Music Theory at UBC

Music Theory Courses at the UBC School of Music

Music 100 (3) Principles of Musical Form: Fundamental materials and processes of music - rhythmic, melodic, textural and harmonic - and how they create small-scale structures in a variety of styles. Compositional and analytical applications.

Music 101 (3) Diatonic Harmony and Voice Leading: Harmonic and linear functions of diatonic chords; common progressions and sequences; introduction to tonal hierarchy and prolongation; simple modulation. Compositional and analytical exercises. Prerequisite: MUSC 100.

Muisc 103 (3) Introduction to the Theory of Music: Concepts of rhythm, pitch, timbre, and texture. Notation and aural recognition of rhythmic and pitch patterns. Basic principles of melody and form. This course is not applicable to the B.Mus.

MUSC 104 (3) Introduction to Diatonic Harmony: Triads, key and elementary harmony in Western music. Elements of musical form. Aural training and exercises in composition, modeled on historical styles. Not for credit in the B.Mus.

Music 105 (1) Musicianship I: Sight singing; melodic and harmonic dictation; rhythm production; error detection; tuning; perception of harmony, form, and tonality; improvisation in set idioms. Restricted to B.Mus. Students. Information about challenge exams for Music 105 click here.

Music 106 (1) Musicianship II: Continuation of MUSC 105. Restricted to B.Mus. students. Prerequisite: MUSC 105. Or placement examination. Information about challenge exams for Music 106 click here.

Music 200 (3) Chromatic Harmony and Voice Leading: Harmonic and linear functions of common chromatic chords; mixture; chords and progressions of linear origin; tonal plans. Compositional and analytical exercises. Prerequisite: MUSC 101.

Music 201 (3) Musical Forms: Study of various forms in tonal music and the rhythmic, melodic, textural, and harmonic processes that create them on small and large scales. Compositional and analytical exercises. Prerequisite: MUSC 200.

Music 205 (1) Musicianship III: Continuation of MUSC 106. Restricted to B.Mus. students. Prerequisite: MUSC 106. Information about challenge exams for Music 205 click here.

Music 206 (1) Musicianship IV: Continuation of MUSC 205. Restricted to B.Mus. students. Prerequisite: MUSC 205. Information about challenge exams for Music 206 click here.

Music 300 (3) Compositional and Analytical Approaches to the Music of Modernism: Modernist art-music techniques established before 1950 and their later developments, with projects in analysis, compositional exercises, and training in related listening, sight-singing and score-reading skills. Prerequisite: MUSC 201.

Music 301 (3) Compositional and Analytical Approaches to Music Today: Technical and stylistic perspectives on contemporary art music and popular and world music idioms. Exercises in composition and production. Training in related listening, sight-singing and score reading skills. Prerequisite: MUSC 300.

Music 413 (3) Contemporary Art Music: Theory and Analysis: A technical approach to the diverse concert-music repertoire since 1950, including orchestral, chamber, solo, and electro-acoustic genres. Applicable theories of pitch and rhythm, with reference to composers' own writings. Prerequisite: MUSC 301.

For information about admission requirements and registration please contact our admissions department.

Special Projects

Transformational Theory

Music Analysis through New Media

Faculty Members Teaching in the Music Theory Division

William Benjamin, Ph.D. (Princeton), Professor

Alan Dodson, Ph.D. (Western Ontario), Assistant Professor

Brandon Konoval, D.M.A. (University of British Columbia), Sessional Lecturer

Richard Kurth, Ph.D. (Harvard), Professor and Director, School of Music

Kenneth Morrison, Ph.D. (University of Washington), Sessional Lecturer

Robert Pritchard, D.M.A. (University of British Columbia), Assistant Professor

John Roeder, Ph.D. (Yale), Professor

Current Graduate Students

Robin Attas (Ph. D year 3)
Fiona Chow (M.A. year 2)
Scott Cook (Ph. D year 4)
Jonathan Easey (M.A. year 1)
Margaret Fay (M.A. year 1)
Daniel Goldberg (M.A. year 2)
Nancy Murphy (Ph. D year 1)
James Palmer (Ph. D year 1)
Rebecca Simpson-Litke (Ph. D. year 5)

Recent Theses and Dissertations

Prudence Leung. "Analytical Approaches to György Kurtág's 'Three Old Inscriptions for Voice and Piano', Op. 25." M.A. thesis, 2009.

Claire Arthur. "Cooperation and Other Unifying Processes in Elliott Carter's Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux Trilogy." M.A. thesis, 2008.

Mustafa Bor. "A Theory of Contour Reduction and Hierarchy for Pitches and Durations in Post-Tonal Music." Ph.D. dissertation, 2008.

Stephanie Lind. "Replicative Network Structures: Theoretical Definitions and Analytical Applications." Ph.D. dissertation, 2008.

Scott Cook, "Triadic Transformation and Harmonic Coherence in the Music of Gavin Bryars," M.A. thesis, 2006.

Kristine Eggertson, " 'Where is the Meter?': An Investigation of Rhythmic Process of Björk's Music," M.A. thesis, 2005.

Robin Attas, " 'That's the Way I Groove': Repetition and Meaning in Ani Difranco's Evolve," M.A. thesis, 2005.

Gordon Dale Fitzell, "Time-Consciousness and Form in Nonlinear Music," Ph.D. dissertation, 2004.

Rebecca Suzanne Simpson, "Harmony and Voice-Leading in Music by Philippe Gaubert: Innovation in a Traditional Context," M.A. thesis, 2003.

Stephanie Kathleen Lind, "John Weinzweig's Woodwind Quartet: A Study in Compositional Development and Serial Methods," M.A. thesis, 2003

Laurel Jeanne Parsons, "Elisabeth Lutyen's Music Drama The Numbered: A Critical-Analytical Study," Ph.D. dissertation, 2003.

Ross Braes, "An Investigation of the Jeux de Timbres in Claude Vivier's Orion and His Other Instrumental Works of 1979-80," Ph.D. dissertation, 2003.

Jeffrey James Hennessy, "Partition lattices in the music of Milton Babbitt," M.A. thesis, 2002.

Joy Evangeline De Vito, "Forms of Stability and Instability in Schoenberg's String Trio, op. 45," M.A. thesis, 2002.

Patty Pei-Hua Wu, "Span Structure in Robert Schumann's late works," M.A. thesis, 2002.

Andreas Metz, "Large-Scale Tonal Issues in Maurice Ravel's Histoires Naturelles," M.A. thesis, 1999.

Karen Jane Dick, "Interacting Foreground and Middleground Structures in Berg's Altenberg Lieder, opus 4, nos. II and III," M.A. thesis, 1997.

Thomas William Evdokimoff, "Fluctuating and Suspended Meter in Selected Passages from Arnold Schoenberg's Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Opus 15," M.A. thesis, 1997.

Lynn Marie Cavanagh, "Tonal Multiplicity in Schoenberg's First String Quartet, op.7," Ph.D. dissertation, 1996.

Glen Edward Ethier, "A Methodology for the Analysis of Melodic Accent in Renaissance Sacred Polyphony," Ph.D. dissertation, 1996.