I have spent today playing around with some ideas for a new book I am in the early stages of working on. There are a lot of sweeping statements in there at the moment – but this is where … Continue reading →

In Alan Moore’s excellent paper with Ruth Dockwary, he discusses the demise of what he calls the ‘Triangular’ mix – which has been replaced by the ‘diagonal’. To get an understanding of this, listen the ‘The Wind Cry’s Mary’ by Jimi … Continue reading →

In preparation for a musicology lecture this week, I began to think about the importance of students having an awareness of the general conventions in popular music. Factors such as an awareness of the commonality of eight bar sections (verses … Continue reading →

This weeks  podcast concerns how we can begin to use the elements of music as a starting point of music analysis. It starts with three main questions How are the elements being used? This can be as basic as a … Continue reading →

Here is a podcast of an introductory lecture on ways we can think about popular music analysis, and the differences between Song, Arrangement and Track.

This podcast is on the relationship on the elements of music and form. It considers the ways in which elements such as musical texture, time signatures, and harmony can interact to create expectations in a listener. In popular music, these … Continue reading →

This post concerns the elements of music, and the ways in which they are prioritised to indoctrinate interest in a piece of music. How can we use the elements that for most are so familiar, to begin to analyse popular … Continue reading →

Here is another very brief snippet asking students to consider the difference between WHAT music means and HOW it means. As Alan Moore points out in his book ‘Song Means’ – there is often a confusion here. For me, it … Continue reading →

Another very very short segment – this time concerning the ways in which we can think about popular music analysis – more detail late!

Here are a few thoughts about why popular music was so slow to emerge as an academic discipline. It is a two minute lecture – see if you agree