From the Margins: What Music Theory Doesn't Want You To Know

In this episode, we talk about disentangling (or conflating) the ART versus the ARTIST and how to deal with such challenges in our daily lives. For example, we talk about JK Rowling, Schenker, Alma Mahler, Richard Wagner, Chris Brown, and Dr. Luke, and ways in which we navigate teaching, reading, performing, programming, buying, and listening to their work ... or choosing NOT to engage with it. Of course, there is no single one right answer that will work for everybody, but there is a single wrong answer: to do/say nothing.

"Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor." - Ginetta Sagan.

This episode features clips from Zoe Keating's "The Path," Ethel Smyth's Der Wald, and Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)".

Submit your questions, comments, or gossips to our office hours box at: www.from-the-margins.com/question-box !

In this episode, we talk about perfect pitch, aural skills (as always), and our experiences at different shapes of institutions: squares, circles, triangles, and chevrons. (You'll have to listen to the episode to find out what these shapes mean! ⭐️) Kasey and Kaitlyn both went to small liberal arts colleges and we both currently teach at a large R1 institution, so we have lots of thoughts about pros and cons of both. Finally, at the end, we reflect on the best of both worlds, and strategies we'll take with us for the future for good teaching.

This episode features clips from Britney Spears's "Toxic" (both the original and the instrumental cover by the Midnite String Quartet), Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A." and Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds."

You can also find us at our website from-the-margins-com and on instagram @fromthemarginspod and in the Eugene Weekly last month!

In this episode, we discuss issues with our comprehensive exams, solutions, and the possibility of getting rid of them altogether (!!!), through the lens of abolition.

To learn more about abolition, we recommend reading:

Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?
Angela Davis et al., Abolition. Feminism. Now.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ejeris Dixon, Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement.
Derecka Purnell, Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom.

This episode uses brain break music: "School of Rock" (2003).

You can find us at our website from-the-margins-com and on instagram @fromthemarginspod and in the Eugene Weekly recently!

UPDATE: We were in the news this week! Go check out the article at Eugene Weekly. (Thank you to William Kennedy!) 

In this episode, we talk about where music is heard: from fancy concert halls to pop concerts to the farmer's market to hiking trails. With input from our students, we also talk about barriers to accessing these concerts, like funding, transportation, and etiquette expectations, as well as the role of phones, social media, and recording in today's day and age. We also talk about music as community building, and the relationship between ASMR, headphones, and intimacy.

This episode uses clips from Gwenno Morgan's "samhain - orchestral version" and an instrumental version of "Stick to the Status Quo" from High School Musical  (written by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg).

You can always find us at our website from-the-margins.com and our instagram, @fromthemarginspod!

In this episode, we talk about one of our favorite musical topics: vocal timbre and identity! We use examples from the Superbowl - "The Star Spangled Banner" - as well as our own in-progress dissertations - Disney Princesses and Chappell Roan respectively. We also do our best to answer a question in office hours, "what makes someone a queer icon?" and suggest some lesson plans for vocal timbre, available on google docs here!

This episode includes clips from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's "Kiss the Girl" (a karaoke version from Youtube), Jon Batiste's "Star Spangled Banner" from the Superbowl (2025), Chris Stapleton's "Star Spangled Banner" from the Superbowl (2023), SOPHIE's "Immaterial" (2017), Mandy Moore's "When Will My Life Begin" (Tangled, 2010), and Chappell Roan's "Picture You" (2023).

Don't forget to check out our website at from-the-margins.com and our instagram, @fromthemarginspod!

In this episode, we ask and answer pedagogy questions in the spirit of becoming better teachers, sharing ideas, and best supporting students! Questions include:

(1) I have great content but my students are drooling on themselves. What do I do? 

(2) It's 2025 and I'm embarrassed that my syllabus still has so many dead white male composers. (AKA I'm taking over this syllabus from someone else.) Where do I start to diversify my teaching? See our blog at from-the-margins.com for resources! 🎉 

(3) I have a difficult relationship with a professor. What do I do? 

(4) I’m new to teaching and I’m feeling stressed and nervous. How do I start?

Stay tuned for our next episode about vocal timbre and identity!

This episode features clips from the Vitamin String Quartet's "bad guy" (original by Billie Eilish), Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club," and Doechii's "DENIAL IS A RIVER."

In this episode, we continue talking about who gets to belong in both music academia and popular music genres, including Dolly Parton, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Mickey Guyton, Florence Price, and Mari Esabel Valverde. Lesson plans, links, references are all available on our blog, from-the-margins.com - check it out!

Stay tuned for our next episode, "Dear K & K (pedagogy edition)," coming in mid-February!

This episode features clips from Florence Price's "Summer Moon" and "Clouds," both performed by Lara Downes; Mickey Guyton's "Black Like Me," four versions of "Jolene" by Dolly Parton, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé; Price's "Sympathy," performed by Joshua Stewart and Deirdre Brenner; and Mari Esabel Valverde's "Border Lines," with text by Yesenia Montilla and performed by the Adams State University Chamber Choir and Marc Eaton, guitar.

Border Lines

Text by Yesenia Montilla

Music by Mari Esabel Valverde

"Maps: for Marcelo" Copyright © 2017 by Yesenia Montilla. Originally Published in Poem-A-Day on 28 March, 2017 by the Academy of American Poets. Used with Permission of the Author. Music Copyright © November 2017 by Mari Esabel Valverde (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Performance by Adams State University Chamber Choir and Marc Eaton, Guitar.

In this episode, we talk about structural inequities in two music academies: higher education and the popular recording industry. We ask, "who gets to belong?" in both spaces (hint: racial and gendered hierarchies affect both!) and reflect on our own experiences as music theory grad students. All of our links and references are available on our blog, from-the-margins.com - check it out!

Stay tuned for part 2, featuring case studies from each academy: music by Florence Price and Beyoncé!

This episode features clips from Florence Price's "Dream Ships," accompaniment performed by All Things Piano, and Beyoncé's "TEXAS HOLD 'EM."

Who are we? In this episode, we chat about who we are, what Thanksgiving sides we are, and how we got here. Tune in to learn more about your co-hosts, Kasey and Kaitlyn!

Welcome to our new pod, From The Margins: What Music Theory Doesn't Want You To Know, a podcast party where we gossip about music theory’s deepest, darkest secrets… and you’re invited! 🎉

Our "Who Are We" preview episode drops January 1, and our first full episode, "A Tale of Two Academies," drops January 15. Join us for some laughs, some seriousness, and some piping hot tea coming soon!

This trailer features clips from Zoe Keating's song "Optimist."