Ethan Teaches You Music Podcast

Music in this episode:The Orb - “Little Fluffy Clouds” (1991)Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports - “1/1” (1979)Rickie Lee Jones - “Chuck E.’s in Love” (1979)A Conversation with Rickie Lee Jones (1989)Ennio Morricone - “L’uomo dell’armonica" from C’era Una Volta Il West (1968)Harry Nilsson - “Jump into the Fire” (1971)Twin Hype - “Serious Attitude” (1989)Pat Metheny - “Electric Counterpoint: III. Fast” (1989)Karlheinz Stockhausen - “Gesang der Jünglinge” (1955)ReferencesSound on Sound - Classic Tracks column on “Little Fluffy Clouds”Justin Morey - “Ambient House: ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ and the Sampler as Time Machine” Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Michael Stein & Kyle Dixon - “Stranger Things Title Sequence” (2016) Kate Bush - “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” (1985)The Clash - “Should I Stay or Should I Go” (1982)The Who - “Baba O’Riley (ConfidentialMX Remix)” (2019)Cyndi Lauper - “Time After Time” (1983)Wham! - “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (1984)Madonna - “Material Girl” (1984)Metallica - “Master of Puppets” (1986)Dead Or Alive - “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” (1984)Diana Ross - “Upside Down” (1980)The Bangles - “Manic Monday” (1985)Prince - “Starfish and Coffee” (1987)Michael Jackson - “Thriller” (1982)Michael Jackson - “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (1982)Michael Jackson - “Billie Jean” (1982)Dolly Parton - “9 to 5” (1980)See also Bernadetta’s first podcast appearance: Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Michael Jackson - “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (1982)Manu Dibango - “Soul Makossa” (1972)Manu Dibango - “Mouvement Ewondo” (1972)A Taste of Honey - “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (1978)Manu Dibango - “Electric Africa” (1985)Michael Jackson - “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (home demo)” (1979)Fugees - “Cowboys” (1996)Will Smith - “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” (1997)Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz (feat. Chauncey Black) - “Startin’ Somethin’” (1998)Björk - “I Go Humble” (1998)Missy Elliott - “Intro/Go To The Floor” (2002)Rihanna - “Don’t Stop the Music” (2007)Charles Hamilton - “Brooklyn Girls” (2008)Geri Allen - “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (2013)ReferencesMy MusicRadar column about this songNelson George - Thriller: The Musical Life Of Michael JacksonManu Dibango and Danielle Rouard - Three Kilos of Coffee: an AutobiographyGeorge Echu - “Multilingualism as a Resource: the Lexical Appropriation of Cameroon Indigenous Languages by English and French”Ben Zimmer - “Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa” Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:The Beatles - “Yesterday” (1965)James Brown - “The Payback” (1973)Parliament - “Flashlight” (1978)Michael Jackson - “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (1979)Dizzy Gillespie - “Manteca” (1957)Small correction: I describe this as a one-chord groove. It mostly is, but it has a B section with a complex jazz chord progression.Underworld - “Rez” (1993)The Orb - “Little Fluffy Clouds” (1991)Run-DMC - “Sucker MCs” (1983)Ella Fitzgerald - “Wait Til You See Him” (1956)Ella Fitzgerald - “Wait Til You See Him (De-Phazz Remix)” (2002)Simon and Garfunkel - “Sound of Silence (The Golden Pony Remix)” (2014)James Brown - “Get Up (I Feel Like Bein’ A) Sex Machine Parts 1 & 2” (1970)James Brown - “The Funky Drummer Parts 1 & 2” (1970)James Brown - “Give It Up Or Turnit a-Loose” (1970)Grateful Dead - “Dark Star” (1969)Grateful Dead - “Beautiful Jam” (1971)The Beatles - “Hey Jude” (1968)Stevie Wonder - “Living for the City” (1973)Sabrina Carpenter - “Espresso” (2024)The Temptations - “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” (1966)Herbie Hancock - “Chameleon” (1973)Count Basie - “One O’Clock Jump” (1937)Eddie Harris - “Freedom Jazz Dance” (1961)Miles Davis - “It’s About That Time” (1969)Steve Reich - “Music For Pieces of Wood” (1973)Philip Glass - Music in Contrary Motion (1969) performed by James McVinnieSteve Reich - “Electric Counterpoint” (1989) performed by Pat Metheny Alessandro Piccinini - “Passacaglia” (1639) performed by Ronn McFarlaneFrédéric Chopin - “Nocturnes, Op. 9, No. 1 in B-Flat Minor” (1832) performed by Arthur RubinsteinThe Incredible Bongo Band - “Apache” (1973)Ethan Hein - “Chopin - Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1 - Apache Mix” (2021)Ethan Hein - “JS Bach - Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor - Chaconne - Afro Rock Mix” (2026)John Cage - “The Perilous Night” (1944) performed by Ensemble MusikfabrikReferences:Anne Danielsen - Presence and Pleasure: The Funk Grooves of James Brown and ParliamentRichard Ripani - The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Sonny Rollins - “Sonnymoon For Two” (1958)Sonny Rollins - “Sonnymoon for Two” (1958)Charles Mingus - “Mood Indigo” (1960)Charles Mingus - “Jelly Roll” (1959)Melvin Bliss - “Synthetic Substitution” (1973)Miles Davis - “Oleo” (1954)Miles Davis - “Doxy” (1954)Sonny Rollins - “St Thomas” (1957)George Symonette - “Sponger Money” (1957)Here’s a chart of my “Sonnymoon for Two” reharmonization - I put chord symbols on as many chords as I could, though some of them defy analysis. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - “Mood Indigo” (1950)The Harlem Footwarmers - “Mood Indigo” (1930)The Boswell Sisters - “Mood Indigo” (1933)Thelonious Monk - “Mood Indigo” (1955)James Brown - “The Funky Drummer” (1970)Diverse - “Move” (2001)Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington - “Mood Indigo” (1956)Ella Fitzgerald - “Mood Indigo” (1957)Charles Mingus - “Mood Indigo” (1960)Sonny Rollins - “Sonnymoon For Two” (1958)Charles Mingus - “Jelly Roll” (1959)Charles Mingus - “Mood Indigo” (1964)Nina Simone - “Mood Indigo” (1959)Nina Simone - “Mood Indigo” (1966)The Singers Unlimited - “Mood Indigo” (1976)Meat Beat Manifesto - “It’s The Music” (1996)Abdullah Ibrahim - “Way Way Back” (1981)Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - “Take the A Train” (1941)Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - “Black and Tan Fantasy” (1927)See Tyree Glenn play growl trombone on the BBC - at one point, Louis Armstrong yells from off mic, “Watch your language!”ReferencesA lot of the background in this episode comes from a grad school paper I wrote about Duke Ellington and formal music educationBjörn Heile - “Who Wrote Duke Ellington’s Music? Authorship and Collective Creativity in ‘Mood Indigo’”Fred Moten - In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical TraditionRD Darrell - “Black Beauty” - in M. Tucker (Ed.), The Duke Ellington Reader Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode: Stevie Wonder - “Sir Duke” (1976)Duke Ellington - “Mood Indigo” (1950)Count