An investigation of pedagogical methods for increasing the perceived relevance of music theory courses to undergraduate music students.

This thesis investigates three pedagogical avenues toward increasing the perceived relevance of music theory to undergraduate music students. These avenues include exploring the relation of analysis to performance, the use of questions that stimulate critical thinking by allowing multiple analytical interpretations, and the incorporation of a variety of types of assignments and musical genres into the music theory curriculum. In addition to surveying a wide range of literature on these topics, this thesis presents a three-fold assignment that addresses aspects of all three avenues.