The aim of this new, fundamental volume is to convey knowledge of the core areas of music theory – acoustics, counterpoint, harmony, rhythm/metric, and musical form – using both traditional and contemporary methods. The presentation primarily focuses on the so-called Western music from the 15th to the 20th century and imparts ways of thinking, developmental lines, and design principles that can be considered universal. A toolkit for harmonizing songs, arranging, transposing, ad-hoc analyzing, and sight-reading/scores playing bridges the gap from knowledge to skill. With its detailed index, the book is also well-suited as a reference work.