Basie - “One O’Clock Jump” (1937)Glenn Miller - “In the Mood” (1939)Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (1956)Duke Ellington - “The New East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” (1956)Ella Fitzgerald - “How High The Moon?” (1960)Ohio Players - “Love Rollercoaster” (1975)Duke Ellington - “Cottontail” (1940)Fats Domino - “Blueberry Hill” (1956)Kings Return - “Sir Duke” (2024)A Tribe Called Quest - “Footprints” (1990)The Reflex - “Sir Duke [The Reflex VIP Revision - 7inch Version]” (2012)ReferencesAdam Neely discusses the “Sir Duke” chord Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:The Beatles - “Blackbird” (1968)Paul McCartney on Parkinson (2005) JS Bach - Bourée from Suite in E Minor, BWV 996 performed by Andres Segovia (c. 1708-1717)The Beatles - “Mother Nature’s Son” (1968)Paul McCartney & Wings - “Bluebird” (1973)Paul McCartney - “Jenny Wren” (2005)Brad Mehldau - “Blackbird” (2021)Billy Preston - “Blackbird” (1972)Crosby, Stills & Nash - “Blackbird” (1983)The Swingle Singers - “Blackbird/I Will” (2021)Beyoncé - “BLACKBIIRD” (2024)The Beatles - “I Am The Walrus” (1967)Brad Mehldau - “I Am The Walrus” (2023)For background on the writing and recording of “Blackbird”, I drew on A History of Rock Music In 500 Songs.Bonus track from my most recent podcast episode: a mashup of most of the songs in the episode plus beats sampled from “Be Black, Baby” by Grady Tate and “Dreaming About You” by Blackbyrds Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Johnny Cash - “Big River” (1958)Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - “Big River” (1969)Johnny Cash - “A Boy Named Sue” (1969)Woody Guthrie - “The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done” (1946)Grateful Dead - “Big River” (1975)Grateful Dead - “Truckin’” (1970)Quotes are from Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Learn more about Tuniversity and sign up for our first Tune-Up event.Music in this episode:Derek Fawcett - “Just In Case” (2016)Derek Fawcett - “Runnin’ Outta Somedays” (2022)Dolly Parton - “Jolene” (1973)Dolly Parton - “9 to 5” (1980)Zingara - “Another Place” (2025)Björk - “Jóga” (1997) Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episodeAretha Franklin - “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1972)Tennessee Ernie Ford - “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1958)Elizabeth Cotten - “In The Sweet Bye and Bye/What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1958)Willie and Bobbie Nelson - “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1996)The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson - “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1997)Mahalia Jackson - “Dark Was the Night and Cold the Ground” (1957)Aretha Franklin - “Precious Lord, Take My Hand/You’ve Got a Friend” (1972)John Lee Hooker - “Burnin’ Hell” (1959)John Lee Hooker - “Ezekiel Saw The Wheel” (1949) (thank you to Wenatchee the Hatchet for pointing me to this recording)ReferencesJames Cone - The Spirituals and the BluesAngela Davis - Blues Legacies and Black FeminismAdam Gussow - Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition Carly Jensen - “What They Sang: The Religious Roots of Spirituals and Blues” Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (1981)Aretha Franklin - “I Say A Little Prayer” (1968)Jimi Hendrix - “Hey Joe” (1967)Grateful Dead - “Jack Straw” (1972)Bing Crosby - “Clementine” (1941)Lightnin’ Hopkins - “My California” (1948)JS Bach - Violin Partita No 3 in E Major - Prelude (1720) - performed by Viktoria MullovaThe Allman Brothers Band - “Blue Sky” (1972)Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” - II. Adagio cantabile (1798) - performed by Daniel BarenboimThe Beatles - “A Day in the Life” (1967)Little Simz - “Venom” (2019)References:The Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs corpus studyDavid Temperley, The Musical Language of RockTrevor de Clercq, The Practice of Popular Music: Understanding Harmony, Rhythm, Melody, and Form in Commercial Songwriting Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:The Band - “The Weight” (1968)Bob Dylan - “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” (1965)The Canadian Squires - “Uh Uh Uh” (1965)Ronnie Hawkins - “Mary Lou” (1959)Peter, Paul & Mary - “Puff, the Magic Dragon” (1963)The Staple Singers - “The Weight” (1968)The Band feat. The Staple Singers - “The Weight” (1976)James Carr - “The Dark End of the Street” (1967)The Band - “Up On Cripple Creek” (1969)The Band - “Ophelia” (1975)Aretha Franklin - “The Weight” (1970)The Chambers Brothers - “The Weight” (1973)Mavis Staples - “You Are Not Alone” (2010)Norah Jones and Mavis Staples - “I'll Be Gone” (2019)Lottie Kimbrough - “Wayward Girl Blues” (c. 1924)Jimmie Rodgers - “Blue Yodel No. 9” (1930)Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - “Steel Guitar Rag” (1936)I learned a lot of my background material from the excellent episode of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs about “The Weight”. There’s further background in this Rolling Stone article.Here’s a good guitar tutorial for the song.Corrections: at one point, I refer to Ronnie Hawkins as Roger Hawkins, who was his cousin. Also, the Bob Wills song uses tenor sax, not alto sax. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Fleetwood Mac - “Dreams” (1977)The Temptations - “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (1972)The Bee Gees - “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)Deee-Lite - “Groove is in the Heart” (1990)Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude No. 1 in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier performed by Glenn Gould (1722)A Tribe Called Quest - “Can I Kick It?” (1990)The Fugees - “Ready or Not” (1996)Sabrina Carpenter - “Espresso” (2024)Gloria Gaynor - “I Will Survive” (1978)Grateful Dead - “Fire On The Mountain” (1977)BSlick - “Dress Up Theme” from Dress To Impress (2024)Brooklyn Duo - “Canon in D (Pachelbel’s Canon)” (2020)Hear all of the remixes in their entirety:Here’s the sheet music for my jazzy reharmonization.Read more about melodic-harmonic divorce. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Miles Davis - “In a Silent Way/It’s About That Time” (1969)Joe Zawinul - “In A Silent Way” (1971)Miles Davis - “Directions I” (1968)Frankie HI-NRG MC - “Faccio La Mia Cosa” (1993)Les Sages Poètes de la Rue - “Ne Cours Pas” (1995)Neffa e I Messaggeri Della Dopa - “Dopamina” (1996)Akotcha - “Sound Burger” (1997)Miles Davis - “It’s About That Time” (1970)Miles Davis - “Sivad” (1971)Miles Davis - “Blow” (1992)Jazz Transcript Authority has a chart that Miles wrote for “Shhh/Peaceful,” which have been intended as a sketch of the entire album. Few of the ideas on this chart made the final cut, but check out measures 28, 29 and 30: they show a simplified version of groove 2 from “It’s About That Time.”I quote a passage from Daniel Grimley’s chapter on form in The Oxford Handbook of Critical Concepts in Music Theory.A commenter on the last episode pointed me to this review by Martin Booth of every recording Miles Davis made in his first electric period, it’s an excellent guide to this music.See also the previous episode on the album’s side A:Learn more about fourths chords. