Funciones Frith-Estudio Práctico

THE FUNCTIONS OF POPULAR MUSIC IN
PN THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENTS

ADOLESCENTS
by
Isaac Lamont Bickmore
A thesis submitted to the faculty

faculty of
of
The University of
of Utah
llment of
in partial fulfi
fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of
of Music
In
in
Music Education
of Music
School of
of Utah
The University of
May 2010
Copyright Isaac Lamont Bickmore 2010

Copyright
All Rights Reserved
THE
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UTAH GRADUATE SCHOOL
SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE APPROVAL
of a thesis submitted by
This thesis bas been read by each member of the following supervisory committee and by
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ehal :
r ]
2,/10 ltD
Ie Lien
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OF
UTAH GRADUATE
SCHOOL
FINAL READING APPROVAL
To the Graduate Council of the University of Utah:
1 have read the thesis of
in
its final form
and have found tbat (1) its fonnat, citations, and bibliographic style are consistent and
acceptable;
(2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are
in place;
and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the supervisory committee and is ready for
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Date
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rwight
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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
This study determines that a specified
specified group of
of adolescents' favorite songs fu
lfill
fulfill
popular music; (a) to create a type
lype of
Frith's functions of
of popular
of self-definition;
self-definition; (b) to provide a
way of
of managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives; (c) to
memory, organize
organize one
one's
's sense of
of time, and intensify
intensify a given experience;
shape popular memory.
(d) to provide a sense of
of musical ownership, according
according to those same adolescents'
and Cd)
own writings and a survey on that topic. Sophomores

Sophomores from a high school in the Salt Lake
Valley
describin g what
Vall ey were given an assignment that included a one-page essay describing
functions their favorite
Frith's
favorite song performs
performs in their life, and a survey
survey based on Frith
's
of Popular Music." The data collected from that ass
assignment
"Functions ofPopuiar
igrunent were analyzed
using a deductive approach described by Mark Abrahamson to determine whether
whether the
functions
functio
ns that the students ascribed to their songs matched Frith's functions.
Dedicated to Lesley, Will, Mom, and Dad

Dedicated
TABLE
TABLE OF
OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT. ..... .......... .... ...... .... ... ..... ... ........... . .... ... .......... .. .. .
ABSTRACT
IV
iv
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
I
INTRODUCTION ................................... .... .......... ....... .... ..

INTRODUCTION
Justifi cation of
of the Study
Study............... ... .................. ... ............
Justification
1I
Purpose orthe Study....... .................................. ... ............
Purpose of the Study
II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE...... ........ ........ .. ........ .... ...... ....... .
II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Summary ....................... ".,..... .. ....... .. ..... ... . ... ... .....
Summary
II I
METHOD ............... ........ .......... .. ............... .......................
III
METHOD
Pilot Studies .. ... ........................ ... ......... , ....... .. .... .... .. .. ...
Procedure
for Actual Study ... ... .. _. _............................ ..........
Pilot
Studies
4
13
13
14
14
14
16
14
IV ANALYS
IS AND
RESULTS.............
.............. ..... .......... .........
Procedure
for Actual
Study
22
16
Survey.............................
.. ... ..... ..................... ..... ... ......
IV ANALYSIS
AND RESULTS
The Essay...... ..................... .. . ........ ... ....... .................. .....
Sum.
mary........................ ...............................................
Survey
22
31
44
22
The Essay
31
V
V
Summary DISCUSSION, CONCL USIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, 44

SUMMARY,
SUMMARY,
DISCUSSION,
CONCLUSIONS,
AND
APPLICATIONS
OF POPULARRECOMMENDATIONS,
MUSIC IN THE
AND APPLICATIONS
OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE
...............................................
.........
45
CLASSROOM
CLASSROOM
Sunlmary......................
.. ...... ... ... ......... . ........ .......... .... ...
Summary
Discussion . ..... ... ... ... ... ....... ..... ... ... ... ... ... . .. . ... .. ... ... ... ... ....
Conclusions
Conclusions.........................................
...... ........... ....... ....
Recommendations
for
Further
Research
Recommendations for
Research... ..... .... ... ... ..... ....... ......
Applications of
of Popu
Popular
Music in
in the Classroom..
Classroom ............. .........
Applications
lar Music
45
45
45
49
49
54
54
55
55
59
59
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
A ESSAY
ESSAY TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE................. ........ ........... .. ....... ................
A
62
62
B FIRST
FIRST SURVEY
SURVEY TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE.... .......... .......... .......... ......... .......
B
64
64
C
C FINAL
FINAL ESSAY
ESSA Y TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE.. ...... .. ..... .... ........ .. .... .... .. ........ .....
67
67
D FINAL
FINAL SURVEY
SURVEy............... .......... .. ..................... ........... .. .....
D
69
69
E THE
THE FINAL
FIN A L SCRIPT
SCRIPT.. .. ..... .. .... ... ........... .. .. ...... .. .. .. ... ...... .. ......
E
72
ANALYZED ESSAY
ESSAy.. ........ . .. ........... ........ ........ .. ... ...... ...........
FF ANALYZED
74
REFERENCES... ..... .. ....... . ... ... ... ... .. ... ... .... ... ... ....... ........ ... ... ....... .......
REFERENCES
76
vii
Vll
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Justification of
of the Study
Justification
Conference declared in 1969 that: "Music
The Music Educators National Conference
education must encompass all music" (Housewright, Sarig, MacCluskey, &
& Hughes,
p.4S). In the spirit of

1969, p.45).
of that declaration, and because I have found popular music
formative in my life, I wanted to examine the functions
enriching, educational, and trans
transformative
functions
of popular music in the lives of
of adolescents. The reason that I chose to do this study with
of
of adolcscents
adolescents is because I am a music teacher and I work with adolescents. As a
a group of
of adolescents, it is important
music educator of
important to understand what my students listen to,
of this study, how that music functions

why they listen to it, and, in the case of
functions in their lives.
Bucholtz (2002) delves into youth culture from an anthropological standpoint.
She challenges the approach of

of treating adolescence as a life stage only in the context
context of
of
preparing youth for adulthood. She presents evidence supporting the idea that
adolescence does function
function as a culture, independent
of
independent in some ways from the culture of
of evidence to support
support that idea.
adulthood. She discusses how popular music is one piece of
Frith (1983) writes about the sociology of

of youth and popular music in a primarily
British context. His book is as much a discussion about youth and teenagers as it is a
discussion about popular music. Rock and roll and its many branches, including hip-hop,
punk: rock, grunge, metal, and many others have generally always been considered
considered as
rap, punk
music for teenagers.
Simon Friths'
important piece of
Friths'ss study (1987) is an important
of research about the function
function
of popular
functions in society as a whole and in specific
specific groups.
of
popular music, including how
how it functions
Frith (1987) identifies, and provides supporting evidence for, four sociological functions
functions
of
of popular
popular music: (a) to create a type of
of self-definition;
self-definition; (b) to provide a way of
of managing
the relationship between
between one's private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape popular
memory, organize one's sense of
intensify a given experience; and (d) to
provide a sense of
of musical ownership. Frith writes about youth in relation to popular
music culture and in relation to how music functions
functions in society, but he does not discuss
how these functions
functions are fulfilled
fulfilled in the lives of
of adolescents specifically
specifically in this document.
assignment proceeded
proceeded using a
The analysis of
of the data collected
collected from this assignment
deductive approach described by Mark Abrahamson
Abrahamson (1981) to determine whether the
functions that the students ascribed

ascribed to their favorite songs matched
matched Frith's (1987)
functions.
of the Study
Purpose of
The purpose of
verify whether
whether Frith's four sociological
of the present study was to verify
functions of
specific group of
of
of popular
popular music do in fact hold true in the lives of
of a specific
functions
adolescents. Participants wrote a one-page essay about their favorite song and then
completed a survey based on Frith's four sociological functions of
of popular
completed
popular music. Some
participants divulged information
information in their writing that implied that their favorite songs do
function according to Frith's functions. The survey provides information
information that
3
demonstrates that the participants' favorite
favor ite songs do function
fun ction according
according to Frith's
Frith ' s fou
fourr
fu
nct ions at varying
vary ing levels.
functions
CHAPTER
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
REVIEW
LITERATURE
of music. These studies regarding both

