A Proposal for the Inclusion of Jazz Theory Topics in the Undergraduate Music Theory Curriculum

The demands of the twenty-first century require musicians to be more stylistically versatile since there are more opportunities for performance when musicians are familiar with not only classical but also jazz and popular music. Understanding the theory behind jazz and pop styles will help prepare the musicians for these opportunities. Since all music students take music theory, it is in the students’ best interest for teachers of theory to include jazz theory topics in the classical music theory curriculum. The purpose of this thesis is to propose the inclusion of jazz theory topics in the undergraduate music theory curriculum. To show how jazz theory can be incorporated into the theory curriculum, this thesis provides an example section of a theory textbook on the topic of chord-scale theory.