CV

The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Ph.D. in Music Theory

The Florida State University

M.M. in Music Theory and Composition

Ohio University

B.M. in Music Theory

Associate Professor

George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)

Assistant Professor

George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)

Analyzing Musical Instruments: Approaches from Popular Music Studies

Co-edited with Brian F. Wright. Under contract with Palgrave Macmillan.

Open Music Theory v. 2.5

Co-authored with Mark Gotham, Kyle Gullings, Chelsey Hamm, Bryn Hughes, Brian Jarvis, and John Peterson. New version adds about a dozen new chapters, a professionally typeset PDF and eBook, and improved accessibility compliance.

Open Music Theory v. 2

Co-authored with Mark Gotham, Kyle Gullings, Chelsey Hamm, Bryn Hughes, Brian Jarvis, and John Peterson. New version adds roughly 100 new chapters to OMT version 1.

Harassment and Public Music Theory

Music Theory Spectrum 47/1.

The Common Cold: Using Data Science to Define the Winter Topic in Video Game Music

Music Theory Online 29/1. Co-authored with Evan Williams.

“Oops!... I Did It Again”: The Complement Chorus in Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys, and *NSYNC

SMT-V 7/6.

The Cultural Significance of Timbre Analysis: A Case Study in 1980s Pop Music, Texture, and Narrative

Music Theory Online 26/3.

Bespoke Music Theory: A Modular Core Curriculum Designed for Audio Engineers, Classical Violinists, and Everyone in Between

Engaging Students 7.

“What Makes It Sound ’80s?”: The Yamaha DX7 Electric Piano Sound

Journal of Popular Music Studies 31/3.

Orchestrating for Tambourine: A Timbral Guide for Conductors, Composers, and Performers

In Oxford Handbook of Orchestration Studies, ed. Robert Hasegawa. Co-authored with Michael Barranco. Forthcoming.

/r/musictheory: Making Music Theory on Reddit

In Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory, ed. J. Daniel Jenkins. Co-authored with Nathaniel Mitchell.

Timbre, Rhythm, and Texture within Music Theory's White Racial Frame

In Oxford Handbook of Electronic Dance Music, ed. Luis-Manuel Garcia and Robin James.

Timbre, Genre, and Polystylism in Sonic the Hedgehog 3

In Music and Its Unruly Entanglements, ed. Nick Braae and Kai Arne Hansen.

Timbre 2018: A Response

Journal of Popular Music Studies 31/1.

Review: The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music

Current Musicology 103.

Begging to be Seen: Beyoncé’s "Partition"

SAMPLES 22. Co-authored with Chris Kattenbeck, Sean Peterson, Holger Schwetter, and Júlia Silveira.

New Editions Program

Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA)

Open Music Theory was selected to be the pilot case for a new initiative from VIVA. This program funds a fresh round of copyediting, accessibility compliance, and PDF/eBook typesetting.

Adam Krims Award

Society for Music Theory Popular Music Interest Group

Awarded to a junior scholar for an outstanding publication. For Music Theory Online article "The Cultural Significance of Timbre Analysis: A Case Study in 1980s Pop Music, Texture, and Narrative."

Course Redesign Grant Program

Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA)

$30,000 to substantially expand an open-access music theory textbook (openmusictheory.com).

Robert K. Purks Faculty Enrichment Fund

George Mason University

$750 for conference attendance.

Provost's Curriculum Impact Grant

George Mason University

$31,000 to design a new music theory core curriculum.

Best Student Paper Award

Music Theory Southeast

I Want It That Way: Good Practices for Pop Music Pedagogy

Lecture within a mini-residency, Music Scholars Series, Utah State University. Logan, UT. April 3–6.

Layers of Meaning: Teaching Instrumentation and Texture

Oxford Seminar in Music Theory & Analysis. Virtual (University of Oxford, UK). November 21, 2023.

The Common Cold: Using Data Science to Define the Winter Topic in Video Game Music

University of Delaware. Newark, DE. April 10, 2023.
Barwick Colloquium Series at Harvard University. Virtual. March 22, 2022.
Musicology Colloquium Series at Princeton University. Princeton, NJ. April 1, 2022.
Colloquium series at Northwestern University. Chicago, IL. April 21, 2022.

Curricular Design in Music Theory

Foundational Dialogues Program at Bates College. Lewiston, ME. August 23.