There are many studies about the functions
functions of
sociological and psychological
psychological functions
the sociological
functions of
of music have been as specific
specific as
Movement and as
researching how music functions
functions in the setting of
of the Civil Rights Movement
"What psychological
psychological functions
general as re-answering the question "What
functions does music serve in
everyday life?" North (1999) sets out to re-answer that question. He states:
everyday
The research findings lead us to conclude that the social functions of
of music are
manifested in three principal ways for the individual, namely in the management
manifested
of self-identity,
of
self-identity, interpersonal relationships and mood. This leads us to propose a
new agenda for music psychology which places the social dimension at its core,
and which considers the interdisciplinary
of the
interdisciplinary context; the effects
effects of
'democratization'
of theory the relationship between theory and
of music; the role of
'democratization' of
practice; and the implications for research methodology,
methodology. (p.84)
Other scholars have done studies that examine the functions

functions of
of music, including
different settings. There are, for example, scholars who have
popular music, in many different
examined the functions of
of film (Vitouch, 2001). The purpose of
examined
of music in the genre of
of his
experimentally music context effects
effects on perceivers' plot related
study was to "investigate
"investigate experimentally
expectation due to different
different types of
specifically tried not to use
expectation
of film music" (p.70). He specifically
stereotyped
stereotyped stimuli. In other words, he did not use music that people would normally
associate with certain feelings or actions. In Vitouch's (2001) study, 48 participants were
of two music versions (original v. fake score) of
of the visually identical
presented with one of
of the plot, which were subsequently
film sequence. They then wrote brief
brief continuations of
subsequently
analyzed using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, with the focus on emotional
content. The results of
of the study indicated
indicated that "viewers'
"viewers'/listeners'
/listeners' anticipations about the
further development
influenced by the underlying film
of a sequence are systematically influenced
further
development of
of the scene" (p.70).
music, which implicitly co-determines the psychological reality of
function and effect

effect of
Lapedis (1999) studied the function
of popular music in cinema. In this
study she examines the soundtracks of
functions in the
of three films and how popular
popular music functions
particular
"Three-minute culture of
of each film. She argues that the "Three-minute
of Rock and
particular context of
Pop" (p.368) has affected
affected the narrative structure of
of mainstream
mainstream cinema. Her study is
functionality of
important, because it discusses the functionality
of popular
popular music, and popular
popular music
song lyrics in the context of

of film.
(200 I) and Rose (2007) both present
present studies that have to do with the
Rosenthal (2001)
function
of music in the context of
function of
of socio-political movements such as the civil rights
movement. Rose (2007) specifically
specifically discusses how music functioned
functioned in the civil rights
functions of
examination on the 10 functions
movement. Rose bases her examination
of music as described
described by
functions held true in the lives of
Merriam (1964). Rose concludes that Merriam's functions
of the
Freedom Singers. Rosenthal discusses how music functions
functions within any movement. He
Freedom
specifically discusses the functions
functions of
of popular music as "movement
specifically
"movement music" and
concludes that popular
popular music has properties that lend themselves to mobilizing people.
He further
certain instances "movement
"movement music" can "help educate,
further concludes that in certain
recruit, and/or mobilize those not already committed to struggle" (p.ll).
(p.l 1).
function of
of popular music, particularly rap and metal,
Pieslak (2009) examines the function
in the lives of
of soldiers in the Iraq war. Many personal accounts are given of
of how music is
different ways. Pieslak
Pieslak describes in detail how music plays a part in
used by soldiers in different
6
of a soldier. He describes the use of
of technology as a factor in how
the every-day life of
music plays a bigger role now in the life of
of a soldier than it has in previous wars.
Pieslak's (2009) work is a descriptive account rather than a study but the information
information in
his work is valuable to this study because of
of soldiers that
of the personal accounts of
describe how music functions
functions in their lives. Many of
of the soldiers' accounts imply that
Frith's four sociological
sociological functions
functions hold true in their lives.
of popular love songs whose

Cooper (1996) examines the sociological functions
functions of
themes were epistolary in nature, or relating to or denoting the writing of
of letters, during a
time of
forced separation
separation for many couples, the Second World War. Cooper concludes
of forced
popular music in this era and that it

that the epistolary form became a standard form for popular
marketed to a willing population
population who wanted songs that sounded like
was calculatedly
calculatedly marketed
letters from home. People adopted the songs for themselves and used lyrics from them for
their own letters to loved ones. These songs helped to enhance many couples' long
distance relationships.
McLeod (2006) writes about how "gay anthems" by well-known homosexual
artists function
function in the context of
of sporting events. McLeod concludes that "gay anthems"
"have thus been successfully

successfully co-opted to serve traditional heterosexual masculine leisure"
function in ways that it was not intended
(p.543) He also concludes that rock music can function
to function. Popular
adopted by groups or individuals
Popular music songs can be and have been adopted
for reasons other than the reasons that artists had for writing the song. One famous
famous
example of
of this is Charles Manson's use of
of the Beatles song Helter
Helter Skelter.
Skelter. Manson
claimed
of an apocalyptic
Album were part of
claimed that this song and other songs from the White Album
prophecy. Paul McCartney
of
McCartney has said that the song was written in response to a review of
7
the Who's song I Can See for
for Miles
Miles and is an attempt to out-do that song in loudness
specifically using tape echo. The Beatles never claimed to write any prophecies,
specifically
apocalyptic or otherwise.
Scholars have examined the relationship of
of words and music and the function
function that
words add to the music in which they are placed. Fornas (2003) examines the relationship
of words and music in the realm of
of popular music in particular. He examines nonsense
of
lyrics, grunts, aural poetry, spoken lyrics, and vocalization. He discusses how words can
take on different
different functions when they are sung or presented in the context of
of music. He
also discusses how words are particularly important to the function
function of
of popular music. He
mentions that when people listen to popular music they do not divorce the lyrics from the
music but they hear it as a whole.
functions of
Because the present study deals with the functions
of
adolescents, a review of
of the important literature that presents research about
of some of
adolescence was needed. Adolescence has been studied by many anthropologists as
nothing but a transitional stage between youth and adulthood, saying nothing about the
contributions of
of adolescence to culture and how adolescence functions in many ways
outside of
of the framework
framework of
of adulthood. Bucholtz (2002) delves into youth culture from an
anthropological standpoint. She challenges the approach of
of treating adolescence as a life
stage only in the context of
of preparing youth for adulthood. She presents evidence
function as a culture independent in some ways
supporting the idea that adolescence does function
of adulthood. She discusses how popular music is one piece of
of evidence
from the culture of
to support that idea.
8
There are several studies about musical taste. Johnstone and Katz (1957) examine
musical taste among teenaged girls. The study deals with preference
preference in popular music
within the context of
of group identity and geographic location in South Side Chicago. The
fieldwork was conducted
of 1954-55 using questionnaires
fieldwork
conducted during the winter and spring of
completed by eight clubs of
of teenage girls. The questions covered the following: (a)
relative interest in various types of
of music; (b) preferences
then-current
preferences in songs in the then-currcnt
'Hit Parade;' (c) preferences
of
preferences in disk jockeys; (d) preferences
preferences in particular
particular kinds of
popular songs; (e) sociometric choices of
of best friends; and (I)
(f) dating. This study is
important, because it outlines the functions
functions of
of adolescent
girls by finding out their preferences

preferences through studying their relationships to place and to
other people. Johnstone and Katz's study is similar to the present study, because it
involves using participants' writing about songs that they prefer, or songs that they
consider to be their favorite songs. The fact that the songs that the participants of
of
Johnstone and Katz's study chose reflect
of
reflect place and peer group speaks to the validity of
Frith's functions, particularly the second which is "to provide a way of
of managing the
relationship between one's private and public emotional lives" and the first which is "to
of self-definition."
self-definition."
create a type of
Bradley (2005) presents a series of

of a teenage girl's journal entries from the year
that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. She writes about how she would not come to school
if
of her choir
if not for her choir class. She discusses the subversive teaching tactics of
teacher who teaches using patriotic Russian hymns and civil rights folk songs. She also
writes about the function
function of
of choral music in her teenaged life. She tells about how the
music she learns in class and the discussion about that music help her (a) to create a type
9
of
of self-definition;
of managing the relationship between one's
private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape popular memory, organize one's sense of
of
intensify a given experience; and (d) to provide a sense of
of musical ownership,
time, and intensify
which are Frith's (1987) functions
of popular music. Although she does not write directly
functions of
about these functions, she uses language that implies that the music in her life fulfills
fulfills
these functions.
functions.
Campbell, Connell, and Beegle (2007) "aimed

"aimed to determine the significance
significance of
of
education to middle and high school adolescents, including those
music and music education
enrolled and not enrolled in school music programs" (p.220). The main method for this
enrolled
study was analysis of
of essays, statements, and reflections
reflections in response to a national essay
contest. Analysis was undertaken using an inductive approach to analyze content through
the triangulation
of interpretations by the investigators. They were able to identify
identify five
triangulation of
principal themes through this process within the expressed
expressed meanings of
of music by
adolescents: (a) identity formation
formation in and through music; (b) emotional benefits; (c)
music's life benefits, including character-building
character-building and life skills; (d) social benefits; and
of school music programs and their teachers. This
(e) positive and negative impressions of
of content analysis of
study is important
important because the authors provide an example of
of the
writings of
of adolescents. It is also important
functions
important because they write about how music functions
in the lives of
of adolescents.
Frith (1983) writes about the sociology of
of youth and popular music in a primarily
British context. He discusses the way different
different musics seem to attract different
different groups.
Teenager
Teenager and youth culture are two terms that are key to Frith's discussion about the
of youth and popular
popular music. "These different
reflect different
sociology of
sociology
different terms partly reflect
different
10
different concerns, and they often
often overlap" (p.
(p.181).
historical moments, partly different
181). Frith
explains that the term "teenager" is a 1950s concept, and that "youth" and "youth
culture" are terms from the 1960s. The term "teenager" refers mostly to the working-class
young, the way that Frith uses it, and that the term "youth" suggests the insignificance
insignificance of
of
class distinctions at this age, but is usually and implicitly applied to the middle-class
young as it is used in his work. Frith examines both of
of these terms, teenager and youth, in
the context of
popular music particularly
of popular
particularly in the period from 1950 to 1970. Other topics he
discusses are youth and production, youth and music, the use of
of music, music and class,
the sociology
sociology of
of taste, subcultures, and girls and youth culture. All of
of these topics are
discussed in a section of
of Frith's book called "Rock Consumption." Frith consistently
discussed
functions in the lives of
of youth in this book.
focuses on the ways in which popular
However, he does not outline or identify
identify a set of
of sociological functions
functions of
of popular
popular music
in this work.
popular music: (a) to create a

