After far too long, I've completed my dissertation on repetition in popular music. Repetition is one of the most important yet undervalued elements of music (even frowned on by some). Of the many articles and books I used in my research, only a handful dealt with repetition directly—which is unsurprising given that it's a rather unwieldy topic.
In my paper, all musical phrases are either new, repeated literally, or some kind of varied repetition (which fall into two categories based on its formal uses). Through this analysis, I found that in verse-chorus songs, every new musical phrase you hear is repeated verbatim once (approximately) with the rest being some kind of varied repetition. The paper also delves into aspects of form, musicology, and psychology.
For those interested in reading more, you can download the entire document here.
In my paper, all musical phrases are either new, repeated literally, or some kind of varied repetition (which fall into two categories based on its formal uses). Through this analysis, I found that in verse-chorus songs, every new musical phrase you hear is repeated verbatim once (approximately) with the rest being some kind of varied repetition. The paper also delves into aspects of form, musicology, and psychology.
For those interested in reading more, you can download the entire document here.
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