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Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to compare the way students describe their favorite music with observable musical parameters such as harmony, texture, and timbre, and 2) to develop a database of current music that can be used in the theory classroom to study harmony, timbre, and texture. We seek to contribute to a growing body of work that debunks stereotypes such as popular music is too simple and therefore not productive to study within the music theory curriculum. However, we believe that musical fluency is strengthened when students study a variety of music styles. Our study identifies the music students enjoy, how they describe it, and analyzes correlations and discrepancies between these observations. In so doing, we articulate areas of study that can bolster listening experiences through analysis. These include developing terminology and listening skills focused on harmonic progressions, texture, and timbre in pop music. Sometimes as educators we assume that a song that’s popular is good for analysis because everyone in the class will know it, but for music students that may not always be the case or a genre they enjoy, so this study seeks to find some trends in the kind of music college musicians are listening to.

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