Which books are best for studying basic harmony and composition theory?

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

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.
 

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.)

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!
 
 

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!