> "You can't start a science textbook like that" ... actually, lots of math and science textbooks assume a certain level of knowledge, and start more-or-less that way.

Fine, but regardless, there don't seem to be any music theory books that start with the very beginnings (as this submission is trying to). I share the author's deep frustration with existing music theory books: they all assume some magical vocabulary as though you're just supposed to know what they mean already and how dare you question what 'diatonic' means! Fuck that shit.

I teach a class on sound, of which music theory plays a part, and I start with raw sound and human perception: consonance and dissonance. This is the only way you can ever understand WHY there are music theories at all (and don't get me started on how most music theory textbooks don't even MENTION the history of tuning systems. equal temperament ONLY makes sense once you consider the historic alternatives, like Pythagorean tuning).

So I absolutely applaud this effort. This will be a huge help to music students of all ages who aren't comfortable with just accepting a bunch of mystical (and exclusively western) 'wisdom' from on high.