Guitars are foundational in Anglo/American popular music and have been the focus of a large amount of scholarship. Drum kits have been given less scholarly attention by comparison, but pose unique and interesting questions for the instrument-focused analyst.

Week 8

Reading due Wed, Oct 15

  • Stadnicki, Daniel Akira. 2021. “Shake, Rattle, and Rolls: Drumming and the Aesthetics of Americana.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit, edited by Matt Brennan, Joseph Michael Pignato, and Daniel Akira Stadnicki, 1st ed., 112–25. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108779517.011.
    • Discussion leader: Ashley
  • Smith, Mandy J. 2021. “The Meaning of the Drumming Body.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit, edited by Matt Brennan, Joseph Michael Pignato, and Daniel Akira Stadnicki, 1st ed., 197–209. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108779517.019.
    • Discussion leader: Michael

Homework due Sun, Oct 19

Analyze Bernard Purdie’s drumming on the alternate take of “Rock Steady” by Aretha Franklin (Apple Music, Spotify). Create a table similar to Smith’s Table 14.1. I’ve begun the table for you to help you out a little, since the form is pretty ambiguous! Fill in the phrasing, beat pattern, and fill columns to the best of your ability. Write a couple sentences about what the analyis process revealed to you (if anything!).

form time phrasing (in measures) beat pattern fill
intro 0:00      
verse 0:20      
chorus 0:48      
turnaround 1:18      
verse 1:25      
chorus 1:44      
post-chorus 2:02      
turnaround 2:11      
interlude 2:20      
bridge 2:30      
chorus 2:39      
post-chorus 2:58      
outro 3:15      
slowdown 3:52      
last chord 4:19      

Note: if this form table doesn’t seem to fit, you may be listening to the wrong version—use the links above

Save as a PDF and upload to your homework submit folder with a prefix of 08.

Week 9

Reading due Wed, Oct 22

  • Easley, David B. 2015. “Riff Schemes, Form, and the Genre of Early American Hardcore Punk (1978–83).” Music Theory Online 21 (1). https://doi.org/10.30535/mto.21.1.3.
    • Dave Easley will be joining us to discuss his article!
  • Burns, Chelsea. 2019. “‘Together Again,’ but We Keep On Crying: Buck Owens, Tom Brumley, and the Pedal Steel Guitar, 1964.” Music Theory Online 25 (2). http://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.19.25.2/mto.19.25.2.burns.html.
    • Discussion leader: Chris

Homework due Sun, Oct 26

Write a brief (~250–500 words) response to the readings and discussion.

Optional prompts (meaning, you can write about something else if you like):

  • How does understanding more about the experience of these performances enhance your appreciation for the songs being analyzed?
  • Now that we’ve read a lot more in this class, how do you see these most recent readings lining up with other discussions we’ve had so far?