will make a huge difference with that.

It's very easy to understand, provides very thorough information, and covers more than you probably wanted to know. I've never used another book so I can't compare but I enjoyed this one so much I doubt I'll look too much for another.

Bottom line: Throughout this book I found myself thinking, "Why haven't I heard this before? It makes so much sense and will be so helpful! Why can't every teach music theory this way?"

I have a total of 7 music theory books that I've spent some good money on, all have left me hanging in limbo land wondering what the F____ they are talking about.
This is the only book that breaks things down and sticks to the point.
I have to give a hand to the author on this one, because I'm getting somewhere now! This review comes from my heart on an issue that I've given up on more than once.

Thanks Mr. Miller, this book actually works and makes sense!

The content is well organized and, for me, brought together a lot of bits and pieces I had learned over the years and made it much clearer. The accompanying CD was useful and fun. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in music.

First off anyone who gave this book five stars was employed by the publisher to up the rating that simple. I mean look at some of them they are so cheesy one of them actually refers to the author as Mr. Miller who is he brown nosing for sounds like a greeting card they are so "textbooky" and insincere. The book itself is almost entirely filler on how to read music (which half the music books in Borders are or they are just giant scale books that are reemed out like saw dust totally useless, which leads to the great difficulty on how to actually find an explantion to this jargon and then someone comes along and says they have an answer that will make things clear but then they fall short) up until half the the book and many times periodically things are just repeated terminology loosely defined such as hook which is just recording industry jargon not theory. Book never goes into the physical principals that would actually explain some things in it as to why the notes themselves are in the order they are such as acoustics, never got an answer as to what a whole step or a half step was by the way and when I asked many teachers and questioned them they knew nothing or gave a circular answer defining it themselves without an outside reference only to find that they were just parroting it all along. The problems with this is everything is assumed in the entire field. I recommend the only book that I have found that made some sense to me called Fractals in Music by Charles Madden much more organized and assembles things from the very beginning working into more and more complex shapes and structures.

I am new to learing the piano, but I got to the point where I felt that I wanted to understand the music I am practicing. This book is excellent for explaining music syntax. It also has a CD so you can hear what is being explained. I have found that I enjoy practicing the piano more because now I see so much more on the music sheet. I am understanding what is happening in the music and why it is written the way it is. Don't let the title "Idiot's Guide to" put you off, it is an excellent and easily comprehensible book.

I have been taking piano for six months, and my teacher, while good, never explained theory the way this book does. Clear, common-sense, easy tips explained for those of us without degrees in music. No matter what instrument you play, BUY THIS BOOK

This book takes what could be very dry information, and explains music theory in a very down-to-earth and practical way. The ear training CD that comes with it really helps orient your hearing with what you read in the text. The author presents the information in a fun, non-threatening way, and he breaks things down into easy-to-understand chapters.

When I was a kid I took lessons for electric bass. I just could not get into reading music and gave up. When I got older I gave it a second shot and it still made no more sense to me. I could play bass well enough and had been in a few local punk bands. With each instructor it was usually "this is what an E looks like, now memorize it" I saw this book and decided to order it. When I started reading this book it was a great feeling to actually start understanding why music is written the way it is. This book helped me tremendously.

Fills in a lot of blanks for my daughter's college freshman music theory course.

One thing to keep in mind - something like music theory takes a good deal of work to learn. And I'm afraid if you're an idiot this book will probably be of no use to you beyond being a good doorstop.

That being said, if you're willing to do the work, this book will give you the tools. It clearly describes many facets of music, including the ones I've found the most valuable, keys and chords. I've got a much deeper understanding of music since reading (most of) this book.

I think it would be of particular interest to people who want to write music, but it's also great for someone like me who's learning to play an instrument (I'm learning the mandolin).

This is an excellent book on music theory. It's one of the clearest, most concise and well written books on the subject I've ever seen. All the different aspects of music theory are covered. Years ago, when I first studed music theory, there didn't seem to be books as easy to understand as this one, and I suffered through a number of ones that just weren't as good. Overall, a very fine volume on the subject.

Music Theory was one of the best books I have read on this subject. Outstanding.