Music 681 - Analysis of Pop and Rock Music

Popular music is a repertoire. While in some ways its inner workings may seem simpler than Western Classical music, its musical materials can be extremely complex and varied. This becomes especially true when considering the music materials' interactions with their cultural surroundings and means of social production. This class will balance musical analysis with this social theory, delving into rock's compositional norms (harmony, syntax, rhythms, and the like) while asking why these choices are made. Most readings will focus on analyzing the actual notes of popular music, peaking under the hood to better understand the harmony, syntax and style of this music. These readings will be supplemented with studies devoted to issues surrounding the production and consumption of pop music. Overall, we will attempt to connect cultural issues with the actual musical material used in popular music while reflecting on the fundamental difficulties surrounding making such connections.

This course is open to Music Graduate students in any concentration. Undergraduate Music majors can enroll with instructor permission only.