[Smt-talk] THEORY TEXTBOOKS

[Dmitri Tymoczko]

I really agree that theory textbooks are too long -- I think an optimal introductory textbook would be much shorter and more focused on the core information that students really need to remember.  If I ever write a textbook (and I think about it sometimes) I will try to make it short.

I've always suspected that a key driver here is the economics of the textbook industry, rather than any underlying pedagogical need.  Perhaps it's as simple as this: textbook publishers want to charge a lot of money for their books, and they think it's easier to do this with a 600-page hardback than a 200-page paperback.

DT

Dmitri Tymoczko
Associate Professor of Music
310 Woolworth Center
Princeton, NJ 08544-1007
(609) 258-4255 (ph), (609) 258-6793 (fax)
http://dmitri.tymoczko.com