This group provides a unique interdisciplinary platform from which to explore the panoply of global musical traditions, both past and present, that lie outside the purview of Western art music from the broadest possible array of theoretical, cultural, historical and analytical perspectives.
Interest groups are valued by the SMT for the vital role that they play in stimulating research and dialogue within their sub-disciplines. They are considered to be independent organizations within the Society, free to determine their activities and the content of their meetings as they see fit.
Interest groups are listed alphabetically by title below.
A
The Autographs and Archival Documents Interest Group promotes scholarship that relies on sketches and other archival documents for analysis. We also support the creation of courses on this topic.
C
The focus of the Composition Interest Group is on the interaction between composition and music theory.
D
The SMT Dance and Movement Interest Group supports scholarship in the intersection of music and dance or movement by providing opportunities for the exchange of ideas and the presentation of research.
The SMT Interest Group on Music and Disability seeks to foster conversation among musicians about music-historical and music-theoretical issues related to disability, drawing on recent developments in the new, interdisciplinary field of Disability Studies.
E
The SMT Early Music Analysis Group aims to connect scholars of early music and to raise the profile of early music analysis within music's scholarly and performance communities. We foster conversations on all aspects of the analysis of early music, broadly construed.
F
The FMIG strives to create a scholarly space to stimulate and disseminate research on music (broadly understood to include sound) within film, games, and multimedia, employing well-established music analytical methodologies, as well as newly developed analytical frameworks.
G
The purpose of this group is to create a platform for scholars to research underrepresented and neglected new music from around the world, considering the dynamics of musical canonicity and marginality, as well as insider/outsider perspectives and postcolonial issues.
H
The Hip-Hop and Rap Interest Group (HHRIG) promotes the study of hip-hop through music theory and analysis.
The SMT History of Theory Interest group aims to bring together scholars interested in the history of music theory, broadly construed.
I
The SMT Improvisation Interest Group seeks to establish a space within the music-theory community for the study of improvisation, in any musical style and across disciplinary boundaries.
J
The primary objective of the SMT Jazz Interest Group is to promote scholarship in the discipline of jazz theory.
M
The Mathematics of Music Interest Group seeks to promote scholarship involving mathematical approaches to music theory and analysis.
This group studies philosophical problems in the study of music. We embrace Classical, Analytic, and Continental traditions of philosophy, expand upon the disciplines already committed to the study of music and philosophy, and reflect productively upon the core practices of musical analysis.
The music and psychoanalysis interest group acknowledges the relevance of psychoanalytic theory and practice to both the historical and analytical study of music.
The SMT Music Cognition Group (MCG) seeks to promote the study and scholarship of music cognition and it implications for music theory and analysis.
The MIG is for approaches including computer modeling, software tools for theory and analysis, music representations, new visualization techniques, optical music recognition, music databases and digital libraries, search and retrieval techniques, and electronic publishing.
The Music Notation and Visualization Interest Group (MNVIG) seeks to create a scholarly forum where research, discussion and creativity are promoted, when concerning the representation of musical sound through rendered code, staff notation and graphic scores.
The Music Theory Pedagogy Interest Group promotes the pedagogy of music theory within the SMT and serves as a conduit for all things pedagogical to the broader community of musicians.
The Musical Theater Interest Group offers a space for scholars engaging with musical theater repertoire to exchange ideas and present their research while fostering a greater appreciation for the musical.
P
The Performance and Analysis Interest Group (PAIG) exists to promote research into relations between performance and analysis and to facilitate dialogue between performers and theorists.
Founded in 1998, the SMT Popular Music Interest Group is dedicated to promoting the scholarly study of popular music through methods including musical analysis and theory.
The Post-1945 Music Analysis Interest Group is a discursive space for scholars of 20th- and 21st-century Western Art Music.
Q
The SMT Queer Resource Group (SMT-LGTB) explores issues of gender and sexuality as they pertain to music theory scholarship and to the professional lives of music theorists.
R
The aim of SMT-Rus is to discuss, promote, and engage with Russian music-theoretical traditions. This includes approaches that intersect with those studied by Western scholars, as well as areas/concepts that are unique to Russian scholarship.
S
We are a group of academics who are interested in bringing the issues of the world into our classrooms, conferences, and journals; in finding common ground in our lives as academics, musicians, and human beings; and in using our positions of power to speak up for those who have less.
T
The Timbre and Orchestration Interest Group promotes research and pedagogy with respect to timbre and orchestration in music theory, offering a platform for connection, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas, inclusive of all repertoires, disciplines, and methodological approaches.
W
WorkFam advocates for members who desire better balance between work and family life. We also seek to promote awareness concerning various challenges of balancing work with family, as well as initiate discussion on how these challenges can be resolved.