Repetition is fundamental to human experiences of music, as well as to its circulation and promotion. These claims are arguably even more true for popular music. Until recently, however, repetition has been largely neglected or even minimized in music studies. This course explores the implications and possibilities of repetition in music. Particular attention will be given to repetitive phenomena that characterize popular music, such as groove, riffs, hooks, and earworms. The course will also consider how popular music studies, musicology, and music theory can address musical repetition, and the ways in which they have done so (or not) up until now. Material will be drawn from a broad range of intellectual traditions and will touch upon a variety of musical styles, with groove-based popular music at the center.
- Course owner: Prof. Dr. Mark Butler
- Course owner: SHK Carl Luis Lange