Frith (1987) identifies
identifies four sociological functions of
of popular
type ofself-dcfinition;
of managing the relationship between
between one's
of self-definition; (b) to provide a way of
private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape popular memory, organize one's sense of
time, and intensify
of musical ownership.
functions might work in the lives of
Frith (1987) discusses in detail how each of
of these functions
real people. He gives examples of
of what he means in each case. Frith writes about his first
of self-definition;
self-definition; "The pleasure that pop music produces is a
function, or, to create a type of
pleasure of
of that music,
of identification
identification - with the music we like, with the performers
performers of
(p. 140). Frith also mentions that "the production
of
with the other people who like it" (p.140).
production of
identity is also a production
of inclusion and exclusion"
production of
of nonidentity - it is a process of
11
11
(p.140).
(p. 140). Frith explains his second function, or, to provide a way of
of managing the
relationship between one's private and public emotional lives.
of intimate
Love songs are a way of
of giving emotional intensity to the sorts of
things we say to each other (and to ourselves) in words that are, in
of everyday language that our
themselves, quite flat. It is a peculiarity of
most fraught
fraught and revealing declarations of
of feeling have to use phrases - T
'I
love/hate you', 'Help me!', 'I'm
'I'm angry/scared' -which
- which are boring and
banal; and so our culture has a supply of
of a million pop songs, which say
these things for us in numerous interesting and involving ways. These
songs do not replace our conversations - pop singers do not do our
courting for us - but they make our feelings seem richer and more
convincing than we can make them appear in our own words, even to
ourselves,
(p. 141)
ourselves. (p.14l)
Frith clarifies
clarifies his third function.
function.
function of
The third function
of popular music is to shape popular memory, to
of time. Clearly one of
of the effects
effects of
organize our sense of
of all music, not just
pop, is to intensify
intensify our experience of
of the present. One measure of
of good
music, to put it another way, is, precisely, its 'presence', its ability to
'stop' time, to make us feel we are living within the moment, with no
memory or anxiety about what has come before, what will come after.
after,
(p. 140)
(p.140)
Frith also explains that this function
function has much to do with youth and how music does more
just "trigger
itself provides our most
than just
"trigger associated memories, but, rather, that music in itself
explanation of
of how youth is
vivid experience of
of time passing." Frith gives an explanation
experienced. "Youth is experienced, that is, as an intense presence, through an impatience
for time to pass and a regret that it is doing so, in a series of
of speeding, physically insistent
(p. 140)
moments that have nostalgia coded into them." (p.140)
function through his work as a rock

Frith explains that he learned of
of his fourth function
popular musicians of
critic. He describes that through receiving abusive mail from fans of
of popular
of
whom he has given unfavorable
unfavorable reviews, he realized that people did not just
just like the
groups they listened to, they owned them. They did not own them in the sense that they
12
had purchased the album but as Frith explains; "it is not just the record that people think
they own: we feel that we also possess the song itself, the particular
particular performance, and its
performer.
of our own identity and build it into our
performer. In 'possessing' music, we make it part of
(p. 142).
sense of
of ourselves" (p.142).
The purpose of
of this study was to examine whether a certain group of
of adolescents'
favorite songs fulfill
fulfill Frith's functions of
of popular music according to those same
adolescents' own writings and a survey on that topic. So many adolescents listen to
popular music. Many scholars such as Frith (1987) believe that popular music is worthy
of
Conference declared in 1969 that:
of study. Additionally, the Music Educators National Conference
"Music education must encompass all music" (Housewright, Sarig, MacCluskcy,
MacCluskey, &
&
Hughes, 1969, p.45).
of these facts it seems important that educators know about
pAS). Because of
how popular music functions in the lives of
of their students.
Although most of
of the reviewed literature has been instrumental in devising the
Abrahamson served exclusively as a

method of
of research in the present study, the work of
of Abrahamson
guide for the methodology therein. Abrahamson (1983) states, "If
"If we begin with a theory
that we wish to test empirically, we will proceed in a deductive manner-from
mannerfrom the more
general or abstract to the more specific or concrete"(p.146).
concrete"(p.l46). He describes the difference
difference
between induction and deduction and gives examples of
of both. The framework
framework that he lays
out is the basis for the way the meaning is drawn from
from the data in this study using the
deductive approach. Figure 1 describes the process in which one can either deduce or
of data.
induce value from a given set of
13
Propositions from a Theory
Theory
ji
Operational Definitions
Definitions of Concepts
Concepts
ij
Assignment of
Val ues to Individual
Indi vidual Cases
of Values
(j
ive Path)
( | Deductive Path, tf ~
= Induct
Inductive
Abrahamoff
Abrahamoff (1983)
I. Chains of
Figure 1.
of Thought
Thought
Summary
Resea rch has
has been
been done
regard in g the
funct ions of
popul ar music
well as
Research
done regarding
the functions
of popular
music as
as well
as the
the
music in
th, 1983;
North, 1999).
hers have
funct ions of
functions
of music
in general
general (Fri
(Frith,
1983; Frith,
Frith, \987
1987;; North,
1999). Ot
Others
have
researc hed how
how mllsic
functio ns in
in specific
ttings (Campbell
Beeg le, 2007;
researched
music functions
specific se
settings
(Campbell,, Connell
Connell,, &
& Beegle,
2007;
Pieslak , 2009;
Rosenthal , 2001;
200 1;
Cooper,
Frith, 1983
Lapedis, 1999;
Cooper, 1996;
1996; Frith,
1983;; Lapedis,
1999; Pieslak,
2009; Rose,
Rose, 2007;
2007; Rosenthal,
1). Research
has been
been done
the culture
VitOllch, 200
Vitouch,
2001).
Research has
done regarding
regarding the
culture of
of youth
youth (Bucholtz,
(Bucholtz, 2002).
2002).
Others
popular music
I. ,
Others have
have examined
examined popular
music as
as aa part
part ooff the
the culture
culture of
of youth
youth (Campbell
(Campbell,, et
et aal.,
2007;
Frith, 1983;
Katz, 1957).
ugh the
the relevant
li terature examines
2007; Frith,
1983; Johnstone
Johnstone &
& Katz,
1957). Tho
Though
relevant literature
examines both
both
the soc
iologica l functions
functions of
lture (Bucholtz,
sociological
of popular music (Frith, 1987) and youth cu
culture
popu lar mus
ic is an element of
ll , et aI.
2002), eve
evenn how popular
music
of youth culture (Campbe
(Campbell,
al.,, 2007;
Katz, 1957),
present study
nes Frith's
Frith ' s functions
Frith, 1983;
Frith,
1983; Johnstone
Johnstone &
& Katz,
1957), the
the present
study exami
examines
functions of
of
popular music in the lilives
ves of
lescents.
of a specifi
specificc group of
of ado
adolescents.
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER
METHOD
Pilot Studies
Two pilot
pilot studies
studies provided
provided important
important information
information for
for the
the present
present study.
The first
Two
study. The
first
pilot study
study occurred
occurred in
the fall
fall of
2007. All
All students
students enrolled
emolled in
in aa choral
choral class
class at
at aa high
pilot
in the
of 2007.
high
school
in the
the Salt
Salt Lake
Lake Valley
Valley completed
an essay
essay about
about why
why their
their favorite
favorite song
is their
school in
completed an
song is
their
favorite. Using
Using aa qualitative
analysis process,
process, Abrahamson
Abrahamson (1983),
compared the
favorite.
qualitative analysis
(1983), II compared
the
students'
writings and
and Frith's
Frith's (1987)
functions. The
The qualitative
qualitative analysis
analysis consisted
consisted of
students' writings
(1987) functions.
of
reading the
the essays
and circling
circling and
underlining key
key words
words and
phrases that
that matched
reading
essays and
and underlining
and phrases
matched
of the
Frith's functions.
This approach
approach produced
produced data
data that
did not
not answer
answer the
the question
question of
Frith's
functions. This
that did
the
study:
Do aa certain
certain group
group of
of adolescents'
adolescents' favorite
favorite songs
songs fulfill
fulfill Frith's
Frith's functions
study: Do
functions of
of popular
popular
music?
Because the
only data
data consisted
consisted of
that answered
answered the
the question,
question, "Why
music? Because
the only
of essays
essays that
"Why is
is
your favorite
favorite song
song your
your favorite
favorite song?"
song?" This
This approach
approach produced
produced no
no concrete
your
concrete evidence
evidence as
as
to how
how the
the songs
songs actually
actually functioned
the lives
lives of
of the
the participants.
participants. The
The essay
part of
of this
to
functioned in
in the
essay part
this
useful if
if it had been coupled
coupled with more conclusive data
pilot study would have been very useful
that answered the question posed above. An added survey in the second pilot study
provided more
more conclusive
provided
conclusive data.
data.
The participating
participating teacher for the second pilot study received the following
following
explanation about the expectations for the participants: that the students would be writing
explanation
a one page handwritten essay and a survey about their favorite song. (An exact example
example
15
of the essay template received by the participants is found in Appendix A. The survey can
of
before the pilot study went
be found in Appendix B.) I did not catch a few mistakes before
forward. For example, the second to last sentence's first word is misspelled; "pleas"
should be please.
After I passed
passed out the essay template contained
After
contained in Appendix A, I read the
fo
llowing instructions:
following
and a Masters
Masters Student
Student in Music
1I am a music
music teacher
teacher at Nibley
Nibley Park
Park K-8
K-8 School
School and
Music
Education at the University
of Utah. 1
would like to know
know about
music that you
I would
about the music
you
Education
University of
listen
listen to.
to.
Please use this paper
paper to tell
tell me why
why your
your favorite
favorite song
song is your
yourfavorite
Please
favorite
offor why
why that song
song is your
yourfavorite
List as many
many reasons
reasons as you
you can think
song. List
think offor
favorite
more than
than any
other song. You can tell me; when
when you
you listen
listen to it,
why you
you listen
listen to
more
any other
it, why
it,
listen to it,
with whom
whom you
listen to it,
feel when
you
it, how
how you
you listen
it, with
you listen
it, how
how it makes
makes you
youfeel
when you
listen
to
it
or
anything
else
you
want
to
tell
me
about
it.
Make
sure
to
tell
me
the
listen
anything
you want tell
about it. Make sure
of your
and who
if you
need
title of
your favorite
favorite song
song and
who performs
performs it.
it. You can use the back
back if
you need
to.
You will
will have
have 15 minutes
minutes to write. 1I will
will give
give you
you 2 minutes
minutes to think
think about
about
what your
your favorite
favorite song
song is and
what
and why.
why.
1I will
will tell
tell you
you when
when your
your fifteen
fifteen minutes
minutes starts
starts and
and when
when you
you have
have five
five
minutes left. If
Ifyou
you have
have any
any questions,
your hand, and
and 1I will
will come
come and
minutes
questions, raise
raise your
answer them. Your two minutes
minutes thinking
time begins
answer
thinking time
begins now.
I observed the students during the 15 minutes of
of writing time. During the 2
watched the clock and waited for the 2 minutes to end. I casually
minutes thinking time, I watched
observed
majority of
observed the students during this time as well. I noted that the majority
of the participants
used the thinking time that they had been given. It seemed that way to me, because none
of
student was not writing, but when I
of the participants was talking. I noticed that one student
approximately 8 minutes left, I gave the students a verbal
looked at him he started. With approximately
direction to keep writing and reiterated the directions. One participant
participant came in to the
room 2 minutes after
after the study had begun and was given the essay template. Another
left during the study, and I found out later that she had completed
participant left
completed her template
16
out in the hall. The classroom teacher gave the verbal cue, "Those of
of you who are truly
done can work on the other assignment that I gave you. But you should really try to drain
if she could hear the essays. I said
participant asked if
your brains on to that paper." One participant
participant asked what number four
that she might be able to hear them later. The same participant
of the survey given to the participants can be
meant on the survey. An exact example of
seen in Appendix B.
This pilot study alerted me to several things that needed to change for the actual
study. Aside from basic editing in the templates, changes need to be made in the way the
study is administered. For example, the script needed several changes. A copy of
of the
realized that I needed to mention to