Timbre, Rhythm, and Texture within Music Theory's White Racial Frame

"Ausgewählte Kapitel aus Theorie und Geschichte der Popularmusik" lecture series at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Virtual. December 9.

Timbre, Technology, and Topic Theory

Invited speaker series at Hunter College. New York, NY. October 18.

Pop Music's Non-Standard Harmonic and Formal Designs

Led undergraduate and graduate students in analysis of "Should Have Known Better" by Sufjan Stevens, as part of a larger music theory symposium designed to stimulate interest in music theory research in undergraduate students. Other leadership activities included critiquing in a music theory pedagogy workshop and student composition masterclass. Christopher Newport University Music Theory Symposium. Newport News, VA. April 6.

Instrumental Timbre and Texture in Popular Song

Timbre and Orchestration in Popular Song conference. Montreal, QC. June 5–7. Workshop.

Layers of Meaning: Teaching Instrumentation and Texture

46th Annual Meeting of the Texas Society for Music Theory. Arlington, TX. February 24. Keynote lecture.

The Timbre Is the Instrument: The Imagined DX7 and 1980s Nostalgia

Society for American Music 52nd Annual Conference. Richmond, VA. March 11–15.

EDM as Timbre Learning Lab

American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory Joint Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. November 6.

Auralayer: An Easy-to-Use Web App for Visualizing Instrumentation and Timbre

Timbre and Orchestration Interest Group meeting, American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory Joint Annual Meeting. Denver, CO. November 13. With Brian Jarvis and Evan Williams.

The Common Cold: Using Data Science to Define the Winter Topic in Video Game Music

Society for Music Theory 45th Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. November 10–13. With Evan Williams.

Using Open Educational Resources for Inclusive, Flexible, and Innovative Music Theory Pedagogy

Society for Music Theory 43rd Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. November 5–8. With Mark Gotham, Kyle Gullings, Chelsey Hamm, Bryn Hughes, Brian Jarvis, and John Peterson. Alternative-format special session.

Tracing Music Theory's (un)Shifting Frames: A Natural Language Processing Approach

Society for Music Theory 43rd Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. November 5–8. With Thomas Johnson and Evan Williams.

Diversifying the Theory Curriculum: How to Open Multiple Pathways through the Theory Core

2nd Pedagogy Into Practice Conference. Santa Barbara, CA. May 23–25. With Andrew Gades and Crystal Peebles.

From Cheesy to Chill: Shifting Popular Opinions of Digital Synthesis and the 1980s

49th Pop Culture Association and American Culture Association Annual Conference. Washington, DC. April 17–20.

A New Approach to Analysis of Timbre: A Study in Timbre Narratives and Instrumentation in 1980s Pop

Society for Music Theory 41st Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. November 1–4.

A Musicological Approach to the Analysis of Timbre

Timbre is a Many-Splendored Thing. Montréal, Québec, Canada. July 5–8.

Analyzing Sound, Analyzing Timbre

International Association for the Study of Popular Music 19th Biennial Conference. Kassel, Germany. June 26–30.

A New Approach to the Analysis of Timbre

Music Theory Southeast 26th Annual Meeting. Fort Myers, FL. March 3. Winner of the Best Student Paper Award.

“Everything’s Synth!”: The Problem, or the Charm, of the 1980s Sound

›Klang‹: Wundertüte oder Stiefkind der Musiktheorie (Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie 16th Annual Meeting). Hanover, Germany. October 1.

Following Schenker's Lead in the Analysis of Stravinsky

Music Theory Society of New York State 45th Annual Meeting (New York, NY); 5th Biennial Student Conference of the Music Theory & Musicology Society of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Cincinnati, OH).

"Oops!… I Did It Again": Max Martin's Complement Chorus

Society for Music Theory 38th Annual Meeting. St. Louis, MO. October 31.

Begging to Be Seen: Beyoncés "Partition"

International Methods of Popular Music Analysis 2nd Summer School. Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. September 18. Co-authored with Chris Kattenbeck, Sean Peterson, Holger Schwetter, and Júlia Silveira.

Rhythmic and Timbral Associations in Sufjan Stevens's "Come On, Feel the Illinoise!"

Society for Music Theory 36th Annual Meeting (Charlotte, NC); Music Theory Society of New York State 42nd Annual Meeting (Stonybrook, NY); Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, 11th Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, PA); Music Theory Forum at Florida State University 29th Annual Meeting (Tallahassee, FL).

