Music Theory

Music theory, the study of the principles governing musical composition, is undergoing a transformation through computational approaches. Current research focuses on developing algorithms and models, such as coupled hidden Markov models and temporal convolutional networks, to automatically analyze musical features like harmony, rhythm, and meter, often achieving high accuracy comparable to human experts. This computational lens allows for objective quantification of musical structures and aesthetics, informing both theoretical understanding of musical syntax and practical applications like automated music generation and analysis tools. The resulting advancements promise to enhance music education, composition, and the broader field of music information retrieval.