In order to dismantle the white racial frame of music theory and history, textbooks and other written works on composition would have to be replaced with more modern ideologies on what composition is as a whole and not focused completely on the works of European composers; German in particular. For example, these new interpretations would focus on works and techniques from different cultures from around the world and would not be restricted to one nationality. It is crucial that the author of these texts does not share any racist, anti-Semitic or bias beliefs much like that of Heinrich Schenker, explained in the video by Adam Neely, “Music Theory and White Supremacy”. In the video, Neely describes our current understanding of composition as “…we have built music theory from the ground up with the idea that the only music worth analyzing and worth having a language of analysis for is the music that Heinrich Schenker analyzed”. Whilst none of my textbooks for composition are written by Schenker, Neely’s point is still relevant in the sense that in my first year of music, I am only learning techniques and notation from European composers. We must construct a new and improved version of composition as well as music theory etc. in order remove any bias towards specific groups of composers whether they are derived from any musical genre, they are all important in our understanding of music. While new written work is required, that is not the only thing that should be changed. There should be more classes that go in depth in regards to different cultures and their understanding of musical sound. For example, North Indian theory and perspectives that was explained in Neely’s video. To have a university music school that considers all styles of composition would be difficult but, not impossible.
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