GTA

2004 Indiana University
Graduate Theory Association
Biennial Symposium
Ford Hall, IU School of Music, Bloomington, IN
February 13-14, 2004

Symposium Information:

The Indiana University Graduate Theory Association held its Thirteenth Biennial Music Theory Symposium on Friday and Saturday, February 13 and 14, 2004, on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Elizabeth West Marvin of the Eastman School of Music.

 

Schedule of Events:

Friday, February 13, 2004

5:30-6:30 - Registration

6:30-6:40 - Opening Remarks

6:40-7:40 - Paper Session #1: Philosophies of Music Theory and Analysis         

Megan Schindele, Session Chair

  • Dr. Carl Wiens, Nazareth College: "What Are We Hearing in Music Analysis?: Listening as a Creative Act"

  • Beth Yip, University of New Mexico: “Dialogue and Dimensions of Meaning: An Approach to Music Analysis in the Real World”

7:40-8:00 - break

8:00-9:00 - Paper Session #2: Theory and Performance                                                                       

Matthew Boyer, Session Chair

  • Lic. Phil. Marjaana Virtanen, University of Turku (Finland): “Relations of Works and Performers: Musical Interaction in the Rehearsals of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerti”

  • Elena Konstantinou, University of Reading (UK): "In Search For a 'Voice': Nikos Skalkottas at the Piano"

9:00 - Reception for Symposium participants, M242 (in the Simon Music Center)

 

Saturday, February 14, 2004

8:00-9:00 - registration, Continental breakfast for Symposium participants

9:00-10:30 - Paper Session #1: Recent Trends in Theoretical Research                                                      

Trina Thompson, Session Chair

  • Joy Ollen, Ohio State University: “Rhythmic Commonalities Between Speech and Music: Agogic Contrast in French and English Themes”

  • Patrick Budelier, St. Ambrose University: "Elliott Carter's New pATH: Lines, Spaces, and Retrouvailles"

  • Stanley Kleppinger, Indiana University: "Tonal Shifts and Structure in the Finale of Copland's Third Symphony"

10:30-10:50 - break

10:50-12:30 - Paper Session #2: Expanding the Canon                                                                                

Min-Jung Koh, Session Chair

  • Andrew Scott, York University (Toronto): "“Forward Motion in an Improvisation by Miles Davis: A Galperian Reduction and Analysis of ‘So What’”

  • Robert Keller, Florida State University: " Mapping the Soundscape: Variation Form in Electronic Dance Music”

  • Victoria Malawey, Indiana University: "“Cover Emulation to A Simple Desultory Philippic: Paul Simon’s Borrowing of Bob Dylan’s Music”

12:30-2:00 - lunch

2:00 - Session #3: Keynote Address                                                                                                          

Amy Engelsdorfer, Session Chair

  • Dr. Elizabeth West Marvin, Eastman School of Music: "Absolute Pitch Perception and the Pedagogy of Relative Pitch”

Following the keynote address, there will be closing remarks and a reception in M242.

For all you opera lovers, the IU Opera Theater is presenting Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe at 8:00 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center, next door to the Simon Music Center. There is a special discounted price of 10% for one ticket for each conference participant showing his/her name badge on Saturday evening. Click here to learn more about this particular production, the opera department at IU, and ticket information.

 

 

Keynote Address:

Absolute Pitch Perception and the Pedagogy of Relative Pitch



        This paper takes as its point of departure comments made by music cognition researcher Ken'ichi Miyazaki, who hypothesizes that early acquisition of absolute pitch (AP) actually suppresses children's ability to learn relative pitch, since it is much easier for them simply to rely upon their AP ability.  Miyazaki thus recommends a kind of "remedial" ear training program for AP listeners to learn relative-pitch skills. This paper proposes such a program for music majors with AP.  It reviews what we know from music cognition research about AP listeners' abilities and inabilities, then describes pedagogical activities for aural skills classes that develop relative-pitch (RP) listening strategies.  These activities are appropriate for all students-not just AP listeners-but are particularly designed to address AP weaknesses:  they avoid pitch naming whenever possible, substitute functional rather than absolute labels for all musical elements, de-emphasize piano timbres, develop improvisation skills based on functional tasks, and focus on facility in all keys including those with "black-note" tonics.


Click here to see some photos from the twelfth annual symposium. 

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This page maintained by Amy Engelsdorfer - last updated July 31, 2005 .