Music Theory Commons^™

Broadway Quodlibets As Hybrid Music, Spencer Ann Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Quodlibets are an important facet of the language of musical theater and exhibit musical hybridity, mixing two or more musical elements. Bruno Alcalde’s framework of musical hybridity—including mixture strategies of clash, coexistence, distortion, and trajectory—provides a framework for the analysis, revealing more about the music itself and how the music contributes to the dramatic narrative of each musical scene. Examples of Broadway quodlibets illustrate the relevant mixture strategies; “Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You” from The Music Man, “An Old-Fashioned Wedding” from Annie Get Your Gun, “All For the Best” from Gospell, “I Still Believe” from Miss …

Redefining Ornamentation As Formal Functions In 21St-Century Popular Music, Matthew Kolar

Theses and Dissertations

Ornaments are embellishments and decorations of pre-established music; therefore, their existence relies on comparison to that original basis . Because pop music’s text is the recorded track rather than a written score, the determination of what is the main melody is strongly influenced by its first iteration, and ornaments can be found by comparisons of further iterations to the primary source. The goal of this thesis is to categorize the types of ornaments that exist in this repertory as well as define their overall functions. In this sense, ornamentation is being redefined; ornaments are not just decorations to a melody, …

Embodied Cognition In The Music Theory And Aural Skills Classrooms, Leslie Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Applying concepts of embodied cognition positively impacts pedagogy in the theory and aural skills classrooms. This thesis defines a holistic view of the student and identifies how classroom instruction from that perspective can benefit student learning as well as overall well-being. The opening chapters provide a brief scientific background and connect concepts of embodied cognition with specific music theory and aural skills examples from an interview. A select survey of the music theory pedagogy literature also illustrates principles of embodied cognition. Based on this background, the final chapter presents new sample lesson plans and discusses how to adapt to student …

Anys D’Aprenentatge: Solfeig, Teoria, Harmonia I Contrapunt (¿I Si Tot Hagués Estat Un Malson Racista?), Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Quan en els anys setanta jo començava a aprendre música, se solia donar molta importància al solfeig. Era un sistema antinatural i possiblement antipedagògic perquè la lectura cantada de notes solia precedir l’experiència de la música. És a dir, en certa manera és com si els infants abans de parlar, aprenguessin a llegir.

Musical Scores And The Eternal Present: Theology, Time, And Tolkien By Chiara Bertoglio, John Wm. Houghton

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Review of Chiara Bertoglio, Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien (2021).

A Festival Of Form: Score, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

"A Festival of Form" was both an event at Bridwell and Perkins School of Theology and a conceptual piece of music that lasted several days. In this rendering, the "piece of music" was articulated in a fluid combination of activities that included works by other composers, including John Cage. The activities involved--from lectures, conversations, and meals to actual performances of both short works and especially the world-record breaking rendition of "Organ2/ASLSP" played by Christopher Anderson--comprise the entirety of "A Festival of Form" as performance piece. The challenge of this work is that unlike nearly any other music, it is purposely …

Broken Chair Chaconne, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

In March 2022, I was working at my computer when this increasingly rickety chair collapsed beneath me! It was time to get back to responsible eating and get a new chair. But amid the intensive planning and production of The Festival of Form: John Cage and the Infinite Human events, it occurred to me that I could play around with the ideas of music, sound, noise, and silence, and particularly the unconventional experiments of notation and scoring. Shortly after this chair broke, I took a sharpie pen to it and began to notate it like a score, along with some …

A Bird’S Eye View: Large-Scale Tonal Structures In Robert Schumann’S Four Song Cycles (Op. 42, 24, 39, And 48), Peter Kramer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Some of Robert Schumann’s most notable works are his Lieder for solo voice and piano accompaniment. Schumann's Lieder are considered some of the best compositions in this genre, engendering various interpretations by performers and exciting vigorous debate among musicologists and theorists. Robert Schumann’s early music was almost entirely composed for the piano alone; it wasn’t until 1840 that he started to compose almost exclusively Lieder and song cycles inspired by his predecessors Beethoven and Schubert. This was a prolific year for Schumann compositionally, in part due to his marriage to Clara Schumann who was one of Europe’s most preeminent piano …

Guitar Thinking, Jonathan De Souza

Soundboard Scholar

Playing the guitar develops physical skills but also ways of listening and thinking about music. For example, guitarists often conceptualize chords as two-dimensional shapes—an approach that is foreign to pianists. What does it mean, then, to think like a guitarist? This article approaches “guitar thinking” through music theory and cognitive science. Psychological experiments help to reveal auditory, visual, and tactile aspects of guitar playing and to show how guitarists respond to the instrument’s affordances (i.e., its possibilities for action). Additionally, recent research in music theory models fretboard space and examines patterns of body-instrument interaction. To demonstrate this mode of analysis, …

Music Theory Pedagogy For The Violin: Cognitive Philosophy And Three Model Curricula, Morganne J. Mcintyre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Violin playing promotes a connection between mind and body that allows the performer to internalize, or embody, tactile features of the instrument, such as the distance between strings, the feeling of the fingertips on the fingerboard, the interval size between notes, and many other aspects. This thesis designs a pedagogy that employs the violin’s physical attributes to provide the beginning through advanced player with a deeper understanding of music theory. The thesis suggests pairing of physical learning and musical theory at each stage of a violinist’s musical education. Chapter 1 surveys embodied cognition and cognitive artifacts. Chapter 2 applies these …

Chopin Prelude In C, Op. 28 No. 1: Reductive Analysis Worksheet, Gabe Fankhauser

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This two-page assignment on Chopin’s brief but sophisticated Prelude in C, op. 28, no. 1 is designed for use in advanced undergraduate or graduate music theory courses involving reductive techniques or form. The primary question requires students to write a simple SATB- style reduction of the piano score. The first measure is given as example. Completion of the entire assignment would likely take more than one day. Other questions guide students to consider questions of motivic development, narrative, Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Mean, and performance. Suggested readings are provided to guide students interested reading more about prolongation (voice-leading graphs) …

Mode Mixture In John Mayer's Continuum, Gabe Fankhauser

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This one-page assignment is designed for use in undergraduate music theory or graduate music theory review courses. Two questions, one involving part writing and the other analysis, involve popular songs by John Mayer, “Stop This Train” and “Gravity,” both from his 2006 album Continuum. Both questions require some familiarity with mode mixture or borrowed chords, particularly iiø65, as well as basic part writing principles, secondary dominants (V7/V), and figured bass. The product of the student’s part-writing is a reduction of “Stop this Train,” in which seven different chords can be traced to convention tonal harmony and voice leading, yet with …

Volume 36, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Set Class 014 And Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Gabe Fankhauser

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This one-page assignment on set class 014 and Schoenberg’s “Nacht” is designed for use in undergraduate or graduate courses involving analysis of 20th-century music. The main question requires students to trace 014 trichords in the introductory measures. A chart of pitch classes approximating location in the score simplifies the task. Other questions guide students to consider questions of meaning, specifically connecting abstract trichords to the narrative of the music, which exemplifies Expressionism. A separate PDF provides a key and commentary for instructors.

Introduction To Modes, Daniel Lee

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This lesson will introduce the Lydian, Mixolydian, and Dorian modes, as well as connect the major and minor scales/keys to the terms of Ionian and Aeolian. Students will need to know the WT/HT sequence within major and minor scales before receiving this lesson, and the visuals in this lesson include examples in treble, bass, and alto clefs. Also, musical excerpts and review/assessment examples are given in various keys.

This lesson is appropriate for undergraduate or high school theory students, or for anyone desiring a review of modes. During the lesson an acknowledgement of the system of assigning modes to specific …

Rhyme, Metrical Tension, And Formal Ambiguity In Kendrick Lamar’S Flow, Benjamin Wadsworth, Simon Needle

Faculty Articles

The flow of Kendrick Lamar veers between old-school, metrically rigid and new-school, prose-like rhymes. Through manipulating rhymes within 4/4 time, Lamar increases and decreases affective tension, suggests formal ambiguity, and highlights changes in point of view and literary topic. Although rhyme manipulations have been discussed by Kyle Adams (2009), Mitch Ohriner (2019a), and others as sources of formal contrasts, their effects on affective tension, relaxation, and formal functionality have been unspecified. In this essay, we propose a more comprehensive model of rhyme-based tension and relaxation, then apply it to questions of formal norms and ambiguities in Lamar’s songs. Analyses of …

The Goat: Rescoring A Buster Keaton Classic, Shannon Bradley

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis examines Buster Keaton’s The Goat (1921) and provides insight into the methods used to rescore the music of this classic silent film. After a brief review of Keaton’s life and career, I will discuss each step in the process of understanding this film and determining the best methods of implementing music to enhance the film. This process includes creating detailed spotting notes for each scene, sketching most of the central musical themes using my preferred traditional composition software, Sibelius, and finally transferring this musical information into my preferred digital audio workstation, Logic, in order to sync all aspects …

X Marks Nothing: Chiasmus And Kenosis In Kaija Saariaho's La Passion De Simone, Desiree Scarambone

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Composer Kaija Saariaho’s 2006 work La Passion de Simone often leaves audiences and critics at a loss to understand what they have witnessed. The title, subject, and sparse libretto only complicate this confusion. The genre of the work is ambiguous to many; some critics call it an opera, some an oratorio. Because the subject of the work, French philosopher Simone Weil, is widely unknown to the public, her placement within the framework of a Passion is often met with confusion if not criticism.

By fusing Weil’s life and philosophical ideas in this work, Saariaho explores how the awareness of the …

Siren Song: Examining The Lorelei Topos In Nineteenth-Century German Art Song And Its Manifestation And Transformation In Popular Song, Elizabeth Woodall

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Lorelei, a German mythical figure, is a popular topic in nineteenth-century German Lieder. However, there are also many overt references to her in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Does she continue to manifest in current music in the same ways or has she evolved over time? I will also explore musical settings in which she is not specifically named, but is referenced through musical and mythical descriptors. In order to identify covert references to the Lorelei, one must first classify and understand the musical and literary signifiers that composers of the nineteenth century used to depict her …

Constructing A Cultural Bridge: The Compositional Approach And International Impact Of Albert Mangelsdorff’S Now Jazz Ramwong, Michael Desousa

Theses and Dissertations--Music

In the period following World War II, countries such as Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand were under constant intellectual bombardment from global superpowers vying for political influence. West Germany, a newly established ally of Western democracy, was a small part of a global effort to spread this democracy to Asia. Working alongside Joachim-Ernst Berendt and the Goethe Institute, the jazz trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff arranged an album which sought to merge both Western European and Asian music. The album, Now Jazz Ramwong (1964), and accompanying fifty-concert tour helped pioneer a lasting cultural connection between Western Europe and Asia. The methodology behind Now …