Music 590W - Weird Music Theories

In the course, students will examine selected Western music theories from various historical eras that likely challenge both their musical intuitions and what they have learned in most twenty-first-century U.S. theory curriculums??in other words, ?weird? music theories. Through close reading, group discussion, and analytical applications, students will learn how to evaluate theories, de-familiarize familiar musical concepts, discover what theories tell us about the cultural priorities of their authors and adherents, and explore how, despite their weirdness, these theories may nevertheless provide valuable analytical tools and real insights into how music ?works.? In sum, students will grapple with how theories are not timeless, objective descriptions of musical reality, but are both socially constructed and historically contingent.

This course is open to BMUS-MUSIC, BA-MUSIC & Graduate Music Majors only. Grad or UG w/ MUSIC 213