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Palgrave Macmillan

Unity, Ambiguity, and Flexibility in Theme Music for Game Shows

A Winning Combination

  • Book
  • © 2024

Overview

Authors:
  1. Christopher Gage

    1. University of Delaware, Newark, USA

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  • Studies the composition of famous TV game show theme songs
  • Identifies key compositional features TV game show theme songs must have to function successfully in this unique context
  • Advances the study of game music into a ubiquitous but under-studied medium

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    • Christopher Gage
    Pages 1-14

  3. Creating Unity Through Thematic Repetition and Saturation

    • Christopher Gage
    Pages 15-34

  4. Creating Ambiguity Through Metrical, Formal, and Harmonic Disruptions

    • Christopher Gage
    Pages 35-60

  5. Bonus Round: Nostalgia and the Reboot

    • Christopher Gage
    Pages 61-77

  6. Conclusion

    • Christopher Gage
    Pages 79-90

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 91-92
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Keywords

About this book

With flashing lights, bright colors, and big money, game shows have been an integral part of American culture since the days of radio. While the music that accompanies game shows is charming and catchy, it presents two unique, opposing challenges: first, it must exhibit unity in its construction so that, at any point and for any length of time, it is a tuneful, recognizable signifier of the show to which it belongs; at the same time, it must also possess the ability to be started and stopped according to the needs of gameplay without seeming truncated. This book argues that game show music, in particular from 1960 to 1990, deploys a variety of shared techniques in order to manage these two goals, including theme-derived vamps; saturation of motivic material; and harmonic, rhythmic, and formal ambiguity. Together, these techniques make game show themes exciting, memorable, and perfectly suited to their role.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Delaware, Newark, USA

    Christopher Gage

About the author

Christopher Gage holds doctorates in music theory and organ performance from the University of Kansas. His research is wide-ranging, from keyboard repertoire before 1700 to twentieth-century game show music. Chris is Director of Music at Overbrook Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and currently teaches music theory at the University of Delaware.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Unity, Ambiguity, and Flexibility in Theme Music for Game Shows

  • Book Subtitle: A Winning Combination

  • Authors: Christopher Gage

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46806-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-46805-6Published: 01 May 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-46806-3Published: 30 April 2024

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 92

  • Number of Illustrations: 7 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Music, Screen Studies, Popular Culture , Media and Communication

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