Seminar in Music Theory (550-0-1)

Instructors

Richard Ashley
847/491-5720
r-ashley@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: W 10-11 and by appt.
Professor, music theory and cognition program. Research and publications in music cognition focusing on expressive performance, musical communication, and long-term memory for music. President, Society for Music Perception and Cognition. Member, editorial board, Music Perception. Recipient of two Fulbright grants for research in the Netherlands and grants from National Endowment for the Humanities and U.S. Department of Education. Recipient, Bienen School of Music Exemplar in Teaching Award. Also teaches in the cognitive science program.

Meeting Info

RCMA 1-180: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

This course engages music and movement both as metaphor and as embodied action. The focus in on how movement through space represents musical content (its "what) and musical manner (its "how). Readings will be interdisciplinary, largely from music theory, music cognition, and gesture studies.

Registration Requirements

Required of PhD students in Music Theory. Fo others, graduate standing in Music or another program.

Learning Objectives

1) How motion and space are used as musical concepts 2) Ways in which bodily movement has been understood as conveying meaning 3)How to investigate these matters theoretically and/or empirically.

Teaching Method

Lecture/discussion

Evaluation Method

Assessment is based on daily written work, a midterm project, a final project, and class discussion. Written work will include a response paper to each article or chapter and a final paper, 10-15 pp. in length.

Class Materials (Required)

Daily readings are on Canvas. No purchases are necessary.