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Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom
- tantalor 6d agoVery cool but what does this have to do with "21st-Century Classroom"? Is that just a meaningless phrase to make it sound modern, not old-fashioned?
- bwanab 6d agoCould just be because it is the 21st century and this was written for classroom use.
- gowld 6d agoIt's a new presentation, an online hypertext, and uses YouTube publications of 21st Century music as example. https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/frontmatter-5.html https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/frontmatter-5.html
- colonwqbang 6d agoIf you subtract the "meaningless phrase", the title of the book is just "Music Theory". Do this for every book written about music, art, mathematics and you'll just have a lot of books with identical and quite dull titles.
- odyssey7 6d agoInsightful. The title being more to distinguish than to describe.
- Dfiesl 6d agoI guess the 21st century classroom is the free online classroom you connect to from your portable device
- dahart 6d agoThere is a whole paragraph in the preface about why he titled it “21st-Century Classroom”. The first sentence contains one very good reason: it’s a full year college music theory textbook with an open license. The other reasons cited are: “This text differs from other music theory textbooks by focusing less on four–part (SATB) voiceleading and more on relating harmony to the phrase. Also, in traditional music theory textbooks, there is little emphasis on motivic analysis and analysis of melodic units smaller than the phrase. In my opinion, this led to students having difficulty with creating melodies, since the training they are given is typically to write a “melody” in quarter notes in the soprano voice of part writing exercises. When the assignments in those texts ask students to do more than this, the majority of the students struggle to create a melody with continuity and with appropriate placement of harmonies within a phrase because the text had not prepared them to do so.” https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/frontmatter-5.html https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/frontmatter-5.html
- iainctduncan 5d agoIt has embedded youtube videos of examples. I certainly didn't have that in my 20th century theory text books and it would have been very helpful! This resource looks excellent
- webern777 5d agoExactly. It is hard to explain how great this is unless you tried to learn this by just looking at staff notation with having no idea what the sound actually was. Literally like trying to learn color theory without vision.
- iainctduncan 4d agoEspecially if you're not a pianist. I play a monophonic instrument, so even though I did plenty of piano, it sure it wasn't up to "casually sightreading examples from the literature" level.
- aanet 6d agoBook: Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom by Robert Hutchinson
- ultrasounder 6d agohttps://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/ https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/ link takes you to the homeworks/assignments and everything else for a self-study/auto-didact to follow along. Neat!
- IvanK_net 6d agoAm I the only one who thinks that the classic music notation is 3x harder to learn than the basic music theory (without the rules of notation)? I think that you can learn music theory (to play an instrument or to compose music e.g. in a "piano roll tool" / MIDI editor) much faster if you skip the classic notation. And I think that it is even better to learn the notation AFTER you understand the music theory. I even made my own guide to music :D https://www.jampea.com/learn https://www.jampea.com/learn
- bonzini 6d agohttps://youtu.be/Eq3bUFgEcb4 https://youtu.be/Eq3bUFgEcb4 explains why music notation is the way it is. There are very good reasons for it. The parts that are really weird (like the C clef) have mostly been obsoleted, unless you play the viola I guess.
- song_synth 6d agolove that video, it made me lol so hard the first time I saw it :D Classical composer and software engineer here. One of my goals is to help update score notation. I use something called "harmonic coloring" which is like a reduced MIDI notation: You color a note by its functional role (harmonic value) rather than an arbitrary hue in 0-11. What this view shares with MIDI: Long rectangles representing the applied durations. How it is different: Occupies a minimal amount vertical space. The color palette I'm using is intended to support people with colorblindness. The shades/hues of a color encodes the functional harmony. The root key signature (origin) is always the same color; and chords some distance r away on the circle of fifths is the shade/hue at that offset r. There is a similar concept described in the Tantacruel video towards the end. You can explore it here on Monic Theory. (mobile view should be fixed within 48 hours) https://monictheory.com/project-templates https://monictheory.com/project-templates
- PaulDavisThe1st 6d agoNote that in historical Byzantine musical culture, there are no absolute pitches at all. Their notational form is entirely intervals from some arbitrary root note. Similarly, in Carnatic and Hindustani classical traditions, the note names (Sa, Re, Pa etc) do not denote pitches - Sa is always the root, whatever it is, and the rest have a somewhat well defined intervallic relationship to it. I personally would not use "harmonic value" to describe this, since it occurs in music that (broadly speaking) lacks harmony. The key point, IMO, is that what matters are sets of intervals (ratios, if you prefer) rather than actual pitches (as frequencies).
