Published Article / In this article the author analyzes the types of knowledge and learning involved when educationalists study works of art to further their professional development. A theoretical background of experiential learning is presented. An Interdisciplinary Model of Aesthetic Knowing (IMAK) is developed and presented, utilizing the Model of Aesthetic Understanding as Informed Experience of Richard Lachapelle, Deborah Murray and Sandy Neim. Additional kinds of knowledge and learning processes included in the IMAK are discussed. Attending a concert in South Africa by Neil Diamond, the popular singer/songwriter stimulated the author to reflect upon his own metacognitive thinking and learning, both during and after the concert, and on the application of what he learned to the IMAK and in his lecturing room.

In this thesis, I examine the Beatles’ five feature films in order to argue how undermining generic convention and manipulating performance codes allowed the band to control their relationship with their audience and to gain autonomy over their output. Drawing from P. David Marshall’s work on defining performance codes from the music, film, and television industries, I examine film form and style to illustrate how the Beatles’ filmmakers used these codes in different combinations from previous pop and classical musicals in order to illicit certain responses from the audience. In doing so, the role of the audience from passive viewer to active participant changed the way musicians used film to communicate with their fans. I also consider how the Beatles’ image changed throughout their career as reflected in their films as a way of charting the band’s journey from pop stars to musicians, while also considering the social and cultural factors represented in the band’s image. Such elements in the Beatles’ carefully constructed image reflected youth culture and countercultural thoughts and beliefs. Finally, through a close analysis of the Beatles’ musical sequences I have shown how experimentation with artistic synergy enabled the band to produce new and innovative films and lyrics while allowing each member to develop as individual musicians. This experimentation and willingness to undermine traditional film and pop music practices helped to change artists’ approaches in the entertainment industries.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The aim of this study is to examine the rise of Afrikaans rock music and the literary status of Afrikaans rock lyrics, with Fokofpolisiekar as example. An investigation is done into how the specific sociopolitical context within which Afrikaans rock music developed manifests in lyrics and musical style. The implications of Afrikaans rock with regards to the identity of Afrikaner youth in the new millennium are also explored. A case study of the Afrikaans punk rock group Fokofpolisiekar is done by way of demonstration of this interdisciplinary and contextual investigation. Not only the formation and impact of the group are examined, but a considerable section of the thesis is dedicated to the analysis and interpretation of this group’s lyrics, which are viewed and explored from a literary point of view. In this process certain questions regarding the position of lyrics in the Afrikaans literary system comes under scrutiny. The analysis and interpretation of the lyrics of Fokofpolisiekar are therefore aimed towards examining the literary status of this group’s lyrics. It will be proved that the sociopolitical context within which Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics came to be formulated, impacted on the character and themes thereof. The thematic struggle with issues like liberation (redemption) and identity in the lyrics are shown to bear relation to the sociopolitical context of the Afrikaner youth after the Afrikaner’s loss of power in 1994 and the postmodern condition at the turn of the millennium. This postmodern condition is characterized by the continuing fragmentation of identity. The conclusion is made that Afrikaans popular music sets up a space within which new ideas with regards to ‘truths’ of identity can be formulated. In other words, the punk rock music of Fokofpolisiekar offers an opportunity for the re-articulation of Afrikaner identity. By incorporating the polysistem theory (and other relevant theories) in investigating the creation and reception of Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics, it is shown that the Afrikaans literary system holds a place for Afrikaans lyrics. Although similar, lyrics should not be regarded as synonymous to poetry. Seeing that the creation and reception thereof differs from that of other literary forms, I argue that lyrics are lyrics and should be regarded as such in order for it to come to its full right in literary study.

