Music theory as a field and a practice has the potential to cultivate vibrant and collaborative communities:
- Creates shared vocabulary musicians can use to communicate their musical experiences
- Acts as a communication tool for musicians working together
- Provides frameworks for analysis
- These analyses allow musicians to make informed interpretive decisions
- Offers a space where musicians can learn how others perceive music differently from them
- Musicians can then practice hearing from different points of view
Yet, the way music theory is often taught ignores these benefits and creates new problems instead.
Some teachers present music theory as a complicated set of rules that is limiting and unhelpful, that there is a “right way” to hear and create music.
The worst part is that music theory is generally gatekept, so most musicians don’t even have the opportunity to learn the problematic versions of music theory at all.
The only people who have the ability to benefit from music theory are the ones who can afford to go to a fancy music program for college.
On top of that, what most people know of and learn in their music lessons and in core music theory classes in college covers only a part of what music theory is and does. These students learn music fundamentals and practice but often don’t get to the actual theorizing.
Sure, they do a lot of analysis, but that’s only part of what it means to “do music theory.”
That all changes here.
It is my goal to offer opportunities to learn and practice the same material music students in elite music programs (like Northwestern, where I teach) receive as well as to open the doors for more theorizing.
What does it mean to be a music theorist? Are there “right answers” in music theory? What music theory have you done without realizing? Does music theory make you a better musician?
These are all questions that either are answered here or are in the process of being answered here at Girl in Blue Music.
You’ll find bits and pieces of these ideas in blog posts, resource pages, courses, ebooks, and more across the site.
Music Theory as a Practice of Empathy
Morgan and Morrison’s (1999) book on scientific models explains how models rely on the presence of multiple theories.
We can’t have a model about how objects move in space without multiple theories of motion.
It’s not just gravity, or friction, or momentum, and so on.
We need all of these theories together.
Sometimes, theories may seem to contradict each other, but then we get to ask the question, “How can both theories exist at the same time? Why are we getting these competing perspectives?”
For the example above, it’s because there are multiple forces exerted on objects moving in space, and we need theories for all of them, and we need to look at how all these theories interact with each other.
This is how we know that considering all perspectives and theories is important in understanding whatever it is we’re trying to understand.
For music, that means getting down to people’s unique experiences with music. We all hear music differently.
Different elements stick out to us based on our upbringing, our current and past environments, the instruments we play, and so much more.
Music theory should be the place where we discuss those differences and ask how it is a piece of music was able to create so many different experiences, instead of focusing on a single listener (usually the person who wrote one theory).
How do you find other theories of music?
Students in music lessons and in university programs generally focus on functional harmony, and this gets equated with music theory.
Yet, there are so many other elements of music (some music doesn’t even have harmony!) and so many other ways of thinking about harmony alone.
A good example of this in history is the question of which came first: harmony or melody? Does harmony arise out of melody, or does melody arise out of harmony?
Rousseau famously argued that melody comes first because we speak in melody, but Rameau argued that opposite, that harmony comes first because the steps of the overtone series start with large intervals (harmonic units) and then shrink down into melodic steps later.
Who is right? That’s still up for debate! And maybe they’re both right; we just haven’t asked the right higher-level question yet.
Think of an element of music or a perspective of music, and there are many theories on it.
Rhythm and meter? Cognitive theories, expectation-based theories, gestural theories, perception theories, compositional theories, and so many more.
My goal for this website is to give you the opportunity and tools you need to learn more about these other theories because studying other theories lets us step into different ways of hearing music.
Who am I?
I am a third-year PhD in Music Theory and Cognition at Northwestern.
As part of the PhD program, I’ve gained practice teaching aural skills and core music theory, and I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned to the courses here.
My current research is focused on Disney animated musicals and musical communication (particularly pragmatics and intonational phonology).
The research is still in its early stages, but I’m excited to share what I find along the way, so stay tuned!
