Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) was an Austrian music theorist who developed a method of analyzing music in terms of structural levels and their relationship to one another (foreground, middleground, and background). Since most of the authorities on Schenkerian analysis reside in America, the proposed course is needed particularly for foreign students and faculty.

The pedagogy of Schenkerian analysis itself is complex. It is generally agreed that a teacher or facilitator is necessary in order for students to grasp the basic concepts and graphing techniques. Previously, such interaction has been difficult in any but a face-to-face arrangement with students, but with the distance learning options presently available via the Internet and related technologies, more advanced courses that require direct interaction with a teacher are now possible. Through this project I have developed a distributed learning web site to teach Schenkerian analysis to students anywhere in the world.

With the proliferation of Schenkerian theory in the US, Great Britain, Israel, Finland, for — increasingly — mainland Europe in the past quarter century, the pedagogy of Schenkerian analysis has become an important issue. Schenker himself was suspicious of textbooks with their tendency for artificial codification and over-simplification; rather, he recognized that his "New Teaching" ("Die neue Lehre") - as he and his students referred to it — would require a different, more "organic" pedagogical approach that was both personal and yet accessible to a wide audience.

New digital technologies and the Internet have made it possible to disseminate Schenker’s pedagogical approach, not through textbooks, but by adapting interactive techniques of Web-based instruction. In practice, Schenker’s "new teaching" was as organic as his theory itself - and as novel in the connections it sought to draw between the individuated disciplines of theory, musicology, composition, and performance. The interactive and multimedia components of Web-based instruction will enable us to realize Schenker’s own pedagogical approach to instruction in Schenkerian analysis.

I have created an online course with a variety of components to make learning Schenkerian analysis possible. The web page, created using WebCT (Web Course Tools), a platform for distributed learning courses, contains Schenkerian graphs (Figure 1) with explanation and study questions by celebrated Schenkerian scholar, Dr. Timothy Jackson. I have set his original graphs using a graphic notation program called Music Press. The graphs are then converted to web-ready graphics files and provide superior visual quality.

Students learn about basic graphing techniques through musical examples, and they practice applying these techniques in their assignments, which they will send via email attachment as graphics files or by FAX, if a scanner is not available to the instructor. The instructor posts the assignments in the public bulletin board area and offers criticism. "Chat" discussions are scheduled at various intervals throughout the semester. Students log onto a chatroom and discuss analyses with the instructor and the other students enrolled in the class. There are also pre-recorded videos of the instructor explaining certain concepts, and students are able to communicate with the instructor through the course communications section of the web page, including a course email account that is assigned to the student at the beginning of the term. Students post comments and contribute to the discussion, and, in this way, are evaluated for a grade. Students also complete multiple-choice quizzes that are graded automatically using WebCT software, and also take timed essay tests, submitted to the instructor on the website. All of these components will ensure that students in remote locations are able to learn Schenkerian analysis.

• The main goal of this project is to provide training — unencumbered by restrictions of time and space — in Schenkerian analysis to anyone unable to come to our campus.
• By the end of this class, students will be able to comprehend and critically examine Schenkerian graphs. They will be able to analyze pieces of music and produce their own original Schenkerian graphs using techniques and methods learned in this class.

• Syllabus
• Instructor information
• Course goals
• Class calendar
• Assignments
• Net chat "events"
• Schenkerian graphs made with Music Press, then converted to PDF format

• Students apply for admission to the University of North Texas according to the normal Center for Distributed Learning registration process.
• Net chat "events" are scheduled; students’ graphs are scanned in, posted, and discussed with students and professor in real-time.
• Students send homework assignments to professor via fax, sent as saved graphics files in email as attachments, or in the mail.
• Professor sends assignments back corrected.

There are two primary reasons for creating a distributed-learning course for Schenkerian analysis. It allows people in remote locations, who may not normally have the opportunity to do so, to learn Schenkerian analysis. Local students have the option of working at their own pace, and access to Schenkerian graphs and course materials anytime, day or night, from any computer that has an Internet connection. Through this project, Schenker’s ideas and methods are made available to students who normally would not have access to such study.