About

A New Approach to Music Theory presents a more inclusive and less dogmatic way to teach music theory.  Inspired by cutting edge research in music psychology, this approach engages with musics from around the world and throughout history and goes far beyond the usual obsession with tonal harmony and voice leading.  Students first learn about the parameters of music and how we label them.  They then learn how these parameters interact to create tension and resolution and hence emotional experiences.  Then they engage with higher order processes such as hierarchical structures in melody and harmony as well as large scale form.  The curriculum culminates with capstone projects that deal with composition, performance, perception, historical/cultural context, and interpretation.

Alexander “Lex” Rozin is a professor of music theory at West Chester University, having received his Ph. D. in music theory from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied with Eugene Narmour and Chris Hasty. His research combines the methods of music theory and analysis with the tools of experimental psychology. In particular, he has explored how music elicits emotional responses, how performance variables influence listeners’ perceptions, how musical expertise influences cognitive and affective responses to music, musical and affective memory, and the relationship between music and cuisine, among other topics. Along with music perception and cognition and music theory pedagogy, he also has serious interest in the music of Brahms, jazz, the history of music theory, and North Indian classical music. He has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Towson University, and Swarthmore College.

Mark Rimple is a professor of music theory and composition at West Chester University and an accomplished composer-performer whose original works incorporate the rhythmic and tonal aspects of early music and often include early instruments and techniques. As a performer, he has garnered critical notice for his interpretation of early music from national newspapers and journals including the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Early Music America, and Early Music (UK). He is a founding member of TREFOIL and a regular guest artist with the Newberry Consort and The Folger Consort.  He has appeared with Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, The King’s Noyse, Ex Umbris (at the Clinton White House), New York’s Ensemble for Early Music, Mélomanie, Pomerium, Network for New Music, Cygnus Ensemble and the GEMS production of The Play of Daniel.  He can be heard on recordings on the MSR, Bridge, Centaur, and Furious Artisans Labels.  He is a composer whose works incorporate early instruments and techniques; a Philadelphia area critic dubbed one of his choral works “nothing short of a masterpiece” and another said of the same that he “captivates with an obvious and complete understanding of early music structures.”  He recently completed a sCD of solo compositions, January:  Songs and Chamber Music of Mark Rimple including works for archlute, countertenor, viola da gamba and harpsichord.  His compositions have been performed by Parnassus, Network for New Music, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Mélomanie, and the League/ISCM Chamber Players. As a scholar, Mark has focused on early music theory, having written on the influence of Boethius on poetics, historical music composition, and modern analysis.