Music Theory

The graduate programs in music theory offer comprehensive professional training in one of the nation’s largest colleges of music. Advanced classroom and online instruction in theory and analysis along with one-on-one advising and a multitude of teaching opportunities prepares students for careers as scholars and professors. UNT’s music theory faculty and graduate students are frequent presenters at regional, national, and international conferences and have published books and articles in leading journals across a spectrum of sub-disciplines with the field.

Support and Professional Experience

As teaching fellows, our graduate students receive mentored teaching experience in undergraduate aural skills and written theory. Auditions include an evaluation of the candidate’s analytical skills, sight-singing and keyboard proficiency, the ability to explain concepts clearly and diagnose student errors, and prior teaching experience.

Professional Journals and Research Assistantships

UNT is home to two specialized journals, both served by graduate research assistants.  They are the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, the only journal specializing in Schenkerian analysis, and Theoria: Historical Aspects of Music Theory.  The Center for Schenkerian Studies further houses thousands of unpublished analytical sketches, essays, letters, and photographs from early Schenkerians such as Oppel, Novack, Weisse, Forte, and Laufer.

Faculty Research Interests

Ellen Bakulina: form, meter, Schenkerian analysis, Russian music theory, Rachmaninoff
David Bard-Schwarz: music and psychoanalysis, contemporary music
Andrew Chung: experimental and avant-garde music, sound studies, continental philosophy
Diego Cubero: Schenkerian analysis, Brahms, Romantic music and philosophy
David Heetderks: popular music, post-punk, text-music relations, musical geometries
Frank Heidlberger: history of theory, 20th-century music theories, Berlioz, Meyerbeer
Timothy Jackson: Schenkerian theory, history, and practice; post-tonal linear analysis
Justin Lavacek: medieval music, counterpoint, Schenkerian analysis, Chopin
Stephen Slottow: Schenkerian analysis, American ultramodernists, Zen Buddhist ritual, French Baroque