Global Music Theory
Writings
on Music
Music, sound, culture, and the ways they shape human life. Essays, reflections, and practical resources from composer and writer Brandon Alsup.
Featured Essay
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How to Create Tension Without Adding More Notes
Musical tension is not the same thing as density. Explore how expectation, time, contradiction, timbre, constraint, and register can make the same…
Explore
Listening
Sound & Human Life
Essays on listening, perception, well-being, identity, attention, and the role of sound in everyday life.
Culture
Music Across Cultures
Perspectives on musical traditions, cultural assumptions, listening practices, and different ways of knowing.
Making
Composition & Musical Ideas
Thoughts on the creative process, musical structure, inspiration, experimentation, and making original music.
Learning
Theory & Resources
Concepts, guides, and practical references for understanding music more deeply without losing sight of the music itself.
Recent Essays
Emergence in Music: From a Single Note to Shared Feeling
Music may be an emergent phenomenon at nearly every level, from intervals and chords to emotion,…
The Oldest Music I Can Call Mine
I’ve been wondering how far back I have to go before music stops belonging to somebody…
Why Bother Writing More Music?
This is a personal essay about my relationship with creating music or rather my lack of…
The Sound of Belonging: What Ancient Music Teaches Us About Modern Well‑Being
I’ll admit it: I tried to write this article with ChatGPT. It felt hypocritical, and frankly,…
Ears Tuned for Birds, Living in a World of Engines
In 2011, an estimated one million healthy life years were lost from traffic-related noise in the…
From Noise to Nature: A Guide to Rewilding Our Sonic Lives
The term rewild classically refers to restoring ecosystems or letting nature take care of itself—reducing human…
The Book
Formative Forces in Sound
A short exploration of how humans organize sound, what music can do, and what composers can learn by listening beyond a single tradition.
Music is not simply a system to be decoded. It is a human way of organizing experience through sound.
About
Brandon Alsup
Composer and writer exploring music, sound, culture, creativity, and the ways listening shapes how we understand ourselves and the world around us.