Introduction
While students in core undergraduate theory courses often analyze brief musical examples, analyzing complete pieces (Alegant 2014) and multi-movement works (Ripley 2020) can lead to deeper learning for students. In this article, I outline a pedagogical approach that emphasizes pieces by diverse composers and promotes deep learning through recurring engagement with a complete piece, or “touchstone,” to which students apply each concept they learn during a course. I discuss criteria for effective touchstone pieces, suggest possible touchstones for Theory I–III, and share analytical highlights of the repertoire I recommend.
Before proceeding further, I would like to clarify my use of the term “touchstone.” I do not intend to imply that the pieces I call touchstones are somehow superior to the other pieces I share with students, or that these pieces become standards against which other examples are judged. Rather, I envision each touchstone as a venue for students to synthesize the concepts they learn in the “real-world” context of a complete piece of music. Just as second-language instruction uses new vocabulary in context to deepen understanding, teaching theory through touchstones similarly clarifies and enriches students’ learning.
How touchstones work
I select a touchstone piece for each course from Theory I to Theory III. Students first encounter new concepts through examples from other pieces before applying what they learn to the touchstone piece in an ongoing synthesis of course material. By revisiting the piece throughout the course, students reap the benefits of spiral learning (Lang 2016) as they revise their previous analytical observations in light of new information. As noted by Michael Rogers (2004, 153), “[t]he structure and content of music theory are beautifully arranged for this spiral-learning or disguised-repetition approach….” Although some existing music theory curricula employ spiral learning, as seen, for example, in Jane Piper Clendinning and Elizabeth West Marvin’s (2020) The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis, I developed my approach to teaching through touchstones while working within a curriculum that did not emphasize spiral learning. This pedagogical approach can contribute to an existing spiral-learning method or supplement a curriculum that features a different method. In addition to the benefits of spiral learning, touchstone pieces may foster curiosity and intrinsic motivation by inviting students to explore complete compositions in the low-stakes environment of ungraded class activities (Pulfrey, Darnon, and Butera 2013; Chamberlin, Yasué, and Chiang 2018).
Each course uses a single touchstone piece that functions like the refrain of a rondo form. Explaining the touchstone’s role in framing the course, I introduce the piece to students on the first day of class. We come back to the piece approximately every two weeks to apply each new topic. Finally, we revisit the touchstone on the last day of class to reflect on how students’ understanding of this piece has grown because of what they learned during the course. I distribute a copy of my annotated score at the end of the semester so students can see how I dealt with ambiguous passages and catch up on any aspects of the analysis that they missed.
While most of our analysis occurs during class, I occasionally ask students to do some preparatory work on their own. Calling on students to share their answers at the next class provides formative assessment and accountability for students’ engagement with the piece without adding the pressure of summative assessment, or increasing my own workload, by grading students’ work. We sometimes spend up to half of a fifty-minute class period engaging with the piece. On most occasions, however, we briefly revisit the piece when we have a few minutes to spare at the end of class or between other activities.
Choosing effective touchstones
Effective touchstone pieces meet several criteria, as outlined in Figure 1. Most importantly, touchstone pieces must demonstrate all, or nearly all, of the main topics of the course and sound interesting enough to revisit frequently (Monahan 2018). Touchstones should also be manageable in scope—typically two to three pages long. I prefer to keep the piece short enough for students to spread the single-sided pages out on their desks and see the entire piece at a glance, facilitating analytical comparisons between different sections. While the content needs to be appropriate for students to analyze at their current level of study, this does not preclude the possibility of choosing a piece that foreshadows topics covered in future courses. In terms of instrumentation, I recommend piano compositions, or occasionally those for voice and piano, that can be played by instructors whose primary instrument is not piano. This enables flexible use of the piece during class and opens the door for recomposition (Hoag 2013) and other applications of “pedagogical pianism” (Callahan 2018) while maintaining a comfortable texture for students to analyze.
Figure 1: Criteria for effective touchstone pieces.
Suggested repertoire for touchstones
It can be challenging to find repertoire that meets the criteria listed above. To streamline the process for instructors who would like to try teaching with touchstones, I suggest nine possible touchstone pieces: three for each course from Theory I through Theory III. Rotating among the three pieces during subsequent offerings of the course keeps repertoire fresh for each cohort of students and reduces the likelihood of students sharing analyzed scores with peers who are a semester or two behind them in the theory sequence. A list of pieces and associated course topics appears in Figure 2. The pieces for each level are listed alphabetically by composer last name.
Figure 2: Repertoire suggested for touchstone pieces.