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Miles Davis - “Shhh/Peaceful” (1969)Charlie Parker - “Donna Lee” (1947)Miles Davis - “Four” (1954)Miles Davis - “Milestones” (1958)Miles Davis - “Freedom Jazz Dance” (1967)Mahavishnu Orchestra - “Birds Of Fire” (1973)Donald Byrd - “Fufu” (1969)Miles Davis - “Shhh/Peaceful (Early Version)” (1969)Subterra - “Celestial” (2009)Lala Sinephro - “Space 1” (2021)Here’s a transcription of Miles’ trumpet solo from “Shhh/Peaceful”.For more background on the album, I recommend Paul Tingen’s book Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. A commenter also pointed me to this review by Martin Booth of every recording Miles Davis made in his first electric period, it’s an excellent guide to this music. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Grateful Dead - “Beautiful Jam (Live in Port Chester, February 18, 1971)”Update: after recording this, David Gans informed me that he named the Beautiful Jam, and also recommended its inclusion on the So Many Roads box set. You can hear David play the recording for Phil Lesh on the Grateful Dead Hour in 1997; it was the first time Phil had heard it since performing it. Hear more of Bob Weir’s finest moments: Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - “Dancing In The Street” (1964)The Beatles - “The End” (1969)Santana - “Oye Como Va” (1970)Pink Floyd - “The Great Gig In The Sky” (1973)The JBs - “Doing It To Death” (1973)Bob Marley - “Lively Up Yourself” (1974)Stevie Wonder - “I Wish” (1976)Grateful Dead - “Fire On The Mountain” (1977)Parliament - “Flashlight” (1978)Michael Jackson - “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (1979)Frankie Beverley & Maze - “Before I Let Go” (1981)Janet Jackson - “When I Think Of You” (1986)A Tribe Called Quest - “Can I Kick It?” (1990)Deee-Lite - “Groove is in the Heart” (1990)Lauryn Hill - “Everything Is Everything” (1998)Mary J Blige - “Family Affair” (2001)Migos - “Versace” (2013)Tom Tom Club - “Genius of Love” (1981)Related:More about “Genius of Love” and nonsensical chord loopsAndrea La Rose - Two Chords Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

RIP Bob Weir, who sang the Grateful Dead’s cover of this song.Music appearing in this episode:Martha Reeves & the Vandellas - “Dancing in the Street” (1964)Sly & the Family Stone - “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (1969)Grateful Dead - “Dancing in the Street” (1977)David Bowie & Mick Jagger - “Dancing In The Street” (1985)Ramsey Lewis Trio - “Dancing in the Street” (1967)For background on Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and on Motown generally, see Andrew Hickey’s excellent 500 Songs podcast episode on “Heatwave.” For the story of the song’s role in the 1960s civil rights movement, see Ready for a Brand New Beat”—“How ‘Dancing in the Street’ Became the Anthem for a Changing America by Mark Kurlansky. You can also read a review of it here. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Correction: the trumpet on “Playa Playa” is by Roy Hargrove, not Ray. Also, I said that the song samples “Players Balling” by the Ohio Players, but it really interpolates it.Music in this episode:D’Angelo - “Brown Sugar” (1995)A Tribe Called Quest - “Buggin’ Out” (1991)J Dilla - “Kamaal” (2003)D’Angelo - “Playa Playa” (2000)Jimi Hendrix - “Foxy Lady” (1967)D’Angelo - “The Root” (2000)Charlie Hunter Trio - “Bullethead” (1995)D’Angelo and The Vanguard - “Really Love” (2014)Cannonball Adderley - “Autumn Leaves” (1958)ReferencesDan Charnas, Dilla TimeLoren Kajikawa, “D’Angelo’s Voodoo Technology: African Cultural Memory and the Ritual of Popular Music Consumption”Charlie Hunter Breaks Down His Most Iconic Guitar Parts: Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

This is the first episode to include a guest, namely, my nine year old daughter, who is the world’s biggest David Byrne fan.Music in this episode:Talking Heads - “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” (1983)Talking Heads - “Houses In Motion” (1980)David Byrne - “Everybody Laughs” (2025)David Byrne - “Everybody’s Coming to My House” (2020)David Byrne - “Burning Down the House” (2020)David Byrne - “Slippery People” (2020)David Byrne - “My Apartment Is My Friend” (2025)David Byrne - “I Know Sometimes a Man is Wrong/Don’t Worry About the Government” (2020)David Byrne - “Psycho Killer” (1997)Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime” (1980)Here’s the costume from the poster for the Who Is The Sky tour that reminded my kids of Björk. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:JS Bach - Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004, 5. Chaconne (c. 1717-1720) performed by Viktoria Mullova Juan Arañés - Una sarao de la chacona, “A la vida bona" (1624) performed by PiffaroFrancesca Caccini - "Ciaccona" (c. 1620) performed by Cappella di Santa Maria degli Angiolini & Gian Luca LastraioliAndrea Falconieri - "Ciaccona" (c. 1650) performed by Josetxu Obregón & La RitirataAlessandro Piccinini - "Passacaglia" (1639) performed by Ronn McFarlaneGiovanni Girolamo Kapsberger - "Passacaglia" (1640) performed by Luca PiancaHeinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber - "Passacaglia" (1674) performed by Matthew WadsworthEthan Hein - Bach Chaconne Afro Rock MixClaude Debussy - Preludes, Book 1 No. 1. Danseuses de Delphes (1913)Robert Schumann - Bach Chaconne with piano accompaniment (1853) performed by Daniel Sepec and Andreas StaierLeopold Stokowski - Bach Chaconne orchestration (1950)Christoph Poppen & the Hilliard Ensemble - Morimur (2001)References:Lydia Goehr, The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An Essay in the Philosophy of Music. Oxford University Press, 1994.Michael Markham, “Bach Anxiety: A Meditation on the Future of the Past.” In Rethinking Bach, edited by Bettina Varwig, Oxford University Press, 2021.Alex Ross, Listen To This. Picador, 2011.Alexander Silbiger, “Bach and the Chaconne.” The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Summer, 1999), pp. 358-385 Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get notated transcriptions and other musicological goodiesMusic in this episode:The Beatles - “The End” (1969)The Swan Silvertones - “Oh Mary Don't You Weep” (1959)Eddie Harris - “Listen Here” (1961)James Brown - “Maybe The Last Time” (1964)The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (1966)Joe Cocker - “Feelin' Alright” (1969)The Rolling Stones - “You Can't Always Get What You Want” (1969)Bob Marley - “Lively Up Yourself” (1974)INXS - “Need You Tonight” (1987)Deee-Lite - “Groove Is In The Heart” (1990)The Orb - “Little