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Sarah Louden

Clinical Assistant Professor of Music and Director for the Music Theory and History Program

Music and Performing Arts Professions

sarah.louden@nyu.edu
(212) 998-5769

Sarah Louden is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Music and the Director for the Music Theory and History Program. She holds a Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Buffalo SUNY, a Masters in Music Theory from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Bachelors in Music Performance from Concordia College Moorhead.

Her research examines the cognitive effects of multisensory perception on a broad range of musical topics including multimedia and contemporary music analysis, music theory pedagogy, classroom accessibility, stage performance, digital technology and virtual reality. Dr. Louden’s dissertation, entitled “Cross-Sensory Perception in Music and Visual Media: A Neuro-Cognitive Approach to Cross-Domain Mapping in Multimedia,” received the distinguished dissertation award from the University of Buffalo in 2018. 

Her most recent work explores curricular redesign and inclusive music theory pedagogy. Dr. Louden is currently leading a curricular redesign of core undergraduate music theory and history coursework at NYU Steinhardt. (More information about the project is available here.) She has served as an invited panelist to discuss curricular change in music theory at the Society for Music Theory (November 2023), Music and the Moving Image (May 2023), and the American Musicological Society Annual Talkback (May 2023). The curriculum project is supported by the NYU Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions and grants from the Center for Faculty Advancement and the Center for Humanities. 

Selected Publications

See a list of presentations and publications in an updated CV here. 

Courses

Music Theory Pedagogy

This course introduces students to the specialized discipline of teaching music theory. Through extensive study of recent debates, current scholarship, and online resources, students develop a broader understanding of the pedagogical context for undergraduate theory and aural skills training, and best practices for presenting these materials in a 21st-century classroom. With a defined focus on professional development, this course prepares students for college-level classroom teaching.
Course #
MPATC-GE 2116
Credits
3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Seminar in Music Theory: Music and the Senses

Our senses are inextricably linked. Sounds can create the illusion of visual movement, a pianist’s gestures alter the way we perceive duration, a change in musical timbre can make a cup of coffee taste more bitter, and the flash of an object can make an unnoticed sound audible. Drawing on research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, this course explores the dynamic way our senses influence our experience of music and multimedia. Through class discussions and projects, students apply research in multisensory perception to their own area of specialization.
Course #
MPATC-GE 2209
Credits
3
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions

Theory & Practice II: Popular Music

Theory and analysis of popular music. Popular music, defined broadly, includes pop, rock, hip hop, rap, metal, jazz, folk, and musical theater and film repertoire. Topics include scales and modes, lead sheet and Nashville number notation, phrase structure, song forms, harmonic syntax, loops and harmonic chord schemas, tonicization and modulation, and rhythmic and timbral analysis in popular music. Students will develop basic proficiency in a DAW and music notation program. This course will culminate in a final composition or analysis project.
Course #
MPATC-UE 1312
Credits
2
Department
Music and Performing Arts Professions