For the theory part I'll recommend the route I took and give what I hope are
useful comments. .....................
1. Rudiments of Music (3rd Edition) (Paperback) by Robert W. Ottman - - - -
available for fairly low price in good used condition http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0137067402/sr=/qid=/ref=olp_tab_used?ie=UTF8&coliid=&me=&qid=&sr=&seller=&colid=&condition=used
What I like about this book is the way it
brings you face to face with the busy work of calculating intervals, the manifold
nature of the circle of keys and all the pedagogical delights that make you
aware of how much you don't know about reading music. This is a necessary first
stop before moving on to bigger and better stuff. Word of caution about this
particular book and all such books; take from them what you can and don't allow
yourself to be bogged in their endless detail. Again, this is book (or at least
the materials in it ) are an absolute requirement to being able to move on to
learning good reading skills; there's another assumption in all of this study
that is not clearly stated-you really have to practice this stuff at a
keyboard-Western music is keyboard centric and this underlying assumption is
almost tyrannical in how the teaching of theory is carried out.
2. Elementary Harmony: Theory and Practice by Robert W. Ottman http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0132574365/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all
You will want to avoid the early editions of this book, the link is to the
third edition and that's pretty good. Again, do not ( I can't emphasize this
enough) let yourself get bogged in all of the details, try to pick out the main
points. That is the key to any learning material but especially here.
3. Advanced Harmony, Theory and
Practice (Paperback) ~ Robert W. Ottman_http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/013006016X/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Keep plugging away and this book will be your reward-some really fun stuff
about music emerges at this point such as diatonic sequences.
The Ottman theory books are limited in their discussion on defining voice
leading and counterpoint. . To get some all around discussion that encompasses
theory in light of voice leading and counterpoint you could try these
4. Harmony and Voice Leading (2nd Edition) (Hardcover) ~ Edward Aldwell
(Author), Carl Schachter (Author) http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0155315196/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all
Beware-this book moves fast and deep, again Ottman's Rudiments may bring you
up to speed for this but at least get your feet wet first with Ottman's
elementary harmony and then try Aldwell's book to move on to a higher level.
5 .The Complete Musician: An Integrated Approach to Tonal Theory, Analysis,
and Listening ISBN-10: 0195095677_
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Musician-Integrated-Approach-Listening/dp/0195095677/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261761483&sr=1-
Includes some of the best features
of Ottman's style with Aldwell's- digs deep but worth the effort
All of this is about 4 part writing-ironically there are ton's of examples
in any church hymnal of the major Protestant denominations- Methodist, Lutheran
and Presbyterian are the ones I know about. Then there's the proverbial Bach
(JS) Chorales -here's a CD with the sheet musice- PDF format- to print off of
your home computer http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Works-For-Keyboard-And-Four-Part-Chorales/2401979