- Eduard 6d agodidn't find a single audio file; only links to unaffiliated YouTube videos which want me to watch ads first. “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”
- mcbuilder 6d agoI feel that quote more likely is pointed at "music appreciation" as a written work, versus understanding the theory. I know a few musicians who are happy to use terminology from theory, "I love to write songs with diminished and sustained chords". This seems like a great resource to me, a classically trained pianist who is now playing different types of music.
- rc5150 6d agoskill issue.
- aanet 6d agoThere are several music samples in there... Example: https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/DiatonicChordsInMajor.html https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/DiatonicChordsInMaj...
- xcf_seetan 6d agoHappy to see serialism covered! thanks
- cbondurant 6d agoI was hoping to see if by "21st-Century" it meant "music theory that is applicable to the way modern music is generally written and interacted with". With details on things like microtonal music, increased focus on rhythmic theory, an increased appreciation for the role that timbre plays in the sound of music, the theoretical frameworks that underpin long standing musical traditions of other cultures and contrasting what makes each musical theory unique as a way of better understanding both western theories of music as well as the breadth of musical expression.... Nope! Just the same old, well beaten, rotting corpse of a horse in the form of a musical theory that entirely exists to prop up schenkerian analysis. The one that that racist, elitist music programs have been teaching since well before the 21st-Century. (The way you can tell is because it includes figured bass, which is totally irrelevant to any discussion that isn't about the harmonic style of 18th century european musicians.) God forbid I want to, oh I don't know, make music that's similar to the kind that I actually listen to on a regular basis? Better understand its underpinnings and what makes it work in the ways that it does? No. Figured bass.
- maroonblazer 6d ago> The one that that racist, elitist music programs have been teaching since well before the 21st-Century. Are you this guy? https://youtu.be/u2NKodxRO4A?si=xdOd7I1f_rnFN85C&t=255 https://youtu.be/u2NKodxRO4A?si=xdOd7I1f_rnFN85C&t=255
- mtizim 5d agoSomebody ate Adam Neely's video hook line and sinker. I do agree, but I don't know how many generations will die before we can overturn the ridiculousness of the current approach. Even the book linked has some nice flowcharts of harmonic function, given as a useful tool for analysis and composing. Sadly, the theory fails almost instantly, defeated by the highly experimental niche piece of music called "Hotel California". However, bringing race and class into it, while true, does not help the argument, as most people you're trying to convince are already fully convinced of the supremacy of the German masters.
- waffletower 6d agoHow can this be fairly labelled "for the 21st-Century Classroom" when even 20th-century techniques aren't adequately represented? Electronic and computer music techniques are conspicuously absent. Microtonality has a rich history as well which is not even footnoted here.
- chrisjj 6d agoIndeed. Like so many books of this type, better title would be "Our Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom".
- larodi 6d agoMusic theory for the 21st century with notation from several centuries earlier. Hmm.... sorry but tracker's table-like views are much easier. And so are most DAWs gantt-like editors. 100 times easier to comprehend than notation having the same not written in three different ways, and then some.
- dfltr 6d agoThe English language is messy as hell, and yet, here we are using it because it's a shared set of rules and symbols that pretty much everyone who wants to join in on this conversation already knows. Same with staff notation: If you want to communicate music to other people, learning the slightly clunky but universally-known written language is generally the way to go.
- odyssey7 6d ago> learning the slightly clunky but universally-known written language is generally the way to go A certain Amazon Web Services comes to mind…
- nwatson 6d agoThe choir director at my church, Michael Dodds (UNCSA), covers the early development of musical notation, "From Modes to Keys in Early Modern Music Theory" [0]. Currently on sabbatical at Cambridge. Once in a while during rehearsal he will give an impromptu lecture on music history, always interesting. [0] https://a.co/d/0bLcrlyE https://a.co/d/0bLcrlyE
- larodi 6d agoNo, English language is easy as sh... as piece of cake. A lot of it is marginalized French tbh, sorry, no offense, and the English in the USA is further simplified. You think tis difficult, because you never tried Russian, French, or Mandarin - then we discuss again. Had it not for the simplicity of English Language, it wouldn't be so omnipresent. So you are so wrong on this account. And I really want to see you communicate wobbling bass or fast random notes. Well you can - in Studel.cc - but is impossible in this notation. Same for complex drum sections (as in dnb, yes), and I can give you fair amount of other examples where medieval notation is useless.
- chrisjj 6d ago> On the piano there are 88 notes. 88 keys (usually) and unlimited notes.
- shermantanktop 6d agoI suppose a 1 key piano can have unlimited notes, at least until the key wears out.
- _carbyau_ 6d agoI hated Battlestar Galactica for this.