Fluffy Clouds” (1991)Mississippi John Hurt - “Liza Jane/God's Unchanging Hand” (1963)The Staple Singers - “This May Be the Last Time” (1961)Betty Davis - “They Say I’m Different” (1974)Little Walter Jacobs - “Juke” (1952)John Lee Hooker - “Boogie Chillen” (1948)Lightnin’ Hopkins - “My California” (1948)Ray Charles - “You Are My Sunshine” (1962)References:Richard Ripani - The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 Trevor de Clercq - The Practice of Popular Music: Understanding Harmony, Rhythm, Melody, and Form in Commercial SongwritingRelated Episodes: Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get notated transcriptions and other musicological goodiesMusic in this episode:John Coltrane - “Giant Steps” (1960)Miles Davis - “Blues By Five” (1957)Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane - “Nutty” (1957)John Coltrane - “Moment’s Notice” (1958)Miles Davis - “Milestones” (1958)Miles Davis - “So What” (1959)John Coltrane - “Countdown” (1960)John Coltrane - “Cousin Mary” (1960)John Coltrane - “Central Park West” (1960)Ella Fitzgerald - "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)" (1956)Luis Russell - "I Got Rhythm" (1930)Oscar Peterson - “Have You Met Miss Jones?” (1964)John Coltrane - “But Not For Me” (1960)Tommy Flanagan - "Giant Steps" (1982)John Coltrane - “My Favorite Things” (1960)John Coltrane - “India” (1961)John Coltrane - “Acknowledgment” (1965)John Coltrane - "Mars" (1967)John Coltrane - “Venus” (1967)Kenny G - “Giant Steps” (2019)Michel Camilo Trio - “Giant Steps” (2008)Andrew Fox - “A Thousand Giant Steps by Vanessa Coltrane” (2020)Edmund Gunther - “All Star But It’s Giant Steps” (2017)Barry Harris - Piano class on “Giant Steps” (c. 1989-1998)Ethan Hein - “Giant Steps 12x Stretch” (2025)Q-Tip - “Let’s Ride” (2000)Ethan Hein - “Giant Steps Sample Jam” (2020)John Coltrane - “Living Space” (1965Flying Lotus - "Drips/Auntie's Harp" (2010)References:* John Coltrane: His Life and Music by Lewis Porter* Jazz Harmony by Andy Jaffe Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get notated transcriptions and other musicological extrasMusic appearing in this episode:Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime” (1980)Talking Heads - "Don't Worry About the Government" (1977)Talking Heads - "Take Me To The River" (1978)Fela Kuti - “Zombie” (1976)Talking Heads - “Right Start (Unfinished Outtake)” (2006)Robert Palmer - “Addicted to Love” (1985)Talking Heads - "Cities" (1979)Kathryn Kuhlman - “My First Encounter with the Holy Spirit” (unknown date)Brian Eno & David Byrne - "The Jezebel Spirit" (1981)Steve Reich - “It’s Gonna Rain” (1965)The Velvet Underground - “What Goes On” (1969)Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime” from The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime” from Stop Making Sense (1983)David Byrne - “Once in a Lifetime” from David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020)Smashing Pumpkins - “Once in a Lifetime” (2022)Angélique Kidjo - “Once in a Lifetime” (2018)PM Dawn - “Fantasia’s Confidential Ghetto: 1999/Once in a Lifetime/Coconut” (1995)Mike Wofford - “Once in a Lifetime” (2013)DJ Chuck Chillout & Kool Chip - "Rhythm Is The Master" (1989)Bassheads - "Is There Anybody Out There?" (1991)Memphis Bleek and Jay-Z - “Alright” (1998)Gigamesh - “Once in a Lifetime (Gigamesh Remix)” (2012)The Reflex - “Once in a Lifetime [The Reflex Revision]” (2017)Talking Heads - “I Zimbra” (1979)References:* Uncut Magazine on the making of “Once in a Lifetime”* NPR 100 - “Once in a Lifetime”* Multitrack stems* Diana Deutsch - The Speech-to-Song Illusion* Ted Gioia - Is the Three-Minute Song Bad for Music? Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribers get notated transcriptions, guitar tab and other goodiesMusic in this episode:Björk - "Bachelorette" (1997)Björk - "Human Behaviour" (1993)Björk - "Isobel" (1995)Aubrey Ghent and Friends - "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood" (1997)Carlos Di Sarli - "Indio Manso" (1958)Astor Piazzolla - "La Milonga del Angel" performed by Fabio Furia (2014)Björk - "Oceania" (2004)Müslüm Gürses - "Ask Tesadufleri Sever" (2006)Trio Shalva - "Bachelorette" (2013)Clams Casino - "Illest Alive" (2011)References:I draw on the Sonic Symbolism podcast episode on Homogenic, this Stereogum interview, and this Record Collector Magazine interview via a French Björk fan site.Björk mentions tango in this Apple Music interview at 48:50.My analysis draws on the score for “Bachelorette” that Björk included in her book 34 Scores for Piano, Harpsichord, Organ and Celeste.I discuss Thomas Turino’s book, Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation.There are two instrumental layers in the track that I neglected to mention: tympani and distorted screaming mixed way in the background. It’s probably samples of Björk’s vocal track, but it’s hard to tell.I also forgot to point out an obstacle to covering Björk songs: she frequently sings in Icelandic, nonsense syllables, or combinations of the two. The end section of “Bachelorette” is a case in point. I guess you could just scat-sing all of that, but it’s not as straightforward as singing a song by a more conventional songwriter. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get notated transcriptions and other musicological resources.Music in this episode: Björk - "Jóga" (1997)Björk - "Arisen My Senses" (2017) (I describe it as using flutes, I meant harp; the rest of the album is full of flutes though) (Also it was released 20 years after Homogenic, not 30, my editor is so fired) (My editor is me unfortunately)Deodato - “Thus Spoke Zarathustra (2001)” (1973)Björk - “Isobel (Deodato Mix)” (1997) (This is not the version from Post but I like it better)Brian Eno - "Fractal Zoom" (1992)LFO - "Love Is The Message" (1991)Jason Moran - "Jóga" (2000)Pamela Z - "Jóga" (2016)Missy Elliott (feat. Lil Kim & Mocha) - "Hit 'Em wit da Hee" (Remix) (1998)Cannibal Ox - "Angels and Insects" (2004)Björk - “So Broken” (2002)Björk - "Human Behaviour" (1993)References:South Bank Show documentary on the making of HomogenicInterview with The Creative IndependentInterview with Sound on SoundSonic Symbolism Podcast Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get transcriptions and extra musicological analysis.Music in this episode:Glen Campbell - “Wichita Lineman” (1968)The Beach Boys - "Hang On To Your Ego" (1966)Merle Haggard - “Mama Tried” (1968)Glen Campbell - "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (1967)The Who - “Baba O’Riley” (1971)Patsy Cline - "Crazy" (1961)Johnny Horton - “Honky-Tonk Hardwood Floor” (1957)Dee Felice Trio - “Wichita Lineman” (1969)Cassandra Wilson - “Wichita Lineman” (2002)Johnny Cash - “Wichita Lineman” (2002)Frank Sinatra - "Strangers In The Night" (1966)Donna Summer - “MacArthur Park” (1978)Kanye West - “Famous” (2016)Nina Simone - "Do What You Gotta Do" (1968)Rick Beato’s interview with Jimmy Webb is a key resource for this episode:Minor correction: I describe Glen Campbell’s singing as “vibrato-less.” He does use a little vibrato, just not much. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Paid subscribers get notated charts and other musicological goodies.Music in this episode:INXS - “Need You Tonight” (1987)Psyche - “Unveiling The Secret” (1986)Mr Fingers - “Washing Machine” (1986)Queen - “Another One Bites The Dust” (1980)The Beatles - "Piggies" (1968)Bonnie Raitt - “Need You Tonight” (2016)Vitamin String Quartet - “Need You Tonight” (2006) - after recording, I learned from a listener that the arranger is Noah AgrussBig Pun w/ Beenie Man - "Make Me Sweat" (1998)Dua Lipa - "Break My Heart" (2020)I quote from Tom Breihan’s delightful column The Number Ones. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

