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Coming into Tufts, I had a wide range of interests in the arts and humanities. I was fairly certain that I wanted to be a history major, but still wanted to continue learning about music, art, and literature. Art and literature were no problem, as they overlap with history and are pretty fundamental courses in college, but I was worried about music. What I’m passionate about in music is composing, improvising, and analyzing film scores. At most universities, these classes are usually reserved for music majors, and even then it’s hard to find much about film scores in a university class. Furthermore, music theory in academia has a long history of being outdated, rigid, and impractical. Needless to say, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have options to continue studying music. 

During registration, I hesitantly signed up for a class called “Sound and Structure,” which is a mid-level music theory course that all music majors are required to take. Because of this, the class is primarily juniors and seniors who are almost all music majors. As a non-music major first year student with strong opinions on music theory in academia, I was anxious about the class. Having taken AP Music Theory in high school, I knew how restrictive the course could possibly be, and I worried myself with hypotheticals. Would I be forced to rigidly follow the four part harmony rules of the Baroque era? Would I have to ensure that every chord was diatonic? Would we only be analyzing Classical and Baroque era orchestral works?

Looking back now, after almost two months of being in the class, I realize how silly my concerns were. Every week I have learned something new that would not normally be taught in a music theory course. The class still covers basic concepts, such as simple vs complex meters, intervals, key signatures, chords, etc., but I never thought I’d be learning about spectrograms and rhythmic modulations. If everything I just wrote looks like jargon, then take me at my word that it is exceedingly uncommon to teach about spectrograms and rhythmic modulations in a music theory course. Not only do I learn new concepts each class, but I also have the ability to creatively apply them to my own compositions. The class has weekly assignments that often give me opportunities to experiment with the topics we’re covering through composition. Additionally, I am constantly exposed to new music because the professor uses examples from literally all kinds of music to demonstrate a concept. As an example, in the second week that we covered rhythm and meter, we listened to James Brown’s, I Feel Good, Tchaikovsky’s, Romeo and Juliet, John Williams’ theme for The Minority Report, and Asafovhu's War Drumming. 

My worries about being ostracized as a first year student and a non-music major were also trivial. While my peers are mostly junior and senior music majors, everyone is so musically diverse that we’re all just happy to learn from each other. The students in my class include an opera singer, a jazz saxophonist, a guitar player and songwriter, and everything in-between. This level of musical diversity, both in how the class is taught and in what my peers study, is uncommon for a fundamental music theory course, and is emblematic of Tufts as a whole. Being able to take, as a non-major, a music theory course filled with music majors that focuses on valuing all types of music, is an opportunity unique to Tufts. Additionally, after this semester I can continue my passion for music through higher level music theory courses, but also through a contemporary composition class, a film music composition class, and a music analysis class on John Williams. I’m excited that there are so many avenues to continue learning about my specific niche interest in music, even as a non-major.

Learn more about music studies: https://as.tufts.edu/music/