“…a jolly good time”: Understanding Groove in Progressive Rock IVAN TAN BROWN UNIVERSITY SMT ANNUAL MEETING 2019 (COLUMBUS, OH) Liner notes from Egg (1970) “The music on this LP is not dancing music, but basically music for listening to. It is harmonically and rhythmically complex, designed to be as original as possible within the confines of the instrumental lineup; so it’s pretty demanding on the listener’s attention.” Approaches to metrically complex grooves in progressive rock Asymmetric meter as “mechanical” (Macan 1997) “Consonant” vs. “dissonant” meters (Covach 1997, Biamonte 2014) Genesis, “Watcher of the Skies” (1972) “Watcher of the Skies” introduction Yes “Siberian Khatru” (1972) Egg, “Seven Is a Jolly Good Time” Time Section label Meter signature 0:00-0:09 Intro 7/8 (grouped 3+2+2) 0:09-0:26 Verse 1 4/4 0:26-0:37 Link 1 10/8 (grouped 3+3+4) 0:37-0:53 Chorus 1 7/8 (grouped 2+2+3) 0:53-0:57 Interlude 7/8 (grouped 2+2+3) 0:57-1:05 Intro (reprise) 7/8 (grouped 3+2+2) 1:05-1:23 Verse 2 4/4 1:23-1:35 Link 2 11/8 (grouped 3+3+3+2) 1:35-1:50 Chorus 2 7/8 (grouped 2+2+3) 1:50-2:21 Bridge 5/8 (grouped 3+2) 2:21-2:48 Chorus 3 7/8 (grouped 2+2+3) “Seven is a Jolly Good Time” intro “Seven is a Jolly Good Time” chorus “Seven is a Jolly Good Time” verse “Seven is a Jolly Good Time” links Selected bibliography Attas, Robin. 2015. “Form as Process: The Build-Up Introduction in Popular Music.” Music Theory Spectrum 37/2: 275-296. Atton, Chris. 2001. “ ‘Living in the Past?’ Value Discourses in Prog Fanzines.” Popular Music 20/2: 29-46. Biamonte, Nicole. 2014. “Formal Functions of Metric Dissonance in Rock Music.” Music Theory Online 20/2. Covach, John. 1997. “Progressive Rock, 'Close to the Edge,' and the Boundaries of Style.” In Understanding Rock: Essays in Music Analysis, ed. John Covach and Graeme Boone, 3-31. New York: Oxford University Press. Hung, Eric. 2005. “Hearing Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Anew: Progressive Rock as ‘Music of Attractions.’” Current Musicology 79 & 80. Macan, Edward. 1997. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. New York: Oxford University Press. Spicer, Mark. 2004. “(Ac)cumulative Form in Pop-Rock Music.” Twentieth Century Music 1: 29-64. Spicer, Mark. 2005. “Genesis’ Foxtrot.” Proceedings of the International Conference “Composition and Experimentation in British Rock 1966-1976.” Philomusica Online. Stone, Allison. 2016. The Value of Popular Music: An Approach from Post-Kantian Aesthetics. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Witek, Maria. 2017. “Filling In: Syncopation, Pleasure, and Distributed Embodiment in Groove.” Music Analysis 36/1: 138-160..