Music Theory Commons^™

A Study Of The Improvisational Style Of Theodore "Fats" Navarro, 1949–1950, Russell C. Zimmer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

This study analyzes improvisatory techniques of Theodore “Fats” Navarro (1923-1950). Live improvised solos of the trumpeter from 1949-1950 were examined to better understand the improvisational style through the analysis of transcribed solos. Chapter one gives a brief overview of Navarro’s brief professional career and why he was chosen as the subject of this study. Chapter two sets out the methodology for this study and reviews related literature to the study of Fats Navarro. Chapter three provides a brief background of each performance from which the transcriptions were selected. Chapter four identifies those aspects of his improvisation that occur often harmonically, …

Musical Contextualization In The Local Church: A Pragmatic Exploration Concerning The Philosophy And Methodology Of Assimilating Sacred Music Into The Worship Vocabulary Of A Congregation, Kaleb Gooden

Senior Honors Theses

God’s mandate for all worship pastors is that they minister to their local body of believers in an effective way. This directive necessitates the use of scripturally and culturally appropriate music that clearly communicates the Gospel to the church congregation. This creative thesis further investigates musical contextualization in the local church.

Five philosophical pillars represent the most basic structure on which the entire process of local church contextualization stands. The minister must be rooted in scripture, led by the Spirit, present-minded, future-driven, and committed to service. After evaluating these philosophical concepts, this thesis will then explore the methodological contextualization process …

An Approach To Undergraduate Research - Developing An Understanding Of The Musical Process Through The Editing Of Early Music, Jared Chance Taylor, Gary W. Cobb

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This project is an outgrowth of a larger project that involves the eventual compilation of a series of Italian madrigals into a modern performing edition. The purpose of this project was to transcribe and edit a madrigal from Carlo Grossi’s L’Anfione musiche da camera or per tavola (Venice, 1675) in order to better understand and be able to perform an Italian madrigal as it might have been done in the late seventeenth century. Through a process of research, examination and transcription, I was able to not only to transcribe Grossi’s music into modern notation but was also able to also …

Issues Of Rhythm, Symmetry, And Style In Alfred Schnittke's Concerto For Piano And Strings, Ilya Mayzus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation takes as its subject of study Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings and seeks to examine several interconnected issues in Schnittke’s music: the problem of unification of disparate and conflicting forces that generally describe his style; the wave-like shape of intensification followed by a pullback that can be seen as acting on different temporal levels; and one of narrative meaning. Particular attention is given to symmetry in various manifestations, which the composer considered a necessary ingredient, comparing rhythmic regularity to periodicity found in nature, while at the same time undermining it through the use of asymmetries in order …

The Motivic Economy In Nikolai Medtner's Sonata Romantica, Nellie S. Seng-Quinn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on the motivic aspect of Medtner’s Sonata Romantica Op. 53, No. 1. Medtner, in his book, The Muse and the Fashion, has stressed through numerous statements why the initial theme is of utmost importance to him and how the entire work should be derived from the theme. The goal is to trace the journey of Medtner’s themes through the course of the sonata. Using various methods of musical analysis, I will determine whether the theme is indeed the source of latter material found within the sonata.

The Gĩkũyũ Mũtũrĩrũ: Preserving A Piece Of Kenya's Agrarian Past Through Flute Music, Jennifer Larue

Masters Theses

The Agĩkũyũ people of Kenya are one of the largest people groups in Kenya. However, systematic repression of Gĩkũyũ culture led to many traditional elements being forgotten, put aside, if not lost completely. The mũtũrĩrũ, a bark flute used when herding and in certain ritual dances, was one such element. The mũtũrĩrũ was initially a temporary instrument, which evolved into more permanent bamboo versions. These may have between two and six finger holes. Another version, called a "spider web mũtũrĩrũ" has no finger holes but has a paper membrane over one end to create a buzzing timbre effect. Research was …

Missa Yielu: Music In The Dagara Mass, Karin Rau

Masters Theses

This paper explores the music of Dagara Masses in Ghana. The Dagara people are defined and described according to the geography of their land and linguistic dialects spoken in the region. A discussion of cultural indicators highlights traditional occupations, family structure, and social practices. Dagara musical practices are outlined by function and include descriptions of instruments and how they are played. Examination of indigenous religious beliefs describe the behaviors, values, and symbols that permeate Dagara life. A summary of the Dagara's encounter with Christianity sets the scene for present-day celebrations of the Mass. Through observation and interview, research was conducted …

Graverobber, Individualized Chorus: The Greek Chorus Reinterpreted In Repo! The Genetic Opera, Grace Markulin

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

The rock opera film Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) provides its audience with details regarding the film’s setting and perspectives on the morality of the film’s plot through the character Graverobber, whose sung dialogue expresses this information. Graverobber’s penchant for scene-setting and moralizing within the film classifies the character as a Greek chorus according to the parameters of the Greek chorus in antiquity and modern interpretations of the chorus in twentieth-century musical theater, but the character’s visual distinctiveness, preexisting relationship with an established character, and prominent use of solo vocal lines throughout his sung dialogue demonstrates a degree of individuation …

The Universal Language, Amelia Richards

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Promoting Metacognitive Reflection In Music Theory Instruction, Anna Ferenc

Music Faculty Publications

Since 1976 when John Flavell coined the term metacognition, a significant body of literature has emerged in psychology and education research documenting the importance of it to the process of learning and advocating its development through reflection to promote deeper, more thoughtful, and self-regulated learning. In the domain of music, discussions of reflection and/or metacognition appear particularly in literature on teacher training, music teaching at primary and secondary levels, and performance, but these topics are hardly addressed in research on music theory pedagogy. This article begins to redress this situation. It presents a theoretical overview of metacognition and reflection, describes …

Bass Line Movable Do Modulation Paradigms, Jay Smith

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

Bass-Line Movable Do Modulation Paradigms are designed to help aural skills students internalize common modulation patterns. The worksheet uses movable-do modulation, meaning students change “do” to reflect the solfège of the new key at an appropriate pivot point. Students should sing the top line in the original key, repeat the pitch on the solfège syllable of the new key where it aligns with the lower line (the pivot point), and continue in the new key to the end. The instructor may wish to accompany students with an appropriate chord progression, providing musical context to the bass lines. The worksheet also …

The Chromatic Singalong Project: Pop/Rock As A Framework For Sight-Singing Fluency, Jena Root

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

Successful sight-singing results from the ear, voice, and mind working in synchrony, and at its best translates to real-time musical understanding and facility on the student's primary instrument. Finding a pedagogical model for this level of musical fluency can be elusive: while the metronome is a time-honored practice tool, its relentless click lacks an external musical context that can lead students into a perpetual trap: Start, stumble, count off, start again, etc.

The Chromatic Singalong is a transcription/composition/sight-singing project designed to help students build fluency in singing and understanding music in real time. It is a capstone to the third …

Schenkerian Analysis For The Beginner, Benjamin K. Wadsworth

Faculty Articles

In the classroom, the teacher of Schenkerian analysis faces the challenge of reconciling the holistic evaluation of works with the sequential presentation of content from simple to complex. Drawing from previous learning taxonomies (Bloom 1956, Anderson and Krathwohl 2001, and Rifkin and Stoecker 2011), I propose an adapted one for Schenkerian analysis. I note differences between this taxonomy and analytical procedures shown in current Schenkerian textbooks (Cadwallader and Gagné 2011, Pankhurst 2008), pursue implications of the new learning taxonomy, and suggest a wide range of classroom activities that have proven effective in my own introductory course. Goals of the new …

Silence For Orchestra: Incorporating Silence In Musical Language Through Theories Of Expectation, Kari Darby

Masters Theses

The purpose of Silence: for Orchestra is to incorporate silence as a captivating source of musical language. Silence's goal is to encourage the audience to appreciate silence as musch as music. David Huron's research in musical expectations served as a guide to create a piece that develops, contradicts, and conforms to a listener's expectations. Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis's work describes five functions of silence found in music. These functions can be applied to the silences used in my piece in order to further conform to the listener's expectations.

The Future Of Arabic Music: No Sound Without Silence, Nesma Magdy Khodier Vcuq

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, Arabic music has been intrinsically linked to Arab culture and by extension bonded to the environmental landscape of the region, reflecting their emotions, moods, and behaviors. Numerous technological advancements in the latter half of the twentieth century, have greatly affected the rich legacy of Arabic music, significantly impacting the natural progression of traditional Arabic musical genres, scales, and instrumentation.

This thesis serves as an introduction to generative methods of music production, specifically music generated through gestures. Through generative music, and its unique ability to map gestures to different musical parameters, music can be produced using computer algorithms.

The …

Rhizomatic Approaches To Screen-Based Music Notation, Lindsay R. Vickery

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The rhizome concept explored by Deleuze and Guatarri has had an important influence on formal thinking in music and new media. This paper explores the development of rhizomatic musical scores that are arranged cartographically with nodal points allowing for alternate pathways to be traversed. The challenges of pre-digital exemplars of rhizomatic structure are discussed. It follows the development of concepts and technology used in the creation of five works by the author Ubahn c. 1985: the Rosenberg Variations [2012], The Last Years [2012], Sacrificial Zones [2014], detritus [2015] and trash vortex [2015]. this paper discusses the potential for the evolution …

The Do/Ti Handouts, Daniel B. Stevens

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

"The Do/Ti Test handouts were developed to enable students to identify harmonic function quickly and accurately. These handouts equip students with a visual representation of a powerful, time-tested strategy for harmonic dictation: the guide-tone method, first described by Rahn and McKay in 1988. Building on and extending the guide-tone method, the Do/Ti Test can be applied to diatonic harmonies, applied chords, chromatic predominants, sequences, and modulation.

This accompanying document contains the following:

The Do/Ti Test Handouts: An Introduction

Explanations for each handout.

Handout 1: The Do/Ti Test: Major-mode Version

Handout 2: The Do/Ti/Te Test: Minor-mode Version

Handout 3: Extending the …

Volume 30, Various Authors

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Simple And Compound Time Signatures Re-Examined, Paula Telesco

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

This handout was created for music minors and non-music majors, most of whom enter my class with some music background. They typically have some understanding of simple meters like 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. Compound Time is typically a difficult concept to teach, so this handout treats compound meter a bit more in-depth than some textbooks. This handout would be appropriate for not only music minors and non-music majors, but also remedial music theory classes for music majors or even Music Theory 1 classes. I believe it could also be used in high school AP classes. There are three worksheets that …

Understanding Dotted And Undotted Notes, Paula Telesco

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

College and high school music students (whether majors or non-majors) likely know something already about note and rest values, what note gets the beat in some particular meter, and differences between undotted and dotted notes, but they often still have difficulty understanding them, dotted notes in particular. This handout will review this material and introduce an additional way to think about note values, setting the stage for additional approaches to meter, as rhythm and meter can often be difficult concepts to master.