Let me be clear. Music theory is an insular academic discipline, but things are getting better as the topics get more rigorously codified and generally accepted in academia. But no one knows better than us music theorists the extent of the problem that persists in the traditional paradigm. Imprecise language causes disagreements among theorists over the most rudimentary topics. At a more advanced level, the lack of an axiomatic approach to analysis leaves students and professionals to the judgement of their own opinions.
And opinions are dangerous. Dangerous because they are not the result of rigorous proof, which can only be achieved through a set of axiomatic principles from which all propositions can be ultimately forged. This is what music theorists should think about in today’s day and age.
I have. For a year and a half. And I am only a little closer than I was when I began. I cannot divulge the details of the project. But for those of you who have read my notes before, there can make no mistake. The approach is probably – somehow – related to contour.