Recent Publications

(2015). Hacking the Music Theory Classroom: Standards-Based Grading, Just-in-Time Teaching, and the Inverted Class. Music Theory Online.

PDF Source Document

(2014). Probe Tone Method. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by William Forde Thompson. Sage Publications: Los Angeles, California. 981-2.

Preprint Project

(2014). Rating Scales. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by William Forde Thompson. Sage Publications: Los Angeles, California. 930-2.

Preprint

(2014). Schema. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by William Forde Thompson. Sage Publications: Los Angeles, California. 981-2..

(2014). Tonal Pitch Space. Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by William Forde Thompson. Sage Publications: Los Angeles, California. 1131-2.

(2013). Flipping the Classroom: Three Methods. Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy.

Project Source Document

Recent & Upcoming Talks

Backbeat Placement Affects Tempo Judgments
May 23, 2018 9:30 AM
MusCan 2018
Slides Project

Recent Posts

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Last updated on 5 min read tech

Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy all things geeky and nerdy. Part of that is my never-ending quest to find the most efficient, most ethical, and most future-proof software for my work. These three things are often at odds. I thought I would take a moment to document my current workflow. It will be interesting (to me, at least) to come back to this in the future to see how my opinions have inevitably changed.

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Last updated on 2 min read tech

Over the holidays, Jillian and I took the plunge into hi-fi, and bought a new stereo and turntable.1 It’s something that we’ve wanted for a long time, but never really considered until we were relatively permanent in our location. The world of hi-fi is a little intimidating, especially regarding vinyl. Nevertheless, fidelity aside, I’ve found that playing physical vinyl records, or even CDs, forces me into a more engaged act of listening than when I stream music.

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Last updated on 4 min read personal

This evening Jillian asked me if I remembered what happened two years ago today. Somehow it had totally escaped me. Two years ago, Trudy had a seizure. And then she had another one at the doctor’s office. And then another one in the ER. It was one of the scariest times of my life. It was the week before classes started. We were in the children’s ER in Miami, and I kept getting badgered by one of the admins at work about setting up the theory placement exam for auditioning students.

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Last updated on 2 min read personal

I started playing hockey again last year. I’m so grateful that Jillian encouraged me to start playing again when we moved back to Canada. It had been close to 20 years since I played any kind of organized hockey. I’d skated a few times over the years, but I can’t remember the last time I even owned skates. Thankfully, I learned to skate when I was 4 or 5 years old, and you don’t lose those skills (entirely, anyway).

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Last updated on 3 min read music

In an effort to promote the discovery of new music (something I’ve resolved to do myself), I thought I’d share a few albums released somewhat recently. If you follow me on social media at all, most of these should come as no surprise (sorry). Below are several painfully and unfairly short reviews. Maybe I’ll get around to writing longer ones sometime in the future. Vulfpeck, Thrill of the Arts (2015), The Beautiful Game (2016) Vulfpeck is a funk band from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Research

Music Theory Pedagogy
Music Cognition

Teaching

Teaching is central to my interests. Every semester I meet students with vast, disparate musical interests and aspirations. My students bring with them a variety of experiences and learning styles that require a multi-faceted, student-centered pedagogy. As a teacher and mentor, I aim to provide students with the tools to become better musicians, to think critically about music, and most importantly, to become curious and independent learners.

Before starting my current position, I taught at Florida State University, The University of Western Ontario, Ithaca College, and The University of Miami. I have taught the full-range of core undergraduate music theory and aural skills courses, as well as graduate courses in music theory pedagogy, readings in contemporary music theory, and the analysis of popular music.

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