American college football features an enormous amount of music woven into the fabric of the event, with selections accompanying approximately two-thirds of a game’s plays. Musical selections are controlled by a number of forces, including audio and video technicians, university marketing departments, financial sponsors, and wind bands. These blend together in a complex design that offers audible and visual stimulation to the audience during the game’s pauses. The music chosen for performance in these moments frequently communicates meaning beyond entertainment value. Selections reinforce the game’s emotional drive, cue celebrations, direct specific audience actions, and prompt behaviors that can directly impact the game. Beyond this, music is performed to buttress the successes of the home team, and to downplay its failures. As this process develops over the course of the game, the musical selections construct a sonic narrative that comments on the game’s action, enhancing or suppressing audience members’ emotional reactions to the events on-field, and informing their understanding of the game’s developments. By preparing for and responding to in-game situations, music creates a coherent narrative out of football’s unpredictable events. This project demonstrates the use of musical narrative in American college football via close consideration of case studies of games representing five of the most prominent college athletic conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 10, the Big 12, the Pac 12, and the Southeastern Conference. These sources include interviews with college football’s musical agents, including sound operators, band directors, and producers, as well as documentation of the games’ on-field developments and the music that accompanies them. Finally, this project utilizes of musical narrative as a new means of critically considering the power lines of race and gender in college football culture.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Music / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese Language and Literature / Master / Master of Arts

In 1984, Stryper released its first album The Yellow and Black Attack and introduced audiences to a different kind of heavy metal. Instead of lyrics about sex, alcohol, and Satan, Stryper sang about Jesus, salvation, and God. While there were a number of fans ready for this change more were not. Members of the Church as well as members of the metal subculture were in agreement that Christianity and heavy metal were incompatible. Despite these objections, however, more bands emerged, and Christian metal became a significant genre within the Christian music industry. These bands presented Christian-oriented lyrics within the full spectrum of metal subgenres. This dissertation examines the ways in which Christian metal bands create an intersection between Christianity and the heavy metal subculture, infusing Christianity within the textual, visual, and musical structures of heavy metal. The author employs Deena Weinstein’s “metal code” to frame the analysis. The metal code includes the textual elements (band names, album and song titles, and song lyrics); the visual elements (band logos; album covers; and the various elements of the concert experience including the bands’ appearances, the staging, the interactions with the fans, and music videos); and the musical elements (timbre, modality, formal structure, and production of the songs and albums) that set metal apart from other musical genres. The dissertation also examines the concept of bands as “metal missionaries” that immerse themselves within the heavy metal subculture for the purpose of bringing the Christian message of hope and salvation. The author concludes that even though Christian metal bands modify aspects of elements that are otherwise incompatible with their Christian beliefs and message, they still maintain a sense of stylistic integrity that gives them credibility within the heavy metal subculture and allows them to fulfill their mission.

Albert E. Brumley (1905-1977) was the most influential American gospel song composer of the twentieth century, penning such “classics” within the genre as “Jesus, Hold My Hand,” “I’ll Meet You in the Morning,” “If We Never Meet Again,” “Turn Your Radio On,” and “Rank Strangers to Me.” His “I’ll Fly Away” has become the most recorded gospel song in American history with over one thousand recordings to date, and several of his works transcend cultural boundaries of style, genre, race, denomination, and doctrine. However, the racialized historiography of American gospel music has left Brumley—from America’s lesser-known white gospel traditions of convention singing and southern gospel music—largely untouched by scholarly scrutiny. Comprising nearly four hundred works, most of which appeared in annual shapenote gospel songbooks published during the 1930s and 1940s, Brumley’s music is central to many Americans’ religious identity. This thesis represents the first thorough, academic assessment of his music, career, and his work’s cultural impact. Deeper examinations of the composer’s personal life and his work as a songwriter, as well as a fresh look at his publishing business’s growth and development, contribute a more complete biography. A broad analysis of his output—including a complete thematic catalogue of his published works—provides a framework for interpreting Brumley’s general compositional style and offers a context for understanding his music’s enduring legacy within popular music history, especially southern gospel, black gospel, and country music. Research into the cultural history of one particular Brumley work—“I’ll Fly Away”—and its various incarnations in music, television, film, and other outlets acts as a lens through which to view his impact on American music and society. This thesis ultimately argues that Brumley’s compositions have influenced the development of religious and popular music in America much more significantly than indicated by current scholarship, and that his music has become an important medium for American cultural expression that stretches well beyond the confines of the convention-singing and southern gospel traditions. As a result, it recognizes him as an emblematic figure of American music deserving inclusion within the ranks of its greatest contributors.

