Study Questions and other Resources back to syllabus
Justin London book Butterfield article Garcia article Everett article Zbikowski article
STUDY QUESTIONS: Justin London, Intro and Chapter 1
Explain the author's basis for regarding meter aas a kind of attentional behavior.
How does temporal invariance relate to other aspects of ecological behavior? What is economical perception?
How might there be differences between notated and heard (or unheard) meter?
Describe the meaning and significance of each term:
interonset interval (IOI)
tactus
meter
rhythm
accent
syncopation
Chapter 2:
What are some upper and lower limits in human perception of rhythm?
What are some ideal values that seem to form a "sweet spot" in aspects of musical timing?
How do changes in tempo and timing relate to differing perceptions of meter? How might this shape differing expressive qualities in music?
Chapter 6:
Explain how Beethoven creates drama in his fifth symphony through the addition and subtraction of metrical levels.
How does your own hearing of the piece compare or contrast with the author's?
STUDY QUESTIONS: Matthew W. Butterfield. The Power of Anacrusis: Engendered Feeling in Groove-Based Musics. Music Theory Online 12/4 (December 2006). http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.06.12.4/mto.06.12.4.butterfield.html
How does Butterfield build upon but also differ from Charles Keil in conceptualizing expressive microtiming?
Discuss Christopher Hasty's theory of metric projection, as explained in the Butterfield article.
In what ways are metrical projections hierarchical?
How can a backbeat be timed to change the feel of a groove pattern?
What are some empirical threshholds mentioned in the article that limit boundaries of human perception of rhythm?
What are Butterfield's main points in studying the Chameleon pattern?
What have you learned from this article concerning the timing of swing patterns?
How do issues of authenticity figure in valuing repetition?
How have the writings of Freud, Adorno, and Schoenberg each contributed to notions about repetition?
How does Garcia bring together elements of ethnomusicology, popular music criticism, and music theory in establishing his methodology for studying EDM?
Can you propose counter-arguments to critique ideas in the essay? Can we really locate “pleasure” and “process” within repetition itself? Are those not attributes or byproducts of some entity that undergoes the repetition?
STUDY QUESTIONS: Walter Everett. Making Sense of Rock's Tonal Systems. Music Theory Online, Volume 10/4 (December 2004). http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.04.10.4/toc.10.4.html.