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Yes, counterpoint assumes that you have a foundation in 18th century harmonic practice, also known as "common period" practices, e.g. voice leading as practiced by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.

Harmony by Walter Piston is very thorough, but it's a serious treatment and perhaps not for the faint of heart. Also, you may want to get an edition before the fifth as it's substantially different from a pedagogical standpoint than the earlier editions. I can also recommend Kostka's Tonal Harmony very highly, but also a serious treatment. In fact, it may be best just to start with the Kostka and pick up the Piston later if the fancy strikes you.

These two books teach harmony in very structured way, and in many ways that's the best for learning counterpoint. Eventually, depending on how serious you want to get about composition, you may want to read Schoenberg's book Theory of Harmony. It covers the same material as most harmony books, but it does so from the perspective of the composer. It's even a little philosophical (and dense). It's not unusual for graduate students to re-learn harmony using the Schoenberg text as it forces you to think like a composer. Of course it's a more difficult read, but only if you're unprepared.

If you'd like something a little more easy, there's no shame in getting the Dummies series book on harmony. It does the job with a minimum of depth. Frankly, though, it's in your best interest to start with a solid, university level textbook like the first two I mentioned if you want to tackle counterpoint. Eventually, it's a good idea to read more than one book on tonal theory anyway, so it can't hurt to start with the Kostka and just put it down and use the "Dummies" book. You can always just come back to it later.

Second the recommendation of scales and arpeggios, in all keys, major and minor. You can start off with just a few, the easiest ones (go in order of the circle of fifths if you want), and continue to add on. Start slowly and, most importantly, EVENLY, building a good foundation for speeding it up later and applying it to technical passages. But there's no real recommendation anyone can give you for "X amount of times," because scales and arpeggios are things you'll continuously practice no matter how high of a level you get to. At a higher level once you've mastered them, you may not have to do the entire set every day, but you can then apply them to pieces by choosing from your arsenal certain exercises that practice the techniques needed in a tricky section of Rach or such.

A good resource for other technique exercises is the book of Hanon exercises. It's been used for many decades, and includes lots of scale/arpeggio-type exercises, and you can work your way through them. Be aware, though, that they're VERY tedious (literally just pattern building through each key), but it sounds like you have the ability to self-motivate yourself. Be careful not to treat these just as exercises, though, and go through them robotically and monotonously, because it's very easy to see them as such. They're just tools developed to help finger agility, speed, and recognition of patterns so you can apply them to full-blown pieces. It's like a tennis player who practices a certain type of grip for 50 serves a day. Great if she can do it through the exercise, but if she reverts to her old grip when she starts playing a game (putting it into action), the grip practice was wasted. Application of theory into pieces is sometimes the hardest thing to do.

I know this has been a giant essay, but lastly, none of us can really give you an individual recommendation. It seems like you've got the self-motivation to learn yourself, but if you are interested in really getting a structured routine, get a private teacher, if only for a few lessons, to help you develop what kinds of things you need to work on.

There's also a free, Berklee Intro to Music Theory course on edX. It says enrollment is closed, but I'm still able to view the lessons once I log in.

I'm new to learning about music as well, and this book has been very helpful: How Music Works. It's written very conversationally, not too technical, with great explanations of core concepts.

Also picked up The Complete Musician, which is very technical.

For writing software, Muse Score is free.

I'd also recommend getting a midi keyboard as well, if you don't already have one.

I actually just found out last night that Reddit user stathibus is currently offering a class in /r/universityofreddit on basic musical theory. Here is the link. Hes doing a very good job so far and hes going at a pace thats very manageable to all skill levels, so I think you might have some luck subscribing to his class.

As far as textbooks go, there is none other than Tonal Harmony. This is what they've used at every high school or university I've ever visited, and its what I learned from. Its a fairly comprehensive book and I highly recommend it, although I understand that the price point might be a deal breaker.

Other than that, my go-to online resource is always www.musictheory.net. It's not perfect, but its the best free resource that I know of, and its fairly well written and accessible. I'd definitely recommend going through a few lessons on that site and seeing if its for you.

Are you looking for a DAW and MIDI Controller? You can definitely get both for under 800. Logic X just came out for Mac if you have one and it's $200. If you're on Windows then Ableton Live is the way to go which you can get for 100-750 depending on what package you want. As far as midi goes, I really like M-Audio and Akai. I don't have it, but this keyboard it widely loved and gives basically everything a beginner could want. You could grab that and the mid tier version of Ableton for close to or just over 800 total. Just make sure you have a good set of headphones or monitors and check out /r/edmproduction if that's the kinda thing you're interested in.

> For what it's worth, I like synthesizers a lot, and electric pianos, so traditional classical piano is pretty uninspiring to me. So anything relating more to jazz/rock/blues would be probably interest me more.

Technical drills tend to be very classical by nature. Non-classical music just doesn't push raw technique anywhere near as hard.

The two standards for technical drills are Hanon and Czerny (several books, but this is probably the one to get first). Hanon works on sheer finger speed, strength, and dexterity, while Czerny works more on fingering patterns. In the one I linked, the first two are about scales, the next two are about arpeggios, etc.

I went to berklee and this was our textbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-B-Music/dp/0078025141
Also ear training helps, it is pretty hard though, you have to practice alot. Im sure you can find some youtube vids to help.

If you love music, and can pay attention to what its supposed to sound like; that's all you really need.

I highly recommend the Sound Reinforcement Handbook to all beginners.

I've been playing around with electronic music for years, but only started taking it really seriously the past year. I've read a lot of books, and honestly, NOTHING has been more helpful to me than The dance music manual.

Pasted from a similar thread:

I've recommended this to others in a similar situation: http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Handbook-Complete-Guide-Mastering/dp/0879307277

Also here is some pretty easy stuff, most have MIDI tracks to listen to first: http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html

My suggestion comes merely from my own learning experience which has so far been

clefs/staffs/measures > pitch > rhythm > time signatures > intervals (perfects, majors, minors, augmented)

Which is form THIS book which I think is really great for self study, and challenging too.

That is very much like Victor Wooten's approach to soloing and improv. I would recommend both his book and DVD

Alright! Here is my list. Looking good?

Headphones: http://en-us.sennheiser.com/professional-dj-headphones-noise-cancelling-hd-280-pro

MIDI: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z20J2M/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

DAW: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/321870-REG/Behringer_BCF2000_B_CONTROL_FADER_BCF2000_.html

Leads up to about $750

Grab a copy of The Sound Reinforcement Handbook. It explains how to run live sound in great detail. It was the textbook from my Sound Reinforcement class in university 18 years ago and still sits on my bookshelf today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879307277/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 this will help out a lot.

Most likely, the reason you are loosing your place and struggling with rhythm is that you haven't practiced to the point that you have internalized the skills you are using. As a result, you are having to consciously think about everything you are doing - which takes a lot of effort.

If it only rhythm that you are struggling with, I would recommend practicing rhythm by itself without the guitar. You can do this by using rhythm syllables, clapping or using a pair of drumsticks. There are even inexpensive electronic drums.