Note Doctors

Note Doctors is a podcast all about music theory and music theory pedagogy. Each episode features an interview with an innovative music theory instructor. The podcast is hosted by three university theory instructors: Paul Thomas, Jenn Weaver, and Ben Graf.

Episode 86: A conversation with Philip Ewell

Ben and Paul (Jenn unfortunately had technical problems getting on the call) welcome onto the show Dr. Philip Ewell, professor of music theory at Hunter College of the City University of New York and author of "On Music Theory." We have a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation with Phil on Russian string pedagogy, the experience of black classical musicians in Europe, and what the future might hold for our current students studying classical music.

10-21
47:13

Episode 85: We're back!

Paul, Jenn, and Ben are back after a wee bit of a hiatus. They discuss the evolving challenges they face in academia and the expanded responsibilities that have come with their growing roles at their respective universities, while still finding joy in their work—and yes, they're still teaching music theory!

09-29
27:16

Episode 84: Frank Lehman - Analyzing Film Music

We are thrilled to kick off our fifth season by interviewing Dr. Frank Lehman, Associate Professor of Music at Tufts University. One of the premiere theorists in the area of film music, Frank shares with us about his latest book "Film Music Analysis", how he uses this genre in the theory classroom, and admits his adoration for the music from the Rings of Power.

09-16
57:55

Episode 83: Summer Book Club - What the Best College Teachers Do (Chapter 7 and Epilogue)

Paul, Jenn, and Ben finish our summer-long bookclub by discussing the last two chapters of Ken Bain's "What the Best College Teachers Do."

09-02
41:21

Episode 82: Summer Book Club - What the Best College Teachers Do (Chapters 5 & 6)

Paul, Jenn, and Ben continue our summer-long bookclub by discussing chapters 5 and 6 of Ken Bain's "What the Best College Teachers Do." We discuss how the best teachers conduct class and treat their students and Jenn also drops a couple highly quotable quotes.

08-19
39:29

Episode 81: Summer Book Club - What the Best College Teachers Do (Chapters 3 & 4)

Paul, Jenn, and Ben continue our summer-long bookclub by discussing chapters 3 and 4 of Ken Bain's "What the Best College Teachers Do" and how the best teachers prepare to teach and what they expect of their students.

08-05
42:00

Episode 80: Summer Book Club - What the Best College Teachers Do (Chapters 1 & 2)

Paul, Jenn, and Ben begin our summer-long bookclub by discussing the first two chapters of Ken Bain's "What the Best College Teachers Do."

07-22
37:04

Episode 79: 2024 Summer Shorts 2

In this summer short, Paul flies solo - giving an in-depth breakdown of the Note Doctors theme music. Hang on tight as Paul digs into funky bass lines, the fifth mode of the melodic minor scale, and even a little Neo-Riemannian theory.

07-08
21:28

Episode 78: 2024 Summer Shorts 1

Paul, Jenn, and Ben kick off our series of summer shorts by recapping some of the highlights from the past Pedagogy into Practice Conference.

06-24
27:01

Episode 77: Live at Pedagogy into Practice

Listen in on Paul, Jenn, and Ben's panel discussion "Conversation's in Music Theory: More than just talking" from the 2024 Pedagogy into Practice Conference.

06-10
52:50

Episode 76: Brian Jarvis - New ways of approaching form and timbre

Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Brian Jarvis, Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Texas at El Paso, about his work in creating new and engaging ways to visually represent musical form and timbre, specifically his programs BriFormer and Auralayer.

04-22
01:12:55

Episode 75: Favorite Christmas-themed music theory examples

Paul, Ben, and Jenn celebrate the season (and being done with the semester) by sharing the Christmas songs they like to use as examples in the music theory or aural skills classroom. Songs include Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Greensleeves, and This Christmas.

12-22
29:34

Episode 74: Brent Auerbach - Reining in pitch and pitch-class motives

We are back with our second episode produced in collaboration with the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy! Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Brent Auerbach, professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, about his upcoming JMTP article entitled "Reining in Pitch and Pitch-Class Motives: Restrictive Rules for Improving Analytic Outcomes in the Tonal Theory Classroom."

12-11
01:10:17

Episode 73: Jennifer Shafer England - Writing in the theory classroom

We are back with another episode produced in collaboration with the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy! Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Jennifer Shafer England, assistant professor at Montana State University, about her upcoming JMTP article entitled "One Bite at a Time: Writing in the Theory Classroom."

11-27
53:24

Episode 72: Remembering Dr. Gene Cho

In this special episode, Paul, Jenn, and Ben remember the late Dr. Gene Cho. An Emeritus Regents Professor of Music Theory at the University of North Texas who impacted the lives of many music students over his more than four decades-long teaching career, Paul, Jenn, and Ben share their own memories and recount the numerous lessons they learned from Dr. Cho.

11-13
35:57

Episode 71: Catrina S. Kim - Teaching music theory ethically

Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Catrina S Kim, Assistant Professor of Music Theory at UMass Amherst, about how we can reframe university directives of antiracist and decolonized curricula in order to create a more holistic and ethical music theory pedagogy. We also want to note that in the conversation, the described learning outcomes from Jason Hooper’s Theory 1 class were drawn from or inspired by work by Jesse Stommel, Claire Hay, and Neil Postman.

10-30
01:09:53

Episode 70: Brent Ferguson - Video game music and gamifying the theory classroom

Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Brent Ferguson, Lecturer in Games Sound and Music at Brunel University London, about how he uses video game music examples in his teaching and his most successful strategies for gamifying the theory curriculum.

10-16
01:08:36

Episode 69: Stephanie Venturino - Developing online materials for pre-college theory

Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Stephanie Venturino, assistant professor of analysis and musicianship at the Yale School of Music, about her work in developing online pre-college materials for the AP Music Theory curriculum.

10-02
01:05:31

Episode 68: Sean Powell - The ideology of competition in school music

Paul, Jenn, and Ben talk with Dr. Sean Powell, Professor of Music Education and Chair of the Division of Music Education at the University of North Texas, about his new book "The Ideology of Competition in School Music."

09-18
01:00:41

Episode 67: Nancy Rogers - Sight-singing books and strategies for success

Paul, Jenn, and Ben kick off season 4 by welcoming onto the podcast Dr. Nancy Rogers, Professor of Music Theory at Florida State University. Co-author of the popular textbook "Music for Sight Singing", Dr. Rogers explains the process of curating such a collection and provides practical advice for teaching aural skills.

09-04
01:09:46

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