Music Theory and White Supremacy

Summary by Krater

An exploration of how western music theory is often conflated with universal musical truths and the cultural biases underpinning its historical development.

From the video

Answers: Is music theory inherently racist and Eurocentric?

• music theory and cultural bias
• white racial frame in music education
• comparison of Western and non-Western music systems
• Heinrich Schenker and racial ideology in music
• figure bass and its historical relevance

What it concludes

• Traditional Western music theory is historically rooted in 18th-century European styles and privileges white composers.
• Figured bass and other standard pedagogical tools in Western music theory are obsolete and ineffective for analyzing non-Western or non-tonal music.
• Music theorists like Heinrich Schenker integrated explicit white supremacist and racist worldviews into their analytical frameworks.
• The institutionalization of Western music theory in academia reinforces systemic racism by dismissing the validity of non-Western musical traditions.