Dr. Leigh VanHandel on How Music Works — and How We Understand It

In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Leigh VanHandel, Associate Professor of Music Theory at UBC’s School of Music, whose research brings together music theory, music cognition, rhythm and meter, the relationship between music and language, and the ways we teach and learn music. Her work asks how music works, how we perceive and process it, and how our experience shapes what we hear. CiTR 101.9 FM / The Blue Hour Recorded live on September 15, 2026 Listen: CiTR | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube The Blue Hour, hosted by Farha Guerrero, airs live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. PT on CiTR 101.9 FM at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Leigh VanHandel is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of British Columbia’s School of Music. Her research spans music theory and cognition, rhythm and meter, music and language, and music theory pedagogy. Leigh began university as a science major, intending to pursue genetic engineering, before returning to the…