Editing Music theory (section)

===Education and careers===
[[File:Pat Carpenter picture.JPG|thumb|[[Columbia University]] music theorist [[Patricia Carpenter (music theorist)|Pat Carpenter]] in an undated photo]]
Music theory in the practical sense has been a part of education at conservatories and music schools for centuries, but the status music theory currently has within academic institutions is relatively recent. In the 1970s, few universities had dedicated music theory programs, many music theorists had been trained as composers or historians, and there was a belief among theorists that the teaching of music theory was inadequate and that the subject was not properly recognised as a scholarly discipline in its own right.{{sfn|McCreless|n.d.}} A growing number of scholars began promoting the idea that music theory should be taught by theorists, rather than composers, performers or music historians.{{sfn|McCreless|n.d.}} This led to the founding of the [[Society for Music Theory]] in the United States in 1977. In Europe, the French ''Société d'Analyse musicale'' was founded in 1985. It called the First European Conference of Music Analysis for 1989, which resulted in the foundation of the ''Société belge d'Analyse musicale'' in Belgium and the ''Gruppo analisi e teoria musicale'' in Italy the same year, the ''Society for Music Analysis'' in the UK in 1991, the ''Vereniging voor Muziektheorie'' in the Netherlands in 1999 and the ''Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie'' in Germany in 2000.{{sfn|Meeùs|2015|loc=111}} They were later followed by the Russian Society for Music Theory in 2013, the Polish Society for Music Analysis in 2015 and the ''Sociedad de Análisis y Teoría Musical'' in Spain in 2020, and others are in construction. These societies coordinate the publication of music theory scholarship and support the professional development of music theory researchers. They formed in 2018 a network of European societies for Theory and/or Analysis of Music, the [https://europeanmusictheory.eu/ EuroT&AM]

As part of their initial training, music theorists will typically complete a [[B.Mus]] or a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in music (or a related field) and in many cases an M.A. in music theory. Some individuals apply directly from a bachelor's degree to a PhD, and in these cases, they may not receive an M.A. In the 2010s, given the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of university graduate programs, some applicants for music theory PhD programs may have academic training both in music and outside of music (e.g., a student may apply with a B.Mus. and a Masters in Music Composition or Philosophy of Music).

Most music theorists work as instructors, lecturers or professors in colleges, universities or [[Music school|conservatories]]. The job market for tenure-track professor positions is very competitive: with an average of around 25 tenure-track positions advertised per year in the past decade, 80–100 PhD graduates are produced each year (according to the Survey of Earned Doctorates) who compete not only with each other for those positions but with job seekers that received PhD's in previous years who are still searching for a tenure-track job.<!--How competitive is "very"? As competitive as for, say, a position as an airline pilot?--> Applicants must hold a completed PhD or the equivalent degree (or expect to receive one within a year of being hired—called an "ABD", for "[[All But Dissertation]]" stage) and (for more senior positions) have a strong record of publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Some PhD-holding music theorists are only able to find insecure positions as [[sessional lecturer]]s. The job tasks of a music theorist are the same as those of a professor in any other humanities discipline: teaching undergraduate and/or graduate classes in this area of specialization and, in many cases some general courses (such as [[Music appreciation]] or Introduction to Music Theory), conducting research in this area of expertise, publishing research articles in peer-reviewed journals, authoring book chapters, books or textbooks, traveling to conferences to present papers and learn about research in the field, and, if the program includes a graduate school, supervising M.A. and PhD students and giving them guidance on the preparation of their theses and dissertations. Some music theory professors may take on senior administrative positions in their institution, such as [[Dean (education)|Dean]] or Chair of the School of Music.