Music Theory Pedagogy: An Examination of Ideological and Methodological Assumptions that Shape Current Praxis in Undergraduate Tonal Music Theory Instruction in the North American Music Academy, and the (possible) Turn Toward a Scholarship of Teaching tha

Of all instructional domains in undergraduate music studies, pedagogical practice in music theory is most misaligned, as evidenced in normative practice that transmits bounded, narrow and repeated discourses in subject content and method. Many of music theory's instructional practitioners are marginally informed with respect to currents in music scholarship and in broader inquiry, and principles of effective teaching practice are not acknowledged or linked systemically to curricular aims and methodological approaches within the domain.;The research focus examines gaps in teacher knowledge, discipline content, scope of inquiry, and in student learning within the current norms of practice, prompted by lack of meaningful inquiry in the classroom. The approach to this complex of problems is interdisciplinary and draws initially on three relevant and overlapping spheres of thought: matters of historical contextualization and ideology pivotal to the constitution of music theory as a disciplinary domain [Chapter 2]; theories of musical unity and the potential influences of a "critical theory of musical meaning" (Cook 2001) and a scholarly paradigm shift (Popper 1963) on music theory instruction [Chapter 3]; and the possible adoption of a critical pedagogy that could engage learners meaningfully, transform discourse, and destabilize ideologies or sites of power in music theory instruction [Chapter 4].;Relative isolation from other domains within music scholarship and from other disciplines in the arts and sciences reinforce that there is no established means by which constitutive dimensions, clarified for all academic fields, can be articulated for music theory instruction [Chapter 5]. A possible avenue for re-conceptualization of music theory pedagogy is proposed by shifting pedagogical practice to the edges of the domain, to liminal space between the polarities of music theory and cultural musicology [Chapter 6], where responsible and ethical inquiry leads change by responding critically to the tradition, and theory -- no longer a means of instrumental and ideological control -- acts as a dynamic vehicle for mediating experience in the classroom.;This project examines the current state of tonal music theory pedagogy with a view to transforming purpose and improving teaching practice. The project initiated out of a dual concern: 1. that tonal music theory instruction is not connected with modes of music research inquiry in other discipline fields or in other domains of music study, or with advanced scholarship in music theory and analysis; and 2. that general practices of teaching music theory are weak pedagogically and ill-informed with respect to best instructional practices within and outside of music scholarship.