'She's so busy being free': towards a material-analytical approach to Joni Mitchell and her guitar

Jones, Oliver Christian Frederick (2023). 'She's so busy being free': towards a material-analytical approach to Joni Mitchell and her guitar. University of Birmingham. M.A.

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Abstract

Music analysis is a discipline borne of the ‘explanation’ of notated music of the Western Classical Tradition. Its approach to explanation, therefore, is best suited to music of that same tradition. When music-analytical tools are applied to Western popular music there is a tendency to focus upon (and give special value to) those dimensions that align with the Western Classical Tradition. This often leads to emphasis being placed upon abstract notions of form and a lack of engagement with concrete entities such as the materials used in music making.

This thesis will develop a materially-driven approach to the analysis of guitar music through a detailed discussion of the early work of Joni Mitchell, one of popular music’s most innovative and influential guitarists. Mitchell’s early guitar work is most distinctive for her approach to scordatura, or ‘alternative tunings’ – the act of importantly altering the materiality of the guitar thereby affecting its role in music making. The importance of scordatura is particularly evident in Mitchell’s first studio album, Song to a Seagull, in part because of its homogeneity of instrumentation, and in part because of the wide range of different tunings employed.

This thesis does not argue that the traditional tools of music analysis should become redundant. It looks, instead, to bring traditional notions of form into dialogue with an appreciation of music’s materiality. A sustained focus on the use of scordatura demonstrates the inextricability of scordatura from the content and effect of Mitchell’s guitar parts, but these, in turn, need to be understood as interacting with more traditional dimensions of analysis such as the harmonic, textural, and timbral palette. Through a new awareness of music’s materiality, viewed in accordance with the lens of Joni Mitchell’s early guitar work, this thesis will help to open up new avenues in the analysis of popular music.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.A.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.A.

Supervisor(s):