The Society for Music Theory (SMT) is an American organisation devoted to the promotion of music theory

Music theory

Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

 as a scholarly and pedagogical discipline. It currently has a membership of over 1200, primarily in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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The Society was founded at a meeting of scholars at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 on 19 October 1977, largely as a result of 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. Prominent amongst its aims, therefore, was the promotion of the idea that music theory should be taught by theorists, rather than composers, performers or music historians. Since its foundation, the society has had a significant impact in many other countries, leading to the establishment of similar societies in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the Netherlands, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 and Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

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Amongst its current activities, the Society publishes two peer-reviewed journals: Music Theory Spectrum

Music Theory Spectrum

Music Theory Spectrum is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It is the official journal of the , and is published by University of California Press in Berkeley, California. The journal was first published in 1979 as the official organ of the SMT, which had...

and Music Theory Online

Music Theory Online

Music Theory Online , or MTO, is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It is the online journal of the , which also publishes the print journal Music Theory Spectrum....

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