markus heuger's
beabliography

Beabliography

Abstract 0373

Mäkela, Tomi (2001), "Dynamics of polylinearity in popular music. Perception and apperception of 64 seconds of 'Please Please Me'." 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, 129-138.

Referring to publications in Popular Music and other journals, this contribution focus at the problem of analysing popular music in general and The Beatles in particular. It contributes to understanding the dynamics of poly]inearity within the "ouevre" of this ensemble. The theoretical background of this paper are the "outsiders" of the general music theory, which includes the work of Ernst Kurt, Hermann Erpf, and others as well as music psychology authors like Albert Bregman. They have tried to establish concepts for better listening to complex textures from J.S. Bach to G. Ligeti. In this field of research the possible knowledge about the structural intentions of the composer is less essential than the analytic effort itself. This makes it well applicable in popular music analysis.

The parameter of polylinearity is particularly interesting since it has been studied in very different kinds of music, as various kinds of heterophony, for instance. It is not typical for composed music, and it is one of the main parameters in analysing group improvisation. The perception is essential: questions arise like "how many independent voices an average person can follow, etc. In the case of the Beatles it is quite obvious that the technics of polylinearity vary between titles that emphasise spontaneity or ease, and others with artificial ambitions. Though the paper aims at a typology of these techniques, it only includes some representative illustrations of this project.