New thing I’m trying: paid subscribers get extra bonus content like notated transcriptions and guitar tabMusic in this episode:T-Bone Walker - "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday’s Just As Bad)" (1947)T-Bone Walker - "Mean Old World" (1942)Charlie Christian - "Air Mail Special" (1941)Charlie Christian - "Solo Flight" (1941)Bobby "Blue" Bland - "Stormy Monday Blues" (1961)The Allman Brothers Band - "Stormy Monday" (1971)The Allman Brothers Band - "Statesboro Blues" (1971)The Allman Brothers Band - "Blue Sky" (1972)Wilson Pickett - "Hey Jude" (1969)Aretha Franklin - "The Weight" (1970)Correction: I refer to the Allman Brothers Band as a "white band" multiple times, but one of the original members, drummer John Lee "Jaimoe" Johnson, is Black. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music appearing in this episode:Paul Simon - "You Can Call Me Al" (1986)Paul Simon - "Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes (Alternate Unreleased Version)" (2012)Bakithi Kumalo - unknown titles (2019)Stimela - "Say Say No" (1984)Talking Heads - "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" (1980)Mickey Hart ft. Jerry Garcia - "The Eliminators" (1990)Mpharanyana and The Cannibals - "Hlotse" (1978)Ladysmith Black Mambazo - "Nomathemba" (1973)Lemmy "Special" Mabaso - "Tsamaea" (1962)Grover Washington Jr. feat. Bill Withers - "Just the Two of Us" (1980)Paul Simon - "You Can Call Me Al (Demo Version)" (2012)Alicia Witt - "You Can Call Me Al" (2009)Bakithi Kumalo demonstrates the bassline(s) in "You Can Call Me Al", and also justifiably expresses some bitterness that Paul Simon mimes his part in the video.Charles DeVillers helpfully transcribed several basslines on Graceland.I quote extensively from Louise Meintjes' classic 1990 article, "Paul Simon's Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning".I also quote from "Paul Simon vs the World" by Steven Hyden.I learned the concept of songs versus tracks from Albin Zak's book The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records.Here's some helpful backstory on South African music by DJ Henri.The Kleptones' attempted reconstruction of Accordion Jive Hits Volume II is a worthwhile listen.For some critical context, I recommend Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon by Peter Ames Carlin.I also recommend the documentary Under African Skies, which had Paul Simon's involvement but which is reasonably even-handed. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music appearing in this episode:Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970)JS Bach - St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 - O Haupt Voll Blut Und Wunden (1727)Paul Simon - "American Tune" (1973)The Swan Silvertones - "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (1959)Paul Simon - "Loves Me Like a Rock" (1973)Aretha Franklin - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Live at Fillmore West, San Francisco, February 5, 1971)There's video of this performance too, though the sound isn’t very good.Aretha Franklin - "Mary, Don't You Weep" (Live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, January 14, 1972)I include excerpts of Paul Simon's appearance on the Dick Cavett Show on April 9, 1970.Read more analysis of Aretha's recording and see a notated transcription here.Read more about Paul Simon's love of that Bach chorale.I quote from Kate Heidemann's doctoral dissertation, Hearing Women’s Voices in Popular Song: Analyzing Sound and Identity in Country and Soul.I also quote from Daphne Brooks' NPR article "Aretha's Bridge."Eric Lott's book Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class is a tough and necessary read. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music appearing in this episode:Otis Redding - "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (1967)Otis Redding - "Try a Little Tenderness" (1966)Elizabeth Cotten - "Freight Train" (1958)Mongo Santamaría - "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" (1968)Peggy Lee - "Dock Of The Bay" (1969)DJ Shadow - "Mellow But Chunky" (2012)World Saxophone Quartet - "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (1989)De La Soul - "Eye Know" (1989)Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew - "Check It Out" (2005)Blackalicious - "Swan Lake" (1994)To learn more about Otis Redding and “Dock of the Bay”, listen to the 500 Songs Podcast episode on the song. I also recommend the documentary Stax: Soulsville USA.For more on “Eye Know” by De La Soul, listen to my podcast episode:If you want a formal resource on pop music theory, I recommend The Practice of Popular Music: Understanding Harmony, Rhythm, Melody, and Form in Commercial Songwriting by Trevor de Clercq. I have also written a lot about the subject. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Hear a DJ mix I made that includes most of the tracks referenced in this episode. The tracks:Herbie Hancock - "Rockit" (1983)Miles Davis - "Freedom Jazz Dance" (1967)Herbie Hancock - "Maiden Voyage" (1965)Miles Davis - “Shhh/Peaceful” (1969)Herbie Hancock - "Chameleon" (1973)Herbie Hancock - "I Thought It Was You" (1978)Material ft. Nona Hendryx - "Take A Chance" (1982)Malcolm McLaren - "Buffalo Gals" (1983)Run-DMC - “Sucker MCs” (1984)Daniel Ponce - “Solo Para Ti” (1983)Led Zeppelin - "We're Gonna Groove" (1982)Pharoah Sanders - "Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" (1966)Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force - "Planet Rock" (1982)Beside & Fab Five Freddy - "Change Le Beat" (1982)Eric B & Rakim - "Paid in Full" (1987)Gang Starr - "DJ Premier In Deep Concentration" (1989)Grand Mixer DXT - "Rockit (Mega Mix)" (1983)Grand Mixer DXT - "Megamix 2 (Why Is It Fresh?)" (1983)Double Dee & Steinski - "Lesson 1: The Payoff Mix" (1985)Grooverider - "Rockit Remix" (1997)Janet Jackson ft. Khia - "So Excited" (2006)Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - "Pacin' The Floor" (2007)Chali 2na - "Rockit Freestyle" from Z-Trip's BBC Radio1 Hip Hop Takeover Mix (2014)Herbie’s performance of “Rockit” on the 1984 Grammy Awards broadcast was a landmark event in hip-hop history. Here's another great live performance of "Rockit" with Grand Mixer DXT from 1984.I don’t really talk about the “Rockit” music video because Herbie himself was barely involved in it, but you can be disturbed by it if you want:The sad thing is that Herbie has such a limited presence in the video by his own choosing, because MTV did not play videos by Black artists before Michael Jackson’s breakthrough with Thriller.This episode includes an excerpt of pages 212-213 from Herbie's autobiography Possibilities, written with Lisa Dickey.Read more about the synths that Herbie has used on his albums.Read more about the creation of “Change Le Beat”.Here’s DJ Shortkut demonstrating scratching "ahhh" and "fresh".Read more about the vocoder.Read more about the concept of the rhizome. