Music Book Review: On Music Theory and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone by Philip Ewell

On Music Theory and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone
by Philip Ewell (Music 781.09 Ewe)

Discussions in the world of music theory generally go without much notice from the general public, but there is a unique backstory to this book that has reached further into the public consciousness than anything about music theory has in decades. At the 2019 conference of the Society for Music Theory, author Dr. Philip Ewell presented a keynote address entitled “Music Theory’s White Racial Frame,” and later published the full paper from which he prepared his address in their Music Theory Online journal.

 

Dr. Ewell focused on a branch of music theory called Schenkerian Analysis, named after its author Heinrich Schenker. In response, the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, a niche academic journal published through the University of North Texas’ Center for Schenkerian Studies, devoted most of their 12th issue to written responses to Ewell’s work. It’s worth noting that the editors were later found to have created this issue while ignoring many standard scholarly practices such as peer review, publishing anonymous responses, and not inviting Ewell to respond to the accusations presented. These arguments eventually grew loud enough to enter the larger culture, where they were mentioned in mainstream news outlets, and videos were produced discussing the underlying issues by social media music influencers like Adam Neely. The music theory community has continued to discuss these issues for the last few years.

 

Now Dr. Ewell has expanded his original argument into a book-length discussion of the subject, in which he is able to incorporate even more of his own experiences and background in the several years since his keynote address. Published as part of the “Music and Social Justice” series by University of Michigan Press, On Music Theory manages to speak to these larger issues on several levels: It restates Ewell’s initial argument in more detail, it addresses why we should be talking about the subject, and it makes some suggestions as to how we could proceed in a more welcoming and inclusive manner for future students of music. One chapter of the book also serves as his response to the materials featured in Volume 12 of Journal of Schenkerian Studies.

 

On Music Theory has to toe an unusual line for a music book: as a continuation of a discussion rooted in academia, the book can’t help having an academic feel in some places. These are heady conversations, both in terms of the history of music theory and the social implications of his analysis. But these are also timely and urgent issues, and Ewell has crafted a voice here that also has a conversational flow and appeals directly to readers, many of whom may not be coming from an academic musical background. This is a book that I’d recommend to a wide audience of music readers, including music students and educators, and I think it’s likely that it will become an historically important book in music literature. There are many reasons to read it, but most important of all, it may help us to do better and more inclusive music education moving forward. And Dr. Ewell isn’t just raising issues and pitching hypothetical solutions: he is presently under contract with W. W. Norton to coauthor a new music theory textbook that will put his ideas into immediate action. That book is tentatively scheduled for publication next year, and I’m excited to see where it might take us.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Silenced by Sound: The Music Meritocracy Myth by Ian Brennan, Broken Beauty: Musical Modernism and the Representation of Disability by Joseph N. Straus or Can’t stop the Grrrls: Confronting Sexist Labels in Pop Music from Ariana Grande to Yoko Ono by Lily E. Hirsch.)

 

( official Philip Ewell web site )

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Polley Music Library

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