Music Theory Area
Evolve your understanding of music.
The LSU School of Music offers rigorous music theory programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Our faculty comprises leading scholars in the fields of twentieth-and twenty first-century music, music of the American experimental and avant-garde traditions, pop and metal music, theory pedagogy, music and mathematics, transformational theory, Soviet/Russian music, and linear analysis.
- Our undergraduate curriculum – integrated across multiple degree programs within the School of Music – is designed to strengthen our students’ analytical skills and musicianship through intensive studies in tonal harmony and counterpoint, form and analysis, chromaticism, and post-tonal theory.
- Our graduate programs – offered at the master's and doctoral (PhD) levels – offer intensive studies in areas of music theory that prepare students for further specialized study and scholarly and academic careers, respectively. The graduate curriculum includes a varied pedagogical methodology, including flipped classroom learning, multimedia resources, and in-class performance to help our students integrate classroom knowledge and knowledge acquisition skills with performance craft.
A culture of close collaboration with the School's programs in musicology, composition, and digital media offer a variety of unique pathways for our students to pursue their scholarship and development goals. Graduate assistantships are also available on a highly competitive basis.