finalized script can be found
finalized
found in Appendix E. I also realized
participating teacher that the essays would not be returned to the class.
the participating
Procedure for Actual Study
Contacting
Contacting the Teacher
Teacher
After the second pilot study, I took great care to communicate clearly with the
After
cooperating teacher. In the actual study, the teacher understood that the students'
complete participation
participation was needed and that no other assignments should
should be worked on
during the approximately
of the study. These
approximately 20 minutes during the administration of
talking points helped prevent miscommunication
miscommunication with the participating teacher.
l.
1. Topic
Topic of study.
study.
2. What the students were going to need.
a. Pencil or pen.
3. What was going to happen, exactly?
a. The script was read to the teacher.
17
b. "Just so you know exactly what I will be doing with your students, can I
read you a short script of
of what will go on?"
4. An explanation
explanation that during the twenty minutes or so, the students should not be
doing any other work.
explanation that the students will not get the papers back, so if
5. An explanation
if the participating
teacher wanted the students to get credit for these papers, she would have to make
an accounting of
of who participated
participated during the study.
6. An expression of
of thanks.
6.
Participant
Writing
Participant Writing
participant writing that is quoted in this document will be italicized and

All participant
indented. There are some spelling, and grammatical, errors in the participant
participant samples, but
I have left them intact to demonstrate the unique styles of
of writing of
of the individual
participants.
Essay Content
Content Analysis
Essay
Analysis
Mark Abrahamson
Abrahamson (1983) describes a deductive approach: "If
"If we begin with a
manner-from the
theory that we wish to test empirically, we will proceed in a deductive mannerfrom
(p. 146). In the present study, I
more general or abstract to the more specific or concrete" (p.146).
sought to test empirically whether a certain group of
of adolescents' favorite songs do in
fulfill to some extent these four sociological functions
identified by
fact fulfill
functions of
of popular
popular music identified
of self-definition;
of
Frith (1987) in their lives: (a) To create a type of
managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape
popular memory, organize one's sense of
intensify a given experience; and (d)
18
defined these functions

functions in such a way that
to provide a sense of
of musical ownership. Frith defined
they are not specific
specific to any genre of
particular type of
of popular music or any particular
of person and
are therefore
of this study is to determine
therefore more general or abstract. Because the purpose of
whether certain adolescents' favorite songs fulfill
fulfill the four sociological
of
sociological functions
functions of
popular music, the goal of
of the content
of the essays was to find more specific
specific or
content analysis of
function in their lives.
concrete examples of
of exactly how the participants' favorite songs function
To find these concrete examples, I labeled key words and phrases that implied specific
specific
functions and then matched those concrete and specific
specific examples to the more general and
functions
abstract functions
of an analyzed
functions described by Frith. (See Appendix F for an example of
essay.) For instance, Frith's first function
of self-definition.
self-definition. Language
function is to create a type of
that might imply that a song creates a type of
self-definition could include phrases similar
of self-definition
to the following phrases taken from
"7 like this son?,
song
[rom a participant
participant writing from the study: "/
because it describes
me" or "The
"The lyrics
lyrics describe
that's what
because
describes me,"
describe him helping
helping others
others and
and that's
what I/ try
do"
to do."
Function two is to provide a way of

private and public emotional lives. Although this function
function is complicated, students could
tell a story that implies this function
function such as is found in Bradley's (2005) article. She
describes an entry from an adolescent's journal

journal describing how learning a Russian
patriotic song helps her manage her feelings about her father and her heritage.
I knew it! Charlie told us today that some people were worried because we
were singing March Over Meadows in mixed chorus - they were afraid
afraid he was
trying to turn us all into communists. We talked a lot in class this morning
of singing. We talked about why it might be okay to sing March over
instead of
Meadows, and whether or not singing it meant we believed the Bolsheviks
were "right" or if
if we were just
just singing about something that really happened
happened in
history. I think Charlie was trying to make sure we could explain it to our
parents if
if they asked us about the song. I don't think my mother or father
19
would worry about it too much. My dad came to the United States in 1929
when he was 19 years old, and I can tell from things he has said that he felt
confused during World War II. He hated Hitler and the Nazis, I know, but
very confused
he still loved Germany. He hated that so many places that he remembered from
from
his childhood were destroyed by the Allies. He doesn't have very much family
left
of them died during the war. He still gets angry
left in Germany - a lot of
watching movies about the war and the way the Germans are always the bad
guys. Somehow, singing March Over Meadows helped me to see how
confusing
confusing it must be for people like my dad. I hope we get to do this song on
. . .(p.3)
(p.3)
our next concert, but I bet we don't. ...
This story implies that the song helped her to manage the relationship with
her father, or her private life, and the way she feels about the place and time she
was living in. One participant
participant from the second pilot study wrote,
" ...
it really
...it
really relates
relates to
to how
how you
you feel
feel like
like you
you feel
feel broken
broken inside.
inside. No
No one
one
understands,
lots of
ofpeople
people say, you
you know, their
theirfine,
their holding
holding on and
understands, lots
fine, their
everything
ok. You are still
still holding
and I know
know how
how that feels.
feels. "
everything is ok
holding on and
Another student from the actual study wrote,
Another
"Sometimes
when him and
and I are fighting
will just
just lay down, turn my ipod
"Sometimes when
fighting I will
ipod
listen to the song
song makes
makes me feel
feel a lot more
more happy!"
on and
and listen
happy!"
participant wrote, "Whenever
mad at that
that someone,
someone, I listen
listen to the
Another participant
"Whenever I am mad
song & it just

just switches
switches my
my attitude
attitude around. It's
It's weird
weird how
how a song
song can do that. ""
song
These are examples that show how a participant might imply this particular
function.
function is to shape popular memory, organize one's sense of

