Analysing Popular Music: Theory, Method and Practice

Author(s): Philip Tagg

Source: Popular Music, Vol. 2, Theory and Method (1982), pp. 37-67
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Analysingpopularmusic:theory,method
and practice
by PHILIP TAGG

Popular music analysis - why?

One of the initial problems for any new field of study is the attitudeof
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
considerableinterest when discussing the aims and methods of popularmusic analysis and serve as an excellentintroductionto this article.
In announcing the first InternationalConferenceon PopularMusic
Research,held at Amsterdamin June 1981, TheTimesDiary printedthe
headline 'Going Dutch- The Donnish Disciples of Pop' (The Times 16
June 1981). Judging from the generous use of inverted commas, sics
and 'would-you-believe-it'turns of phrase, the Timesdiaristwas comically baffled by the idea of people getting together for some serious
discussions about a phenomenon which the averageWesterner'sbrain
probablyspends aroundtwenty-five per cent of its lifetimeregistering,
monitoring and decoding. It should be added that The Timesis just as
incredulous about ' "A Yearbookof PopularMusic"(sic)' (theirsic), in
which this 'serious' article about 'fun' now appears.
In announcing the same conferenceon popular music research,the
New Musical Express(20 June 1981, p. 63) was so witty and snappy that
the excerpt can be quoted in full.
Meanwhile, over in Amsterdamthis weekend, high foreheads from the four
cornersof the earth(Sidand Doris Bonkers)will meet forthe firstInternational
Conferenceon PopularMusicat the Universityof Amsterdam.In between the
cheese and wine parties, serious young men and women with goatee beards
and glasses will discuss such vitally importantissues as 'God, Moralityand
Meaning in the Recent Songs of Bob Dylan'.*Should be a barrelof laughs. . .

This wonderfully imaginative piece of poetry is itself a great barrelof

laughs to anyone present at the conference with its zero (o per cent)
wine and cheese parties, one (o.8 per cent) goatee beard and a dozen
* No such talk was on the conference programme!Actually it is the title of Wilfrid
Mellers's articlein Popular Music 1 (1981, pp. 143-57).
37

38

Philip Tagg

(10 per cent) bespectacledparticipants.(As 'Sid Bonkers',I do admit to

having worn contact lenses.) Talks were given by active rock musicians, by an ex-NMEand RollingStonejournalist,by radio people and
by Paul Oliver, who may have worn glasses but who, even if maliciously imagined with a goatee beard, horns and a trident, has probably done more to increaserespect, understandingand enthusiasm for
the music of black Americans than the NME is ever likely to.
This convergence of opinion between such unlikely bedfellows as
The Timesand the NME about the imagined incongruity of popular
music as an area for serious study implies one of two things. Either
popular music is so worthless that it should not be taken seriously
(unlikely, since pop journalists obviously rely on the existence of
popular music for their livelihood) or academics are so hopelessabsent-mindedly mumbling long Latin words under their mortarboards in ivory towers - that the prospect of them trying to deal with
anything as importantas popular music is just absurd. However, The
Timesand NME are not alone in questioning the ability of traditional
scholarshipto deal with popular music. Here they join forces with no
mean number of intellectual musicians and musically interested
academics.
Bearing in mind the ubiquity of music in industrialised capitalist
society, its importance at both national and transnationallevels (see
i
Varis 1975, Chapple and Garofalo 1977, Frith 1978, Fonogrammen
1979) and the share of popular music in all this, the
kulturpolitiken
incredible thing is not that academics should start taking the subject
seriously but that they have taken such a time getting round to it. Until
recently, publicly funded musicology has passively ignored the
socioculturalchallenge of trying to inform the record-buying,Muzakregistering, TV-watchingand video-consuming public 'why and how
who' - from the private sector- 'is communicatingwhat to them' - in
the public sector- 'and with what effect' (apologies to C. S. Peirce).
Even now it does very little.
Nevertheless, to view the academicworld as being full of static and
eternalivory tower stereotypes is to reveal an ahistoricaland strangely
defeatistacceptanceof the schizophrenicstatus quo in capitalistsociety.
It implies atomisation, compartmentalisationand polarisation of
the affective and the cognitive, of private and public, individual and
collective, implicit and explicit, entertaining and worrying, fun and
serious, etc. This 'never-the-twain-shall-meet'syndrome is totally untenable in the field of popular music (or the arts in general). One does
not need to be a don to understand that there are objective developments in nineteenth- and twentieth-centurymusic history which demand that changes be made, not least in academic circles.

Analysingpopularmusic

39

These developments can be summarised as follows: (1) a vast increase in the share music takes in the money and time budgets of
citizens in the industrialisedworld; (2) shifts in class structureleading
to the advent of socioculturally definable groups, such as young
people in student or unemployment limbo between childhood and
adulthood, and their need for collective identity; (3) technological
advances leading to the development of recordingtechniques capable
(forthe firsttime in history)of accuratelystoringand allowing for mass
distribution of non-written musics; (4) transistorisation, microelectronicsand all that such advances mean to the mass dissemination
of music; (5) the development of new musical functions in the audiovisual media (for example, films, TV, video, advertising);(6) the 'noncommunication'crisisin modernWesternartmusic and the stagnation
of official music in historicalmoulds; (7) the development of a loud,
permanent, mechanicallo-fi soundscape (see Schafer1974, 1977)and
its 'reflection'(see Riethmuller1976)in electrifiedmusic with regular
pulse (see Bradley1980);(8)the generalacceptanceof certainEuro-and
of musicalexprestranca
Afro-Americangenres as constitutinga lingua
sion in a large number of contexts within industrialisedsociety; (g) the
gradual, historically inevitable replacement of intellectuals schooled
solely in the artmusic traditionby others exposed to the same tradition
but at the same time brought up on Presley, the Beatles and the
Stones.
To those of us who during the fifties and sixties played both Scarlatti
and soul, did palaeography and Palestrina crosswords as well as
working in steelworks, and who walked across quads on our way to
the 'Palais'or the pop club, the serious study of popularmusic is not a
matter of intellectuals turning hip or of mods and rockers going
academic. It is a question of (a) getting together two equally important
parts of experience, the intellectual and emotional, inside our own
heads and (b) being able as music teachers to face pupils whose
musical outlook has been crippled by those who present 'serious
music' as if it could never be 'fun' and 'fun music' as though it could
never have any serious implications.
Thus the need for the serious study of popular music is obvious,
while the case for making it a laughing matter, although underbe hilariousat times), is basicallyreactionaryand will
standable (it can
be dispensed with for the rest of this article.This is because the aim of
what follows is to present a musicologicalmodel for tacklingproblems
of popular music content analysis. It is hoped that this might be of
some use to music teachers, musicians and others looking for a contribution towards the understanding of 'why and how does who
communicate what to whom and with what effect'.

