The following books introduce and develop readers’ understanding of music theory, whilst also providing opportunities for them to practise and refine their skills. Ranging from stories to exercises to fascinating facts, these books are not only informative and interesting reads but helpful, too!
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When Step Met Skip
by Vicky Weber (author) and Geneviève Viel-Taschereau (illustrator)
Review: This cute, friendly book introduces young readers to the concept of steps and skips on the staff in a wholly enjoyable way. Told as a story, the musical characters draw the readers in as they learn how to work together in harmony. The themes of friendship and taking risks are also addressed throughout the story. This is one of a series of books on music theory by Vicky Weber. Other titles include Tiger Tempo and Rhythm Rescue.
Suggested Reading Age: 5 – 10 years. I feel this is most suited to the younger end of this age bracket.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tips: Human Step and Skip: Mark a large staff out on the floor. Students move up and down this in character as Step and Skip, creating melodies as they go.
Live it, Learn It: Bring the book further to life by “playing the story” as you read.
Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido D’Arezzo
by Susan Roth
Review: A captivating read, this stunningly illustrated book tells the story of Guido D’Arezzo, the first person to successfully design a system for writing down music. Susan Roth takes readers on a journey as they follow Guido’s attempts to represent music on paper. Faced with opposition and ongoing struggles to find a system to record music, he is encouraged along the way by a monk, brother Michael. Written in a highly engaging narrative style, the struggles accompanied with the creative process and by challenging the status quo are presented in an easy to understand manner. The original illustrations add to the appeal of this book. A great introduction to music history and theory.
Suggested Reading Age: 4 – 7 years. In my opinion, readers from the top end of this age bracket would get the most from this book. I believe it would also be of interest for students up to 10 – 11 years of age.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tips: General Discussion Points: Resilience is a strong theme throughout this book. Encourage students to explore examples of other musicians that have demonstrated resilience to achieve success. Ask them to create collage-style pictures to tell the musician’s story inspired by the illustrations in the book.
Language & Literacy Link: When finalizing his system to record music, Guido D’Arezzo struggled with what to include and what to leave out. This is also a challenge that authors face when revising their manuscripts. As students learn about and work through the writing process, discuss how to identify what to keep and what to edit out.
Help Your Kids with Music
by Carol Vorderman
Review: A challenge for many students, this DK book is a clear, user-friendly guide to music theory. Brightly coloured, its visually appealing contents help to clearly explain the area or technique being addressed. Contents include intervals, scales, and keys, chords and harmony, and styles and genres. Internal links help guide the reader around the text and make connections between different aspects of music theory. The addition of an audio app allows readers to easily listen to music referred to in the text. This is the book that I wish had existed when I was learning to read music!
Suggested Reading Age: 8 to 12 years. In my opinion, older learners would also find this a useful reference/revision tool.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Listen and Explore: Having listened to the samples of music recommended in the book to illustrate an aspect of music theory, ask students to find other examples to demonstrate the point in question.
The Batsford Book of Music for Children
Review: Full of interesting facts and fun activities, this appealing book makes music theory accessible to its readers. Cartoon characters such as Trudi Treble, Barry Bass, Alisha Alto and Tom Tenor help guide students through the intricacies of reading music. Diagrams illustrate points made, with colour used intentionally to highlight techniques discussed. Vibrant, inset boxes contain further information and fun activities, such as making edible music or working out the secret message hidden in notes. In addition to “Reading Music”, sections such as “Musical Instruments”, “Musical Ensembles” and “Types of Music” provide a wider look at music in general.
Suggested Reading Age: 12 – 16 years. In my opinion, I feel that the book would be most appealing to readers at the lower end of this age bracket.
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Cartoon Creations: Inspired by the book, ask students to come up with characters to represent notes, staves, etc.
Music Theory 101
by Brian Boone & Marc Schonbrun
Review: This dense book (257 pages) provides a deep dive for those who want to/are ready to get into the nitty-gritty of music theory. Beginning with the “Basics of Music”, multiple chapters follow including: “Major and Minor Scales”, “Musical Keys and Key Signatures”, “Modes and Other Styles” and “Chord Inversions and Progressions”. Traditional notation features throughout. The inclusion of guitar tablature is a nice touch that enables guitarists to interact with the book, too. “Music Theory 101” is a perfect reference guide for students and teachers alike.
Suggested Reading Age: Older teens and adults
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tip: Personal 101: Students create a 101 booklet tailored to those aspects of music theory they need the most help with. This could be digital, enabling them to include examples of the chosen aspect in practice.
Happy Reading!
Nonfiction Nuggets Teaching Tips
Click the link below to receive all of the teaching tips above collated together in a handy PDF booklet.
Do YOU know of any other music theory books to add to this list? Please leave a recommendation below to help further support our community.