Tonality: An Owner's Manual

This encyclopedic book proposes a reformulation of Western music theory, revealing simple structures underlying a wide range of practices from the Renaissance to contemporary pop. It uses geometrical models to describe implicit knowledge governing music-making and re-examines basic concepts such as voice leading, repetition, nonharmonic tones, tonal harmony, modulation, and melody.

Format: Hardback
Length: 672 pages
Publication date: 14 December 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

This comprehensive encyclopaedia presents a radical reimagining of the fundamental principles of Western music theory, unveiling the underlying structures that underpin a diverse array of practices from the Renaissance to contemporary pop. At its heart, lies a groundbreaking collection of concise geometrical models that elucidate the implicit knowledge governing a wide spectrum of musical creation, akin to the theory of grammar that outlines the underlying principles that guide our spoken and written language. Within its central chapters, each fundamental concept in music theory is thoroughly reexamined, including voice leading, repetition, nonharmonic tones, the origins of tonal harmony, the grammar of tonal harmony, modulation, and melody. These core chapters are complemented by two predominantly analytical chapters dedicated to rock harmony and Beethoven. Spanning a vast expanse of musical history, from the Middle Ages to the present day, Tonality: An Owner's Manual seamlessly integrates philosophy, mathematics, statistics, and computational analysis into a novel and truly twenty-first-century theory of music.

Weight: 1286g
Dimension: 162 x 185 x 35 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197577103