4o

PhilipTagg

Musicologyandpopularmusicresearch
Studying popularmusic is an interdisciplinarymatter.Musicologystill
lags behind other disciplines in the field, especially sociology. The
musicologist is thus at a simultaneous disadvantage and advantage.
The advantage is that he can draw on sociologicalresearchto give his
analysis proper perspective. Indeed, it should be stated at the outset
that no analysis of musical discourse can be considered complete
without considerationof social, psychological, visual, gestural, ritual,
technical, historical, economic and linguistic aspects relevant to the
genre, function, style, (re-)performancesituation and listening attitude connected with the sound event being studied. The disadvantage
is that musicological 'content analysis' in the field of popular music is
still an underdeveloped area and something of a missing link (see
Schuler 1978).

process
Musicalanalysisandthecommunication
Let us assume music to be that form of interhumancommunicationin
which individually experienceableaffective states and processes are
conceived and transmitted as humanly organised non-verbal sound
structures to those capable of decoding their message in the form of
adequate affective and associative response (see Tagg 1981B). Let us
also assume that music, as can be seen in its modes of 'performance'
and reception, most frequently requiresby its very nature a groupof
individuals to communicateeither among themselves or with another
group; thus most music (and dance) has an intrinsically collective
characternot shared by the visual and verbal arts. This should mean
that music is capable of transmittingthe affective identities, attitudes
and behaviouralpatterns of socially definable groups, a phenomenon
observed in studies of subculturesand used by North Americanradio
to determine advertising markets (see Karshner1971).
Now, although we have considerable insight into socioeconomic,
subcultural and psycho-social mechanisms influencing the 'emitter'
(by means of biographies, etc.) and 'receiver'of certaintypes of popular music, we have very little explicit informationabout the nature of
the 'channel', the music itself. We know little about its 'signifiers'and
'signifieds', about the relations the music establishes between emitter
and receiver,about how a musicalmessage actuallyrelatesto the set of
affective and associative concepts presumably shared by emitter and
receiver, and how it interactswith their respective cultural,social and
naturalenvironments. In other words, revertingto the question 'why
and how does who say what to whom and with what effect?',we could

Analysingpopularmusic

41

say that sociology answers the questions 'who', 'to whom' and, with
some help from psychology, 'with what effect' and possibly parts of
'why', but when it comes to the rest of 'why', not to mention the
questions 'what' and 'how', we are left in the lurch- unless musicologists are prepared to tackle the problem (see Wedin 1972, p. 128).
Popularmusic, notationand musicalformalism
There is no room here to startdefining 'popularmusic' but in orderto
clarifythe argumentI shall establishan axiomatictriangleconsisting of
'folk', 'art'and 'popular'musics. Eachof these three is distinguishable
from both of the others accordingto the criteriapresented in Figure 1.
The argumentis that popularmusic cannot be analysed using only the
traditionaltools of musicology. This is because popular music, unlike
art music, is (1) conceived for mass distribution to large and often
socioculturallyheterogeneous groups of listeners, (2) stored and distributed in non-written form, (3) only possible in an industrialmonetary
economy where it becomes a commodity and (4) in capitalistsocieties,
subject to the laws of 'free' enterprise, according to which it should
ideally sell as much as possible of as little as possible to as many as
possible. Considerationof these distinguishing marksimplies that it is
impossible to 'evaluate' popular music along some sort of Platonic
ideal scale of aesthetic values and, more practically, that notation
should not be the analyst's main source material.The reason for this is
that while notation may be a viable starting point for much art music
analysis, in that it was the only form of storagefor over a millennium,
popular music, not least in its Afro-Americanguises, is neither conceived nor designed to be stored or distributed as notation, a large
number of important parametersof musical expression being either
difficultor impossible to encode in traditionalnotation (see Tagg 1979,
pp. 2S31). This is however not the only problem.
Allowing for certain exceptions, traditionalmusic analysis can be
characterisedas formalistand/or phenomenalist. One of its great difficulties (criticised in connection with the analysis of art music in
Rosing 1977)is relating musical discourse to the remainderof human
existence in any way, the description of emotive aspects in music
either occurring sporadically or being avoided altogether. Perhaps
these difficulties are in part attributableto such factorsas (1) a kind of
exclusivist guild mentalityamongst musiciansresultingin the inability
and/or lack of will to associate items of musical expression with extramusical phenomena; (2) a time-honouredadherenceto notation as the
only viable form of storing music; (3) a culture-centricfixation on
certain 'notatable' parameters of musical expression (mostly

42

Philip Tagg
CHARACTERISTIC
Produced and
transmitted by
Massdistribution

Main mode of storage

and distribution

primarily professionals
primarily amateurs

Folk
music

Art
music

Popular
music

usual

u nusual

oral transmission
musical notation

X
X

recorded sou nd
Type of soclety In
which the category
of music mostly occurs
Main twentieth-century
mode of financing
production and distribution
of the music

nomad ic or agrarian

X
X

agrarianand industrial

industrial
independent of monetary economy
public funding

X
X
X

'free' enterprise
uncommon

X
X

Theory and aesthetics

common
anonymous
Composer/author

non-anonymous

X
X
X

Figure1. Folkmusic, art music, popularmusic:an axiomatictriangle.(Thismodel is an

abbreviatedversion of a lengthy discussion in Tagg 1979, pp. 2>7.)

processualaspectssuchas 'form',thematicconstruction,etc.), which

are particularlyimportantto the Westernart music tradition.This
carrieswith it a nonchalancetowardsother parametersnot easily
expressedin traditionalnotation(mostly'immediate'aspectssuch as
sound, timbre,electromusical
treatment,ornamentation,
etc.), which
arerelativelyunimportant-orignored- in theanalysisof artmusicbut
extremelyimportantin popularmusic(see Rosing1981).
Affecttheoryand hermeneutics

Despite the overwhelmingdominanceof the formalisttraditionin

universitydepartmentsof musicology,such non-referential
thinking
should neverthelessas seen as a culturaland historicalparenthesis,
borderedon the one sideby the baroqueTheoryof Affectsand on the
other by the hermeneuticsof music (see Zoltai1970,pp. 137-215).
Obviously,thenormativeaestheticstrait-jacket
of AffectTheory,a sort
of combinationof feudalabsolutistthoughtand rationalistcuriosity,
and its apparenttendencyto regarditself as universallyapplicable,
renderit unsuitableforapplicationto the studyof popularmusic,with
its multitudeof 'languages',rangingfromfilmmusicin thelateromantic symphonicstyle to punk and frommiddle-of-the-road
pop to the

Analysing popular music

43

Webernesquesonoritiesof murdermusicin TVthrillers.Musicalherapproach,is oftenviolently

meneutics,as a subjectivist,interpretative
andsometimesjustifiablycriticisedandindeedit canfromtimeto time
degenerateinto exegeticguessworkand intuitivelyacrobatic'reading
betweenthe lines'. (Goodexamplesof this are to be foundin Cohn
970, pp. 54-5, Melzer1970, pp. 104, 153, and Mellers1973, pp.
7-18. ) Nevertheless,hermeneuticscan, if applied with slightly
greaterdiscretionand in combinationwith othermusicologicalsubdisciplines,especiallythe sociologyand semiologyof music,makean
importantcontributionto the analysisof popularmusic. In short:a
rejectionof hermeneuticswill result in sterileformalismwhile its
unbridledapplicationcan degenerateinto unscientificguesswork.
Thesemiologyand sociologyof music