Tens of thousands of music students enroll in group piano classes each year in colleges and conservatories in the United States. Degree programs related to Music Industry are attracting increasingly diverse student populations and in turn are requiring curricular and instructional modifications that better accommodate the needs of these students. The basis of this dissertation is the development of a series of contemporary class piano workbooks that focus on contemporary popular music and jazz in ways that optimize student learning, combining wide-ranging repertoire with assignments that encourage independent application of knowledge and skills. The workbooks illuminate how the piano is used in professional performance and recording; develop skills that can translate directly into professional music settings; and afford students opportunities to understand, learn, and play music that friends, family, and students themselves know and enjoy. / text

Det är inte ovanligt att viss rock- och annan populärmusik tillskrivs konstnärliga ambitioner, eller förses med epitet som "konstnärlig" och "konstmusikalisk". Sällan utvecklas emellertid på vilket sätt detta konstnärliga tar sig uttryck. Uppsatsens syfte är att musikanalytiskt undersöka vad som kan motivera formuleringarna och om de kan anses adekvata. Materialet för undersökningen är tre verk/låtar ur rockgenren, som beskrivits med ovanstående begrepp: Close to the Edge med gruppen Yes från 1972, Sense of Doubt med David Bowie från 1977 och Sleep med gruppen Godspeed You! Black Emperor från 2000. Metoden är den auditiva musikanalysen, vilket innebär att analysen utgår från ett aktivt lyssnande på musikens förlopp. Två fokus finns: ett på själva musiken; ett på de intentioner i och med verket/låten som kan föreligga. Analysen utgår från en definition av begreppen konst- och populärmusik som görs i början av uppsatsen. Denna grundar sig i sin tur på en genomgång av begreppsdefinitioner i framförallt lexikon och ordböcker, men också i musikvetenskaplig litteratur och den kan därmed göra anspråk på en viss allmängiltighet. Resultatet av analysen visar att samtliga musikexempel går utanför ramarna för definitionen av populärmusik, samtidigt som de uppvisar flera egenskaper som faller inom konstmusikdefinitionen. Beskrivningarna av låtarna som konstmusikaliska och konstnärliga kan alltså anses adekvata. Analysen och den föregående begreppsdiskussionen medvetandegör emellertid också den problematik som ryms i distinktionen konst- respektive populärmusik. Detta utvecklas i uppsatsens slutdiskussion, där begreppen relateras till ett idéhistoriskt sammanhang. Distinktionen visar sig ha rötter i 1800-talets kulturdebatt och under 1900-talet har den närts av en modernistisk kultur- och samhällssyn. De senaste decenniernas postmodernistiska strömningar, med ökad värderelativism och uppluckrade musikaliska genregränser, har dock bidragit till att begreppen i allt större utsträckning spelat ut sin roll. / It is not uncommon that certain rock and other popular music is attributed with artistic ambitions or is befitted with epithets such as "artistic" or "art music-like". However, it is rarely elaborated in which way these artistic qualities are conveyed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate from an analytical standpoint what can incentivize these wordings and if they can be viewed as adequate. The material for the investigation is three pieces/songs from the rock genre which have been described with the above terms: Close to the Edge by the group Yes from 1972, Sense of Doubt by David Bowie from 1977 and Sleep by the group Godspeed You! Black Emperor from 2000. The method is auditive music analysis which means that the analysis is based upon actively listening to the music. There are two areas of focus: one is on the music itself; one is on the intentions that may lie in and with the piece/song. The analysis is based upon a definition of the terms art music and popular music that is made at the beginning of the paper. This, in turn, is based upon a rundown of term definitions made in, above all, lexicons and dictionaries, but also in musicology, and thus it can claim a certain generality. The result of the analysis shows that all music examples move outside the boundaries of the definition of popular music and, at the same time, show qualities that fall inside the boundaries of the definition of art music. Thus, the descriptions of the songs as "art music-like" and "artistic" can be viewed as adequate. However, the analysis and the preceding term discussion raise awareness about the problems that are contained in the distinction between art music and popular music, respectively. This is elaborated in the concluding discussion in which the terms are interrelated to a contexture involving the history of ideas. The distinction is shown to have its roots in the cultural debate of the 19th century, and during the 20th century it has been nurtured by a modernist view of culture and society. The post-modernistic trends of the last few decades, characterized by increased value relativism and loosened musical genre boundaries, have contributed to making the terms obsolete.