Timothy Long

Serial Project Reflection

Theory IV

Dr. Jana Pop

The analysis of Bartok’s Chromatische invention was a actually a lot of fun, I enjoyed

seeing the patterns in the numbers, this allowed me to appreciate this piece more so than if I had

only listened to it. This realm of music theory, set theory, has really caught my interest. Two

years ago in my “Music History and Literature” class, we briefly went over “set theory,” number

grids, and a few pieces composed by “set theorists,” but if I am remembering correctly, my only

thought was “this is stupid.” I am a little embarrassed to admit my shallow thoughts on this large

section of music theory, but since then my mind has changed quite a bit.

When the class first began going over set theory, I believe that I had just returned from

traveling for the school, and coming back to class felt like landing on an entirely new planet. I

felt like I grasped the concepts of “set theory” pretty quickly, but I still was unsure how the class

had arrived at such an unusual place so quickly. After a catch up meeting with Dr. Jana, my

theory teacher, I felt a little caught up but still in shock.

When the time came for the “Serial project,” I believe my thoughts were pretty prideful.

This seemed like it would be easy. After a quick introduction to “set theory” I guess I felt like a

professional theorist: but pride comes before the fall. I should have spent more time on this

project, and not pushed it off until the last second. As far as my analysis work goes, I feel good
about it, but I am not satisfied with my non musical representation. As those in my class will

soon find out, this project was thrown together, and makes sense in a way that does not make any

sense at all. Although I may be unsatisfied with MY work, this project, and the entire process of

learning set theory was a lot of fun. Because of my initial thoughts about “set theory” rising up

from ancient memories (two years prior to this class), I was unsure of the level of enjoyment I

would get out of this section of the class.

The process of learning “set theory” was very enjoyable. I am not the best at math, with

that being said, this idea of mixing numbers with music scared me a tad. I am happy to say that

not only did I understand the homework and the material covered, but I actually really enjoyed it.

Because how much this involved numbers, patterns, and relationships, doing this homework

made me feel smart, and that is a good feeling. All in all, this was fun, and who knows, I may

even become the next leading “set theorist” in the world of music: but probably not.