- A rich unfolding of metaphors and illustrations to elucidate a notoriously impenetrable and abstract subject. - The properties of the overtone series and how it influences harmonic and melodic thought. - A discussion of epigrams and dialectics exploring how meaning is carried through time. - Rhythm and meter as the marking of time and the organization of it into self-similar structures. - From the circle of fifths to intervals, triads, and later seventh chords and extensions. - How major/minor key tonality and modulation occur, and how they differ from music based upon drones or other types of scales. - How form and structure reflect the relationship of humans to time and emotional states. - A wealth of scales, rhythmic patterns, and notation references in the appendices.