Music Theory through Performance and Composition

Undergraduate catalogue

How do we use chords to shape music? How do composers play with expectation and predictability? And how do we use these devices to create drama in music -- to express conflict or resolution -- to tell a story? We will consider these questions by examining examples from the 18th to the 21st centuries and across multiple genres. The course is designed to enhance your skills in recognizing and understanding processes in tonal and post-tonal music and in composing harmonically-based music.