Techniques and Materials of Music: From the Common Practice Period Through the Twentieth Century

Designed to serve as a primary text for the first two years of college music theory, TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS OF MUSIC covers all the basics of composition-including harmony, melody, and musical form. The authors present essential materials of common-practice music and an overview of 20th century techniques. Numerous hands-on exercises promote students' memorization and retention of key concepts. And the text's concise outline format, which has been enhanced for this edition, allows instructors maximum flexibility in choosing which materials, concepts, and techniques to emphasize in their course. An e-Workbook in PDF format provides more than 200 pages of exercises to complement TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS OF MUSIC, 7th Edition.

Thomas E. Benjamin has recently retired as Chair of the Department of Music Theory at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. A composer, conductor, performer, and music theorist with more than 40 compositions published and recorded, he also holds fellowships and awards from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Michael Horvit is Professor Emeritus of Composition and Theory at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. His works range from solo instrumental and vocal pieces to large symphonic and choral compositions and operas, all widely performed in the United States, Europe, Japan and Israel. In addition to CDs with the Albany label, he has published with C.F. Peters, MorningStar, Recital Publications, Shawnee Press, E.C. Schirmer, Southern and Transcontinental. He received the Martha Baird Rockefeller Award as well as honors from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Robert Nelson teaches music theory and composition at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. A composer in residence and music director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival for 17 seasons, he also has received numerous commissions for compositions and arrangements for the Houston Symphony Orchestra.