Music Theory
The Music Theory track is one of the most successful in the U.S. Our graduates have accepted full-time employment at Yale, Temple, Swarthmore, Bowling Green, Ithaca College, American University, Arizona State and many other world-class institutions.
Degree Options
Graduate: MA in Music Theory, PhD in Music Theory and Historical Musicology
Undergraduate students interested in Music Theory are encouraged to pursue a BA in Music and adopt Music Theory as their advisement track.
Music Theory Highlights
Our students receive a thorough grounding in the standard disciplines, including history of theory, Schenkerian analysis, and set theory, while mastering promising new areas of research, such as Neo-Riemannian transformations, diatonic set theory, and intertextuality.
Recent doctoral seminars have addressed the music of Stravinsky, the music of Ives, and 19th- and 20th-century tonal chromaticism. Our graduates produce dissertations on topics as diverse as microtonal music by Haba, form in Takemitsu's music, harmony in Schoenberg"s Gurrelieder, and gravitational space as a metaphor for analysis.
Another central resource is the Music Library, conveniently located on-site in the music building, which has unusually strong collections in the areas of jazz, rare editions, and contemporary music. The strong contemporary music presence and distinguished musicology faculty at UB also ensure a lively, interdisciplinary community of composers, performers, and scholars.
Our Faculty
The music theory faculty at UB features distinguished scholars and musicians who blend traditional musical disciplines with a focus on fostering individual creativity. Thanks to our department’s low student-teacher ratio, students benefit from personalized instruction and close supervision, ensuring a rich and supportive educational experience.
Questions?
Contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies or Director of Graduate Studies with any music theory related inquiries.