The third function
of
intensify a given experience. For instance, a participant
participant from the pilot
time, and intensify
study wrote; "My remembrance
remembrance of
of this song
song are mostly
mostly with
with my friends,
friends, driving
driving
somewhere, going
going to the movies,
movies, " implying that it organizes his or her sense of
somewhere,
of
time. Another participant
participant wrote; "J
song before
soccer game
game and
"I listen
listen to this song
before a soccer
and
20
some days
when I get
get up in the morning.
morning. I listen
listen to it because
because it gets
gets me pumped
pumped up
some
days when
for a game
game or just
just for
for the day, " implying
implying that it intensifies
intensifies a given
given experience.
for
Function four is to provide a sense of
of musical ownership. A participant
mine and
and my
my boyjdend's
participant wrote
wrote; "This
song is mine
"This song
boyfriend's song. " Another participant
"Something
having everyone
know a song
song kind
kind of
bugs me. I feel
feel like
like itit
"Something about
about having
everyone know
of bugs
doesn't
belong to me personally
doesn't really
really belong
personally when
when everyone
everyone knows
knows it,
it, " thereby implying
before other people provides a sense of

of ownership to
that knowing about a song before
the song.
Some participants used language that implied a function

function that seemed to not
of escapism came up numerous times, as
fit into any of
of Frith's functions. The idea of
participant wrote,
in this essay where a participant
escape. But
But I
This song
song makes
makes me feel
feel pretty
pretty powerful,
powerful, It's
It's kinda
kinda like my escape.
think
pretty much
much all
all teens
teens look
music that way.
Music is our escape
think pretty
look at any
any music
way. Music
escape
away from
from our
our drama-filled
drama-filled lives
lives & gives
gives us a chance
it takes
takes us away
chance to be part
part
of something
amazing.
of
something amazing.
The Survey
Survey
of the data involved a comparison
comparison of
of each essay with its
The analysis of
corresponding survey, which included direct questions using language from Frith's
corresponding
functions, such as the following: "This song helps me define
define myself," followed by
five options, strongly agree, mildly agree, not sure, mildly disagree or strongly
agree. Language used in the pilot study did not directly imply Frith's functions. To
improve the survey for the actual study, I chose language that more closely
resembled the meaning of
of Frith's functions. Each element of
of Frith's functions was
represented
represented by at least one question. Function three has multiple elements, and so
2
211
each element in that function was represented

represented by its own separate question
question on the
survey. Thro
ugh finding key phrases that implied sociologi
cal function
functi on in
Through
sociological
participant writing and comparing those phrases with corresponding
participant
corresponding surveys that
from Frith
's functions
functions I was ab
le to determine
determine whether
whether the
use language from
Frith's
able
favorite songs fulfilled
fulfi lled Frith
' s fun
ctions.
parti
cipants' favorite
participants'
Frith's
functions.
Participants
Participants
The participants for thi
thiss study were sophomores (tenth graders) from a public
hi gh schoo
lt Lake Co
unty enrolled in three
th ree sophomore
classes. The total
high
schooll in Sa
Salt
County
sophomore English classes.
asses were not
not able to partici
pate
number of
of participants was 75.
75. Some students in the cl
classes
participate
in the study, because they di
didd not return signed parent permission forms.
CHAPTER
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Survey
The purpose
purpose of
this study
study was
was to
to examine
examine whether
whether aa group
group of
of adolescents'
The
of this
adolescents' favorite
favorite
songs fulfill
fulfill Frith's
functions of
of popular
popular music
music according
to those
those same
songs
Frith's functions
according to
same adolescents'
adolescents' own
own
writings and
and aa survey
survey on
on that
that topic.
topic. The
The survey
was an
instrument to
to determine
determine whether
writings
survey was
an instrument
whether
in their
their writings.
writings. The
The means
means of
the participant's
participant's favorite
favorite songs
songs fulfilled
fulfilled Frith's
Frith's functions
functions in
the
of
all the
the answers
the individual
individual questions
questions and
the standard
standard deviations
deviations for
for each
all
answers of
of the
and the
each of
of the
the
answers to
to the
the individual
individual questions
questions are
are presented
presented in
this chapter.
chapter. The
answers
in this
The multiple
multiple choice
choice
answers for
questions 11 through
through 88 are
coded as
values from
means of
answers
for questions
are coded
as numeric
numeric values
from 1-5.
1-5. The
The means
of
all
the answers
answers for
standard deviations
be found
all the
for each
each question
question and
and standard
deviations for
for each
each question
question can
can be
found
in Table
Table 1.
the frequency
frequency of
responses for
for questions
one through
in
1. Table
Table 22 shows
shows the
of responses
questions one
through eight,
eight,
which use
use aa five-point
five-point Likert-type
Likert-type scale
for the
the multiple
multiple choice
which
scale for
choice answers,
answers, (a)
(a) Strongly
Strongly
Agree (b)
(b) Mildly
Mildly Agree
Agree (c)
Not Sure
Mildly Disagree
Disagree (e)
Disagree. Table
Table 33
Agree
(c) Not
Sure (d)
(d) Mildly
(e) Strongly
Strongly Disagree.
shows the
the frequency
responses for
for questions
questions 9a
9a through
through 9f,
which are
are questions
shows
frequency of
of responses
9f, which
questions that
that
asked
the participants
participants to
to rate
rate aa statement
scale from
one meaning
meaning that
asked the
statement on
on aa scale
from one
one to
to six,
six, one
that the
the
statement describes
describes very
very well
well how
how they feel
feel about their
their favorite song and
and six meaning
statement
that the statement does
does not
not describe at all
all how
how they feel about
about their favorite song.
This survey's design yielded concrete information
information about how these participants' favorite
favorite
songs function
function in their lives; it also revealed whether the functions they implied
23
Table 1I
Means and
and standard
standard deviarion
deviation for
for all questions
questions grouped
grouped
Means
function.
by function.
Function
Function
Funct ion 1
Self
Definition
Sc
ir Defi
nitio n
Function 2
Questions
Mean
Mean
S.
D.
S.D.
1.
I.
2.42
0.93
9a.
3.32
1.46
1.46
2.
2.46
1.14
1.1
4
4.
2.70
1.36
1.36
9b.
3.38
1.67
1.67
6.
3.23
1.74
1.74
ge.
9c.
3.96
3.96
1.79
1.79
2.26
1.23
vs.
Private vs.
Public emotion
emotion
Function 3a
Popular
Popu lar memory
Function 3b
Function 3b
Organize
time
Function
Function 3c
Intensify
Intensify
Function
Funct ion 4
Musical
Musica l
Ownership
Ownership
5.
5.
2.26
1.23
9d.
9d.
3.80
3.80
1.57
7.
1.68
0.97
9e.
9<.
2.99
1.80
3.
3.16
3.
16
1.50
8.
2.40
2.40
1.30
9f.
9r.
3.20
3.20
1.77
1.57
24
Table 2
Frequency
of Responses
Questions
Frequency of
Responses For Likert-type
Likert-type Questions
Participant Responses
Agree
Agree
Not
Sure
Mildly
Disagree
Di sagree
Strongly
Strongly
Disagree
1. Thi
Thiss song helps
me define
define myself.
10
33
24
24
33
Thiss song helps me