- stackghost 6d agoSuffers from the same problem that all music theory texts seem unable to avoid: they require the reader to simply accept a bunch of random facts to memorize with no context. Example: memorize the major scale as a series of whole and half steps but we won’t provide you with any context or motivation for why this is so. Similar: in a major scale all notes are played and none are skipped or repeated. Except if your scale goes D–E–F#–G, in which case you skip F. The only way for this to be correct is apparently we consider F and F# to be the same note for purposes of scales even though this directly contradicts a previous section. I was expecting a “21st century” music theory reference to have an emphasis on building intuition. Music theorists are apparently allergic to good pedagogy.
- scottious 6d agoA better way to think about it is that all letters in the musical alphabet are represented in a musical scale. Some are sharp or flat D major: D E F♯ G A B C♯ D minor: D E F G A B♭ C Db major: D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C Db minor: D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭♭ C♭
- stackghost 6d agoSure, I knew what they meant. But if they are sloppy with their terminology on the knucklehead stuff then it doesn’t bode well for the esoteric stuff to follow. My point was not to showcase my confusion, rather to reinforce the fact that music theory texts are just generally low quality, and music theory as a field seems to be okay with that.
- deadfoxygrandpa 6d agobut it doesnt say that. you paraphrased the book in a way that makes it look sloppy but it was your paraphrased version which is sloppy. if you read through the book when it defines this stuff, it introduces accidentals as "characters that can be placed before notes to raise or lower them" and then in the section on the major scale it says "All major scales use the notes of the musical alphabet in order; no notes are skipped and no notes occur twice." i dont think this is ambiguous
- SeanLuke 6d agoI dunno. On first glance, for a "21st-Century" textbook, this seems to place a high emphasis on classical music theory, and moves very highly influential modern styles to the back burner -- notably jazz. And there is essentially no discussion of music theory in other cultures (middle eastern, african, east asian, indian), nor current analysis of pop and rock music.
- aanet 6d ago> And there is essentially no discussion of music theory in other cultures (middle eastern, african, east asian, indian)... To me, that above ^ looks like the biggest gap. To be fair, the book doesn't claim to demonstrate theory of the "world music" (sic, a phrase as bad as it sounds). My (brief and shallow) understanding is that most scholars of music in the western world just do not have enough knowledge to talk intelligently about non-western genres. Exceptions exist, of course, but they are quite rare. [Other reason is that there is a lot of gate-keeping. I've seen that in Hindustani/Carnatic classical studies, FWIW, which is one my areas of interest]
- quacked 6d agoI don't understand why this standard is always applied to westerners. When we go to other countries, are they explaining all the fundamentals of western music in addition to the theories of their own? "Yeah our students in Boston don't know anything about Carnatic rhythm, but over in Bengal they all learn counterpoint and fugue before they learn the traditional ornaments"
- bluGill 5d agoI suspect given western dominance in economics others have exposure to western music traditions. I wouldn't expect exposure to traditions other than their own and western.
- analog31 5d agoIndeed, the musical traditions of western Europe and Africa, forged together in the Americas, dominate world culture. Turn on the radio anywhere in the world and you will hear the influences of jazz, rock, funk, samba, hip-hop, etc.
- sedivy94 6d agoSVG illustrations, too? Delicious! This is how an online textbook should be done. Bravo.
- zkanda 6d agoI can't recommend enough Absolutely Understand Guitar[0], it's free and taught me music theory than any course I've ever tried. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg1L-sBIxnY&list=PLJwa8GA7pXCWAnIeTQyw_mvy1L7ryxxPH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg1L-sBIxnY&list=PLJwa8GA7pX...
- simonebrunozzi 5d agoTangentially related: what would be the equivalent of this, but for learning how to play piano? "Piano learning for the 21st-Century middle age guy". Any help is appreciated! Including a device, or a service, that could be particularly useful.
- AlecSchueler 5d agoNot really a device or a service, but I'd recommend learning the names of the notes and then just tinkering around. If you notice some patterns or wonder about specific things that come up in the course of that, look it up. If your hand starts to hurt, look up what to do differently. Etc. You'll manage it quite well with that method.
- casey_lang 5d agoI've also been recommended to Open Music Theory, as a beginner to theory. Has anyone compared the two? https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/front-matter/introduction/ https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/front-matter/int...
- nomel 5d agoThe fact that the equation 440 * 2^((n-49)/12) is nowhere to be found makes me strongly disagree.
- treebeard901 5d agoThe history around how 440hz came to be the standard is pretty interesting in itself.
- salt_pine 4d ago'21st-Century' in the title is doing the work of distinguishing, not describing. An open-licensed textbook with homework is the actual novelty, and that's worth putting in the title.