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:De La Soul - "Eye Know" (1989)Mad Lads - "Make This Young Lady Mine" (1969)Lee Dorsey - "Get Out Of My Life, Woman" (1967)Sly and the Family Stone - "Sing a Simple Song" (1969)Steely Dan - "Peg" (1977)Otis Redding - "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" (1967)Hear a DJ-style mix I made of these tracks:Read more about Philip Tagg’s concept of “one-chord changes”.Read more about digital audio bit depth.Read an interview with Deborah Mannis-Gardner, the sample clearance expert who worked with De La Soul on getting everything in “Eye Know” cleared.Small correction: when I say “sampling error”, I mean quantization error. Also, at 14:44, I say that two to the tenth power is 1,048 rather than 1,024. My bad.Learn more about “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of The Bay” in my episode on the song. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Barbecue Bob - "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" (1927)Charlie Patton - "High Water Everywhere, Pt 1" (1929)Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy - "When the Levee Breaks" (1929)Led Zeppelin - "If It Keeps On Raining (Rough Mix)" (1971)Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks" (1971)Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "When The Levee Breaks" (2024)Beastie Boys - "Rhymin' and Stealin'" (1986)Depeche Mode - "Never Let Me Down Again" (1987)MC Lyte - "Survival of the Fittest" (1989)Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" (1992)Dr. Dre ft. The Lady of Rage, Kurupt & RBX - "Lyrical Gangbang" (1992)Björk - "Army of Me" (1995)Massive Attack - "Man Next Door" (1998)Russell Velazquez - "Pokemon World" (2001)Tomoyasu Hotei - "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (2003)Beyoncé ft Jack White - "Don't Hurt Yourself" (2016)Read more:* The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927* Led Zeppelin as a blues band* Producing “When the Levee Breaks” Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:The Beatles - "She Said She Said" (1966)The Beatles - "Hey Jude" (1968)The Grateful Dead - "Morning Dew" (1972)Lorde - "Royals" (2013)The Beatles - "Here Comes The Sun" (1969)The Rolling Stones - "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968)Melanie Safka - "People in the Front Row" (1968)The Beatles - "A Day in the Life" (1967)Jimi Hendrix - "Hey Joe" (1967)Al Green - "Take Me To The River" (1974)Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn & Little Nell - "Time Warp" (1975)Read more about plagal cadences.Read more about “Take Me To The River”, including the Talking Heads cover.You can learn more about Trever de Clercq and David Temperley’s study of the Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs here (I neglected to mention Trever de Clercq in the episode.) Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Gloria Gaynor - "I Will Survive" (1978)The Beatles - "You Never Give Me Your Money" (1969)JS Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 - I. Allegro (1721) performed by Henryk Szeryng, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Michala Petri, Heinz Holliger & André BernardJS Bach - Partita No. 2 In D Minor, BWV 1004 V. Ciaconna (c. 1720) performed by Viktoria MullovaJS Bach - Lute Suite in C minor, BWV 997 (1737) performed by Hopkinson Smith (I mistakenly say it’s in G minor)Ella Fitzgerald - "I Got Rhythm" (1959)Frank Sinatra - "Fly Me To The Moon" (1964)Cannonball Adderley - "Autumn Leaves" (1958)Roberta Flack - "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973)Norah Jones - "Don't Know Why" (2002)Read more about circle of fifths sequences and about the circle of fifths itself. Don’t forget that the circle of fifths is a lie. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

This episode includes an excerpt of Miles Okazaki’s video on tuning a guitar using harmonics.It also includes synthesized versions of three excerpts of pieces by JS Bach, which I tempo-mapped to the following recordings:Glenn Gould - Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - Aria (1741)Glenn Gould - Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795 (1723)Angela Hewitt - The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus IOther music in this episode:Kronos Quartet - Ben Johnston: String Quartet No. 4 "Amazing Grace" (1973)The Hilliard Ensemble - Tallis: The Lamentations of Jeremiah I. Incipit lamentatio (c. 1560)Golden Gate Quartet - "Swing Down, Chariot" (1946)Tim Eriksen - "John Colby's Hymn" (2004)Ayan Ool-Sam - "Alash" (2006)Winne Clement - "Fujara" (2015)Underworld - "Rez" (1994)Wordcolour - "Fundamentals" (2023)I used MTS-ESP for all of the tuning. It’s an amazing plugin.Read more about the relationship between the harmonic series and just intonation.Listen to my episode about the possible just intonation origins of blues harmony: Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

This episode features Glenn Gould's 1963 recording of Johann Sebastien Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 846 (1722). I also tempo-mapped Gould's performances of other WTC preludes and used them for the tempos of the MIDI versions of the various movements.A small correction: I say in the episode that five-limit just intonation is the basis for Western European tuning systems. This is only true from the Renaissance onwards. Medieval Europe used Pythagorean (three-limit) tuning. Also, just intonation was probably more of a theoretical ideal than a practical tuning method.Also, at one point I refer to Bach’s F-sharp major prelude as the F-sharp minor prelude.I did the alternative tunings using MTS-ESP. I used the following tuning ratios for the just intonation parts:* C - 1/1* C# - 16/15* D - 9/8* Eb - 6/5* E - 5/4* F - 4/3* F# - 45/32* G - 3/2* Ab - 8/5* A - 5/3* Bb - 9/5* B - 15/8I also used quarter-comma meantone, Andreas Werckmeister's temperament III from 1681, and Johann Kirnberger's well temperament as described in a letter to Johann Nikolaus Forkel in 1779.In actual practice, Europeans tended to center their tuning around D rather