Teaching Timbre

Analysis, Creation, and Teaching of Orchestration (ACTOR) Workshop. Virtual. July 16. Panel discussion.

The Dynamics of the Job Interview

Society of Music Theory 41st Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. November 1. Special session sponsored by the Professional Development Committee.

Music Theory and Online Discourse

Public Music Discourse: In Honor of the Bernstein Centenary. Columbia, SC. March 3. Panel discussion.

BBC Radio 6 Music

"6 Music Instrumental." Produced by Matthew Mills.

Her Music Academia

"Timbre in 1980s Pop Music." By Lydia Bangura. With Cara Stroud.

Note Doctors

"Exploring timbre within 1980s pop and beyond." By Paul Thomas, Jenn Weaver, and Ben Graf.

Time

"Why Lorde's Solar Power Is a Pop Oddity." By Andrew R. Chow.

The Washington Post

"These are the musicological reasons Taylor Swift's new album sounds dull." By Alyssa Barna.

The Economist

"Yamaha's DX7 synthesiser changed modern music." By Bill Ridgers.

It's Been a Minute

"The Cyndi Lauper Conspiracy." By Sam Sanders featuring Switched On Pop. Produced by NPR.

Switched On Pop

"The Cyndi Lauper Conspiracy." By Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding. Produced by Vox.

Sound Expertise

"Timbre and '80s Pop with Megan Lavengood." By Will Robin.

Pop Unmuted

"Max Martin and Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me Like You Do.'" By Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge. "Timbre & 80s Synth Pop." By Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge.

Associate Professor

George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).

Assistant Professor

George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).

Teaching Fellow

Brooklyn College (Brooklyn, NY). Instructor of record and course designer.

Teaching Assistant

Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL). Instructor of record.

Theory for 20th-/21st-c. music

Three units, 1) atonal music, 2) triadic post-tonality, and 3) music and media. Techniques learned include set theory, Neo-Riemannian theory, techniques of Debussy, pitch collections and diatonic modes, leitmotivic analysis, topic theory, and model composition.

Theory for Pop and Jazz Music

Teaches harmonic, rhythmic, melodic, and formal idioms of jazz and pop music. Topics include applied chords including applied ii–V progressions, mode mixture, tritone substitutions, extensions, jazz voicings, pop harmonic schemas, the blues, improvisation, pop forms, and phrasing.

Undergraduate Written Theory Core Curriculum

Beginning with fundamentals and species counterpoint, and continuing through chromatic harmony and form. Courses are centered on model composition in 18th- and 19th-c. styles.

Undergraduate Ear Training Curriculum

Beginning with simple vs. compound meters and major/minor scales and continuing through mixed/changing meters, tuplets, sight-transposition, and chromatic chords.

Analytical Techniques

Survey of diverse methodologies for analyzing a broad range of repertoires: intertextuality, set theory, serialism, phenomenological approaches to rhythm in post-tonal music, Schenkerian analysis, Sonata Theory, narrative and musical meaning, analysis and performance, harmony in pop music, lyric analysis, and timbre. Culminates in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing. Taught face-to-face, online, and blended.

Analyzing Musical Instruments

Seminar on organology (the study of musical instruments) and music analysis, an interdisciplinary subject that incorporates ethnomusicology, history, production and technology, and cultural studies, among other disciplines. Guest scholars invited to speak on special subjects. Culminates in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing. Online.

Doctoral Research Methods

Tutorial for DMA students on the research process. Topics include refining a research question, turning a question into a thesis statement, using primary and secondary resources, selecting a methodology, software tools to aid in the research process (especially Zotero), writing a literature review, writing abstracts, and organization. Face-to-face.

Analysis of Timbre

Seminar that explores the ways in which theorists and musicologists have tackled the difficult issue of analysis of timbre. Perspectives: ethnomusicology, physiology, cognition, orchestration, production and technology, identity, and genre. Repertoire is mainly popular music and 20th-/21st-c. concert music, with some study of Classical music. Guest scholars invited to speak on special subjects. Culminates in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing. Online.

