This post has evolved into 2 different things, and that's not a bad thing. There is a music LEARNING track and a music MAKING track. I have always been in the school that music is what you learn and songs are what you make with that. Music is knowledge. Songs are made using the knowledge that is music.

Kind of like when people say they are "on" a diet. Well, if you are ON a diet, you can then go OFF a diet. Diet is a daily behavior and a pattern of eating, not a thing that comes and goes.

Every music newbie needs to study these. They are good learning tools and great writing tools. I have been playing since 1956 and I still refer to these from time to time to consider options. Sometimes you may want to put in a strange non-standard chord just to grab the listener's ear. As we all know, nobody will EVER know everything.