than C. I stick to C for ease of explanation, not historical accuracy.Here are some real humans performing music in historical European tuning systems:* Alice Borciani, Eva Saladin, Brigitte Gasser and Johannes Keller perform a Sabbatini motet in quarter-comma meantone* Daniel Adam Maltz demonstrates Kirnberger* Carl Radford demonstrates Young’s temperament* John Moraitis demonstrates quarter-comma meantone, Rameau and Kirnberger* Alice M. Chuaqui Baldwin demonstrates quarter-comma meantone and Werckmeister IIII decided not to talk about Bradley Lehman’s proposed Bach tuning; I like how it sounds, but the controversy around it was too complicated for me to get into. You can hear Dr Charles Tebbs demonstrating Lehman’s tuning, and if you have a longer attention span than I do, you can watch Lehman tune a harpsichord.Wikipedia has a good summary of the various theories about Bach's tuning.John Carlos Baez explains quarter-comma meantone with math and diagrams.Kyle Gann's web site has lots more material on historical tuning with audio examples.For a deeper dive, try the tuning and temperament chapters in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:Herbie Hancock - "Watermelon Man" (Takin' Off, 1962)Mongo Santamaría - "Watermelon Man" (1963)Poncho Sanchez - "Watermelon Man" (1999)Johnny Taylor - "Watermelon Man" (1967)Herbie Hancock - "Watermelon Man" (Headhunters, 1973)Simha Aron & Geneviève Taurelle - "Hindewhu (Whistle) Solo" (The Music of the Ba-Benzélé Pygmies, 1966)Digable Planets - "Escapism (Gettin' Free)" (1993)Madonna - "Sanctuary" (1994)J Dilla - "Zen Guitar" (2005)Rapsody - "Whoopi" (2019)Kaluli People of the Bosavi Rainforest - "Relaxing By the Creek" (1991)Manu Dibango - “Electric Africa” (1985)Lionel Loueke - "Watermelon Man" (2020)Other references:* Herbie Hancock interview with Elvis Costello* Francis Bebey explains the single-note flute* Steven Feld - “Pygmy POP - A Genealogy of Schizophonic Mimesis” Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:James Brown - "Funky Drummer (Part One and Two)" (1969)James Brown - "Funky Drummer Bonus Beat Reprise" (1986)Eric B and Rakim - "Lyrics of Fury" (1988)Ultramagnetic MCs - "Give the Drummer Some" (1988)Public Enemy - "Fight the Power" (1989)Beastie Boys - "Shadrach" (1989)LL Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out" (1990)Sinéad O'Connor - "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" (1990)George Michael - "Freedom! '90" (1990)Pete Rock - "Go With the Flow" (1991)Sublime - "Scarlet Begonias" (1992)Digable Planets - "Where I'm From" (1993)The Roots - "The Next Movement" (1999)Lupe Fiasco - "The Cool" (2007)Aphex Twin - "droneBReak" (2015)Sister Souljah - "The Final Solution: Slavery's Back in Effect" (1992)Luke Vibert - "War" (2015)Duke Ellington - "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" (1932)Bill Withers - "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971)Scholarly resources:* Richard Cohn - “A Platonic Model of Funky Rhythms”* Alexander Stewart - “‘Funky Drummer’: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music”* Anne Danielsen - Presence and pleasure: The funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament* Joseph Schloss - Making beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music included in this episode:Vassily Kalinnikov - Symphony No. 1 in G Minor - II. Andante comodamente (1895)The Beatles - “In My Life” (1965)Willie Nelson - "I'd Have To Be Crazy" (1976)Lauryn Hill - "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (1998)(Update: a commenter pointed out that my analysis here accurately describes the original Frankie Valli version, but Lauryn Hill uses the minor iv chord in her intro.)Read more and see transcriptions here. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music appearing in this episode:Ella Fitzgerald - "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1957)Piotr Tchaikovsky - "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (1892)The Duke Ellington Orchestra - "Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy)" (1960)JS Bach - Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 I. Vivace (c. 1730)Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli & Eddie South - "Improvisation on the 1st Movement of D Minor Concerto by JS Bach" (1933)John Lee Hooker - "It Serves You Right to Suffer" (1966)The Duke Ellington Orchestra - "Overture" (1960)McCoy Tyner - "Contemplation" (1967)Hank Williams - "Lovesick Blues" (1949)Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - "Bring It On Down To My House" (1946)Stevie Wonder - "Superstition" (1972)The Headhunters - "God Make Me Funky" (1975)James Brown - "The Funky Drummer Parts 1 & 2" (1970)Janet Jackson - "What Have You Done for Me Lately" (1986)John Coltrane - "Trane's Slo Blues" (1957) - I incorrectly identified Elvin Jones as the drummer on this recording; it is actually Art TaylorSlum Village - "Get Dis Money" (2000)J Dilla - "Bars & Twists" (2010)I reference Milton Mermikides’ paper “‘Straight and Late’: Analytical Perspectives on Coltrane’s Time-feel” and Dan Charnas’ book Dilla Time, both of which are excellent. Check out some more swing visualization and auralization. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music appearing in this episode:Skip James - "Devil Got My Woman" (1931)Robert Johnson - "Kindhearted Woman Blues" (1936)Charlie Christian - "Waiting for Benny" (1941)Duke Ellington - "Far Away Blues" (1946)John Lee Hooker - "Boogie Chillen" (1948)Little Walter Jacobs - "Juke" (1952)Muddy Waters - "Standing Around Crying" (1952)The Osborne Brothers - "Ruby" (1957)Thelonious Monk - "Functional" (1957)Johnny Cash - "Big River" (1958)Elizabeth Cotten - "Freight Train" (1958) (I say that it’s in C, but the guitar is tuned down a whole step, so while she’s playing in C, it sounds in Bb)Elizabeth Cotten - "Honey Babe Your Papa Cares For You" (1958)Charles Mingus - "Better Git It In Your Soul" (1959)The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night" (1964)Aretha Franklin - "Chain of Fools" (1968)Sam and Dave - "I Thank You" (1968)BB King - "The Thrill Is Gone" (1969)Nina Simone - "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (1969)Jackson 5 - "ABC" (1970)Grateful Dead - "Tennessee Jed" (1972)Al Green - "Love and Happiness" (1972)Curtis Mayfield - "Pusherman" (1972)Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "I Love Rock n Roll" (1981)Patrice Rushen - "Forget Me Nots" (1982)Herbie Hancock - "Rockit" (1983)Prince - "7" (1992)Dawn Penn - "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" (1994)Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe" (2012)Beyoncé - "Texas Hold Em" (2024)Tikar Woman - "Grinding Song" (1995)Led Zeppelin - "When The Levee Breaks" (1971)Napoleon Strickland - "Key to the Bushes (Jitterbug Version)" (1995)Check out Miles Okazaki’s demonstration of guitar harmonics.Panos Charalampidis’ video tutorial on blues pitch zones is a must-watch.Here’s the 60 Minutes interview with Miles Davis from 1989.This blog post explains the possible just intonation basis for blue notes in more depth.I explain more about Hohner’s just intonation tuning for harmonicas here.Gerhard Kubik lays out his theory that blue notes originate in West African tuning systems in his book Africa and the Blues. I also recommend this interview he did with Afropop Worldwide.Jeff Titon’s book Early Downhome Blues is one of the best musicological analyses of the blues.Court Cutting’s empirical study of blue note tuning is one of the few such studies out there.Hear the “just intonation blues scale” in musical context. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Tracks featured in this episode:“You Are My Sunshine” by the Pine Ridge Boys (1939)“You Are My Sunshine” by Ray Charles (1962)Read more about Ray’s arrangement and see a transcription here. Read more about Black artists in country here. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I use “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” by Stevie Wonder (1973) as a jumping off point to contemplate the headache of naming notes and chords in keys with a lot of flats and sharps in them. The confusion stems from the fact that Western European note naming conventions got established in a time before twelve-tone equal temperament, when E-flat and D-sharp were two very different notes. We pretend that they are the same for practical reasons, but that comes at the expense of a naming system that no longer makes sense. Something that I forgot to mention is that in Western European convention, the rule is that you only use each letter name once per major or minor key. So we spell the notes in E-flat minor like so: E-flat, F, G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, C-flat, D-flat. That C-flat might offend your intuition. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just call it B? Yes, it would, and people often incorrectly do, but it’s not what you’re supposed to do. I always thought this rule was arcane and arbitrary until I found it out that when it was established, B and C-flat sounded different from each other, and B would have sounded horrendous in E-flat minor. I know all this tuning business seems remote from practicality, but for myself at least, understanding the history of tuning is simpler than taking the illogic of twelve-tone equal temperament at face value.The other thing I neglected to mention is that I was able to do all that Pythagorean tuning using a plugin called MTS-ESP by Oddsound. Ableton Live has some cool tuning features built in as of version 12, but if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of tuning systems, you need something more robust. MTS-ESP has a learning curve to it, but once I got the hang of it, I was able to fill some big holes in my understanding, both intellectually and intuitively. You will be hearing more about tuning in future episodes.Read more about Pythagorean and the so-called “circle” of fifths here. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

There’s a particular passage in one of McCoy Tyner’s piano solos with John Coltrane that I adore. In his right hand, McCoy is playing the blues. In his left hand, he is playing a mysterious chord. This episode is about that chord.The music you hear at the beginning and end is an original track of mine called “Voice Leading.” Other pieces of music discussed, in order of appearance:“Lonnie’s Lament” by John Coltrane (1964)“Alleluia, Nativitas Gloriose Virginis Marie (Organum Triplum Du Maître Pérotin)” (c. 1200), performed by Dominique Vellard & Ensemble Gilles Binchois“Le fils des étoiles: Prélude du premier acte. La vocation” by Erik Satie (1892), performed by Bertrand Chamayou“So What” by Miles Davis (1959)“Cold Sweat, Pts. 1 & 2” by James Brown (1967)“My Favorite Things” by John Coltrane (1961)“Freedom Jazz Dance” by Eddie Harris (1961)“Freedom Jazz Dance” by Miles Davis (1967)“Maiden Voyage” by Herbie Hancock“It's About That Time” by Miles Davis (1969)“Everybody Loves The Sunshine” by Roy Ayers (1976)“Star Trek: The Next Generation theme” by Jerry Goldsmith (1987)A note to copyright holders: I use short clips of the above recordings for educational purposes. In every instance, I believe this to be protected as fair use in the USA, fair dealing in the UK and EEA, and similar exceptions in other nations’ copyright laws. I do not use any recordings in their entirety, and the excerpts that I do use are edited into analytical commentary, making this usage transformative in nature. This podcast is an educational resource, one which has no negative effect on the market for the works excerpted. Any DMCA notices (or equivalent in other jurisdictions) will be contested. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

I have been thinking about doing a podcast for a long time, but I couldn’t think of the right format. I didn’t want to just freestyle into the mic, but I also couldn’t think of a more structured way to approach it. But I’ve been listening to the great 500 Songs podcast lately, and it inspired me. To get started, I decided to talk about a song that I have loved since I was eleven years old, and one that I have talked about any time I have taught a class on music technology, popular music theory or copyright. The idea of manipulating an existing piece of music on a turntable as a form of musical expression is such a futuristic and crazy idea. You’re playing a song as a musical instrument to create a new song! What a concept. I like weaving in the music that I’m talking about as much as possible to make the podcast a musical experience unto itself. This is a labor-intensive process, so we’ll see how sustainable it is, but I enjoy doing it and I hope people enjoy listening to it. The music you hear at the beginning and end is an original track of mine called “Voice Leading.” Other pieces of music discussed, in order of appearance:“Peter Piper” by Run-DMC (1986)“Take Me To The Mardi Gras” by Paul Simon (1973)“Take Me To The Mardi Gras” by Bob James (1973)“Rise and Shine” by Tommy Cash (1970)"I Can't Stop" by John Davis & The Monster Orchestra (1976)"Work It" by Missy Elliott (2002)"King of the Beats" by Mantronix (1988)"The Power" by Snap (1990)A note to copyright holders: I use short clips of the above recordings for educational purposes. In every instance, I believe this to be protected as fair use in the USA, fair dealing in the UK and EEA, and similar exceptions in other nations’ copyright laws. I do not use any recordings in their entirety, and the excerpts that I do use are edited into analytical commentary, making this usage transformative in nature. This podcast is an educational resource, one which has no negative effect on the market for the works excerpted. Any DMCA notices (or equivalent in other jurisdictions) will be contested. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe