I'm teaching a graduate course called "Current trends in music theory" in the fall. I'm really excited about this class. It used to be that our field could be easily divided into the Schenkerians and the post-tonal types. Such is (thankfully) no longer the case. At TTU, we offer two semesters of analytical techniques: analytical techniques I, which is basically and introduction to Schenker/introduction to neo-Riemannian theory course; and analytical techniques II is basically a post-tonal theory course. So our master's program essentially reinforces the old dichotomy. I think this paradigm served our master's program well in the past, when the field was basically tonal or post-tonal.
I should mention that, in my opinion, the function of a master's program in music theory is to prepare students for doctoral work in music theory. As such, we should do our best to give them a buffet-style sampling of what's going on in the theory world so that they have some idea of what they would like to specialize in when they go on to doctoral work. We don't have a doctoral program in music theory here, per se: we have a Ph.D. in fine arts with a concentration in music theory (that whole thing is another story for another day...).
Now that our field is expanding and diversifying, we need to offer more than just "Schenker and sets." I'm very excited about this current trends course because I think it will help to complete the picture of the field for our students, giving them a better idea of what to expect when they get to a Ph.D. program.
I was thinking of covering (in no particular order, and not necessarily all of these):
I think I'm going to kick off the semester by having the students read Poststructuralism: A very short introduction and talk about how those developments precipitated the so-called "new musicology." A few general theory articles, too--along the lines of Agawu's Analyzing music under the new musicological regime. I'd also like to have them read some material from outside the realm of music, i.e., Judith Butler on gender, Adam Kendon on gesture, Lennard Davis on disability, etc.
If you were teaching a current trends in music theory class, what would you have them study and/or read? Is there anything glaringly absent from my list?
Also, in my post-tonal class the other day, we stumbled upon a neat seminar topic: music in crisis. We've been analyzing Messiaen's Quartet for the end of time, which was written during his time in a concentration camp, and more recently, we've discussed George Rochberg's reclamation of tonality following the tragic death of his son. We got to talking about jazz in the early 20th century, music after 9/11, and the rise of hip-hop. I suspect this could be a good non-major course as well, and could be generalized to include all of the arts ("Art and crisis"). We could tackle questions like why do difficult situations precipitate art? Do people need art? and so on. (Some of this thinking stemmed from this speech, which has been making the rounds on the internet, and which serendipitously embraced many of the topics that we've been discussing in my post-tonal class).
I should mention that, in my opinion, the function of a master's program in music theory is to prepare students for doctoral work in music theory. As such, we should do our best to give them a buffet-style sampling of what's going on in the theory world so that they have some idea of what they would like to specialize in when they go on to doctoral work. We don't have a doctoral program in music theory here, per se: we have a Ph.D. in fine arts with a concentration in music theory (that whole thing is another story for another day...).
Now that our field is expanding and diversifying, we need to offer more than just "Schenker and sets." I'm very excited about this current trends course because I think it will help to complete the picture of the field for our students, giving them a better idea of what to expect when they get to a Ph.D. program.
I was thinking of covering (in no particular order, and not necessarily all of these):
Gender studies
Pop and jazz studies
Disability studies
Geometrical music theory
Pitch spaces
Semiotics
Music and gesture
I think I'm going to kick off the semester by having the students read Poststructuralism: A very short introduction and talk about how those developments precipitated the so-called "new musicology." A few general theory articles, too--along the lines of Agawu's Analyzing music under the new musicological regime. I'd also like to have them read some material from outside the realm of music, i.e., Judith Butler on gender, Adam Kendon on gesture, Lennard Davis on disability, etc.
If you were teaching a current trends in music theory class, what would you have them study and/or read? Is there anything glaringly absent from my list?
Also, in my post-tonal class the other day, we stumbled upon a neat seminar topic: music in crisis. We've been analyzing Messiaen's Quartet for the end of time, which was written during his time in a concentration camp, and more recently, we've discussed George Rochberg's reclamation of tonality following the tragic death of his son. We got to talking about jazz in the early 20th century, music after 9/11, and the rise of hip-hop. I suspect this could be a good non-major course as well, and could be generalized to include all of the arts ("Art and crisis"). We could tackle questions like why do difficult situations precipitate art? Do people need art? and so on. (Some of this thinking stemmed from this speech, which has been making the rounds on the internet, and which serendipitously embraced many of the topics that we've been discussing in my post-tonal class).