Listmania!
COMPOSING: The Nearly-Complete Guide
By an Amazon.com customer
What to Listen for in MusicWhat to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland
Buy new: $7.95 / Used from: $3.82
First you need to get a better ear: Copeland gently gives you the building blocks to comprehending the structure of music. He reveals both the form and the function of music.
Music Notation (Crescendo Book)Music Notation (Crescendo Book) by Gardner Read
Buy new: $16.29 / Used from: $5.21
Secondly you need to be able to write music properly. It covers just about every notational circumstance in detail. One thing: NOT for JAZZ notation
Sight Singing: Pitch, Interval, RhythmSight Singing: Pitch, Interval, Rhythm by Samuel Adler
Buy new: $47.47 / Used from: $4.99
You need to be able to recognise, hear and sing what you see on a score easily: this book offers an approach to sight singing.
Study of Orchestration, Third EditionStudy of Orchestration, Third Edition by Samuel Adler
Buy new: $65.40 / Used from: $53.00
If you want to write for an instrument/voices/anything (duh...) this is your basic book you have to have. Also has a workbook + 6 CD's.
Instruments of the OrchestraInstruments of the Orchestra by Various Artists
Buy new: $39.99 / Used from: $25.03
A great introduction - and guide to using instruments in your compositions. Continiously interesting - everything but a boring lecture. A good extra companion for the Study of Orchestration.
Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music, Second EditionHarmonic Practice in Tonal Music, Second Edition by Robert Gauldin
Buy new: $71.80 / Used from: $57.80
Now it's time to broaden your knowledge and style: get a harmony book. Has a workbook + CD.
Tonal HarmonyTonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka
Buy new: $84.57 / Used from: $15.00
Alternative...(just one of the more popular ones)
Harmony and Voice LeadingHarmony and Voice Leading by Edward Aldwell
Buy new: $119.96 / Used from: $79.99
Another very important harmony book. Has a workbook + CD.
Twentieth-Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and PracticeTwentieth-Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice by Vincent Persichetti
Buy new: $28.60 / Used from: $14.42
After basic harmony, get even more original - don't think this goes solely about serial music - this book will expand your style incredibely.
The Jazz Theory BookThe Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
Buy new: $28.90 / Used from: $28.14
A whole other thing altogether: jazz. Really worth studying
Study of CounterpointStudy of Counterpoint by John J. Fux
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $9.50
Texture and voice leading: the classic book on counterpoint is Fux's - Bach knew of it and approved it, and Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (among others) studied from it.
Counterpoint (4th Edition)Counterpoint (4th Edition) by Kent Kennan
Buy new: $94.16 / Used from: $75.52
Goes further where Fux left you (this book is more complete, but don't skip the Fux book!).
Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian ApproachAnalysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach by Allen Cadwallader
Buy used from: $23.45
An important step in creating your own style is understanding those of others, foremost by analysis. For those who are taking composing really serious.
Anthology for Musical AnalysisAnthology for Musical Analysis by Charles Burkhart
Buy new: $96.76 / Used from: $76.99
A collection of music made specially for analysis, not a necessary buy, but it offers works in increasing difficulty so that on can steadily evolve.
Complete Guide to Film ScoringComplete Guide to Film Scoring by Richard Davis
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $14.75
If you also want to compose for movies: the basic guide (for further info, consult other listmania's: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/242URG66XLHBO/ref=cm_bg_lm/102-56130).
The Study of FugueThe Study of Fugue by Alfred Mann
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $6.99
Only of interest if you want to get deep into writing fugues in your compositions and you want to get to know it.
OrchestrationOrchestration by Cecil Forsyth
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $5.00
Next comes further reading: the Forsyth orchestration book gives info from a musicians point of view (N.B.: not completely up to date! - but still usefull).
The art of orchestration;: Principles of tone color in modern scoring (Eastman School of Music series)The art of orchestration;: Principles of tone color in modern scoring (Eastman School of Music series) by Bernard Rogers
This little book contains tremendous insights in orchestral technique
Technique of Orchestration and CD Recording Package, The (6th Edition) (Book & CD)Technique of Orchestration and CD Recording Package, The (6th Edition) (Book & CD) by Kent Kennan
Buy new: $94.88 / Used from: $94.28
The most complete next to Adler (which is twice as large) - though I'd advice to get the two beforementioned books first, because the Adler book recommends them (which is of course, the bible :-p).
OrchestrationOrchestration by Walter Piston
Buy new: $45.40 / Used from: $14.99
The third most complete orchestration book.
Treatise on InstrumentationTreatise on Instrumentation by Hector Berlioz
Buy new: $17.79 / Used from: $13.48
Of historical as well as practical interest: a book of two of the greatest orchestrators.
Principles of OrchestrationPrinciples of Orchestration by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $9.90
Idem as the before: Rimsky-Korsakov was a great orchrestrator and this he passed on his students, of whom Ravel and Stravinsky are the best known.
Harmony: Fifth EditionHarmony: Fifth Edition by Walter Piston
Buy new: $57.40 / Used from: $29.10
Another major harmony book, but not the most detailed one.
Counterpoint,Counterpoint, by Walter Piston
Buy new: $33.40 / Used from: $14.94
Also about counterpoint, but less good than the two I mentioned in the beginning.