The Theory Behind It

Let's Argue: Theory Pedagogy Edition, Part 1

In this two part episode, Adam pits Livi and Seth against each other in a new edition of Let's Argue. This time around we're discussing opinions on the teaching of music theory. Topics include cadential V chords, teaching Schenkerian analysis to undergrads, and a heck of a lot about modes.

Oursatz Meets Taylor Burks!

Hey, everybody! Sorry for the delay, but we've got a very special episode for you today: our interview with percussionist Taylor Burks! In this episode, we talk about band pedagogy, a work Taylor commissioned and performed, Taylor's review of Ye, and the various impressions Adam can do.
 
Disclaimer: we recorded this before Kanye West's fresh appearance and public comments, otherwise we would not have brought it back up.
 
Expanse and Retrospect, by Caleb PickeringTaylor's Instagram

Three Articles, Part 3 (Duinker)

In this, the final part of the Three Articles series, Adam presents an article discussing chord progressions and tonality in pop music. Ben Duinker writes about how chordal loops can increase ambiguity when locating tonic and that we should consider bitonality or "hybrid tonics" when thinking about pop music.
 
https://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.19.25.4/mto.19.25.4.duinker.html

Seth's Hodgepodge

In a thematic sequel to Borrowing in Pop Music, Seth returns with more examples of topics and allusions in pop music. After that...it gets a little weird. Hope you're prepared to hear our takes on things that stopped being relevant over 3 months ago when we recorded.
Talking points include Childish Gambino, the Modern Family Cinematic Universe, Tiger King, and Game of Thrones.

Three Articles, Part 2 (Beavers)

This week we discuss Jennifer Beavers' article "Beyond Mere Novelty: Timbre as Primary Structural Marker in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major". We talk about timbre as formal quality, the place of timbre in analysis, and a bit about the music of Ravel. There is a brief shout-out to theremins. 
https://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.19.25.4/mto.19.25.4.beavers.html

Oursatz Meets Ryan Connors!

This week we got the opportunity to interview Ryan Connors from Dynamo. After we talked about their album in Three Albums, Part 2, we reached out and got the chance to talk to Ryan. We had lots of great discussion about Dynamo's album Celina, improvisation, and the differences between academically trained and self-taught musicians.
Please check out the episode where we talked about their album, as well as the album Celina itself before listening to get the most out of this episode!
Ryan's Instagram
Dynamo's Facebook

Three Articles, Part 1 (Bleij)

We decided to each read an article from the Music Theory Online journal and discuss it with each other. This week Livi tells us about Barbara Bleij's article 'Three Multifaceted Compositions by Wayne Shorter: “E.S.P.,” “Infant Eyes,” and “Virgo”'. We talk about jazz theory, finding tonic, and a little about set theory too. There's a link to the article here in the description
We're going to space these article episodes out, so next week we hope you will be excited for our first ever interview!
 
Three Multifaceted Compositions by Wayne Shorter

Let's Argue: Music Theory Edition, Part 2

Alright, if you listened to last week's episode, you know that Seth's diabolical plan to use music theory to destroy a friendship likely didn't work, mostly because Adam and Livi generally agreed the whole time.
But that doesn't mean part 2 of the debate will be any less juicy. What is the most important element to analysis? Is minimalism anti-Schenker? Did we keep an accurate score of the points? Find out in part 2!