2. Thi
understand my own feelings.
13
33
15
20
28
3. This is my/our
my/our song.
13
15
16
23
4.
4. IJ use
usc this
thi s song to work
through personal
personal relationships.
re lationships.
17
20
16
10
II
11
5. T
This
of
hi s song reminds me of
a specific time in my
my lilife.
fe.
23
28
10
77
6. II associate
assoc iate this
thi s song with
14
12
12
20
10
18
7. T
This
hi s song makes
makes doing
doing a
certain
fun,,
ce rtain activity
activ ity easier,
casier, more fun
or better.
beller.
42
20
88
22
22
8.1
8. I feel
fee l like II own
own this song.
20
20
28
10
10
88
88
Survey
Sur
vey
Questions
Strongly Mildly
Strongly
Mild ly
a certain historical
historica l event, time
period
per iod or era.
Note:
survey.
NOIe: The
The questions
qucslions listed
listed in
in this
this table
table are
are abbreviated
abbreviated versions
versiOIlS of
ofthe
the questions
questions on
on the
the survey.
25
Table 3
Frequency of
Responses For
For Questions
Frequency
of Responses
Questions 9a Through
Through 9/
9f
Participant Ratings
Survey
No
Rating
Rating
44
19
15
15
15
12
11
II
1144 1199 88
10
12
his song rem

inds mc
9c. T
This
reminds
me
of historical
historical events or cras.
eras.
10 11
II 12 9
23
00
9d. Thi
ng organizes
Thiss so
song
my sense of
of time.
1133 1155 1 I1I 1 515
13
9e. The song makes a given

ge.
expe
rience more intense.
experience
21
21
1166 1100 112

2 22
13
00
feell like thi

thiss song
9f. I fee
belongs to me.
18
18
II 13 8
12 11
II
11
Questions
Questi
ons
helps
9a. This song he
lps
me define myself.
9b. This song helps me

work
private
wo rk through my pri
vate
and publi
ves.
publicc emotional lilives.
1
(Best
Describes)
6
(Does Not
Describe)
Note:
abbreviated versions
versions of the
Ihe questions
questions on
the survey.
Note: The questions
questions listed
listed here
here ate
are abbreviated
on the
survey.
26
matched functions
functions they chose in the survey. The survey was based on
in their writing matched
popular music: (a) To create a type of
Frith's sociological functions
functions of
of popular
of self-definition;
self-definition; (b)
to provide a way of
of managing the relationship between one's private and public
emotional lives; (c) to shape popular
intensify
a given experience; and (d) to provide a sense of
of musical ownership. One of
of the issues
that I had to deal with was that the third function
sub-functions in it. In
function or (c) has three sub-functions
Table 1I it is represented
of just
of
represented as three separate functions
functions instead of
just one. The third part of
Frith's third function
function received the highest mean score.
Function 1
Function
Survey items regarding Frith's first function

function were questions 1 and 9a. Frith's first
function
self-definition." Question 1 was worded
worded like this: "This
function is "to create a type of
define myself." Question
Question 9a was worded exactly the same way. The
song helps me define
multiple-choice options. Question 1 was a Likert-type scale with five
difference is in the multiple-choice
difference
options: (a) Strongly Agree (b) Mildly Agree (c) Not Sure (d) Mildly Disagree (e)
Strongly Disagree. For question 9a, students could answer using a number from one to
six, one being the option that best describes how this song functions in their life and six
being the option that means the statement does not describe at all how this song functions
functions
in their life. The mean answer for Question 1 was 2.42. (See Table 1.) Ten participants
chose (a) Strongly Agree, 33 participants chose (b) Mildly Agree, 24 participants chose
(c) Not Sure, 4 participants chose (d) Mildly Disagree, and 3 participants chose (e)
Strongly Disagree. (See Table 2.) Fifty-seven
Fifty-seven percent (w=43)
(n=43) of
of the participants agreed
either strongly or mildly that their favorite song helped them define themselves. The
mean answer for question 9a or "This song helps me define
define myself," was 3.32. (See
27
Table 1.) Seven participants circled 1 (implying that the statement best described how
they feel about their favorite song), 19 participants circled 2, 15 participants circled 3, 15
participants circled 4, 12 participants circled 5, and 6 participants circled 6 (implying that
the statement did not describe at all how they felt about their favorite song). (See Table
3.)
Function
Function 2
Questions 2, 4 and 9b included language that resembles Frith's second function

function
"to provide a way of

of managing the relationship between one's private and public
emotional lives." Question 2 was worded: "This song helps me think about who rI am on
the inside versus what I let other people see." The mean answer for this question was
2.46. (See Table 1.)

I.) Thirteen participants chose (a) Strongly Agree, 33 participants chose
(b) Mildly Agree, 15 participants chose (c) Not sure, 7 participants chose (d) Mildly
Disagree, and 6 participants chose (e) Strongly Disagree. (See Table 2.) Sixty-one
percent of
of the participants (n=46) agreed either strongly or mildly that their favorite song
helps them think about who they are on the inside versus what they let other people see.
Question 4 read: "I use this song to help me understand and work through my
relationships with my friends, family and other people." The mean answer for this
Seventeen participants chose (a) Strongly Agree, 20
l.) Seventeen
question was 2.70. (See Table 1.)
participants chose (b) Mildly Agree, 16 participants chose (c) Not sure, 10 participants
11 participants chose (e) Strongly Disagree. (See Table
chose (d). Mildly Disagree, and 11
2.) Forty-nine percent (n=37)
(n=31) of
of the participants agreed either strongly or mildly that they
use their favorite song to help them understand and work through their relationships with
their friends, family, and other people.
28
Question 9b was worded: "This song helps me to manage the relationships
between my private and public emotional lives." The mean answer for this question was
between
14 participants circled 2, 19
3.38. (See Table 1.) Eleven participants circled 1,
1,14
participants circled 3,8
3, 8 participants circled 4, 10 participants circled 5, and 12
participants circled 6. (See Table 3.)
Function 3a
Function
Questions 6 and 9c related to the first part of
of Frith's third function, function
function 3a or
"to shape popular memory." Question 6 was worded like this: "I associate this song with
a certain, historical event, time period or era." The mean answer for this question was
3.23. (See Table 1.)
1.) Fourteen participants chose (a) Strongly Agree, 12 participants chose
(c) Not sure, 10 participants chose (d) Mildly

(b) Mildly Agree, 20 participants chose (c)
Disagree, and 18 participants chose (e) Strongly Disagree. (See Table 2.) Thirty-four
Thirty-four
of the participants (n=26) agreed either strongly or mildly that they associate their
percent of
favorite song with a certain, historical event, time period or era.

Question 9c read: "This song reminds me of
of specific
specific periods in history or
historical events." The mean choice was 3.96. (See Table 1.) Nine participants circled 1,
10 participants circled 2, 11 participants circled 3,12

3, 12 participants circled 4, 9 participants
circled 5, and 23 participants circled 6. (See Table 3.)
Function 3b
Function
3b
Questions 5 and 9d used language that resembles the second part of
of Frith's third
function, function
of time." Question 5 appeared this way
function 3b or "to organize one's sense of
of a specific
on the survey: "This song reminds me of
specific time in my life or event." The mean
29
answer to this question was 2.26. (See Table 1.)
1.) Twenty-three participants chose (a)
Strongly Agree, 28 participants chose (b) Mildly Agree, 10 participants chose (c) Not
sure, 7 participants chose (d) Mildly Disagree, and 6 participants chose (e) Strongly
percent of
of the participants agreed either strongly or
Disagree. (See Table 2.) Sixty-eight
Sixty-eight percent
mildly that their favorite song reminds them of
of a specific
specific time in their life or event.
Question
Question 9d appeared like this in the survey: "This song organizes my sense of
of
time." The mean answer for this question was 3.79. (See Table 1.) Five participants
circled 1,
13 participants circled 2, 15 participants circled 3,
11 participants circled 4, 15
1,13
3,11
participants circled 5, 13 participants circled 6, and 2 participants circled nothing.
Function 3c
Function
Question 7 read as follows: "This song makes doing a certain activity easier, more
Question
multiple-choice options followed: (a) Strongly
fun, or better." A Likert-type scale for the multiple-choice
Agree, (b) Mildly Agree, (c) Not Sure, (d) Mildly Disagree, and (e) Strongly Disagree.
Out of
of 75 total participants, 42 chose (a), 20 participants chose (b), 8 participants chose
(c), 2 participants chose (d) and 2 participants chose (e). (See Table 2.) Eighty-two
percent of
of the participants (n=62) agreed, either strongly or mildly that their favorite song
made doing a certain activity easier, more fun, or better.
Question ge
9e is the other question that used language that resembles function
function 3c,
and it did not get the same type of
of results as question 7. Question ge
9e read as follows:
"This song makes a given experience more intense." It was followed by numbers 11
through 6, the number 1 indicating that the statement describes very well how their song
functions in their life, and 6 indicating that the statement

statement does not describe at all how
their song functions
functions in their life. Out of
of 75 participants, 21 chose 1,
1,16
16 participants chose
30
2,10
2,
10 participants chose 3, 12 participants chose 4, 2 participants chose 5, and 13 chose 6.
Only 49 % (=37)
(n=37) of
of the participants circled options 1 or 2.
Question 7 was not exactly like Frith's language for function

function 3c,
The language in Question
intensify a given experience" in order to clarify
which states, "to intensify
clarify for the participants so
that the function
'intensify' could possibly
function was more understandable to them. The word 'intensify'
be misunderstood
misunderstood by sophomores in high school to mean something other than what Frith
meant. Had question
question 9e
ge more closely resembled
resembled question 7, the participants may have
answered the same way on both questions. Perhaps the meanings are the same but
answered
students simply didn't understand question 9e.
ge. There was at least one question on the
of Frith's functions
functions and that included the exact language that he
survey to represent each of
used.
t1aws, the data indicated that the majority

majority of
Despite these flaws,
of participants in this
studied viewed their favorite songs as making "doing a certain activity easier, more [un,
fun,
or better."
Function 4
Function
Questions 3,
8, and 9f
9fincluded
3,8,
included language that resembles Frith's fourth function
function or
of musical ownership." Question
Question 3 read as follows: "My friends,
"to provide a sense of
friends,
(girlfriend,
consider this to be
(girlfriend, boyfriend,
boyfriend, other friend, sister, brother or anyone else) and I consider
3 .16. (See Table 1.) Thirteen

our song." The mean answer to this question was 3.16.
participants chose (a) Strongly Agree, 15 participants chose (b) Mildly Agree, 16
participants chose (c) Not sure, 7 participants chose (d) Mildly Disagree, and 23
participants chose (e) Strongly Disagree. (See Table 2.) Thirty-seven

Thirty-seven percent (n=28)
(rc=28) of
of
31
the participants agreed either strongly or mildly that they and their respective friend
friend
consider their favorite song to be their song.

Question
Question 8 read as follows: "I feel like 1I own this song." The mean answer for this
1.) Twenty participants chose (a) Strongly Agree, 28
song was 2.40. (See Table 1.)
participants chose (b) Mildly Agree, 10 participants chose (c) Not Sure, 8 participants
chose (d) Mildly Disagree, and 8 participants chose (e) Strongly Disagree. (See Table 2.)
Sixty-four percent
(^=48) of
of the participants agreed either strongly or mildly that they
Sixty-four
percent (n=48)
feel like they own their favorite song.

mean answer for this
Question
Question 9f
9f stated: "I feel like this song belongs to me." The mean
question was 3.19. (See Table 1.)
12 participants circled
1.) Eighteen participants circled 1,
1,12
circled 5,
5,11
2, 11 participants circled 3, 13 participants circled 4, 8 participants circled
11
participants circled 6 and 1 participant
participant circled
circled nothing. (See Table 3.)
The Essay
Participant Writing
Participant
Writing
participant writing quoted in this document will be italicized
All participant
italicized and indented.
Although there are some spelling, and grammatical, errors in the participant
participant samples, 1I
have left
left most of
of them exactly the way they were written to demonstrate the unique styles
of
of writing of
of the individual participants. Also, each of
of the participants' writing samples
was given a number
number that classified
classified them into groups such as class period and samples that
were particularly
particularly interesting. Throughout
Throughout the next two chapters, the participants will be
referred
referred to by their writing sample's number.
32
Essay
Content
Essay Content
Because all of
of the participants wrote about songs that have lyrics, it is important
to mention that lyrics play
playaa part in how popular
functions sociologically. Fornas
(2003) examines nonsense lyrics, grunts, aural poetry, spoken

spoken lyrics, and vocalization. He
different functions when they are sung or presented
discusses how words can take on different
presented in
the context of
of music. He also discusses how words are particularly
particularly important
important to the
function
of popular music. He mentions that when people listen to popular
popular music they do
function of
not divorce the lyrics from
from the music but they hear it as a whole. The participants
demonstrate through their writing samples that the previous statements are true. Often
Often the
participants
participants described
described how songs function
function in their lives in very personal ways. Popular
music songs can be and have been
been adopted by groups or individuals for reasons other
than the reasons that artists had for writing the song (McLeod, 2006).
Essay Analysis
Essay
Analysis
popular music
The purpose of
of the essays was to collect adolescent writing about popular
of how popular
functions in their lives. The
that would provide concrete examples of
prompt on the essay template states:
prompt
Please use this paper to tell me why your favorite song is your favorite song.
Please describe as many reasons as you can about why this song is your
favorite. You can also tell me: when you listen to it, why you listen to it, how you
listen to it, with whom you listen to it, how it makes you feel when you listen to
it, or anything else you want to tell me about this song.
confusion, I was purposeful
purposeful about writing the essay prompt
prompt in such a
To avoid confusion,
functions in
way that did not specifically
specifically ask them to write about how their favorite song functions
their life. The goal was to get them to write about function
specifically
function without being told specifically
of the
to do so. The writing prompt was successful
successful in achieving that goal, as the results of
essay analysis will show. Had I merely encouraged
favorite
encouraged them to write about how their favorite
33
useful information
song functions
functions in their life, I would not have collected as much useful
information as I
did. The prompt reminded the participants to write when, why, how, and with whom.
None of
of these things specifically
specifically imply function
function when described, but because the
participants were trying to write an essay, many of
of them began to tell stories and imply
function
of the essays answered all of
of
function as they answered the questions listed above. Not all of
the prompts' questions. Not all of
of the participants implied function
function in their writing, but
many did. Twenty-four
Twenty-four out of
of 75 essays included "no decisive language about function."
function."
This may suggest a flaw in the method of
of data collection. It may be that, as suggested
before, a prompt with a more straightforward
straightforward question about function
function would have been
better. If
If this was a flaw it was at least partially corrected by the survey. The survey was
useful in showing that indeed their favorite songs do function
function sociologically
sociologically in their lives
useful
ororthe
theopposite,
opposite,that
thatthey
theydo
donot.
not.
on at least some level --
Function 1I
Function
Four out of75
of 75 essays included language that implied function 1. Of
Of those four, 2
function 3. The first of
participants also used language that implied some element of
of function
of
those
Participant R8
thosc four essays was about a song called "Ever Dream" by Nightwish. Participant
wrote; "J
"7 like this song
describes me."
me." The rest of
of the essay described the
song because
music of
of participant
participant R8's favorite song in a technical way, including examples of
of time
complicated baselines as other reasons for liking this song. The goal of
of the
signatures and complicated
content analysis of
specific or concrete examples of
of exactly
how the participants' favorite songs function
function in their lives through a search for key words
and phrases that implied specific
specific functions. I then matched those concrete and specific
specific
examples to the more general and abstract functions described by Frith. R8 didn't imply
34
function at all. R8
function
RS simply said how it functions
functions in his life and that that is why he likes that
song. It just
function or "to create a
just so happened to match the language of
of Frith's first function
type of
of self
self definition." R8
RS strongly agreed with this statement: "This song helps me
R8 also strongly agreed with this statement: "I use this song to help me
define
define myself." RS
understand
understand and work through my relationships with my friends, family and other people,"
which is a statement
function or "to provide a way of
of
statement that reflects Frith's second function
managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives." RS
R8 also
strongly agreed with this statement: "I feel like 1I own this song," which is a statement
that reflects
function or "to provide a sense of
of musical ownership." In
ref1ects Frith's fourth function
addition to strongly agreeing with those other statements, R8
RS also mildly agreed with
question number seven which is based on an element of
of Frith's third function
function
function or function
3c, "to intensify
intensify a given experience," and gave scores of
following
of two or better to the following
of time," "1
"I feel like this song belongs to me,"
statements; "This song organizes my sense of
R8's song functions
and "This song helps me define myself." It is clear that RS's
functions in more than
one way in his life. Used jointly, the essay and the survey, as tools, provide data that
supports the conclusion
conclusion that at least some of
of this
of Frith's functions hold true in the life of
participant.
Participant R32 wrote about the song "You Make My Dreams Come True" by
Participant
honestly like today's

music and
and the latest
/ 'm more
Hall and Oates; "/
"7 admit
admit /I don't
don't honestly
today's music
latest hits. I'm
more
of
believe. " R32
of an old-time
old-time music
music lover. This song
song was
was made
made some
some time in the 80's
80 's I/ believe.
used language that reflected
function or "to create a type of
of self
definition."
reflected Frith's first function
self definition."
R32 defined
defined herself
herself by what type of
of music she listens to. R32's survey answers showed a
distinct contradiction
contradiction to her self-defining
self-defining statement. R32 mildly disagreed with this
35
statement; "This song helps me define myself." R32 also gave a rating of four to the same
same
statement on question 9a. It may be that this song did not actually provide a type of selfselfdefinition for R32.
R32. It may be that she defines herself
herself as an "old-time music lover" with or
without this song. However 1I concluded that the song did provide a type of selfherself as an old-time music lover and she used this song
definition, because R32 defined herself
as an example of old-time music.

