Ithaca College

In the latest issue of GAMUT: Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, Matthew Santa reviewed Professor Timothy Johnson's FOUNDATIONS OF DIATONIC THEORY: A MATHEMATICALLY BASED APPROACH TO MUSIC FUNDAMENTALS (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2008).

According to the review, Dr. Johnson's book not only accomplishes "its stated goals, but it does so in such a masterful way, and with such a refreshing approach, that after reading it, any course on music fundamentals, music and mathematics, or diatonic set theory taught without its perspective would feel incomplete." The review also praises the book's "approach based on self-discovery" and "thought-provoking exercises." The review concludes by noting that the book "encourages students to think critically--a most desirable quality in a text" and that "if Johnson's Montessori-style approach is contagious among the next generation of textbook authors, the benefits to theory students and instructors alike could be enormous."

Dr. Johnson will teach an Ithaca Seminar, Musical Shapes--Mathematical Models, using this textbook in the fall. He previously taught a similar Ithaca Seminar, Numbers and Notes, and a School of Music Freshman Music Theory Seminar using this textbook as well. Dr. Johnson was invited to give a guest lecture on April 24 on material drawn from the book at the Sophomore Seminar in Mathematics in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Ithaca College.