Exploring the hidden curriculum: diversifying gender representation in music theory pedagogy

Abstract

This project critically examines the Western music theory pedagogical canon through a feminist lens in order to highlight the effects of underrepresentation in music theory textbooks and anthologies. I build on Philip Ewell’s research of the seven most frequently sourced U.S. music theory textbooks to show how the most common musical examples used in theory texts primarily consist of works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. By interrogating the hidden curriculum of music theory pedagogy from a critical and feminist lens, I reveal the ways in which women are consistently undervalued in the current pedagogical canon. Because the erasure of women from textbooks is detrimental to the professional development of women in the field, this thesis emphasizes the necessity for gender diversity in pedagogical material. This project presents and analyzes excerpts composed by women with an eye toward increasing diversity in music pedagogy: these excerpts should be used as supplemental musical examples that can be integrated into pedagogical instruction at the university level. Ultimately, I aim to offer a new approach to theory pedagogy that incorporates diversity and inclusivity in the music that we study and teach.