Music Theory and Arranging Techniques by Sylvia Woods

If you ever had to take a class in music theory in school maybe you are more fortunate than I in that and you can remember and apply some of what you learned. For the rest of you I highly recommend buying this book of Sylvia's titled; Music Theory and Arranging Techniques for Folk Harps. Written before the "..... for Dummies" series became so popular, this book takes you easily and with lots of examples and illustrations from major chords to transposing... and everywhere in between! In the introduction Sylvia urges the reader to " Have fun with this book. Just go at your own pace, and take it step by step." Presenting concepts and theory step-by-step is another thing Sylvia does best!!!

I've learned more about chords from this book in 6 months than I learned in 10 years of formal piano and other instrument lessons! Finally, the mysteries of inversions, 5ths, 7ths and other (to me) formerly foreign terms have been spelled out in such a simple, straightforward manner that even I have been able to attain that delicious "AH HA!" moment! The clear explanations, combined with specific exercises that illustrate the concepts, are just delightful. What a truly fun way to learn!"

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this book! I finally have one of the missing ingredients in my harp and music knowledge fulfilled. Why is it that in several years of music lessons, I was not able to grasp what I learned in just the first 10 pages of this book? And it only took me an hour or two! I can't believe it and I wait to complete the book and learn more! Everything is very easy to understand. I am truly having a big Ah-ha moment. This book is perfect for anyone who feels mystified by music theory.

As usual Sylvia lays out her lessons beautifully, and the book is easy to understand. However, it turns out I already knew everything in it! If you are teaching yourself, a beginning harper, or new to music theory, then this book will be of great service. But for those who have had a musical background these lessons will just recap what you already know.

I have started learning to play the harp from "scratch" as an older adult beginner who knew absolutely nothing about music theory. I started to think that maybe it was just a bit too complex for me to understand. I read though this book and I realized that it was just everyone else's explanations that were difficult!! As I started to learn about intervals, chords, and inversions I had the "aha" moment . . . or actually several. I can't wait to work through this book and do all the exercises suggested. I have learned so much and now I am progressing so much faster. Thank you, Sylvia, for explaining theory so I can understand it. I can't wait to play with this book!!!

A bit of background is necessary to understand why I rave about this book! I am not a born musician . . . I have always been a singer and I pick up music orally. I can read music, although the left hand/bass clef is not very fast. I play recorder and can read music fine for that (all treble clef). I also play "folk guitar" to accompany my singing, but that is all chord notations only. I began playing the harp in 2002 when I was given the opportunity to rent a harp for $10 a month! It is a 30 string practice harp, with no sharping levers. I immediately bought Sylvia Woods' Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book, recommended to me by the harp-maker, and began to learn. I loved it! My husband and our two young children loved to listen to it! (Wow!). I made great progress! It was so exciting to actually *play* an instrument at last. I must admit, I struggled through the beginning of the Teach Yourself book, but when I got to two-handed playing everything got easier. I was just working on the Farewell and Lullabye pieces when I miscarried our third child . . . I didn't think I'd ever be able to play those again without weeping . . . With time and patience I did play them and over the intervening years (along with three more children) I made just enough time for harp-playing to almost maintain my playing ability. But this year it felt like I had hit a rock wall: I couldn't get past lesson 9. All the left hand notes were getting too muddled. I was pretty discouraged: after 11 years I still couldn't really play very much! I also wanted to be able to take a piece of music that I knew and play it by ear and accompany myself singing. At that point I remembered that I had ordered this book on Music Theory and Arranging Techniques. So I pulled it out, hoping for inspiration -- and instruction on how to accompany a singer. I am SO glad I did! All of a sudden the left hand of the harp was *explained* to me! I could now see the *patterns* in the notes! I can now read chords! Yes!! After playing the guitar for 30 years I am now understanding what I am doing when I play those chords! Oh, this book has given new life to my harp-playing! I am now working (successfully) on Southwind -- OK I skipped several pieces in between, but I've always wanted to play this one! :-) I have also been able to take songs that I know and play the chords whilst I sing along! It's so much fun again to play the harp! I have new things to try! If you just can't make any more progress because, like me, you get lost on the left hand, then buy this book! It will give you the information you need to understand what you are being asked to play! I really feel that this book should be used along with the Teach Yourself book from Lesson 8 onwards where chords are introduced -- so that you can understand each step of the process as you play the exercises. Thank you Sylvia for writing this clear and helpful book. The only thing I wish is that there was a CD to accompany the book, so that orally-programmed people like myself can hear the pieces as they read the music. Thanks again! :-) Sylvia Duke

This book is a must for all beginning harpers. I still use it after 6 years of harping!! Hundreds of songs to play and so much information about theory; etc. You name it; it's in that book!

After glazing over while playing scales, chords, etc., this book is a methodical, practical approach. Thank you!

I love all of your books! I'm really thankful that you wrote this one as a sequel to your Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book! Thank you for all the help you've given harpers!

Music theory has always been difficult for me to understand, and frankly, boring. I played piano for years as a child and never understood it then. But now, as an adult playing harp professionally, I really wanted to understand fundamentals and be able to make my own arrangements. This book has been the best book of the many I've tried! Sylvia Woods makes the concepts clear, without muddling up the lesson with too much information at one time. Lessons and ideas are clear and concise. I am now able to make my own left-hand arrangements easily and understand why and how this "sounds good". This book covers exactly the amount I feel is important for what I want to do.

Great book to understand music and music theory, everything is clear and easy to understand, there are examples and exercises to practice every chapter. It's very useful also to improve first sight reading as once you can recognise the most of chords inversions you don't need to read the notes , in this way my practice is more effective and efficient. Thank you so much!!