As someone who's spent years playing music by ear, Mark Harrison's Contemporary Music Theory - Level Three felt like finally getting the decoder ring to all those mysterious chord voicings I'd fumbled through. The book’s laser focus on extended jazz harmony is both its greatest strength and weakness.

The Good: Harrison’s breakdown of chord extensions (major 7ths, altered dominants, etc.) is exhaustive. I now understand why that #11 in a Lydian voicing makes my solos sparkle—something no teacher ever explained. The exercises with immediate answer keys are clutch for self-learners; catching my own mislabeled diminished chords mid-practice saved weeks of confusion.

The Reality Check: Don’t expect breadth here. While I can now voice a Cmaj13#11 in my sleep, the book completely ignores pop progressions (RIP, I-V-vi-IV) and blues theory. It’s like taking a masterclass in kale smoothies when you also want to learn about pizza.

Pro Tip: Keep Novello’s The Contemporary Keyboardist handy for technique—this series won’t help there. And yes, you WILL end up buying all three levels (clever marketing, Mr. Harrison).

Final verdict? 4/5 stars for transforming my jazz comping, but with lingering hunger for the musical buffet promised by Levels 1-2.