Analytical highlights of a piece from each level appear in Examples 1–3. Example 1 shows the opening eight measures of Florence Price’s “Ticklin’ Toes.” While most of the piece is diatonic, this excerpt provides a bonus opportunity for Theory I students to examine the harmonic effects of the highlighted stepwise bass descent in mm. 1–6. Syncopation enlivens the right-hand melody.
Example 1: Florence Price, Three Little Negro Dances, No. 3, “Ticklin’ Toes,” mm. 1–8.
In Example 2, the first eight measures of Amy Beach’s “Gavotte” present a parallel period that features clear cadences and a cadential six-four chord. When analyzing this piece, Theory II students also encounter a tonicization of the dominant with its secondary leading-tone chord.
Example 2: Amy Beach, Children’s Album, Op. 36, No. 2, “Gavotte,” mm. 1–8.
Example 3 shows an excerpt from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “She Sat and Sang Alway,” with text by Christina Rossetti. The Neapolitan chords that set the recalled song of the speaker’s lost love in mm. 51–52 give Theory III students an opportunity to explore interactions between the text and music of this song.
Example 3: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Sorrow Songs, Op. 57, No. 4, “She Sat and Sang Alway,” mm. 43–54.
In addition to the pedagogical benefits I have already mentioned, touchstone pieces provide opportunities to highlight work by composers from historically underrepresented groups (Hisama 2018; Malawey 2020). Advocates for greater diversity in theory pedagogy recognize the potential benefits—such as increased engagement and reflection of students’ identities in the curriculum—for future generations of musicians while acknowledging the challenge of finding appropriate pieces to share with students (Palfy and Gilson 2018; Stroud 2018). The time required to find and analyze music by diverse composers can be significant for instructors, who also confront the problem of tokenism when deciding how to incorporate this repertoire into the curriculum.
Of the nine pieces I suggest as touchstones, four are by women composers (Beach, Chaminade, Lang, Price) and three by composers of color (Coleridge-Taylor, Miguéz, Price), with one piece bridging both categories. Using touchstone pieces by diverse composers can mitigate the risk of tokenism by giving each piece a prominent position in the curriculum through repeated engagement during the course. It is important to note, however, that incorporating a touchstone piece by a diverse composer is not enough to single-handedly diversify the music of a course. Emerging resources to help instructors find musical examples by diverse composers include Music by Women, the Composers of Color Resource Project, Expanding the Music Theory Canon, and the Institute for Composer Diversity. A broad variety of pedagogical resources also appears in Melissa Hoag’s (2022) edited collection Expanding the Canon: Black Composers in the Music Theory Classroom, reviewed by Rachel Mann (2023).
Sample touchstone analysis
By way of illustration, I share my analysis of a piece I recently used as a Theory II touchstone: Cécile Chaminade’s “Idylle,” Op. 126, No. 1, which was published in 1907. This ternary-form piece illustrates each of the primary course topics for Theory II (listed in order of coverage):
second-inversion triads
motives
cadences
small forms
non-chord tones
diatonic seventh chords
introduction to secondary-function chords
We revisit the piece to conclude our exploration of each topic; for instance, once we have studied cadences and practiced identifying them in several other pieces, students return to the touchstone to analyze its cadences before proceeding to study small forms. An analyzed copy of the score appears in Example 4, and annotated excerpts pertaining to each topic are available as supplementary materials. Because of the close correspondence between the two A sections, the following discussion refers to both as a single section.
Example 4: Cécile Chaminade, Album des Enfants, Book 2, Op. 126, No. 1, “Idylle.”
This piece includes all four types of second-inversion triads that students encounter in Theory II: cadential, passing, pedal, and arpeggiated, with several chords belonging to more than one category. The most intriguing second-inversion triad appears in m. 13. At first, the disjunct leaps in the bass line seem to disqualify this I6/4 chord from being any of the standard types of second-inversion triad. However, students soon realize that this is a passing six-four chord with octave displacement. For aural reinforcement, I play the passage both with and without octave displacement so students can hear the underlying smooth voice leading of this passage.
The entire right-hand melody of the A section reflects the motive from the first four beats of the piece. Rhythmically, this motive remains the same in each of its appearances. Melodically, the motive consists of a descending three-note run followed by a leap whose ascending motion is balanced by a descending step. The size of the leap—and, in some cases, its direction (e.g., m. 11)—varies. Transpositions and fragmentation of the motive are common. Once students learn about non-chord tones a few weeks later, we refine our discussion of the motives we previously identified. For example, the opening run includes a passing tone, and several of the most dramatic leaps from the middle of the motive involve appoggiaturas (e.g., m. 9).
