Repertoire for Music Theory?

Why do most Music Theory textbooks and anthologies used today predominantly address the music of European male composers from the 18th and 19th centuries?

Is this phenomenon similar to the “Great Books of the Western World” concept, which assumes that a person would be educated if they had read a list of “Classics?”

Where do instructors find music to analyze and perform written by composers from different ethnicities, genders, and styles to illustrate musical concepts?

Is an adequate amount of music by diverse composers accessible in the public domain, if publishers have not collected and distributed it?

Why not include non-western music in the curriculum and indigenous music from around the world, including Latin American, African, Asian, and Indian?

Our American tradition is rich with unique musical styles: Jazz, Blues, Ragtime, and wide range of multicultural popular music.  How does much of this escape the theory classroom?

To what degree should we reduce the influence, remove, or replace the models currently embedded in the curriculum, if at all? (Bach, Beethoven, Bartok, et al.)

The Music Theory teaching community will need to address these questions.

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