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Tag Archives: Eurocentrism
What should we call classical music?
Everyone can agree that the term “classical music” is silly, unless we’re specifically talking about European music of the Classical period. It’s incorrect to call Baroque or Romantic or modernist music “classical,” even though we all colloquially do, to the annoyance of the classical tribe. It makes even less sense to call the music of Steve …
Pop musicians in the academy
Together with Adam Bell, I’m planning some in-depth writing about the phenomenon of pop musicians (like me) teaching in formal, classically-oriented institutional settings. This post is a loosely organized collection of relevant thoughts. What even is “pop music?” As far as the music academy is concerned, all music except classical or folk is “popular.” People …
Music theory blues
I’m reading a lot Schenkerian analyses of blues right now in service of my forthcoming article about blues tonality. Each paper I read is wronger than the last. On the one hand, they fill me with righteous rage, but on the other hand, that rage does at least help me focus my arguments. Here are …
Blues tonality
See a more beginner-friendly blues primer here. Read this treatise in Spanish, translated by Jesús Fernández. Abstract The blues is a foundational element of America’s vernacular and art music. It is commonly described as a combination of African rhythms and European harmonies. This description is inaccurate. Blues follows harmonic conventions that are quite different from …
Against music theory
Hello present-day readers. I wrote this at a time when NYU’s music theory requirements were very different from what they are today. In general, university-level music theory pedagogy in the US has become significantly less Eurocentric since I wrote this. For clarity: I love music theory. I don’t love presenting the conventions of Western European …