A lively contribution to the debates that are central to popular music studies.

The study of popular music composition is a new field in which the standard rules of traditional music theory do not apply. Learn how to write top 40 hits in every style from alternative rock to country pop. Discover the way chords are constructed and used in pop music, the Nashville numbers system and the role of scales in pop music harmony. Learn how to arrange a lead-sheet chart for a small ensemble so your entire band can learn a song in minutes. No more listening to a cd over and over to figure out a guitar riff when you can learn to recognize chord progressions and easily transcribe music from recordings. You will master the ability to play chord changes for self-accompaniment as well as composition. Finally you will learn how to use the scales for improvisation and "ad libbing" so you can become a soloist with your own unique sound.

Popular Music in Theory provides a critical introduction to the key theoretical issues which arise in the study of contemporary popular music. This book is organized in a way that shows how popular music is created across a series of relationships that link together industry and audiences, producers and consumers. Starting from the dichotomy between production and consumption which characterizes much work on popular culture, Negus explores the equally significant social processes that intervene between and across the production-consumption divide, examining the ways that popular music is mediated by a series of technological, cultural, historical, geographical and political factors. This broad framework provides signposts to various tracks taken by the sounds and images of popular music, and also highlights distinctive theoretical routes into the study of contemporary popular music. This volume is intended mainly for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in sociology, media and communication studies, and cultural studies. However, it will also appeal to those who enjoy thinking and talking about popular music and who might like to delve a little deeper.

Popular Music Theory and Analysis: A Research and Information Guide uncovers the wealth of scholarly works dealing with the theory and analysis of popular music. This annotated bibliography is an exhaustive catalog of music-theoretical and musicological works that is searchable by subject, genre, and song title. It will support emerging scholarship and inquiry for future research on popular music.

"Music Theory Resource Book covers topics not usually found in standard theory texts including basic acoustics, contrapuntal techniques, jazz harmony, musics from non-Western cultures, and music since 1950."--BOOK JACKET.

In studies of gender and sexuality in popular music, the concept of difference is often a crucial analytic used to detect social agency; however, the alternative analytic of ambiguity has never been systematically examined. While difference from heterosexual norms is taken to be the multivalent sign of resistance, oppression, and self-invention, it can lead to inflated claims of the degree and power of difference. This book offers critically-oriented case studies that examine the theory and politics of ambiguity. Ambiguity means that there are both positive and negative implications in any gender and sexuality practices, both sameness and difference from heteronormativity, and unfixed possibility in the diverse nature of discourse and practice (rather than just "difference" among fixed multiplicities). Contributors present a diverse array of approaches through music, sound, psyche, body, dance, performance, race, ethnicity, power, discourse, and history. A wide variety of popular music genres are broached, including gay circuit remixes, punk rock, Goth music, cross-dress performance, billboard 100 songs, global pop, and nineteenth-century minstrelsy. The authors examine the ambiguities of performance and reception, and address the vexed question of whether it is possible for genuinely new forms of gender and sexuality to emerge musically. This book makes a distinctive contribution to studies of gender and sexuality in popular music, and will be of interest to fields including Popular Music Studies, Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Cultural Studies, Queer Studies, and Media Studies.

Thirty years after The Beatles split up, the music of Lennon, McCartney, Harrrison and Starkey lives on. What exactly were the magical ingredients of those legendary songs? Why are they still so influential for today's bands? This ground-breaking book sets out to explore The Beatles' songwriting techniques in a clear and readable style. It is aimed not only at musicians but anyone who has ever enjoyed the work of one of the most productive and successful songwriting parterships of the 20th Century. Author Dominic Pedler explores the chord sequences, melodies, harmonies, rhythms and structures of The Beatles' self-penned songs, while challenging readers to enhance their appreciation of the lyrics themselves with reference to the musical context. Throughout the book the printed music and lyrics of The Beatles' songs appear alongside the text, illustrating the author's explanations. The Songwriting Secrets Of The Beatles is an essential addition to Beatles literature - a new and perceptive analysis of both the music and the lyrics written and performed by what Paul McCartney still calls 'a really good, tight little band'.

Written as a music theory text that not only addresses the important fundamental syntax of music in the classical sense but also relates this syntax to current practices and styles, this book should be particularly well-suited to musicians focusing on aspects of the music business and of popular culture.

(Piano). The Music Theory series is designed from the ground-up to explain the terminology and musical structures needed for modern applications. Level One is an introductory course which covers music notation, key signatures, basic scales, intervals, modes, diatonic relationships and 3-and 4-part chords. Includes reference appendices, a complete glossary of terms, and hundreds of written theory exercises with answers.

Revisiting Music Theory: A Guide to the Practice contains the basics of music theory with the vocabulary used in harmonic and formal analysis. The book assumes few music reading skills, and progresses to include the basic materials of music from J. S. Bach to the twentieth century. Based on Blatter’s own three decades of teaching music theory, this book is aimed at a one or two year introductory course in music theory, can serve for individual study, or as a review for graduate students returning to school. Drawing examples from well-known classical works, as well as folk and popular music, the book shows how theory is applied to practice. The book is divided into five parts. The first part introduces music notation, reviewing the basics of pitch, time, and dynamics as represented in written music. Part 2 introduces the concept of melody, covering modes, scales, scale degrees, and melodic form. Part 3 introduces harmony, dealing with harmonic progression, rhythm, and chord types. Part 4 addresses part writing and harmonic analysis. Finally, Part 5 addresses musical form, and how form is used to structure a composition. Revisiting Music Theory will be a valuable textbook for students, professors, and professionals.