Edinburgh Diamond’s Fundamentals of Music Theory
2026 Library Publishing Showcase Week: Making Music
Published by Edinburgh Diamond, University of Edinburgh
Fundamentals of Music Theory was a collaboration between the Open Educational Resources team, Reid School of Music staff and students, and the Library (all University of Edinburgh). Presents educational materials on the building blocks of musical stave notation, a language in use globally and designed to communicate about musical ideas.
Impact
Since publication, Fundamentals of Music Theory has had almost 55,000 downloads. This Open Access e-textbook is a great example of the power of collaboration between Open Education Resource teams and Library Publishing teams, as well as between staff and students.
Why library publishing?
Library publishing is a fast-growing area in the UK, combining librarian and publisher knowledge while centering researchers. Edinburgh Diamond – the University of Edinburgh’s library publishing partner – has significantly grown in recent years, including the launch of our book publishing programme in 2021. Partnering with Edinburgh Diamond means authors benefit from professional publishing services, including a publishing platform, ISBN and DOI allocation, archiving and preservation, cataloguing and indexing, access to usage statistics, ongoing technical support, outreach activities, and publishing support. Even better, Edinburgh Diamond is free for staff and students of the University of Edinburgh!