Venue

We are based in the Music Department. Some info here, but essentially we’re building 104 on this campus map. Unfortunately typing “Bedford Street South” into a satnav can lead you into the middle of a housing estate nearby. So look for Abercromby Square- we’re located just off that.

Timetable

Students are divided into two groups of 15-20 each. Each workshop leader teaches the same(ish) lesson twice each day. We will publish the groups on July 16th. The two rooms in use (G33 and LT1) are adjacent to each other.

JW = Justin WIlliams
JN = Jocelyn Neal
MB = Michael Buchler

Registration

Be sure to register (free): Register Here.

Accommodation

Student accommodation is available at Cedar House Liverpool | Unite Students accommodation at £45 pn. In order to book, you must complete this booking form (omit the guarantor part – this is not needed) and upload it to this dropbox folder before 22nd May. You will be instructed how to pay for your room direcltly by Unite via email.

Thursday 16th, evening drinks at Fredericks (plural rather than possessive)

Marko has booked us a lovely welcoming sofa area and row of adjacent high tables at Frederiks for 6.30pm, 16^th July. It’s on Hope Street (the Metropolitan end) and they do pizzas and so forth.

Wi-fi

Eduroam is operative but temperamental. We have Wi-fi codes for registered delegates, which can be given out on the day.

Society for Music Analysis

The event is part-sponsored by the SMA on the basis that it’s free to members. We therefore strongly encourage/ endorse membership. It’s cheap enough for a student subscription (£20) so, if you’re able to do, please join here.

Restaurants

For refined (but reasonably priced) eating, anywhere on HOPE STREET. (The Quarter is also 7 minutes walk and very good).
For quick convenient lunches / coffees, turn right after exiting the music buildings, head for the main road and you’ll see some. Here is Richard’s map:

Contacts

Please contact Kenneth on kenneth.smith@liverpool.ac.uk.

Topics Covered and Preparation

Please see the list of readings / listening material below and ensure to come prepared to the sessions.

For Justin’s Sessions

“Analysing Intertextuality through Hip-hop Music”

This workshop will look at primarily examples of US-based hip-hop of the 1990s and 2000s through the lens of intertextuality. We will engage with both Afrological and Eurological frameworks and basic semiotics. The first session will be introductory, followed by sessions focused on genre and lineage. Students are asked to read the following in preparation:

Listening:

Note: Feel free to look up and listen to the sampled/borrowed source material if time. Whosampled.com and genius.com are useful initial sources for finding sample sources.

Session 1

The Pharcyde, “Passin Me By” (1993)

Snoop Doggy Dogg, “Who am I (What’s my name?)” (1993)

Session 2

Digable Planets, “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” (1993)

A Tribe Called Quest “Excursions” (1991)

Xzibit, “Symphony in X Major” (2002)

Session 3

Eminem, “Patiently Waiting” (2003)

The Game “We Ain’t” (2005)

Kendrick Lamar, “m.A.A.d. City” (2012)

For Michael’s Sessions

Phrase, Form, and Passion in Musical Theatre

Phrase structure and form tend to be fairly regular in songs from Tin Pan Alley and golden-age musicals, but even early in the twentieth century, there are notable departures from these well-practiced norms. Not surprisingly in a dramatic medium, songwriters have often correlated a character’s inability or unwillingness to stay within conventional formal boundaries with their passion. In this seminar, we will investigate the norms and examine some songs that include dramatic expansions, contractions, or departures. Music will be selected from three different eras: Tin Pan Alley and early Broadway (Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Arlen), Mid-century (Rodgers and Hammerstein, Loesser, Styne, Bart), and more modern(ist) works (Sondheim, Hamlish, Yeston, Tesori).

Readings (nothing required, but I might make references to these):

Callahan, Michael R. “Sentential Lyric-Types in the Great American Songbook,” Music Theory Online 19, no. 3 (2013), https://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.13.19.3/mto.13.19.3.callahan.html.
Caplin, William Earl. Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Oxford University Press, 2001. [Just listed for Caplin’s description of sentences, from which we’ll deviate]
Jarvis, Brian Edward, and John Peterson. “Detour or Bridge? Contrasting Sections and Storytelling in Musical Theater.” SMT-V 6, no. 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.30535/smtv.6.2.
Lawrence, John Y. “Lyricist as Analyst: Rhyme Scheme as Music-Setting in the Great American Songbook,” Music Theory Spectrum 46, no. 1 (2024): 1–16,
Plotkin, Richard. “A Phenomenological Approach to Music Theater Rhyme.” In Here for the Hearing, edited by Michael Buchler and Gregory J. Decker. University of Michigan Press, 2023.

Analytical examples will be selected from the following:

Day 1:

Irving Berlin, “You’d Be Surprised” (1919)
Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, “Manhattan” from Garrick Gaieties (1925)
Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, “To Keep My Love Alive” from A Connecticut Yankee (1944)
Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer, “A Woman’s Prerogative” from St. Louis Woman (1950)

Day 2:

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma (1943)
Frank Loesser, “Sue Me” from Guys and Dolls (1950)
Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, “Some People” from Gypsy (1957)
Lionel Bart, “Dey Don’t Do Dat T’Day,” “We Don’t All Wear the Same Size Boots,” and/or “There’s Only One Union” from Maggie May (1964)
John Kander & Fred Ebb, “Sign Here” from Flora, The Red Menace (1965)

Day 3:

Stephen Sondheim, “Not Getting Married Today” and “Barcelona” from Company (1970)
Stephen Sondheim, “Could I Leave You” from Follies (1971)
Marvin Hamlish, “The Music and the Mirror” from A Chorus Line (1975)
Maury Yeston, “My Husband Makes Movies,” and “I Can’t Make this Movie” from Nine (1982)
Jeanine Tesori, “Changing My Major” from Fun Home (2015)
Jeanine Tesori, “Make a Wish” from Kimberly Akimbo (2022)

For Jocelyn’s Sessions

Analyzing Form, Genre, and Musical Politics in Country Music

In our workshop sessions, we will be exploring the intersection of cultural meaning and musical structure in country music. How can the analysis of form, harmony, and lyric structure lead to interpretations of meaning, power relationships, and the commercialization of tradition in American country and bluegrass music? We will employ different analytic methodologies to explore the relationships between formal paradigms and touchstone songs. Our analyses will suggest how musicians create musical works that invoke tradition and lineage in complex and culturally unexpected ways.

To prepare for these workshops, please listen to the following recordings:

“Bait a Hook” Justin Moore