The A section comprises two eight-measure phrases, each of which is a 2+2+4 sentence. The continuation of each sentence includes fragmentation and can be analyzed as a nested 1+1+2 sentence. Identifying the type of cadence in m. 8 is sometimes challenging for students, since the left hand’s glancing arrival on B before falling to G raises the question of whether to prioritize notes on the downbeat when analyzing chord inversion—making this a I6 chord and, therefore, an inverted IAC—or to follow the lowest-sounding note in the chord, making the chord a root-position I within a PAC. Prioritizing analytical consistency with other cases in which the lowest-sounding note of a chord appears off the beat (e.g., m. 22), we eventually conclude that this tonic chord is in root position. When discussing the form of the A section, I ask students to consider whether the two eight-measure phrases, both of which end in PACs, can form a period. This question sparks a discussion of tonal hierarchy, with students concluding that a PAC in the tonic key is stronger than a PAC in the dominant. I also point out that the left hand’s brief arrival on B at the downbeat of m. 8 undermines the rhetorical strength of this PAC, reinforcing our analysis of the A section as a parallel period with a modulating antecedent.
Diatonic seventh chords appear frequently throughout the piece. Tendency tones resolve conventionally—chordal sevenths resolve down by step, and leading tones resolve up—showing students how principles of voice leading extend beyond chorale-style part-writing exercises. While most of the piece is diatonic, several chromatic chords introduce students to applied chords and other chromatic harmonies. The A section includes a secondary dominant chord, V6/5 /IV (m. 11), whose resolution to IV is delayed by a chromatic appoggiatura. A viiø6/5 /V (m. 31) prepares the dominant arrival that concludes the B section and heralds the return of A. Two common-tone diminished seventh chords emerge in the B section (m. 21 and m. 23), providing opportunities to highlight both the smooth voice-leading that surrounds these neighbor chords and the way the chords tonicize notes from their respective chords of resolution.
Pedagogical extensions of touchstones
Touchstones can adapt to pedagogical contexts beyond Theory I–III. For example, touchstones may be scaled down to a single page for a course in music fundamentals or scaled up to a concise multi-movement work for students enrolled in Form and Analysis. Instructors of post-tonal theory courses may choose to adopt a separate touchstone for each main unit (e.g., one piece for post-tonal centricity and another for atonality). While the repertoire I suggest in this article reflects a curricular focus on Western art music, I encourage instructors to select repertoire that reflects their curricular foci and the needs of their student populations. For some courses, instructors may draw touchstones from Western art music; for others, non-Western musics or genres such as pop, rock, or country may supply more effective touchstones.
Aural skills courses can also incorporate elements of teaching with touchstones. A possible ear-training application might consist of an ongoing transcription project with elements of dictation (e.g., notating the primary melodic theme) and aural analysis (e.g., listening to a recording and using time stamps to mark the locations of cadences and other aspects of form). Sight-singing applications could follow Brian Alegant’s (2018) approach to teaching post-tonal aural skills through a small number of challenging pieces from the repertoire which students explore and work to master in performance.
Another possible extension of this method is to have students choose their own touchstones to analyze during the course. In most cases, however, I do not recommend this. Because we primarily explore the touchstone piece during class, the potential for meaningful group discussions would diminish if each student analyzed a different piece. It is also likely that students in their first few semesters of music theory would choose pieces that do not illustrate enough course topics to be effective touchstones. (In a more advanced course such as Graduate Theory Review, it might work well to let students choose their own touchstones. These experienced students would be more likely to select appropriate pieces and may be more motivated to apply course concepts when studying their applied repertoire.) To emphasize the relevance of music theory for students’ own specializations in music, I frequently encourage undergraduate students to analyze and present selections from their applied repertoire for a final course project. I expect these pieces to demonstrate some, but not all, of the topics we cover. Our shared touchstone piece thus provides scaffolding that prepares students to explore the repertoire they will later choose for their analysis projects.
Conclusion
Touchstone pieces give students opportunities to solidify their understanding of course concepts by applying each new topic to the same composition. In so doing, students create a concise resource for future study, grapple with the complexities of a complete piece of music, and revise their previous analytical observations through spiral learning. By analyzing touchstone pieces, students can deepen their understanding both of specific course topics and of music analysis in general. Teaching theory through touchstones can help students retain the information they learn, prepare students to relate what they learn in music theory courses to their applied repertoire, and inspire students to engage in music analysis throughout their careers in music.
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