Music Theory and Multimedia

Seminar on several music-theoretical approaches for the analysis of music in film, TV, and video games. Approaches studied include topic theory, identity (gender studies, race studies, disability), leitmotif, the use of pre-existing music, and harmony. Guest scholars invited to speak on special subjects. Culminates in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing. Online.

Analyzing Classical Form

Analysis of harmony, phrase structure, and large-scale form of works of the Classical era using the theories of William Caplin, James Hepokoski, and Warren Darcy. Midterm and final projects involved analysis of repertoire from marginalized composers (women; composers of color). Online.

Analysis of Post-1950 Popular Music

Survey of approaches to analysis of pop music. Topics: intertextuality, form, harmony, tonality, lyrics, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, rhythm, and rap. Culminated in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing. Taught online and face-to-face.

Graduate Theory Review

Undergraduate core theory compressed into a one-semester course. Covered diatonic and chromatic harmony, phrases, and binary form.

Analysis of 20th-c. Music

Introduction to several methodologies for 20th-c. music, including pitch class set analysis, Neo-Riemannian analysis, and serialism. Aural skills included. Culminated in a final project, an analysis of a piece of the student's choosing.

Linear Analysis

Introduction to Schenkerian analysis. Begins with metrical reductions, prolongations, and imaginary continuo and ends with binary forms. Culminates in a final project, a Schenkerian analysis of a piece from a list of approved 18th- and 19th-c. repertoire.

Soprano

Schola Cantorum, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle (Washington, DC).

Soprano

St. John the Beloved Roman Catholic Church (McLean, VA).

Soprano

Holy Innocents Church (New York, NY).

Soprano

Renaissance Street Singers (New York, NY).

Alto

New York Chamber Choir (New York, NY).

Organist and Pianist

First United Methodist Church (Parkersburg, WV).

Writing Fellow

Medgar Evers College

• Designed and taught introductory-level workshops on topics in music.
• Instilled good research practices into students by teaching them how to search for resources and evaluate them for depth and accuracy.
• Developed writing skills with students, such as breaking down a large assignment, brainstorming, organizing an essay and independently identifying grammar mistakes.
• Evaluated student writing within the context of various genres, such as analytical essays, response essays, or graduate school application materials.

Arranger, orchestrator, music engraver

• Typeset musical examples for various manuscripts and dissertations.
• Arranged familiar tunes for many ensembles, including women's choir, children's choir, solo baritone, brass quintet, jazz orchestra, and chamber orchestra.
• Collaborated with choreographers and performers to fine-tune arrangements before performance.
• Arrangements have been played by the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Nouveau Productions, and other groups.

Music Theory Examples

• Reconstruct a website that went offline earlier in the year.
• Scrape data from archive.org.
• Reorganize filesystem.
• Encode Roman numerals and other special notation with MathJax.
• Design page templates using Jekyll and Liquid.
• Front-end design using SASS and CSS.

Auralayer

• Conceptualize and test web app for visualizing timbre analyses.
• Create model analyses for demonstration.
• Front-end design using JS and CSS.

Society for Music Theory

• Extensively customize front-end design for the SMT website using CSS and HTML.
• Organize and create content on the SMT website using Drupal and YourMembership.

Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic

• Build a new MTSMA Wordpress site from the ground up, determining website layout and structure, developing a new theme, installing appropriate plugins, building custom forms with Forminator, customizing CSS, and writing documentation for use.
• Edit content for style and to conform to accessibility standards.
• Respond to member requests for improvements and updates to the website.

• Wordpress
• Drupal
• Jekyll
• Liquid
• CSS3
• HTML5

Society for Music Theory

Web Editor 2019–present
Archival Committee, 2022–2025
CV Review Session mentor, 2023
Co-Chair, Popular Music Interest Group, 2018–2020
IT/Networking Committee, 2017–2020

Music Theory Online

Editorial Board Member

Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic

President, 2024–2026
Member-at-large, 2019–2023
Web designer, 2022
Program committee, 2021

Theory and Practice

Reviews Editor

Music Theory Southeast

Program committee

Faculty advisor

Music Studies Club

Committee on Opportunity, Understanding, and Respect

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Graduate Committee

School of Music

Area Director of Music Theory

School of Music

Canvas Mentor

College of visual and Performing Arts

Director Renewal Committee

School of Music

Undergraduate Committee

School of Music

COVID-19 Online Faculty Mentor

School of Music

Faculty Lead, Online Course Development Primer

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning