Music Theory Commons^™

Timbre-Based Composition For The Guitar: A Non-Guitarist’S Approach To Mapping And Notation, Jason Noble, Steve Cowan

Soundboard Scholar

Composing for the guitar can be intimidating for non-guitarists, but their fresh perspectives can uncover new ways of thinking about music for the instrument. This paper discusses timbre-based composition, an approach to writing for guitar that may be more intuitive for non-guitarist composers than traditional polyphonic composition. The rich palette of timbres available on the guitar, including pitched and nonpitched sounds, is conceived as primary compositional material. Issues of notation and mapping are addressed, focusing on three categories of mappings: (i) physical mapping from notational symbols onto physical objects, such as parts of the guitar; (ii) analogical mapping from …

Soundboard Scholar No. 6 (Complete)

Soundboard Scholar

No abstract provided.

New Perspectives On Johannes De Muris And His Notitia Artis Musicae, Jeffrey Allan Arnsdorf

Dissertations and Theses

At the end of the 1310s, Norman mathematician and astronomer Johannes de Muris (c. 1295-after 1344) reconceived the existing musical notation system on a mathematical foundation. His Notitia artis musicae dramatically increased the fidelity with which the system could represent complex rhythmic patterns. In recent years, musicologists, particularly Karen Desmond, have begun to incorporate the scholarship of historians of astronomy in their work on Muris and the Notitia. These studies take as their focus conceptual shifts in music theory and practice. This thesis repositions the perspective to Muris himself, seeking to shed light on his intention in writing the …

Developing A Systematic Approach For Teaching Beginning Improvisation Using The Concert Percussion Ensemble, Ian Mcclaflin

Dissertations

Typically, when studying percussion at a University, a student is required to be proficient at multiple aspects of percussion (snare drum, mallet keyboards, drum set, hand drumming, etc.) and work through multiple method books and solos on the different instruments. This often leaves little to no room for the study of improvisation on their instrument.

Examined in this study are the following points pertaining to the state of teaching improvisation:

• There is an apparent lack of improvisation in the classroom
• Teachers often feel unprepared in teaching improvisation
• Improvisation is most commonly associated with jazz
• Both teachers and students tend to …

Cyberpunk Beginnings: Sos, Mark Zanter

Music Faculty Research

This performance proposal features works for electric guitar, percussion, live processing and visuals performed by Mark Zanter, and Steve Hall of Marshall University, USA. Approximate time 10 minutes. SOS integrates layers of algorithmically generated material, live signal processing, visuals, and live performance in a work exploring boundaries between machine generated sound(s), and human interaction.

“Mortality’S Wilting Flower:” Terror Management Theory And Music In Animated Films, Lauren Bertsch

Senior Honors Projects

There’s something about animated films - so full of light and wonder - that invokes this “warm and fuzzy” feeling when you sit down to watch it. Yet an entire spectrum of human emotion is demanded from us as an audience. Buried in the heart of animated films are these dark themes, problems that lie in the bedrock of humanity. And it leaves us pondering: why? The answer may actually stretch back to when our species developed thought and reason. In 1973, American anthropologist Ernest Becker uncovered the mental foundation that allows us to live, function, and thrive in a …

My Mind And Me, Van Powell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“My Mind and Me” is a three-movement musical work written by Van Powell that was based off of a poem written by his grandmother Joyce Beshears. The piece contains many aspects of classical music such as instrumentation and form yet has more of a modern feel regarding aspects such as harmony and vocal style. The piece is written for a female alto vocal, guitar, two violins, viola, cello, and double bass. The poem that the piece is interpreting gives incite into the disassociation of a woman’s mind and body. While analyzing herself the author comes to terms with her strengths …

Errata For Folksongs From The Maritimes, Peter G. Fielding

Faculty Articles

Toneset and solfa errata for Kaye Pottie and vernon Ellis' Folksongs of the Maritimes (1992).

An Exploration Of Cultural Transmission Through The Application Of Jazz Theory To The Music Of Frederic Chopin, Aaron Michael King

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Connections between classical music and jazz were observed and detailed, providing an expanded understanding of the cultural underpinnings of Western music. This study featured explanations of concepts found in jazz theory, such as approach tones and ii⁷-V⁷-I⁷ progression, and comparisons of stylistic features of both music. These concepts were then applied to describe features in the music of Frederic Chopin, specifically “Nocturne No. 1,” “Berceuse,” and “Prelude No. 4.” Through cross-cultural analysis, this study aims to provide the reader with information and further appreciation of the elements found in jazz music and to delineate the …

Korngold's Dream States: An Analysis Of Transitional Passages In Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Opera "Die Tote Stadt", Tyler Brandon

Master's Theses

This thesis aims to compare Korngold’s treatment of altered states of reality in his 1920 opera Die tote Stadt to that of other composers and apply a theoretical approach to explain the transitions between the diegetic realms, or multiple narrative levels, that the work is contained within. These are outlined by William Cheng in his article entitled “Opera ‘en abyme’: The prodigious ritual of Korngold’s ‘Die tote Stadt.’” An overview of Cheng’s article is provided, recounting the claims that he posits and the analyses that he uses to explain the transitions between these diegetic realms. Next, other instances of altered …

The Language Of Music, Music Theory For Non-Majors, Danny Beard

Open Textbooks

The Language of Music, Music Theory for Non-Majors, is a textbook written to share the fundamentals of music notation with students outside of schools of music. Topics covered include rhythmic notation, meter and time signatures, pitch notation, scales, key signatures, intervals, triads and Roman numeral and lead sheet notation.

Composing Irishness: Remembrances Of The Irish Past Through The Prism Of The Present In Music By Donnacha Dennehy (B. 1970) And Jennifer Walshe (B. 1974), Timothy Diovanni

Masters

Although modern remembrances in the fields of literature, theatre, poetry, and the visual arts have received considerable scholarly attention in Ireland since the publication of History and Memory in Modern Ireland in 2001, similar activities in an Irish art music context remain unexplored. This thesis addresses this lacuna in examining how the contemporary Irish composers Donnacha Dennehy (b. 1970) and Jennifer Walshe (b. 1974) have remembered, reimagined, and reinvented the past to communicate their positions on Irish history and modern Irish society, as well as to respond to recent historical and curatorial practices. Through a series of five works written …

Mus 208 Music Theory I, George Lam

Open Educational Resources

Harmonic analysis of tonal music, with an emphasis on diatonic harmony. Topics may include counterpoint, Roman numeral analysis, lead sheet symbols, and voice leading.

The Modes Of Intervention In Alvin Lucier’S I Am Sitting In A Room, Daniel Fox

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Alvin Lucier’s I am sitting in a room (1969) is an icon of experimental music and sound art. The sizable literature addressing the aesthetic and philosophical implications of this piece rarely discusses the performance practice beyond what is indicated in the score itself. This is problematic for two reasons: 1) The meaning that is derived from the piece often hinges not just on what sounds are obtained, but on how they are obtained. 2) Over the past 50 years, changes in the performance practice have altered what constitutes the work: magnetic tape was used until 2000 when it was replaced …

Coltrane Plays The Blues: Multi-Level Coherence And Stylistic Tendencies, Lukas Gabric

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As a principal musical figure of the twentieth century, John Coltrane created a legacy that still resonates with listeners. Similarly, the blues may be regarded as one of the most iconic genres of the twentieth century. This dissertation examines Coltrane’s shifting stylistic tendencies to the blues and explores structural relationships with reductive voice leading analysis. As a variation form, the blues poses issues of continuity since every chorus may be regarded as self-sufficient and internally closed. Voice leading analysis provides a powerful explanation for the fact that Coltrane’s blues solos may be perceived as structurally unified. I also develop a …

Martial Caillebotte’S Mélodies And Scènes Lyriques: Analytical Essays And Performance Guide, Dominique Mccormick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Composer, pianist and photographer, Martial Caillebotte (1853–1910) was the unknown younger brother of famous Impressionist painter, Gustave Caillebotte. Martial studied piano and harmony at the Paris Conservatory from 1870–1874. Martial created a substantial number of musical compositions including mélodies, scènes lyriques, operas, symphonic poems, as well as sacred choral and symphonic works. Born into a wealthy Parisian family, he did not need to work for a living and did not self-promote, therefore his pieces were rarely performed and after his death, most of his compositions were left in family archives. In the late 1990’s a rebirth of interest in the …

Musical Forces In The Serial Music Of Igor Stravinsky, Adam Moffett

Master's Theses

In his 2018 book A Theory of Virtual Agency, Robert Hatten briefly describes the potential to analyze atonal music through the lens of musical forces. These musical forces are phenomenological sensations listeners experience, akin to physical forces felt in daily life. Larson (2012) categorizes and explains these forces as gravity, magnetism, and inertia, but his work only applies them to tonal music.

Gravity is a universal force that exerts influence over the music on a global level. In a tonal context, this would be the tonic pitch, however in the absence of tonal hierarchy the locus of gravity comes …

A Comparative Study On Musicians And Non-Musicians’ Affective Response In Music Listening, Wai Neng Loh

Student Works (2020-2029)

This study examined the affective responses in the music listening among undergraduates’ student using Circumplex Model of Emotion (Russell, 1980). The purpose of this study was to investigate the affective responses of undergraduate music major and non-music major students in music listening to four different music genres, which were classical music, romantic music, atonal music and experimental music. A study involving of 123 participants from undergraduate music major and non-music major students in Klang Valley area was conducted using google form. By using SPSS to tabulate the data, the result showed that there were no major differences between both musicians …

The International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication: Online Event (Cmsc'20) And Cmsc'21, Frances Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

You are warmly invited to register now for the 5th International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC’21) which will be held at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, 2–6 July, 2021.

The International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) is a unique gathering of computer scientists and mathematicians, teachers, musicians, dancers, dramatists, game designers, educators and communicators of all sorts.

Due to the pandemic, the in-person event scheduled for 2020 has been post- poned and a short CMSC Online Event was organized as a “teaser” or trailer in order to feel the spirit of the full 5th CMSC …

Musical Wonder And Awe In Narnia: Comparing Two Related Emotions, Laura Steiner

Music ETDs

Wonder and awe are often considered to be synonyms. But though these emotions are similar, a more nuanced look at their musical representations reveals that they are not entirely the same. This thesis examines the difference between musical wonder and awe in music from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, a 2005 film about siblings who find a magical world in a wardrobe. After a review of the literature on musical wonder, the music from two scenes is analyzed. The wardrobe scene, in which the youngest child discovers the land of Narnia, depicts wonder visually. Certain musical characteristics, both …