Introduction to Analytic Techniques: T551

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Introduction to Analytic Techniques T551

• Meet M-W-F, 1115-1205
• Please be on time so that classes will not be
  interrupted
• Please be prepared so that we can have dialogue
  not just monologue
• This will be an essentially paperless class,
  meaning that handouts will be limited. Most
  information is available at www.music.indiana.edu
  /som/courses/t551/t551.htm

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Requirements

• readings, written assignments, exams, paper
• Weekly reading assignments will be listed on the
  Web site Do before class sessions
• Will use email as a main communication medium
  outside class. If you do not have an email
  account, get one immediately.

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What is music theory and why do we need it?

• Two orders of learning first order (direct,
  experiential), second order (via anothers
  description). Second order gives you the
  theoretical means to abstract from a particular
  situation and apply the principle to a range of
  other situations. (Diana Laurillard, AAHE
  Bulletin, Sept 96)
• Theory is generalization. Heed both Goethes
  statement in the syllabus, as well as Lincoln and
  Guba (in Naturalistic Inquiry) The trouble with
  generalizations is that they dont apply to
  particulars.

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Theory vs Criticism

• Theory provides a point of departure.
  Investigating sonata form in a particular piece
  presumes a general notion of what sonata form is.
• Criticism is piece-specific. It pertains moreso
  to discovery and accounts of what makes a piece
  unique and interesting.

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Description - Analysis -Prescription

• Description An account of what happens, often
  like a box score in sports
• Prescription Prescribing relationships that are
  generally unverifiable (e.g., much 12-tone
  analysis
• Analysis lies precariously between description
  and prescription (E. T. Cone)

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Quantification vs Qualification

• Nearly any phenomenon can be quantified, but
  often quantified relationships cannot be verified
  (prescription)
• But neither is it sufficient merely to write or
  talk about what one feels. It is true that art
  without feeling is unappealing and that too much
  analysis leads to paralysis. But it is
  indefensible for an educated musician to rely
  simply on intuition without seeking causes.
  Analysis practiced correctly helps to elevate
  intuition to cognition.

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Basic psychological principles of perception

• Gestalt laws (See Leonard Meyer, Emotion and
  Meaning in Music)
• Prägnantz The prevailing organization will be as
  good as conditions allow
• Corollaries
• Good continuation Once begun, a pattern will
  tend to continue in its original mode
• Completion and closure the human mind seeks
  completeness, stability, and rest
• Examples a drum cadence, Stravinsky Octet theme,
  Bach-Geminiani themes