Welcome to the Society for Music Analysis
The Society for Music Analysis (SMA) is a UK-based international organisation dedicated to music theory and analysis. We are affiliated with the journal Music Analysis and support and organise a regular programme of events, including the annual Theory and Analysis Graduate Students (TAGS) Conference, the Music Analysis Summer School (a residential course taught by international experts), and other Music Analysis Conferences (‘MACs’) and symposia. We are members of the European Theory & Analysis of Music (EuroT&AM) Network.
The SMA welcomes interests in all musical repertoires and cultures and promotes music theory and analysis in the broadest sense, including formal and critical theory, aesthetics, semiotics, music psychology, cognitive science, music technology and many other subdisciplines and interdisciplines.
If you have a passion for finding out how music works, and what it means, then the SMA is for you. We look forward to welcoming you to the next SMA event. See the Join page to become an SMA member.
SMA News
Call for Papers: Cambridge TAGS Conference 2026
The SMA is delighted to welcome proposals for the 2026 TAGS conference, to be held at Trinity College Cambridge 30-31 March 2026.
The SMA has responded to the University of Nottingham’s proposed suspension of recruitment to its Music programmes, pending a decision on the Music Department’s closure. Read our full statement here.
Call for Papers: Dublin Music Analysis Conference 2026
The SMA is delighted to confirm dates for the Dublin Music Analysis Conference (DubMAC 2026), which will take place from Monday, 13th July to Wednesday 15th July 2026, jointly hosted by Trinity College Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The Committee now invites submissions in any aspect of music analysis and theory.
Formal Theory Study Group events in 2025/26 announced
Three new online events hosted by the SMA’s Formal Theory Study Group will run between October 2025 and February 2026, free for all to join:
Diachrony and Musical Analysis, 2 December 2025
New Formenlehre in Germanic Musicology and Music Theory, 26 February 2026
SMA Zoom Colloqium Series Autumn 2025 announced
The Society for Music Analysis is delighted to announce the 2025 return of its Zoom Colloquium series from October to December 2025, with an international lineup of speakers poised to deliver three exciting talks. This season’s colloquia will be convened by SMA trustees, Dr James Donaldson and Dr Rajan Lal.