Treatise on Harmony (Dover Books On Music: Analysis)

The importance of this work in the history of music would be hard to overestimate. While later music theorists and analysts, such as Schenker, find this emphasis on chords to be destructive to the horizontal considerations that make a great work hold together, this work has influence so many people that even those that do not even know his name but talk about root position chords and their inversions are invoking his concepts without realizing the source. No, this is not a textbook for students. It is a treatise that explains in depth aspects of music that Rameau felt important and that he felt were essential for him to impart to other musicians. Composers of all stripes have consulted this work as have performers. Rameau has great authority because he was also a significant (if not great) composer. The translation is quite good and easy to read. The concepts are not hard, but it helps to understand aspects of Baroque music such as figured bass and the types of pieces that were important in that era. Some grounding in species counterpoint would also make things easier, but is not absolutely necessary. This book is really something all serious musicians need to know. You can take from it what you want for your own musical practice, but it really is not possible to consider yourself musically informed without knowing this work directly.

This treatise constitutes a touchstone document in the theory of European art music, especially, that from ca. 1600-1850. It is a great tool, not only for historians of the music and music theory of the 17th- and 18th- centuries, but also, for historians of science interested in acoustics. Definite recommendation!

This is a great book but I wouldnt give it to a beginner a better book would be "Harmony and Voiceleading" by Schacter and Aldwell or "The Theory and Practice of Tone Relations" by Percy Goetschius (book is out of print but you can get a used one for cheap)or any other standard book on harmony. Rameau's book is about his theories of chords and inversions and I'd recommend a good understanding of intervals as well before tackling this book. Keep in mind this book was written in the 18th century but with that in mind theres alotta cool stuff to learn. He was a pioneer of harmony as we understand it today. Before he wrote this book harmonies were concieved as being born from the bass note instead of from the root of the chord.Definately an interesting read and essential for anyone wanting to know more about harmony.

Jean-Phillipe Rameau is, of course, the most esteemed French composer of the late Baroque period (comparable in stature only to J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel). He is also quite possibly the most influential music theorist ever to have lived. His theory of root progression profoundly altered Western-European-derived music, for the better and for the worse (as his contemporary detractors warned it would--by greatly simplifying the study of harmony such that it could be easily abused). But Rameau's works have rarely been made available in English translation. This is book that belongs on every music theorist's, composer's, and music teacher's shelf. (I impatiently await further volumes of Rameau's works in English translation.)Also recommended: "Pentatonic Scales for the Jazz-Rock Keyboardist" by Jeff Burns