This book is a brief overview of basic therory needed to help players new to music and especially those new to the dulcimer. It covers basic musical concepts, scale construction, modes, chord construction, and capo use without getting overly deep and technical - perfect for a beginner. At only 23 pages long, it can easily be read in a day, though you will want to apply what you have learned to the dulcimer to really understand things - words can be confusing so please look at the fretboard while reading. There's also a nice glossary of terms in the back. I really like the Playing by Ear section. Getting beginners "off the paper" as soon as possible is huge.
I found the modes section a little confusing, and an illustration of the W-W-H sequences for each of the modes would be helpful, similar to what is shown for the major and minor scales. It would also help to discuss the modes relative to the major scale in terms of raised or lowered notes. e.g. natural minor is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7, Dorian is 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. I think this illustrates the difference between the scales more clearly than the comment in the chart on p. 7 which describes Dorian as nat. minor with a raised 6, when actually the natural minor has a lowered 6 and thus Dorian has a natural 6. To me always referencing to the major scale is clearer, but maybe that's just personal preference. Then after the concepts are presented, show how the diatonic nature of the instrument restricts the modes to certain tonal centers, and that the 6+ fret allows 2 modes with the same tonal center on each string. There is a good discussion of this on p. 9, however. I do think modes will be confusing no matter how presented.
Overall this is a nice, affordable book for the beginner who is otherwise confused by the physics of music and especially the dulcimer fretboard. This book should help to ease that confusion.
