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Analysing popular music: theory, method and practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Philip Tagg
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Extract

Popular music analysis-why? One of the initial problems for any new field of study is the attitude of incredulity it meets. The serious study of popular music is no exception to this rule. It is often confronted with an attitude of bemused suspicion implying that there is something weird about taking ‘fun’ seriously or finding ‘fun’ in ‘serious things’. Such attitudes are of considerable interest when discussing the aims and methods of popular music analysis and serve as an excellent introduction to this article.

Type
Research Article
Information
Popular Music , Volume 2 , January 1982 , pp. 37 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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