Category Archives: Academic

Psycoanalytic Approaches to Analysis and Musical Taste

Posted on April 16, 2015 by

As anyone who has read this blog will know, I have developed an ongoing interest in the ways in which music conveys meaning over the last few years. This has resulted in considering many academics’ thoughts – ranging from philosophers … Continue reading →

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More Thoughts on the A Level Music Curriculum

Posted on April 12, 2015 by

I have spent much time over the last several years trying to think more deeply about some of the issues associated with the ways in which students are prepared for higher education music courses. The National Diploma awards which were … Continue reading →

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Student Entrepreneurship Projects

Posted on January 22, 2015 by

Me and a colleague have been working with a range of interesting student entrepreneurship projects over the last few months. They range from music for media initiatives to Wedding Bands to the production of a concept album. Here is a … Continue reading →

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Christian Music: Art or Commerce?

Posted on December 13, 2013 by

I read an article the other day which asked the question, somewhat problematically for me – ‘Is Christian Music Dying’. Inspired by another, much earlier post by Michael Gungor – it focuses upon the relationship between using Art as a … Continue reading →

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The James Taylor Quartet live in Milan

Posted on October 13, 2012 by

In a previous life, I was not an academic, but a professional musician. After leaving Uni, like many of my Geordie peers, I moved to London in the  hope to make a living as a musician. After working freelance for … Continue reading →

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Three Months With No Laptop: I am back

Posted on August 27, 2012 by

Well, this is about the longest I have gone without blogging. My new laptop broke down in early June – and has taken three months to be fixed. So – although I got my laptop back last week, I am … Continue reading →

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Frank Zappa and the And: Sent Off Today!!!

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

Well, after over year of hard work – Frank Zappa and the And: A  Contextual Analysis of his Legacy was sent off to the publisher today. There will still be work to do once it goes through the publishing process … Continue reading →

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Destuctive Editing: Can ‘Pain’ be Indoctrinated in Music and Meaning transfered to a listener?

Posted on March 17, 2012 by

Here is a beautiful and graphic account of how painful circumstances resulted in a particular creative practice in music production. I would love to hear this piece by Adrian Benavides. As a musicologist, one of the things I challenge my … Continue reading →

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Update of Current Activities

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

Just a quick update of what I am up to at the moment. Firstly – the edited collection on Frank Zappa is about one month from being sent to the publishers! The plan is to get it on the shelves … Continue reading →

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The Elements of Music: A Good Start To Basic Analysis

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

When considering the analysis of a piece of music for the first time, it is sometimes useful to start with the ‘elements of music’. As a first step – try placing the following elements in order of priority – in … Continue reading →

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