and semioticmethods,derivedfromlingThetransferof structuralist

possibilities
uistics,to the realmof musicseemedto offerconsiderable
for the understandingof musical messages (see Bernstein1976).
However,severalmusicologistsof semioticbent(LerdahlandJackendoff1977,Keiler1978,Stoianova1978)havepointedto theobviousbut
overlookedfact that models constructedto explainthe structureof
semantic,denotativeand cognitiveverballanguagecannotbe transplantedwholesaleto the epistemologyof musicwith its associative
and affectivecharacter(see Shepherd1977). Unfortunately,a great
dealof linguisticformalismhas creptintothe semiologyof music,the
extragenericquestionof relationshipsbetweenmusicalsignifierand
signifiedand betweenthe musicalobjectunderanalysisand society
scepticismas intellectually
beingeitherregardedwithintradisciplinary
suspector as subordinateto congenericrelationsinside the musical
object itself (see, for example,Nattiez 1974, pp. 72-3). However,
insteadof establishingsuch oppositionbetweenextrageneric(emic,
andcongeneric(etic,nonreferential,hermeneutic,multidisciplinary)
approaches,it seems wiser to
referential,formalist,uni-disciplinary)
ratherthancontreatthese two lines of reasoningas complementary
tradictory.In this way it will be possibleto establishrelations(exbetweengivenitemsof musicalcodeand theirrespectragenerically)
between
tive fields of extramusicalassociationand (congenerically)
these variousindividualpartsof the musicalcodeas processualstructures.
Theempiricalsociologyof music,apartfromhavingactedas a sorely
and
fromtheirculture-centric
neededalarmclock,rousingmusicologists
ethnocentricslumbers,and notifyingthemof musicalhabitsamongst
the populationat large,can also providevaluableinformationabout

44

PhilipTagg

the effectsof the

uses and (withthe helpof psychology)
functions,
the
thisway,results
ormusicalobjectunderanalysis.In
performance
genre,
habitscan
musical
dataabout
perceptualinvestigationand other
from
the
putting
for
and
analyticalconclusions
usedfor cross-checking
be
perspectives.
analysisin its sociologicaland psychological
whole
the analysisof popularmusicis
Itis clearthata holisticapproachtoreacha full understandingof all
only viableone if one wishes to transmissionandreceptionof
the
interactingwith the conception, an approachobviouslyrefactors
objectof study. Now althoughsuch
the
researcher
knowledgeon a scaleno individualinter-and
multidisciplinary
quires
of
degrees
everhope to embrace,therearenevertheless
can
affordedby
possibilities
the
mention
outlook,not to
intradisciplinary
contextis
this
in
teamwork.An interestingapproachwhichembraces
interdisciplinary
Asaftev1976),
of Asaftev'sIntonationTheory(see
that
fromonomatopoeic
perception,
and
levels of musicalexpression
all
placingthem on either
to complexformstructures,without
signals
Intonationtheory
or covertscalesof aestheticvaluejudgement.
overt
socialand
cultural,
historical,
tries to put musicalanalysisinto be a viablealternativeto both
also
perspectiveand seemsto
psychological
exegesis,at leastas
formalismandunbridledhermeneutic
congeneric
himself(1976,pp.51ff.)
in the realmof artmusicby Asaftev
practised
by Marothy(1974). Intonation
and,in connectionwith folk music,
of popularmusicby Muhe
has also been appliedto the study
theory
of intonationtheory
and Zak(1979).However,the terminology
(1968)
givena diversityof new
to lackstringency,intonationitselfbeing
seems
possesses(seeLing
by Asaftevin additionto thoseit already
meanings
and dynamically
holistic
It seems wise to adoptthe generally
1978A).
musicanalysis,
popular
approachof intonationtheoryin Westwhereit is still
non-idealist
the
at leastin
lesswise to adoptits terminology,
littleknown.
importantpublicationswithin
Thereare also a numberof other
sociological,
musicologywhich combinesemiological,
non-formalist
ideas
offering
thereby
psychologicaland hermeneuticapproaches,
from
Apart
music.
popular
of
whichmightbe useful in the analysis
n.ll)
1981,
Rosing
(see
Germany
pioneerworkcarriedout in pre-war in thiscontextpublications
by
mention
should
I
andby Frances(1958),
(1978).
Ling (1978B)and Tarasti
Karbusicky(1973), Rosing (1977),
are the analyticalmodels
However, in none of these publications
an extremelydifficultarea,
appliedto popularmusic;thisstillremains
critiqueof severalWest German
as Rosing(1981) points out in his
difficultiesarealsoclearlyepitoattemptsat tacklingthe problem.The
methodsdevelopedin the
misedby the surprisingdearthof analytical
Anglo-Saxonworld.

Analysingpopularmusic

45

In an interesting analysis of a fourteen-minuteLP trackby an East

Germanrockgroup, PeterWicke(1978)puts forwardconvincingarguments for treating popular music with new, non-formalistanalytical
methods. Wicke's analysis poses questions arising from an approach
similarto that used here. Therefore,in an effortto fill some epistemologicalgaps I shall proceed to attemptthe establishmentof a theoretical
basis for popular music analysis.
An analytical model for popular music
The conceptual and methodological tools for popular music analysis
presented here are based on some results of current research (Tagg
1979, 1980, 1981A,B). The most importantpartsof this analyticalmodel
are (1) a checklistof parametersof musicalexpression, (2) the establishment of musemes (minimal units of expression) and museme compounds by means of interobjectivecomparison, (3) the establishment
of figure/ground(melody/accompaniment)relationships,(4) the transformationalanalysis of melodic phrases, (5) the establishmentof patterns of musical process and their relative congruence with eventual
patternsof extramusicalprocess, and (6)the falsificationof conclusions
by means of hypothetical substitution. These points will be explained
and some of them exemplified in the rest of this article. I shall draw
examples mainly from my work on the title-theme of the KofakTV
series (see Tagg 1979) and on Abba'shit recording'Fernando'(see Tagg
1981A). First, however, this analyticalprocess should be put into the
context of a scientificparadigm.The discussion that follows should be
read in conjunctionwith Figure 2. A reading down the centre of this
diagram, following the bold lines, takes one through the process of
analysis. Down the sides, joined by thinner lines, are the extramusical
factorswhich feed into the processes of productionof the music and, at
the level of ideology, must alsobe takeninto accountby the analyst.First,
however, let us concentrate on the hermeneutic/semiologicallevel,
reading down Figure 2 as far as the moment of 'verbalisation'.
Methodological
paradigmfor popularmusicanalysis
It should be clearthat popularmusic is regardedas a socioculturalfield
of study (SCFS).It should also be clear from Figure 2 that there is an
access problem involving the selection of analysis object (hereinafter
'A0') and analyticalmethod. Choice of method is determined by the
researcher's'mentality'- his or her world view, ideology, set of values,
objectivepossibilities, etc., influenced in their turn by the researcher's
and the discipline's objectiveposition in a cultural,historicaland social

QUEN

I PMP
EMFA
IMC
PEMP

O
LO
G

<H

<

S PEMP
EMFA
IMC
PMP

PhilipTagg

46

E E
RM
MI

AO

IOCM

>

(;

CA

| comments
on aims

verbalisation

t)

D
E

| music a alysed |
| in explicit terms |

l
I
l

L
O

I
AO as expression
of relationships

G
I
C
A
tJ

comments
on reactions

*
*
*
*

Emitter
- interests,
needs and
functions

AO - analysis oD ject

>

Interobjective

cornl)artson rTlaterial

IOCM

Emitter: Receiver
Emitter: SCFS
Receiver: SCFS
AO: SCFS

SCFS

Receiver
- interests,
needs and
functions

substitutton

tiS = hypothetical

IMC = iterns of musical code

EMFA - extramusical

fields of association

PMP = patterns of musical [rocess

PE MP

lzatterns o f ext ramusical process

SCFS - sociocultural

field of study

rnusice = music as notation

musics
rnusic
musico

music as conception
- music as sounding
music

dS

perception

(rpaoa

- writej

(tall(lv thouqht,
object (iS;>

;)url)oseR mirld)

matter as o;);zosed to rnindj

(Oa*zl(l,ua(- appear, seem)

Figure2. Methodologicalparadigmfor analysis of affectin popularmusic. (Thanksto

Sven Andersson, Institutefor the Theoryof Science, GothenburgUniversity,for help
in constructingthis model.)

context. Fromthe previousdiscussionit should be clear that the

analysisof popularmusicis regardedhereas an importantcontribution to musicologyand to culturalstudiesin general.Thisopinionis
basedon the generalview of modernmusichistorypresentedabove
(see p. 39).

Analysingpopularmusic

47

Thechoiceof A0 is determinedto a largeextentby practicalmethodologicalconsiderations.At the presentstageof enquirythismeans

twothings.Firstly,it seemswiseto selectanA0 whichis conceivedfor
andreceivedby large,socioculturally
heterogeneousgroupsof listeners ratherthanmusicused by moreexclusive,homogeneousgroups,
simplybecauseit is morelogicalto studywhatis generallycommunicablebeforetryingto understandparticularities.
Secondly,because,as
we haveseen, congenericformalismhas ruledthe musicological
roost
for some time and because the developmentof new types of extragenericanalysisis a difficultmatter,demandingsomecaution,it is
best that AOs with relativelyclearextramusical
fields of association
(hereinafter'EMFA')be singledout at this stage.
The finalchoiceto be madebeforeactualanalysisbeginsis which
stage(s)in the musicalcommunication
processto study. Reasonsfor
discardingmusicas notation(music,,)have alreadybeen presented.
Music as perceivedby listeners(musicp)and as conceivedby the
composerand/ormusicianbeforeactualperformance(musicv)areon
the otherhand both highly relevantto the study of popularmusic,
sincetheirrelationsto eachother,to the soundingobject(musicV)
and
to the generalsocioculturalfield of study are all vital parts of the
perspectiveinto which any conclusionsfrom the analysisof other
stagesin the musicalcommunication
processmustbe placed.Nevertheless, howeverimportantthese aspectsmaybe (andtheyarevital),
they can only be mentionedin passinghere,beingreferredto as the
'ideological'part of the paradigmwhich follows the hermeneuticsemiologicalstage.
Thus, choosingthe soundingobject(musicV)
as our startingpoint,
we can now discussactualanalyticalmethod.
Hermeneutic-semiological
method

Thefirstmethodological
toolis a checklistofparameters
of musicalexpression. Havingdiscussedgeneralaspectsof the communication
process
andanyformsof simultaneous
extramusical
expressionconnectedwith
the A0, it is a goodideato makesomesortof transcript
of the musicV,
takinginto considerationa multitudeof musicalfactors.In drastically
abridgedform(fromTagg1979,pp. 6S70), the checklistincludes:
. Aspectsof time:durationof A0 and relationof this to any other
simultaneousformsof communication;
durationof sectionswithin
the A0; pulse, tempo, metre, periodicity;rhythmictextureand
motifs.
2. Melodicaspects:
register;pitchrange;rhythmicmotifs;tonalvocabulary;contour;timbre.

48

PhilipTagg

aspects:type and number of voices, instruments,

3. Orchestrational
parts;technicalaspects of performance;timbre;phrasing;accentuation.
4. Aspectsof tonalityand texture:tonal centre and type of tonality (if
any); harmonicidiom; harmonicrhythm;type of harmonicchange;
chordal alteration; relationships between voices, parts, instruments; compositional texture and method.
5. Dynamicaspects:levels of sound strength;accentuation;audibilityof
parts.
6. Acousticalaspects:characteristicsof (re-)performance'venue';degree
of reverberation; distance between sound source and listener;
simultaneous'extraneous' sound.
and mechanicalaspects:panning, filtering, compres7. Electromusical
sing, phasing, distortion, delay, mixing, etc.; muting, pizzicato,
tongue flutter, etc. (see 3, above).
This list does not need to be applied slavishly. It is merely a way of
checking that no important parameterof musical expression is overlooked in analysis and can be of help in determining the processual
structureof the AO. This is because some parameterswill be absent,
while others will be either constantduring the completeAO (if they are
constant during other pieces as well, such a set of AOs will constitutea
style - see Fabbri1982)or they will be variable, this constituting both
the immediate and processualinterest of the AO, not only as a piece in
itself but also in relation to other music. The checklist can also contribute to an accuratedescriptionof musemes.These are minimalunits of
expression in any given musical style (not the same definition as in
Seeger 1977) and can be established by the analytical procedure of
comparison(hereinafterIOC).
interobjective
The inherently 'alogogenic' characterof musical discourse is the
main reason for using IOC. The musicologist's eternal dilemma is the
need to use words about a non-verbal, non-denotative art. This apparent difficulty can be turned into an advantage if at this stage of
analysis one discardswords as a metalanguagefor music and replaces
them with other music. This means using the reverse side of a phrase
coined in a poem by Sonnevi (1975):'musiccannotbe explainedaway it can't even be contradictedunless you use completely new music'.*
*

The Swedish originalis somewhat more poetic than the translation:

Musiken
kan inte bortforklaras
Det gar inte ens
att saga emot,
annat an
med helt ny musik

Analysingpopularmusic

49

Thus using IOC means describing music by means of other music; it

means comparingthe AO with other music in a relevantstyle and with
similar functions. It works in the following way.
If an analyticalapproachwhich establishes consistency of response
to the same AO played to a number of differentrespondents is called
intersubjective,
then an interobjective
approachwould be that which can
establish consistency of sound events between two or more pieces of
music. Establishing similaritiesbetween an AO and other 'pieces of
music' can be done by the researcherhimself, referringto the 'check
list'. The scope of the interobjective
comparison
material(IOCM)can, however, be widened considerablyby asking other people to do the same.
This process establishes a bank of IOCM which, to give some examples, can amount to around 350 pieces in the case of the Kofaktitle
theme and about 130 in Abba's 'Fernando'.
The next step is to search the IOCMfor musical elements (items of
musical code: IMC)which are also to be found in the AO. These elements are often extremely short (musemes), or else consist of general
sonorities or of overall expressional constants. Particularmusemes,
'motifs' and general sonorities in both the AO and the IOCMwhich
correspond must then be related to extramusicalforms of expression.
Such relationships can be established if pieces in the IOCM share
any common denominators of extramusicalassociationin the form of
visual or verbal meaning. If they do, then the objective correspondences established between the items of musical code in the analysis
object (AO/IMC)and those in the IOCM (IOCM/IMC),and between
the musical code of the IOCM(IOCM/IMC)and its extramusicalfields
of association (IOCM/EMFA),lead to the conclusion that there is a
demonstrable state of correspondence between the items of musical
code in the analysis object (AO/IMC)and the extramusicalfields of
association connected to the interobjective comparison material
(IOCM/EMFA)- also of course, between IOCM/IMCand AO/EMFA
(see Fig. 3).
There are obvious pitfalls in this method of determining musical
'meaning'.Justas no one would presume the same morphemeto mean
the same thing in two different languages (for instance, French and
English [wi:]), so it would be absurdto presume that, say, a Bb13chord
will 'mean' the same in nineteenth-century operetta (Ex. 1) and in
bepop (Ex. 2).
The same kind of confusion might also result in describing 'What
Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor'as sad, and 'He Was Despised'
from the Messiahas happy, just because minor is supposed to be sad
and majorhappy- as though the specificitiesof musicallanguage were
not the most important operative factors.

t!

bv

so

Philip Tagg

etc.

*-- . objective states of correspondence

demonstrable states of correspondence

Figure 3. Hermeneuticcorrespondenceby means of interobjectivecomparison

To overcome such difficulties,IOCMshould be restrictedto musical

genres, functions and styles relevantto the AO. Thus, in dealing with
punk rock, IOCMwould need to be confined to pop and rockfrom the
sixties and after, whereas the IOCM used in connection with
middle-of-the-roadpop, film music, etc. can be far larger, due to the
eclecticnatureof such musics and the heterogeneityof theiraudiences.
Having extracted the IMC of the AO (thirteen main musemes for
Kofak,ten for 'Fernando'),their affectualmeaning in associativeverbal
form should be corroboratedor falsified. Sinceit is impossible or totally
impracticalto constructpsychological test models isolating the effects
Example

X
rall .

Example

2
l

wv

bbj 22y;

ah 1j

"

ils

n.

S
Analysing popular music

51

of one museme in any listening situation, it is suggested that hypotheses of musematic 'meaning' be tested by means of a technique well
known from such practices as 'majoring', 'minoring', 'rocking up',
'jazzing up' and applied by Bengtsson (1973, pp. 221ff.) to illustrate
theories on musical processes. This technique is called hypothetical
substitutionand is best explained by example.
The Swedish national anthem ('Du Gamla, du Fria'),together with
most patrioticsongs and hymns (whatevertheir musicalorigins*),can
be assumed to be of a traditionallysolemn and positively dignified yet
confident character.Furthermore,it can be assumed that there is great
intermusematic similarity between most national anthems. To test
these assumptions, it is necessary to alter the various parametersof
musical expression one by one, in order to pinpoint what part of the
music actuallycarriesthe solemn-dignified-confidentaffect. Using the
first melodic phrase (Ex. 3) as a starting point, hypothetical
substitution
(HS) can falsify the theory that (a) the melodic contour, (b)the melodic
relationship of the initial upbeat-downbeatt and (c) the key and the
intervallicrelationship of the melody to the tonic are instrumentalin
the transmission of the assumed affective meaning.
Example3. Swedish national anthem
J 76

Du

gam-la,

du fri - a, du

fjall- h-og-a Nord

In all three cases (Exx.4a,b,c) the originalmelody has been changed.

The drasticallyaltered HS of Example4a bears nonetheless a striking
resemblance to the 'Marseillaise'and could have been made to sound
like 'The Stars and Stripes for Ever', 'God Save the Queen' or the
'Internationale'.The second HS (4b)shows the firstintervalas a rising
majorsixth fromfifth to majorthird, the most characteristicleap in the
Soviet national anthem, while the third HS (4c) sounds like a mixture
of musemes from such labour movement rousers as 'BandieraRossa'
and 'Venceremos'.It also resembles the 'release'of the 'Revolutionary
Funeral March', Beethoven's setting of Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' and a
triumphantchorus from Handel's JudasMaccabeus,not to mention the
'send her victorious' phrase from 'God Save the Queen'.
The Swedish nationalanthemtook its tune froman old folk song with 'naughty'lyrics.
t This seems to contradictMarothy (1974, pp. 224-7, 241ff.) The initial interval (the
initium'intonation'of plainchant,for example)should not be confused with Asaftev's
various usages of 'intonation'.Asaftevcalls this type of initialintervalvrodniyton(=
introductorytone).

@j 4

4 ;

PhilipTagg

52

Example4
(a ) altered melodic contour

z;

41l

n:

21;

"

gam - la. du fri - a. du fjall - hog-a Nord

Du

(b ) altered upbeat
J-76

>

fjall - hog-a Nord

gam - la, du fri - a. du

Du

( c ) altered key
76

J-

Nord

fjall-hog-a

gam - la,du fri - a. du

Du

72;

nlJ

;zj

i$$$$'4
(d ) altered phrasing
76

@$2 2 I

I Jie !

.h3

.>

Du gam - la. du fri

fj'all - h-og-a Nord

- a. du

( e ) altered tempo
J = 42 or 1.30

Du

fri - a, du

gam-la,du

fjall-hog-a

Nord

( f ) altered Iyrics

1= 76

@$2SI;

six

On route six-ty
(g) altered metre
JW
- J = a40
+
. !
iA

t]

zJ

>

zJ
,

get - ting mykicks

I'll be

. IJ ; J I, J H;

Du

gam-la.

du

fri - a

du

,-,

--; IJ

fjall-h-og-a

Nord

It is, however, possible to corroborateassumptions about solemnity,

dignity and confidence by changing the phrasing (Ex. 4d), the tempo
(4e), the lyrics (4f) and the time signature (4g).
By changing the phrasing to staccato, the melody loses much of its
dignity, becoming more like a Perez Prado cha-cha (Ex. 4d).* By in* See Prado's'Patricia',RCAVictor47-7245,no. 1 on the Hot 100, 1958.See also Tommy
Dorsey's Teafor Two Cha-Cha, Decca 30704, no. 7 on the Hot 100, 1958.

Analysing popular music

53

creasing the pulse rate to an allegroof 130 or more, dignity, solemnity

and confidence become a bit rushed; by lowering it to an adagio pulse
of forty-two, the confidence turns into something dirge-like (4e).
Solemnity seems also to be destroyed by the substitution of 'undignified' lyrics, resulting in something more like blasphemous versions
of hymns (4f), and also by retaining the original tempo while stating
the tune in triple metre, thus warrantinga waltz accompaniment(4g).
It would also have been possible to alter the dynamics to, say,
pianissimo, to give the harmonies the sharpened or flattened added
notes characteristicof chords in bebop, to put the melody through a
fuzz box, harmoniser or ring modulator, into the minor key or, say,
some gapped Balkanfolk mode. The originalmelody could also have
been played at an alteredpitch on bassoon, piccolo, celesta, synthesiser, hurdy-gurdy,bagpipes or steel guitar;it could have been accompanied by a rockband, crumhornconsort or by offbeathand claps. There
is an infinite number of HSs which can corroborateor falsify correspondences between conclusions about musematic meaning (AO/IMC
- IOCM/EMFA).However, from the examples presented here it is at
least clearthat the last four parametersof musicalexpression (Ex.4d, e,
f, g) are more important determinants of the affective properties of
dignity, solemnity and confidence than the first three (Ex. 4a, b, c),
although change in melodic contourwas fareasierto detect in notation
than these more important factors.
Having established extramusical'meaning' at the micro level, one
should proceed to the explanationof the ways musemes arecombined,
simultaneously and successively. Unlike verbal language, where
complexities of affective association can generally only be expressed
through a combination of denotation and connotation, music can
express such complexities through simultaneously heard sets of
musemes. Several separately analysable musemes are combined to
form what the listener experiences as an integral sound entity. Such
'museme stacks' can be seen as a vertical cross-section through an
imaginary score. Subjectively they seem to have no duration, never
exceeding the limits of 'present time' experiencein music; objectively
this means they are never longer than the length of a musical phrase,
which may be roughly defined as the durationof a normalinhalation
plus exhalation (see Wellek 1963, p. 109). In popular music, museme
stacks can often be found to correspondto the concept of 'sound', one
of whose characteristicsis a hierarchyof dualisms consisting, firstly, of
the main relationship between melody and accompaniment (which
may be interpreted as a relationship between figure and ground,
individual(s) and environment), and, secondly, subsidiary relationships between bass (plus drums) and other accompanyingparts. The

54

PhilipTagg

relative importance of simultaneous musemes and their combined

affectual message, shown as a theoretical model in Figure 4, can be
exemplified by the affectualparadigmof the firstmelodic phrase in the
Kofaktheme (Fig. 5).

Figure 4. Model for analysis of museme stacks

There is no room here to account in detail for stages of musematic

analysis leading to the associative words found in Figure 5 (see Tagg
1979, pp. o02-47). The example is included merely to make more
concrete a little of this otherwise theoreticalpresentation.
Melody
a call to
action and
attention,
strong,
individual
movement
up and
outwards,
virl e,
energetic
and heroic, leading to
undu lating
swaying,

calm and
conf idence,
something
individual,
male,
martial and
heroic

|Type of relation|
stands
out
against,
is

heard
above,
is

stronger than,
is engaged
in dialogue
with

Accompaniment

Bass
energy,
excitement,
desu Itory
unrest,
male aggressivity,
threat of
su bcu Itu raI
environment in
large North
American
city

Type of
relation

is

part
of,
rumbles
be1ow,
is

heard
th rough

Other parts

general,
constant,
bustling
activity,
agitated,
pleasant,
vibrant,
lum inous,
modern,
u rban
American,
sometimes
jerky,
unresting,
exciting

Figure 5. Analysis of museme stack in the Kojaktheme, bars 5 X

Analysing popular music

55

Having established correspondence between on the one hand

vstatic'items of musical expression (musemes and museme stacks) in
the AO and, on the other hand, the EMFAsof the IOCM- which leads
to conclusions about the relationshipbetween these items as signifiers
and signifieds - it is also necessaryto determinethe processual
meaning
of the AO. Thanks to the melody-accompaniment dualism of much
popular music (see Muhe 1968, pp. 53, 67; Marothy1974, p. 22; Tagg
1979, pp. 123-4, 142-7), in which there are rarelymore than two parts
with melodic material, the remaining voices either executing riffs or
sustaining notes or chords, the way to determinethe relativesyntactic
importance of individual musemes along the 'horizontal'time axis is
reasonably simple. It is in fact possible to constructa model according
to which any melodic phrase can be generated accordingto the transformationalnorms to which the AO belongs (see Fig. 6). This does not
imply that there are any hard and fast rules about the way in which
melodic phrases are actuallygenerated. The model is a purely theoretical conception, which helps us find out the syntacticalmeaning of
melodic phrases. A generative analysis of the firstfully stated melodic
phrase from the Kofaktheme (Fig. 7) should make this clearer.Starting
from the original pitch idea shown in Figure 7, an infinite number of
transformations are possible. Two of these, simply using different
sequences of musemes, are suggested in Examples 5 and 6. These
examples are both melodic nonsense; neither the mere sum, nor the
haphazard permutation of musemes can constitute the syntactical
meaning of melodic phrases. Instead it is their specific type of contiguity, their type of overlap-elisionaccordingto the 'law of good continuation' (Meyer 1956)and that of 'implication'(Narmour1977), that
give specific meaning to the phrase. This can be seen in a comparison
of the original melodic phrase of the Kofaktheme (Ex. 7) and a HS in
which the middle museme, togetherwith its transformationby propulsive double repetition, has been replacedwhile all other elements have
been retained (Ex. 8).
MP
(musical phrase)

//

\\

IM
(initial motif)

M
(museme)

TM
(terminal motif)

Figure 6. 'Deep structure'of melodic phrases

'-rX

EE-

Deep structure

Type of \
transformation\

Pitch idea
Accentual

direction

-- -- --

Melodic vocabulary
(Cm pentatonic)

-- --

Deletion (of final

non-accent of same
pitch)

_ _

Deletion by
assimilation

>

_ ___

ghbb

- - - -X

----

---

>

@bbbcz

-- sbbb

-\- - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - - - - - |- - _ _ _ 0_ _ a Sbbb n

Allegro assai ( J = a 34)

Accentual
distribution
(metrication)

bbb1

/4

$ $ $

-+
f

;@

D;-

S;-

L.

Accentual
emphasis
(by prolongation)

Decoration
impletion

- - - - - - - - - -4-

by

Accentual diffusion

Propulsive
repetition

double

- - - +X bSbj

-_--0I t

+
f

jvbb

Deletion of
redundant rests

Instrumentation

unison horns a 4 (+ el. gt., 3rd vlns vel. )

Dynamics

forte/ fortissimo

Phrasing and
interpretation

legato. cantabile 'en dehors'

1l

I
|

Allegroassai

134 legato,cantabile v

Surface structure

X b b2

j;

i1

;;

Horns a 4 (+ el . gt. . vel . & 3rd vlns)

Note: 0

= zero museme

Figure 7. Generativeanalysis of melodic line in first full melodic phra

PhilipTagg

58

Example5

@ bbb2

|,J

j;

J>-J

Example6

bbb
2 X b. D IJ

D J. D I <1 j 9

Example7

Xbb:

ifol

1 4

bar 1

DX

I ;<

IX

Example8
bar 1

Xbba

3
,3

4
{31

In this way it is possible to distinguish between the affectualsyntax

of the original version and that of the HS. The differences can be
verbalisedas follows. Example7: (bar1) a strong, virilecallto attention
and action upwards and outwards/(bar2) undulates, sways calm and
confident, gaining momentum to lead into/(bars3 and 4) something
strong, broad, individual, male, martial,heroic and definite. Example
8: (bar 1) a strong, virile call to attention and action upwards and
outwards /(bar 2) redescends smoothly to/(bar 3) something strong,
broad, individual, male, martialand heroicwhich grows in height and
intensity, driving forwardto/(bar4) a confident point of rest. In short:
although these two melodic phrases contain exactlythe same musical
material, the order in which the materialis presented and the way in
which its constituent parts are elided into each other are both instrumental in determining the difference in affectual meaning.
Climbing furtherup the structuralhierarchyfrom the microcosmof
musemes, through melodic phrases, we arrive at the point where
larger patterns of musical process (PMP) should be examined. This
area is generally regardedas the privatehunting ground of traditional
formalist musicology with its sophisticated conceptual apparatus of
thematicgermination,mutationand development. However, as Chester (1970)has suggested, there arecleardifferencesbetween the 'extensional' type of musical discourse to be found in the heyday of sonata

Analysing popular music

59

form and the 'intensional'blocks through which much popular music

(not least rock) is structuredin a much more immediate way.*
Nevertheless, this does not mean that patterns of musical process
are a simple matter in popular music analysis (see Wicke 1978, Tagg
1979). Although block shifts (simultaneous changes in several parameters of musical expression) are reasonably clear in joins between
verse and chorus, A and B sections, etc., the total meaning of straightforward patterns of reiterationand recapitulationcan often be more
than their deceptive simplicitysuggests. (Fordiscussion of some of the
processes involved, see Tagg 1979,pp. 217-29.) The situationbecomes
even more complex when there is incongruence between musical
processes and extramusicalprocesses (PEMP:visual images or words,
for instance) in the same AO. Only a depth analysis of simultaneity,
staggering or incongruence of change and returnin both musical and
extramusical processes within the AO can actually reveal the true
nature of the musical discourse. The sort of problem involved here is
probably best explained by an example.
In Abba's 'Fernando',t patternsof musicaland extramusicalprocess
seem reasonablyclear.The song has two parts:instrumentalplus verse
(V), and chorus (C). The order of events is V V C V C C. By means of
musematic analysis the verse can be said to conjure up a postcard
picture of a young European woman alone against a backcloth of a
plateau in the high Andes. Periodicity,vocal delivery, lackof bass and
drums, and other musical aspects say that she is sincere, worried,
involved in a long-ago-and-far-awayenvironment. The words of the
verse underline this mood: she has taken part, together with her
'Fernando', in a vaguely-referred-tofreedom fight. The music of the
chorus can be said to represent here-and-now in pleasant, modern,
comfortable, leisurely surroundings; the young European woman is
pleasantly nostalgic. The words are congruently nostalgic and totally
devoid of concrete references (guns, bugle calls, Rio Grande, etc.)
mentioned in the verse. Everything in the analysis seems relatively
simple so far, and judging from the words of the chorus, this could be
quite a 'progressive' song.
There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright,
Fernando,
They were shining there for you and me, for liberty, Fernando,
Though we never thought that we could lose, there's no regrets:
If I had to do the same again, I would, my friend, Fernando.
For more detailed discussion of extensionaland intensionalstructures,see pp. 29-30
above. (ed.)
t Epic EPC 4036, no. X in the UK, 1976. Also on LP Abba'sGreatestHits Epic EPC
69218, fifty-one weeks in BritishLP charts.As a single in the USA (Atlantic45-3346)
sixteen weeks in the 'Hot 100'.Fora thoroughanalysisof 'Fernando',see Tagg 1981A.
*

4;

Sb7><_,o

PhilipTagg

60

The only trouble is that the musical element corresponding to this

nostalgia and longing to return to the exotic environment (Ex. g) is a
highly ambiguous museme, for not only is its fallingtritone(markedx)
a stereotype of 'longing' (for IOCMsee Ex. 1oa, b, c) but also a typical
pre-cadentialsign of the imminent relaxationof tension (see Ex. 1la,
b). A depth analysis of the patterns of musical process in 'Fernando'
reveals that when the ambiguous museme occurs at the start of the
chorus it has a clearly longing character(Ex. 9), since it cannot be
pre-cadentialwhen it not only initiates the phrase but also the whole
section. However, when it recurs at the end of the chorus, it still
admittedly starts the melodic phrase but it is at the same time in a
typically pre-cadential position of announcing relaxation of tension
and thereforeno reallonging. This is because it occurstowardsthe end
of a much longer but equallywell-entrenchedmusicalprocess, that of a
familiar VI-II-V-I circle-of-fifths finish (Ex. 12). This means that,
whereas the words say 'If I had to go back and fight for freedom in
Latin America, I would', the music expresses the affective attitude 'I
may be longing for something here at home but I'mreallyquite content
with things as they are.'
Example9. Abba, 'Fernando'
Start of chorus
E7 vr

A (finish)

J EJl
s z J J J JII
@$$t
air

Therewassomethinginthe

>

that night, the stars_

were bright,

Example 10
a. Bach, Matthaus Passion (1729), 'Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachten'
F7 r

Cm
@

Ab 7-5 x

Eb 7 x

Bb

bb

b. Gluck, Orfeoe Euridice(1774), 'Che faro senza Euridice?'

x

Adagio

j$

C,zrn
he-ar

prayer so_

my

sad_

and_

sigh-

ing

c. The Righteous Brothers,'You've Lost That Loving Feeling', Philles 124

Cll

You ne-ver

closeyour

eyes_

a-ny

more whenyou kiss my

lips

V C); the second process movesin the opposite direction (C V).

61

Analysingpopularmusic

Example11
ed. F. G.
a. Njurlingand Dahlqvist,'Skeppsom motasi natten'(1924).In SuenskSchlager,
Sundelof (Stockholm1968)

$2 I |

76

rJ

A7

A7
.1

I fXf

rG

If

J.

ed. O. Lerenand L. Damstad

b. Alf Pr0ysen, 'LillavackraAnna' (n.d.). In Visesangboka,
(Oslo, 1971)

@$l J;!;I

A7

1.

ILJ*IvXI..

lo

Example12. Abba, 'Fernando'

[Start second half of chorus (something new)]
+{9>

F,"7 (RrI)

s Z;;JJ

IJ

Finish of
* A (I) chorus

E7 (V)

there's no re-grets

Though we never thought that we could lose,

@$#S

1z-J ;mU;J

If I had to do the gsame a-gain,_

I would,_

41}j.

$1

myfriend, Fer-nan - do.

[return of the familiar (relief)]

Difficulties in interpreting patterns of musical process can also be

found further up the processual hierarchyin the same song. Ostens-ibly,three main processes are to be found. The first and third move
from the sincere-worrying-and-involvement-about-fighting-for-freedom-in-the-sierrassphere to the world of here-and-now-at-homein
pleasant, comfortablesurroundings, reminiscing with relief (that is,
However, not only are there more shifts from verse to chorus than vice
versa, there is also an overall processfrom'more "Andes" (verse) and
less "soft disco" (chorus)' (the first half of the song) to 'less "Andes"
and more "soft disco"' (the second half). A processual HS reversing
this order of events leads to a totally different statement of emotional
involvement in musical terms.
At this point in the analyticalmodel we are poised on the brink of
'ideological critique', the next and final step in the methodological
paradigm presented earlier (see Fig. 2).

62

PhilipTagg

critique
Ideological
Thispart of the study is strictlyspeaking outside the jurisdictionof the
typeof 'textual analysis' sketched above. However, it seems important,if only in passing and by way of summary,to pose a few questions
arisingout of the sort of musematic analysis illustratedthere. These
questionsalso put the analyticalmodel into a broader perspective.
The results of the detailed musematic analyses of both Kofakand
'Fernando'(Tagg 1979, 1981A) showed that this mainstreampopular
musicwas able to carrymessages which, at a preconscious, affective
andassociative level of thought, were able to relatetypes of personality, environments and events to emotional attitudes, implicit evaluations and patterns of affective response. In the case of Kofak,for
example, the music was found to reinforce a basically monocentric
view of the world and to emphasise affectively the fallacy that the
negative experience of a hostile urban environment can be overcome
solely by means of an individualistattitudeof strengthand go-it-alone
heroism. In 'Fernando',a similar sort of monocentricityprevails, but
the threat and worry epitomised by oppression, hunger and rebellion
under neo-colonialism are warded off by the adoption of a tourist
attitude (most strikinglyexpressed in the spatial panning, which has
'ethnic' quena flutes in the stereo wings and the West European
vocalist up centre front- a HS reversing these positions could have
been interesting!) and by nostalgic reminiscences heard against a
familiar'home' accompanimentof 'soft disco' (these elements gaining
a repressive, Angst-dispellingupper hand).
Obvious questions arising from such results are of the following
type. How do 'emitter'and 'receiver'relateto the attitudesand implicit
ideologies which seem to be encoded in the analysed 'channel'?Starting with the 'emitter' we might ask how, as far as the 'emitter' is
concerned, the conception and composition of these affectively encoded attitudes are influenced by the circulation of capital in the
popular cultureindustry. Does this connect with the demand for quick
turnover and the creation of 'product' capable of eliciting immediate
audience reaction leading to such turnover?If so, how aware is the
'emitter' of these pressures? Is there any conscious or unconscious
self-censorship at this stage? It seems probable,for example, that the
productionof much film music, including titles and signaturetunes, is
influenced by a need to follow well-entrenchedstereotypes of affective
code, in terms of both musematic structuresand the implicitattitudes
conveyed by such structureswhen connected in a stereotypicfashion
to extramusical phenomena (see Tagg 1980). Can such tendencies
really be seen as a sort of evil conspiracy and as the reflection of a

Analysingpopularmusic

63

conscious ideologicalposition on the partof the 'emitter'?Is it not more

likely that they should be attributedto the objectivesocial and cultural
position of the 'emitter'in relationto the music business, the 'receiver'
and society in general?
Turning to the receiving end of the communication process, we
might ask how the musical statement of implicitattitudes prevalentin
society at large affects those listening to such culturallyeclectic and
heterogeneously distributedtypes of music as title tunes and middleof-the-road pop. Are the attitudes and behaviour patterns implied in
such music as Kofakand 'Fernando'actuallycapableof reinforcingthe
attitudes and behaviour patterns implied by prevailingsocial tendencies of monocentricity,privatisationand idealist individualism;or are
these messages merely received at a distance as entertaining reflections of an outdated mode of relating to current reality?Obviously,
reception of such 'consensus music' (Hamm 1981) will vary considerablybetween differentcultures, subcultures,classes and groups.
Thus, whereas parts of the 'fourthaudience' (ibid.)may well be able to
identify with the affective attitudes towards love, family, society and
nature (on 'nature' in music, see Rebscher 1976, Rosing 1977, Tagg
1982) presented in such TV music as Kofakor in such middle-of-theroad pop as 'Fernando',it is clearthat many will be unable to identify.
This raises yet another question: how does the latter type of listener
relate to prevailing ideologies and attitudes both in music and in
society at large?
Analysingsubsulturalmusiccodesin industrialised
society
The way in which 'counter-cultures'and subculturesexpress theirown
stand, profile and group identity in extramusical terms has been
documented in numerous studies (see the work of the Centre for
Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham).
However, the musicalcoding of such identities and attitudes is an
underdeveloped field of study. There are admittedly numerous
accounts of trends within Afro-Americanmusic, but few of these deal
with the actual musical code of the counter-cultureor subculture in
question. This could be because no real theory yet exists which explains how the prevailingattitudes, patternsof behaviourand ideology
of late capitalism are encoded in the musical mainstreamof popular
musics such as signature tunes, Musak, advertising music, middleof-the-road pop and rock, etc. In fact it appears that the study of
popular music has, with very few exceptions (such as Muhe 1968,
Czerny and Hoffman 1968, Hamm 1979, 1981, 1982, Gravesen 1980,
Helms 1981), shown a remarkable bias towards tributaries or
offshoots, while strangely ignoring the mainstreamitself.

64

PhilipTagg

It is difficult to refrainfrom speculating about possible reasons for

suchbias. Perhapsthere is a tendency among intellectualmusicians or
musicallyinterested academics to be criticaltowards the stereotypic
encoding of mainstream attitudes and ideas in our society. If so, it
seems naturalthat such researcherswill be more likely to identify with
musics 'contradicting'this mainstream and thus be motivated to explain the 'contradicting'position they themselves assume ratherthan
the 'contradicted'which they leave shrouded in mystery, an inaccessible, unidentified enemy. But it is hard to understand how the popular music researcherwill ever be able to explain his 'music in opposition' (or even how 'music in opposition' will be able to develop a valid
strategy)if the ideologies encoded in the musicalmainstreamare not to
be touched.
This was put tersely by WilliamBrooksat Keele Universityduring a
seminaron Afro-Amercanmusicin 1978.He expressedthe opinionthatit
is no use tryingto find out why ChuckBerryis so greatif you do not know
why PerryComois so successful.How, one wonders, canthe truevalues
of Sonnevi's 'contradictingmusical exception' (see p. 48 above) be
realisedif the face of the 'prevailingmusicalnorm'is never demasked.
Analytical methods developed along the lines of the model
presented here may perhaps contributeto this demasking operation.
Whether or not they might then be applicableto subculturalmusical
codes, such as Tyneside workers' song, reggae or punk, is another
question. The problemswould be numerous and can be generalised as
follows. (1) Detailed genre definitions will need to be made (for a
possible method, see Fabbri1982and his contributionin this volume).
(2) Acceptable style criteriawill need to be established on the basis of
the musical traits accepted and rejected by musicians and listeners
belonging to the subculture. (3) The subcultural musical code will
probably need to be considered as a potential carrier of particular
socialisedrelationships between members of the musical subculture
and the musical mainstream- this presumablyreflectingcomparable
extramusical relationships - rather than as carrier of quasiuniversalised attitudes and relationshipstowards an apparentlywider
and vaguer set of general, individualisedexperience (see Wicke and
Mayer 1982). Such considerations seem to imply that the model
presented in this article will require some alteration before being
applied to the analysis of subculturalpopular musics.
Popular music analysis - its uses
As usual in theoreticalpresentationslike this, more questions seem to
get asked than answers given. However, results from the depth
studies of title music and middle-of-the-roadpop carried out so far

Analysingpopularmusic

65

suggest that the sort of hermeneutic-semiologicalanalysis presented

here can provide some insight and act as a basis for understanding
'whatis being communicated' and 'how'.
Now it is true that my analytical model has been distilled from
detailed, almost microscopic studies of individual pieces of popular
music. Such microscopicinvestigation was carriedout in order to test
thoroughly the scientific viability of certain hypotheses and intuitive
analytical practices. It resulted in pieces of writing (3oo pages for a
one-minute title theme, sixty pages for four minutes of pop!) far too
cumbersome to be used as models for normal teaching situations.
However, this does not mean that the basic techniques problematised
and tested in this way are unusable in normalcircumstances,not least
because the need to test and develop these models evolved from the
practical problems of teaching popular music history at a teachers'
trainingcollege, where there was certainlyno time to spend more than
a few minutes talking about single pieces of music.
The methods of interobjectivecomparison, of establishing correspondence between the IOCM and its EMFAand then between the
musical code of the analysis object (AO/IMC)and the extramusical
fields of association connected with the interobjective comparison
material (IOCM/EMFA)(see Fig. 3) can be carried out by anyone
willing to exercise their synaesthetic and associativecapacitiesas well
as their intellect. Any musician can carryout simple HS (hypothetical
substitutions) and, with a tape recorder, tape, a razor blade and a
reasonable ear, anyone can even manage to reassemble a processual
HS. Anyone with a bit of imaginationcan sing bits of tune in the wrong
order, or substitute new continuations, and thereby discover what
actually makes the music say what it says.
In other words the analysis of popular music should in no way be
considered a job reserved for 'experts' (although I will admit that
describing its mechanisms may require some specialist knowledge).
The sort of analyticmodel presented here should ratherbe seen as an
effortto underpin cognitivelythat formof affectiveand implicithuman
communicationwhich occupies partsof the averageWesterner'sbrain
during one quarterof his waking life. (Can any other form of communicationrivalthis, quantitatively?)Analysingpopularmusic should also
be seen as something which counteracts'splitbrain'tendencies, resists
the sort of mental apartheid advocated by the newspapers quoted at
the startof this articleand breaksthe schizophrenictaboos prohibiting
contact between verbal and non-verbal, explicit and implicit, public
and private, collective and individual, work and leisure. Analysing
popular music takes the 'fun' seriously and is itself both a serious
business and a lot of fun.

66

Philip Tagg

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