Final Paper

Due: Wednesday Sept. 8, noon. (DropBox in Canvas)
Length: 2-3 pages

            Choose one of the following topics:

1. Scenes: Choose one of the following three seminal rock cities—Memphis, Tennessee, London, New York City, or Lost Angeles—and describe how the rock and pop musical scene changed over the period of time covered by this course. Refer to those articles in your readings that discuss music in each city, and discuss the career of musicians associated with that musical scene, as well as the music businesses that may be found there (this could include radio, recording companies, recording studios, or well-known clubs).

 

2. The Songwriter’s Art. Discuss how song-writing has changed from the early 1950s to 1980. Who wrote the majority of songs at the dawn of rock? When does this model change? What factors complicate the notion of a “composer” in rock and roll? How were composers paid for their contributions? Refer to those articles in your readings that discuss songwriters, and discuss the musicians associated with those writers.

 

3. The Rock Writer. Little was written about Rock 'n' Roll during its formative years in the 1950s, but by the mid-1960s a new generation of journalists, historians and arts critics began writing about the music with passion and verve, convinced of the cultural and musical value of Rock. Pick two or more of the writers included in your anthology (or look up more of their work), and compare and contrast their writing topics and styles. How did they treat Rock music? DId their writing tend toward the personal, the sociological, or the historical? How do you see them fitting into the modern history of how we think of Rock music?

 

4. Music Analysis. Choose at least three songs from our listening list that have something in common (they may be by the same artist, or they may be on the same theme, or they may have the same instrumentation). Discuss the musical structure, instrumentation, arrangement, and production sound of the songs. Compare and contrast the songs, and evaluate why they are successful. You may refer to cover versions of each song to make your argument (see above for how to cite videos and songs.)

 

5.Album review. Pick an entire album from any of the artists we touch on. Review it as a whole, and compare it to either other albums made by similar artists at the same time, or to the artist(s)’s work as a whole. Refer to our playlists, and any relevant articles in your class reader.

 

6. Documentary review. Watch one of the recommended documentaries. Compare what you learn in the documentary with relevant articles in your reader, and critique the documentary regarding how well it represents the artists or topics it covers.

 

A Few Formatting Guidelines:

 

Citations:

If you cite an article from the reader, just use "author, shortened form of article title"; e.g. Peter Guralnick, "Portraits in Blues," Music 9 reader.

If you chose to cite anything outside of your reader or long list, use MLA style

I've given examples on the syllabus regarding how to cite youtube videos and songs

No authorless citations! (Wikipedia)

 

Robert Christgau, "Chuck Berry." US punctuation INSIDE
Robert Christgau, 'Chuck Berry'. UK punctuation OUTSIDE

 

Songs with quotes (as in articles or book chapters)
"Heartbreak Hotel"

Albums in italics (as in book titles)
The Beatles's Revolver