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| Degrees Available | About the Music
Theory and Cognition Program |
| Music Theory and Cognition Faculty |
Degrees Available
- Bachelor of Music in Music Theory
- Bachelor of Music in Music Cognition
- Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory
- Bachelor of Arts in Music Cognition
- Master of Music in Theory
- PhD in Music Theory and Cognition
About the Music Theory and Cognition Program
** NEW ** Music Theory and Cognition student Dana Strait featured on National
Public Radio!
Visit Music Theory and Cognition's privately maintained home page
What is Music Theory and Music Cognition?
 Music
theory is an ancient discipline, going back to the Greeks. Music cognition
lies at the intersection of music theory, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience.
It explores the mental processes involved in not only hearing music, but also
in performing, composing, improvising, and even remembering it. Simply put,
it tries to understand the psychological and physiological mechanisms that
allow musical experiences to take place.
The Northwestern Program
Northwestern University is a world leader in connecting music theory and music
cognition. The school's faculty is internationally known for this, and the
added resources of Northwestern's many distinguished programs in the cognitive
sciences create unique opportunities for research. Faculty and students engage
in research related to musical style, expressive performance, memory for music,
musical expectation, emotion, and creativity. Over 150 students each year participate
in a full range of classes, seminars, colloquia, and projects. Program graduates
with advanced degrees may be found in teaching positions at colleges and universities.
Double Majors/Minors
It is possible, with careful planning, to obtain the BM in both performance and cognition (double major) in four years. A minor is available for those pursuing other degree options.
Students may enter the PhD program directly after completing a bachelor's degree.
Undergraduate Program
Undergraduates develop facility in traditional areas such as counterpoint,
harmony melody, rhythm, and form. They address questions such as "How
is this music constructed?" "How do listeners respond to these musical
features?" "What features define musical style?" "What
is the basis for common metaphors used in describing music?" The program
of study also includes music history, the history of compositional technique,
and the history of explaining music.
Applicants must have a broad range of musical experiences, read music extremely
well, and be able to listen to a melody and transcribe it into standard music
notation. They should enjoy thinking about the technical details of music's
construction and preferably have had some experience with things like science
projects, AP psychology, general courses on the brain or cognition, and so
forth.
Graduate Program
Applicants must have very good skills in harmony, counterpoint and figured bass; show evidence of the ability to write research papers in scholarly English; have broad musical tastes; and freedom from restrictive dogmas. Submission of a research paper exploring some facet of listeners' responses to music is advised, and the GRE general test is required.
Students pursuing the PhD receive full tuition and a living stipend so that they may fully devote themselves to research and study.
Students may enter the PhD program directly after completing a bachelor's degree.
Read the answers to the frequently asked questions regarding this degree program.
Special Opportunities
Many opportunities exist for exchange between the program in Music Theory and Cognition and other areas at Northwestern. Some of these include the departments of linguistics, psychology, communication sciences and disorders, and the program in cognitive science.
Contact for further information:
Music Theory and Cognition Faculty
Richard Ashley
Associate Professor, Music Theory and Cognition
r-ashley@northwestern.edu - 847-491-5720
DMusA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Coordinator, music theory and cognition program. Research and publications
in music cognition focusing on expressive performance, musical communication,
and long-term memory for music. President, Society for Music Perception and
Cognition. Member, editorial board, Music Perception.
Recipient of two Fulbright grants for research in the Netherlands and grants
from National Endowment for the Humanities and U.S. Department of Education.
Recipient, Bienen School of Music Exemplar in Teaching Award. Also teaches
in the cognitive science program.
Mark Butler
Associate Professor, Music Theory and Cognition
On leave until Fall 2010
PhD, Indiana University
Previously served on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. Has received
fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin and the National Endowment
for the Humanities, as well as the Wiley Housewright Dissertation Award from
the Society for American Music. Research interests include popular music, rhythm
and meter, music and sexuality, and technologically mediated performance. Integrates
theoretical, historical, and anthropological approaches to music, with particular
emphasis on the use of ethnographic methodology to address music-theoretical
questions. Wrote Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design
in Electronic Dance Music (Indiana University Press, 2006). Currently
working on a book focusing on relationships between technology, improvisation,
and composition in electronic–music performance. Authored articles in Music
Theory Online, Twentieth-Century Music, Theoria, and Popular
Music. Classical pianist and frequent performer of new music.
Gavin Chuck
Visiting Assistant Professor, Music Theory & Cognition
g-chuck@northwestern.edu
PhD, Eastman School of Music
Research focus on the cognitive basis of musical meaning, integrating music
theory with linguistics and anthropology. Recipient, Belle Gitelman Prize for
Composition and the Ball Dissertation Year Fellowship. Presented papers at
meetings for the Society for Music Theory. 
Robert Gjerdingen
Professor, Music Theory and Cognition
r-gjerdingen@northwestern.edu - 847-491-5721
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Recent Activity
Author of numerous books,
articles, and reviews in the fields of music theory, music perception, and
18th-century musical style. Serves on the editorial boards of Music Theory
Spectrum and
the Journal
of Music Theory. Former editor, Music
Perception. Has served on the executive board of the Society for Music
Theory and the editorial board of the Journal of the American
Musicological Society.
Was Vice President for Music Taxonomy at MoodLogic, Inc., an on-line music
company in Silicon Valley, at the peak of the Internet revolution. For more
information, visit his personal
web site.
Susan Piagentini
Senior Lecturer, Music Theory and Cognition
s-piagentini@northwestern.edu - 847-491-5704
PhD, Northwestern University
Recent Activity
Coordinator, first-year theory and aural skills curriculum. Charles Deering
McCormick University Distinguished Lecturer. Continued research in pedagogy
with an emphasis on technology. Workshops and papers given at national and
regional conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, Association for
Technology in Music Instruction, Technological Directions in Music Learning,
Indiana University at IUPUI Music Technology Conference and the College Music
Society. Recipient, University Research Grants Committee and Searle Center
for Teaching Excellence grants to develop web-based materials to supplement
the undergraduate core curriculum.
Robert Reinhart
Lecturer, Music Theory and Cognition
r-reinhart@northwestern.edu
Biographical information to come.
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