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I'm looking for an easy theory book - basic stuff. I've tried a couple of the method book ones, but they are too childish. I probably need the information that may be hidden in there, but they are written for 6 year olds, and I'm 70. I don't want to practice drawing clefs and staves, and doing word search puzzles, I just want theory that I can understand. LOL I would appreciate any recommendations.

I believe Alfred has a theory book for adults and there is also Music Theory for Dummies which is actually quite good even if the name is not. I started with them on my own when I came back to the piano 4 years ago. Next I used Pratica Musica which is used in many colleges for Freshman theory. Now I am trying to plow through Tonal Harmony which is definitely more challenging. Fortunately I have a teacher who loves theory and is good at explaining it. I think you could probably do either of the first ones on your own. The college level ones I needed a teacher for. I took Harmony in college but that was over 45 years ago and I sure did not remember it. I am also almost 70.
There are also online free courses through Cousera. I did the one through the University of Edinburg last summer and I believe they are offering it again this summer. The teachers were really good and one of them especially provided lots of extra help. Most of the tests I found easy. However the final consisted of analyzing part of a Mozart string quartet and that was quite challenging. I did well on it but I think I spent about 20 to 25 hours on it.

I actually am enjoying learning theory now. My piano teacher I had that made me analyze every piece of music I played would never believe it since I was always grumbling about it. I will admit though that when I took my first Harmony course in college that I was grateful since I already knew most of it. Unfortunately 45 years later, I did not remember any of it.

Good luck with it.
Judy

Thanks, Judy. I will look for those. I have purchased the "Dummies" books for a few other topics, and was surprised at how much I got out of them. I will check out the Alfred book also.

Try
[b]Edly's Music Theory for Practical People[/b]

or if you need something more formal :
[b]Fundamentals for the Aspiring Musician[/b]

I use Fundamentals of Piano Theory by Keith Snell .

These books are great at explaining and then giving you LOTs of practice, which I find missing in many other theory books. Each level reviews what was covered in previous levels so that you can do some review on your own if something didn't stick.

No childish pictures, and I think it moves at a fairly good, logical pace.

Thanks, EM Deeka and Morodiene. I will check these out. One or more of these should be what I'm looking for. ☺

You might also want to check a list of good theory resources posted in another thread in Adult Beginner section.
Interesting Music Theory Resources[/b]

In fact to start off, you should certainly look at :
[b]musictheory.net and teoría : Music Theory Web

Okay, thanks. 😊