Photo: Scarlet Keys | By Amelia Mason, WBUR | On a Thursday morning last month, a dozen students were crammed into desks in a small classroom at Berklee College of Music, reading the sheet music to a song by Taylor Swift. Together, they chanted the rhythm to the first verse of Swift’s 2012 hit “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Stripped of its playful descending melody, the song was uncomplicated, almost monotonous.
The class’s instructor, Scarlet Keys, was trying to make a point: that the relative simplicity of Swift’s music helped explain the singer’s widespread appeal.
“I think in the beginning of Taylor Swift’s career, part of what made her a global artist is her simple rhythmic architecture,” Keys said. “We’re thinking about stressed out people and distracted people and drunk people. We’re talking about old people and we’re talking about four-year-olds. We’re talking about everyone. How quickly can someone learn: duh-DA-da-da-da-da,
duh-DA-da-da-da-da?”
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Read the full story here – interesting concept:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/03/19/taylor-swift-college-classes
This segment aired on March 19, 2024.
[Thanks to Alex Teitz for contributing this article! http://www.femmusic.com]
Photo: Scarlet Keys | From her Facebook page
Taylor Swift College Classes Are a Thing Now
