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markus heuger's
beabliography

Beabliography

 





 
  Abstract 0374
  Collaros, Pandel (2001), "The music of the Beatles in undergraduate music theory instruction." In: Yrjö Heinonen, Markus Heuger, Sheila Whitely, Terhi Nurmesjärvi and Jouni Koskimäki (eds.), Beatlestudies 3. Proceedings of the Beatles 2000 conference. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 23), 2001, 139-157.
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  The Beatles exploded onto the popular music scene in the U.S. with their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Previous to that they had already begun their conquest of Europe with successful tours in Germany and the British Isles. They would go on to conquer the entire world. Their music remains popular to this day and provides a wealth of examples for music theory instruction. Excerpts from the repertoire are presented in order to demonstrate their appropriateness to analytic discussion at the undergraduate level. Sound recordings and notated examples are presented with commentary. Analytic judgements are based on the author's aural analyses. References to analyses by others also are made.
  A summary of the examples:
 
  1. Parallel key relationship in "Piggies".
  2. Root position and second inversion triads in "I've Got A Feeling".
  3. Examples of diatonic chord progressions, secondary functions, mixture, tall chords, use of chromatic-mediant related harmonies within the main key, and modulation between chromatic mediant-related keys in "Something".
  4. Picardy third at the conclusion of "And I Love Her".
  5. Eleventh chord as introduction to "A Hard Day's Night".
  6. Dominant thirteenth at the end of the introductory progression in "I Want You".
  7. Another example of embellished dominant function before the vocal entrance, this time in "Oh Darling".
  8. A striking example of a half cadence upon which a song actually ends in "For No One".
  9. Pedal point in "Blackbird".
  10. Common tone modulation in "A Day In The Life".
  11. Mixed meter in "Good Day Sunshine".
  12. Polyrhythm/polymeter in "Mean Mr. Mustard".
  13. Non-diatonic collection in "Blue Jay Way".
  14. Bitonal climax in "Blue Jay Way".
  15. Polychordality in "Magical Mystery Tour".
  Many examples and theoretical issues that are appropriate to undergraduate theory instruction are accommodated in the large and varied repertoire left to us by the Beatles.
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