Hello, everyone
 
I am an amateur. I have my own compositions, using Cakewalk S/W
 
but I am not educated in music,
that is, don't know anything about harmony, counterpoint and composition
except a few elementary harmony knowledge
 
Also, unfortunately I don't know how to play piano nor guitar
I can only play Bach's Suites for Cello Solo, Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo
using violin, but I found that doesn't help at all
 
So could you please recommend me
 
which books are now famous lecture books in College harmony classes,
 
books famous for college composition theory??
 
Thank you in advance

For harmony, I would recommend Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music by Steinke - that is if you can get a reasonably-priced used copy.  A new copy costs around $140 per volume and there are two volumes.  But I picked mine up used on amazon for maybe 20 bucks apiece.  The reason these books are effective for self-study is that they have ongoing exercises and quizzes that provide immediate feedback of your progress.
 
The ultimate book on harmony is probably the one by Walter Piston (with another author, Mark DeVoto supplying material for subsequent later editions).  A new copy of the latest edition is priced around $75, but used copies can be found for considerably less.  The downside is that, although there are exercises at the end of each chapter (challenging ones at that), there is no source of exercise answers, so you have no clue as to how you are doing.  But you need to do exercises if the material is going to sink in.  This is not something you can just read and walk away with a deep understanding.
 
I'm a big proponent of self-study, but I must say that harmony is a challenge to learn on one's own.  A class in which informed feedback can be had is probably an extremely valuable investment (not that I've ever done other than self-study on this subject).
 
Any harmony book is going to presume a knowledge of basic music theory (notation, key signatures, etc.).  You'll need to back up and start with that if you don't have the formal grounding in the basics.

Hello, dmbaer.
Thank you so much for your advise!
Your message helped me a lot and I will look for the books you recommended to me.
Have a nice day, dmbaer.
 

There are also loads of web sites and YouTube videos with all sorts of information and classes on theory and composition, and many online instrument lessons.
 
They will likely not be the same level of excellence as you would get by going with the books recommended above by the other poster, but the other side of that is that the web sites and YouTube videos are by and large FREE.
 
It might well be that you could begin with looking at some of the free sites and videos, and then maybe look for more advanced and/or better written/presented material as you get some of the knowledge and technique under your belt.
 
There are also Sonar tutorials for basic music production concepts and techniques with Sonar, and a TON of free videos on many of the different techniques for music production.
 
Work at it, but also keep it fun, so that it doesn't actually become work.  :)
 
Bob Bone
 

I think it depends a lot on what, precisely, it is you think you need to learn.
 
There are "standard" texts such as Piston, Fuchs, Ravel, Ottman, Shearer, and others. All great books, and as mentioned, all very expensive. If you are weak on reading I use the Aaron Shearer book for all my students, it is geared towards guitar, but I think it can work for almost anyone.
 
My recommendation would be to visit Alexander Publishing. The late Peter Alexander had a teaching style that worked really well for me. You can combine books, including some of the "classics" with audio files, MIDI files, and videos to make the lessons more meaningful.
 
He covers the entire spectrum, from reading to scales and chords to counterpoint to arranging and orchestration, so it is a kind of one-stop shop for music education. I find the "Spectratone" chart to be very useful, even after several years, although I don't refer to it as often now (which  I hope means I'm learning and not lazy!)
 
Some of his books are used as college texts, and I'm not sure that's a valuable metric, but if doesn't hurt<G>.
 
Another teacher I've recently discovered is Dr. Norman Ludwin, he offers several books, and I'm really enjoying his orchestration courses! He has a course on composition that I am going to study soon - well, as soon as I've finished the orchestration courses...
 
I've been following the adventures of the Open Music Theory web site - it looks like the real deal, and it does start at the very beginning. I haven't gone through it in detail, but it is definitely worth a look.
 
I'd also echo DMBaer's comment on finding a teacher - I think anyone with a little drive CAN teach themselves pretty much anything, but I also think that working with a teacher, especially at the beginning of a course of study, is invaluable, and will accelerate the process.
 
(Disclaimer, I did study music theory in a previous life, so I probably had a bit of a head start. I honestly can't say if or how much that helped, but I suspect it makes a difference.)

take up piano and learn chords, triads, intervals, melodies, progressions, circle of fifths, chord leading,  etc.
 

Maarkr
take up piano and learn chords, triads, intervals, melodies, progressions, circle of fifths, chord leading,  etc.

I'll be the first to concede that the piano lessons my parents made me take have made all the difference in the world, they made it easy to pick up other instruments, and since every theory text (except Schaerer) are written from the perspective of piano keys I think it remains the best starting point.

Unless you don't wish to start there...
 
I have successfully taught many of my guitar students the basics without out every uttering the words "white keys" and "black keys". That meant making up most of my own materials, BUT... there is an advantage to not thinking in terms of the keyboard, I think it frees your mind up a bit. On most other instruments you think in terms of half and hole steps exclusively, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing!
 
 

Hello,
 
Thank all of you so much~~!
 
 

If you want to go down the video tutorial route then Groove3 has some good courses on music theory, with the added bonus that your subscription fee will also give you access to a wealth of top class courses on Sonar and music production in general!

Maarkr
take up piano and learn chords, triads, intervals, melodies, progressions, circle of fifths, chord leading,  etc.
 

This is very good advice.  Learn an instrument!  I agree with dmbaer about the Piston book.  There's Grout for music history.