How to Listen to Great Music | Robert Greenberg |
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History | Michael Miller |
The Vintage Guide to Classical Music | Jan Swafford |
The Lives of the Great Composers | Harold C. Schonberg |
The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection | Ted Libbey |
The NPR Classical Music Companion | Miles Hoffman |
The Essential Canon of Classical Music | David Dubal |
Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers | Phil G. Goulding |
The Harvard Dictionary of Music | Don Michael Randel |
The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music | Stanley Sadie |
A History of Western Music | Donald J. Grout |
The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven | Charles Rosen |
The Romantic Generation | Charles Rosen |
Basic Music Theory | Jonathan Harnum |
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory | Michael Miller |
Barron's AP Music Theory | Nancy Scoggin |
The Songwriter's Workshop | Jimmy Kachulis |
Melody in Songwriting | Jack Perricone |
Fretboard Theory | Desi Serna |
The Chord Wheel | Jim Fleser |
The Pillars of Music Theory
Practical Usage of Music Theory
The Circle of Fifths
Note Values
The Major Scale
Minor Scale
Time Signatures
How Basic Chords Work
How to Read Music
Visualize Rhythm
Writing a Melody
How to Write Music
1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Be Proactive
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Do a survey of a course before you take it, such as reading a general history on the topic or several Wikipedia articles on the topic. This may include studying one of the many online university courses or other Top 20 Online resources such as the Khan Academy. This might also include studying an audio/visual course on the topic from your library or from The Great Courses Company (when on sale). These surveys give you a scaffolding in which to put particular facts.
Get off to a good start also by reading part of the textbook or the reading list before starting the course.
For AP Courses, review the course descriptions at www.apcentral.collegeboard.com and use review books or apps.
Develop and use flashcards from a site such as Quizlet and possibly a flashcard app for that topic.
Use study guides such as SparkNotes and review articles such as the Sunday Book Review from the New York Times.
Seek out a mentor or study group (without plagiarism) and ask questions.