As a theorist, he has published more than two dozen articles dealing with topics related to contemporary tonality, including scales, voice leading, and functional harmonic norms.
Joshua Kosman, writing at SFGate, called it "whimsical", "ingenious", and with a "rich emotional arc" produced by a "warmth of personality that is distinctive".
In particular, Tymoczko uses orbifolds to develop "maps" of musical chords, showing that the first two properties (e.g. conjunct melodic motion and harmonic consistency) can be combined only in special circumstances.
Tymoczko argues that there is an "extended common practice" linking superficially distinct styles, with jazz being much closer to classical music than many have thought.
[9] Tymoczko has also written a free software program, "ChordGeometries", allowing users to visualize the orbifolds representing musical chords.