Rate My Professor Benjamin Wadsworth

Wadsworth holds a PhD in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (2008), with a dissertation titled “Dialectical Opposition in Fin-de-Siècle Music: A Model of Balance Applied to Melodic Motives, Harmonic Context, and Their Interaction”; an MA in Music Theory from the same institution (2003); and a BM in Piano Performance and Music Theory, with a minor in Organ Performance, from Oberlin College Conservatory (1998). His research interests encompass Schenkerian and tonal analysis, dialectical processes in music, form in mashups and rap flows, music theory pedagogy, and nineteenth-century music. Peer-reviewed publications include “Perceiving the Mosaic: Form in the Mashups of DJ Earworm” (Music Theory Spectrum, 2021, with Jeffrey Yunek and Simon Needle), “Schenkerian Analysis for the Beginner” (Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, 2016), “Directional Tonality in Schumann’s Early Music” (Music Theory Online, 2012), and “A Model of Dialectical Process in Berg’s Opus 1 Piano Sonata” (Theory and Practice, 2008). He co-authored the peer-reviewed open-access textbook “Aural Skills I–IV (KSU)” (2018, with Yunek) and secured a contract for “A Practical Introduction to Harmony and Improvisation” (Routledge, signed 2020, with Dariusz Terefenko). Awards and grants include two Georgia Affordable Textbook Grants ($10,500, 2017; $5,300, 2020), KSU College of the Arts Teaching Award (2021), and Research Advisory Council Professional Development Award (2021). He served as President of the South-Central Society for Music Theory (2016–2020) and contributes as a pianist, organist, choir director, and classical music journalist.