markus heuger's
beabliography

Beabliography

Abstract 0189

Nurmesjärvi, Terhi (2000), "You need another chorus. Problems with formal concepts in popular music." In: Yrjö Heinonen, Jouni Koskimäki, Seppo Niemi and Terhi Nurmesjärvi (eds.), Beatlesstudies 2. History, identity, authenticity. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 23), 2000, 147-168.

Nurmesjärvi's article criticizes the views according to which all popular music forms are simple and, as a result, their analysis non-complex. Also questioned is the fact that analytical procedures have been based on the intuitive use of musician's parlance. Nurmesjärvi shows that this parlance is, in fact, highly self-contradictory and concepts originally referring to a particular form type within a particular genre are loosely applied to new genres. The main body of the article is an attempt to explore certain key concepts — verse, chorus, refrain, bridge, middle-eight, and so on — in their historical context. Nurmesjärvi also demonstrates how differently a basically simple song, "I Saw Her Standing There", can be understood within different conceptual frameworks.