Welcome to the Perception of Compositional Structures webpage!
(MUTH654 / MUMT 615 / MUCO636)
Course Description
This course focuses on the interaction between music theory, compositional structure, and music perception. By critically comparing literature in music theory and music perception, we will investigate questions such as: What is the purpose of a musical theory? What is the goal of a compositional framework? What aspects of musical structure can be perceived, and how do our perceptual capabilities relate to theoretical and compositional objectives? Throughout the course we will return to these fundamental questions as they apply across various compositional paradigms (e.g., counterpoint, serial composition) and theories of musical organization (e.g., sonata theory, Schenkerian analysis, set theory).
see complete course syllabus here
see course reading list here
Final Group Experiments
Be patient! Some experiments may take a while to load in your browser! Be sure to read instructions carefully.
- Haydn vs Mozart
- Melodic Tension Experiment
- Perception of Melodic Similarity
- Testing a Perceptual Model for Chordal Complexity
- Meter and Mystery Factor
Final Papers
For your interest, the final papers resulting from the above experiments are presented below.