Date of Graduation

5-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Music (MM)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Music

Advisor/Mentor

Margulis, Elizabeth H.

Committee Member

Greeson, James

Second Committee Member

Mueller, Robert K.

Third Committee Member

Nedbal, Martin

Keywords

Communication and the arts; Blindside; Dissonance; Meter; Metrical; Rock; Transition

Abstract

Meter in rock cannot always be determined by the backbeat. I have adapted metrical analysis models developed by Harald Krebs and others to the music of the rock band Blindside to address the issue of identifying logical metrical schemes in a particular repertoire of rock music. Blindside's use of metrical dissonance necessitates expansion of the existing analytical models in that the meter in some of their songs is ambiguous at times, allowing for a period of transition from one metrical scheme to another. The ambiguity of the meter in songs such as "The Endings," combined with the message of the lyrics, creates a need for resolution, which resolution can be found with an examination of the song's form.

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