I got this book after seeing several recommendations of the author's work, this one included. Despite having only a basic grasp of standard notation, it was not difficult to read and perform the exercises. The limitation of aspects available to use in the exercises does help to keep the focus on specific principles and techniques. With less options to worry about, more gets done, and so confidence and experience both profit. I might only suggest to pair such study with a standard notation program, with which you can cleanly create, play, and store your compositions. I found MuseScore to be easy to use and is free. ( )

This is the best book on composing music available. It is not just for beginners but it is good for them too. Ideal for a music composition class and also good for home study. Using limited resources for each compositional approach and skill, you use your creativity to use the procedure in an actual composition. By the end of the book you are comfortable with expressing musical ideas in a number of ways, adding richness to your compositions and expanding the possibilities. Experienced composers will find a resource that will place a number of approaches at their finger tips for developing or expanding their compositions or film scores. ( )