#OfferPeace

Dr. Rumsey's MT149 Class #OfferPeace Project

University of Michigan SMTD · Fall 2020 Semester

About

The pandemic created unprecedented obstacles in all of our lives this school year. Collectively, we agreed that we can use this time to do things a little differently while students attend courses remotely, in many time zones, and, in some cases, half-way across the world. Along with the rest of our society, the field of Music Theory is growing in positive directions, and unified by our Music Theory Writing Skills I remote course this term, this is our collective response to some of these changes through our own stories.

Inspired by The Peace Studio's 100 Offerings of Peace Campaign, our Music Theory class invites you to enjoy our semester final projects, or Peace Offerings. At the beginning of the term, our class was tasked with redefining what Music Theory can mean for a 21st-century artist-citizen who is engaged in a rapidly-changing world. Each of the links below will take you to a short experience that is guided by each student's goals, passions, and interests. There are musical performances, thoughtful essays, new compositions, and more, and each student's Peace Offering includes a Daily Peace Action, something small, tangible, and achievable that we can all do in our lives to create peace for ourselves and offer peace to others.

The projects posted here are those who agreed to share their Peace Offering publicly, as some elected to share their Peace Offering elsewhere and in their own way. Together, we are motivated and guided by The Peace Studio's mission: "We believe that peace is about the small, daily actions we choose to take to show compassion, kindness, and love towards others. It’s about pursuing justice, protecting human rights, and helping those facing hardship, oppression, or other adversity."

And now, we share with you our musical voices and knowledge of Music Theory to #OfferPeace. We hope you enjoy our projects and are inspired to create peace in your own life!

What does Music Theory mean to us?

Synthesized responses from in-class and online discussion topics:

Music Theory is a wholistic (objective and subjective) study of any creative use of sound, how it works, where it comes from, how it makes us feel, and why the music makes us feel that way, regardless of era, genre, or origin.
We recognize that Music Theory has outgrown a purely technical approach to Western classical music and should include innovative analysis, creativity through composition and improvisation, scholarly citizenry, and discussions about marginalization and oppression.
We learn Music Theory so that we can learn from the art we love. There is so much to learn from our favorite artists and how they put together their music. To that end, Music Theory expands our scope of music and helps us become better listeners, performers, composers, teachers, artists, and humans.