SMT PEER LEARNING PROGRAM: Music & Emotion: A Semi-Practical Approach

Led by Arnie Cox (Oberlin College & Conservatory)

Questions concerning music and emotion naturally lead to specialized inquiry, which in turn can present a challenge for interested scholars whose specialties lie elsewhere. This workshop responds to this situation by exploring a framework that is synoptic in scope and adaptable to various purposes within scholarship and teaching. One of two foundational steps involves balancing the traditional emphasis on pitch and duration with attention to the roles of timbre and spatialization. Another involves identifying a set of general processes whereby the sonic details and relevant performance actions shape what listeners feel, think, and otherwise do, as individuals and as groups. The repertoire-neutral design of the framework can be adapted to specific repertoires and performance practices, integrated with specialized research, and/or applied within various levels of inquiry ranging from undergraduate courses for majors and non-majors to professional scholarship.