Introduction to Analytic Techniques: T551

1. Meet M-W-F, 11:15-12:05 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 Introduction to Analytic Techniques: T551

2. 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. Requirements

3. Two orders of learning: first order (direct, experiential), second order (via another’s 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 Goethe’s statement in the syllabus, as well as Lincoln and Guba (in Naturalistic Inquiry): The trouble with generalizations is that they don’t apply to particulars. What is music theory and why do we need it?

4. 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. Theory vs Criticism

5. 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) Description - Analysis -Prescription

6. 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. Quantification vs Qualification

7. 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 Basic psychological principles of perception