[Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory

[Joel Galand]

Dear List:



I am quite sure we are all aware that many music departments  offer graduate studies in music theory under the general umbrella of the Ph.D. in Musicology.  As Jane points out, it is best to list the degree as it appears on the transcript.  The title and a brief description of the dissertation, a record of courses taught, letters of recommendation--all of these should be enough to demonstrate a theory specialization.



At my university, administrators are very strict about using national CIP (Classification of Instructional Program) codes to determine teaching credentials.  It seems that this is in response to accrediting agencies--most universities are accredited by one of four national agencies--also becoming fussy about this.  Our agency, SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), has been especially strict.  We just passed our accreditation, but some better-known universities were placed on probation at about the same time, and proper credentialing was often an issue.  (I won't mention those universities here.)



Conveniently enough, a single CIP code, namely 50.0902, covers "Music History, Literature, and Theory."  If you have a doctorate in theory or history or musicology, you can teach any courses in these areas, because all of these degrees share a CIP code.   Degrees in Composition and Theory also share a (different) code.



In other areas, though, these codes have created a headache for us.  For example, at many universities, ours included, music literature courses (e.g., "Piano Lit," "Art Song Lit") are offered by the applied departments--the musicologists or historians often have nothing to do with these courses.   Because of the CIP codes, I have had, in my capacity as Academic Affairs Chair,  to write special justifications, providing "alternate credentials," so that, for example, a faculty member with a graduate degree in voice, could be allowed to continue teaching vocal literature.



Have others of you run into similar administrative snafus?



Best,



Joel



Joel Galand

Associate Professor of Music Theory
Assistant Director for Academic Affairs
School of Music
Florida International University
________________________________
From: smt-talk-bounces at lists.societymusictheory.org [smt-talk-bounces at lists.societymusictheory.org] on behalf of Ildar Khannanov [solfeggio7 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2010 8:00 PM
To: smt-talk at lists.societymusictheory.org; jclendinning at fsu.edu
Subject: Re: [Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory

Dear Jane and the List,

I have to apologize for constantly comparing what is going on in the field with what I went through in my undergraduate studies in Moscow, which I call, jokingly, a musical Gulag.
I know that it is unfair.

I agree that the situation is such that anybody can teach theory. As for the other way, you are right:
"Teaching anything of substance beyond the basics is another matter. . . "

You are also absolutely right that we cannot and should not expect our students to know anything about music theory. One of my colleagues at Peabody told me during my first year: "Do not assume anything!" Paradoxically, even if a student somehow has mastered good skills and knowledge, I have to disregard this and keep teaching on a lower level.

Dr. Yuri Kholpov in 1982 taught a class of freshmen in theory. I was among them. He did assume everything: if a student could not write a modulating prelude in large ternary form, he assumed that this student has failed his or her previous training. If someone was not able to write down a three-part dictation in the style of Max Reger, it was student's failure, 100 percent. Why would he assume that the student had to be perfectly prepared? Because he knew very well that there were pre-Conservatory colleges (Utchilishche) with 4 years of intensive training in theory and nobody would be accepted to the conservatory without the Utchilishche Diploma. So, if a student would fail after all these 4 years, it meant that he or she is delinquent.

I am very optimistic about what we can do together, as a community of teachers and as the society. There is something to discuss and I suggest a discussion.

Best,

Ildar Khannanov


--- On Sun, 11/21/10, Jane Clendinning <jclendinning at fsu.edu> wrote:

From: Jane Clendinning <jclendinning at fsu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory
To: smt-talk at lists.societymusictheory.org
Date: Sunday, November 21, 2010, 10:31 AM


Colleagues,



I would like to pick up on elements that Ildar raised.  He correctly notes: “For a comparison, nobody outside the clarinet community can teach clarinet at a college level. It is out of question.”  Yet most beginning clarinetists begin their study (in the US at least) taught by someone who is likely not a proficient performer on clarinet—they are taught by band directors, whose main instrument likely is a brass instrument or percussion, or perhaps, if a woodwind instrument, it would be saxophone.  Students coming into our universities who audition in on clarinet likely already play better on their instrument than the person who first taught them does!



The oddity about university teaching of music theory and history is that, for most students, we have to start with the most elementary elements . . . and cannot assume any sort of specific preparation on the part of our incoming students.  Compared to the performance areas where students must pass an audition to show at least some training and skill, students often come into the university with NO prior training in either music theory or music history—a problem lamented often among those teaching music theory at the university level (indeed, there was a recent stream of conversation on smt-talk about this issue).  As far as what they know about music theory, many students can’t read music notation, and have very little idea about nomenclature for even basic elements of western music, such as meter and pitch--basic skills normally taught in a music fundamentals or rudiments class.  There are quite a few members of SMT who have been working on improving the teaching of music theory in high schools (and their feeder schools at the elementary and middle school level) through the AP Music Theory programs, where high school students are taught basic music theory; the quality of these courses depends on the training of teachers, and some of us are working to improve that also.  This type of program is helpful for students who have access to it, because they should have command of the basics and an introduction to content in first year university theory curricula, and be ready to review this material and move on to more advanced content, while others (who may be very talented performers) will have little or no background in the basics and little or no aural training.  Those very basic elements potentially could be taught well by anyone who knows how to read notation, even as beginning clarinet techniques are taught by music educators who know the basics but are not expert performers, and in many university settings, the basics of notation reading are taught by music theory graduate students, or by faculty who are not trained as music theorists.  Teaching anything of substance beyond the basics is another matter. . .



 . . . and all the more reason for universities to hire persons (no matter what their degree name) who have intensive training in and deep understanding of music theory and who are active in music theory circles (which means they have a way to continue learning) to teach music theory content beyond the most basic.  Our incoming undergraduates often have much content to catch up on, to develop the foundational theory and analytical skills they should have prior to graduation with a degree in music, and need teachers who can help them make up for lost time on these content areas.



Jane Clendinning



Jane Piper Clendinning

Professor of Music Theory

Florida State University

College of Music

Tallahassee, FL 32306-1180

Office phone:  850-644-3424 to leave message

Email:  jclendinning at fsu.edu

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