The only statement with which R32 strongly agreed was "This song makes doing
doing
a certain activity easier, more fun, or better." R32 mildly agreed with both of the
statements that use language resembling Frith's second function
of
managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives."
Participant
Participant RI9
R19 wrote about the song "Follow Me" by Unkle Kracker.
It is my favorite
favorite song
song because
describes me. It talks
talks to others
others sayingfoUow
saying follow me
for different
different reasons.
reasons. It seems
seems to me that the lyrics
describe him helping
helping others
for
lyrics describe
others
and that is what
what IJ try to do.
and
do.
This statement contains language that reflected
reflected Frith's first function
function or "to create
a type of
of self-definition,"
self-definition," because RI9
R19 said that the song describes him and because it
RI9 was saying that he defines

defines himself
himself as a person who helps others like the
seemed that R19
singer
singer does.
RI9 strongly
strongly agreed
agreed with this statement: "This song helps me define
define myself." He
R19
rated the same statement
statement with a number
number one for question 9a, meaning that the statement
RI9's song fulfilled

fulfilled Frith's first function.
best described
described how he felt about their song. R19's
best
function.
R19
RI9 also strongly
strongly agreed
agreed with
with these statements: "This
"This song helps me think about
about who II
am on the inside
inside versus what
what I1 let other
other people
people see," and
and "I use this song to help me
understand
understand and
and work
work through
through my
my relationships
relationships with my friends
friends family
family and
and other
other people,"
36
reflect Frith's second function
both of
of which are statements that reflect
managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives." R19 also
strongly agreed with the statement that reflects an element of

function or "to
intensify
functional than others.
intensify a given experience." Some songs are more sociologically functional
"Follow
"Follow me" by Unkle Kraker was very functional
functional in the R19's life according to his own
writing and his survey.
Participant R26's favorite song is entitled "East Coast/West

Coast/West Coast Killas" by
Gangstarr or Group Therapy. R26's writing sample was full of
of language that reflects
reflects
Frith's first function
function or "to create a type of
self-definition." This essay reads like an
half in particular
particular serves that purpose.
identity description. The second half
recentlyfound
this song
song in a snowboarding
snowboarding video. I am pretty
pretty much
much obsessed
I recently
found this
obsessed
with
with snowboarding.
snowboarding. When I ride I usually
usually wear
wear gangster
gangster baggy
baggy snowhoard
snowboard
clothes because
because I like the style. When I watch
watch videos
videos I usually
usually watch
team
clothes
watch the team
called
technine.
They
are
a
gangster
snowboard
group
and
I
like
to
wear
their
wear their
called technine.
gangster snowboard group and
brand
and represent
technine. I think
think the reason
reason I like this song
song is because
because it flows
flows
brand and
represent technine.
with
snowboarding and
and the video
when I
with the snowboarding
video parts.
parts. And
And I also like to listen
listen to it when
board. I like gangster
how the songs
gangster rap because
because I like the beats, and
and how
songs go. It
reminds
of myself
because I usually
usually wear
and baggy
baggy
myself because
wear big
big shirts
shirts and
reminds me somewhat
somewhat of
pants
and gangster
relate to it,
it, and
and I'm
just
pants and
gangster necklaces.
necklaces. I like it because
because I can relate
I 'm not just
some poser
that wears
baggy clothes
clothes just
because for
listen to the
some
poser that
wears baggy
just because
for no reason.
reason. IIUsten
music,
wear it and
hang out with
with kids that
that like it.
it. I'm
afraid to wear
wear baggy
baggy
music, wear
and hang
I'm not afraid
clothes and
have someone
say something
about it,
it, I usually
usually don't
listen to that
and have
someone say
something about
don't listen
clothes
person
and
keep
going
on
with
my
life
or
I
say
something
back
to
that makes
makes
with my
say something back them that
person and keep going
stuff,
stupid for
saying something
it. I listen
listen to a lot of
other stuff,
them feel
feel stupid
for saying
something to me about
about it.
of other
would probably
choice over
else.
but rap
rap would
probably be my number
number one choice
over anything
anything else.
just define himself
Ie of
R26 did not just
himself through this song and the sty
style
of music that he
listens to, but also through clothing and activities. R26 made a point of
of differentiating
differentiating
himself from
because for
for no reason"
himself
from "posers"
"posers " who wear baggy clothes "just
"just because
reason " and seemed
seemed
to be quite passionate about his identity when he described facing and dealing with
ridicule about the identity that he has chosen. Frith wrote: "The pleasure that pop music
37
identification - with the music we like, with the performers
performers of
produces is a pleasure of
of identification
of
(p. 140). Frith states that "the production
of
that music, with the other people who like it" (p.140).
production of
of non-identity - it is a process of
identity is also a production of
of inclusion and exclusion"
(p. 140). These ideas play themselves out in the R26's writing sample above.
(p.140).
R26 also used language that reflects an element of
function or "to
intensify
snowboarding
intensify a given experience." R26 described how the song makes the snowboarding
video better because it "flows"
"flows " with the images. He also wrote that he listens to it when
he snowboards.
statement found in question 1 of
or "This
R26 strongly agreed with the statement
of the survey
surveyor
statement that is also found
song helps me define myself." He rated the same statement
found in question
9a with a 2 on scale from 1 to 6. He also strongly agreed with this statement; "This song
makes doing a certain activity easier, more fun, or better."
Function
Function 2
functionality that reflected
Sixteen participants used language that implied
implied functionality
reflected Frith's
second function
of managing the relationship between one's private
and public emotional lives." Of
Of those 16 essays 4 of
of them used language that implied
another function
function other than Frith's second.
R 7 wrote this about "I'd
Participant R7
"I'd Lie" by Taylor Swift.
Swift.
It makes
laughing because
really tell how
said
makes me feel
feel like laughing
because the lyrics
lyrics really
how it is. Like
Like 1I said
before,
reminds me of
ofsomeone.
so meone . Whenever
I'm mad
mad at that
that someone,
someone, 1I listen
listen to
before, it reminds
Whenever I'm
the song
song &
just switches
switches my
my attitude
attitude around. It's
It's weird
we ird how
how a song
song can
can do that.
that.
& it just
of attitude that R7
of managing the
The switch of
R 7 wrote about implies a way of
relationship between
between her private and public emotional lives. Frith wrote this about his
second function:
function:
38
It is a peculiarity
peculiarity of
of everyday
everyday language that our most fraught
fraught and revealing
'1 lovelhate
declarations of
'I'm
angry/scared' - which are boring and banal; and so our culture has a supply of
of a
million pop songs, which say these things for us in numerous interesting and
involving ways. These songs do not replace our conversations - pop singers do
not do our courting for us - but they make our feelings seem richer and more
convincing than we can make them appear in our own words, even to ourselves.
(p.141))
(p.141
R
herself down when she is mad at a certain
R77 stated that she uses the song to calm herself
someone. R7 also wrote that the lyrics "really
tell how
"really tell
how it is.
is. " It may be that this song
allows R7 to understand that certain someone in way that she couldn't
couldn't have done with out
the song. R7
"I love all of
Taylor Swift's
lyrics to all her
R 7 ended her essay by saying; "/
of Taylor
Swift's lyrics
songs
with this one. "
songs but I/ really
really connect
connect with
The questions on the survey regarding this function

function were questions 2, 4, and 9b.
Participant R7 mildly agreed with this statement: "This song helps me think about who I
Participant
see:' That statement
am on the inside versus what I let other people see."
statement is a revision of
Frith's language that describes the second function. Frith's original language is "to
provide a way of
of managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional
"Not Sure" about the statement, "I use this song to help me understand
R 7 was "Not
lives." R7
and work through my relationships with my friends, family and other people." This
statement was also a revision of

of Frith's original language. Question 9b or, "This song
helps me to manage the relationship between my private and public emotional lives,"
more closely resembles Frith's language, and R7
R 7 rated it a 2 on a scale from 1 to 6.
Participant RIO wrote this about the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence:
Participant
This song
song means
means a lot to me when
when 11
/ /SI listened
listened to it, it just
just overwhelmed
overwhelmed me with
with
emotion
power. I/ was
was going
going through
break-up &
& listened
emotion and
and power.
through a break-up
listened to it again, and
and it
reminded me of
of myself
myself in a way, how
how I/ was
was hurting
hurting &
& thinking
thinking about
about how
much I/
reminded
how much
cared
that person
& how
listened to it I/ was
was
cared about
about that
person &
how much
much I/ did
did for
for them. After
After I/ listened
st
39
actually happier,
happier, no idea
idea why
why but the song
song has always
always made
made me happier
happier every
actually
every
it.
time JI listened
listened to it.
RIO obviously uses this song to manage the relationship between her private and
public emotional lives. RIO writes about how the song reminded her of
of her feelings about
break
the person she broke-up with, and at the same time made her feel better about the break-
up.
RIO mildly agreed with this statement: "This song helps me think about who 1I am
on the inside versus what 1I let other people see."
sec." She strongly agreed with the statement,
"I use this song to help me understand and work through my relationships with my
friends, family
family and other people." RIO rated this statement
statement a 1I on scale from 1 to 6: "This
song helps me to manage the relationship between my private and public emotional
lives."
Participant
R 14 wrote about the song "Ordinary Girl" by Rebelution. "1
Participant R14
"/ think
think
girl is my
my boyfriend,
boyfriend, instead
instead of
ordinary girl. It
about this song
song in a way
about
way that
that the girl
of the no ordinary
helps
realize how
how much
R 14 actually projected
projected her
helps me appreciate
appreciate &
& realize
much JI love him. " R14
significant other onto the character
character from the song to help them appreciate that person
significant
more. R14 only mildly agreed with the two statements on the survey regarding Frith's
second function
function but she rated the statement
statement that closely resembles Frith's language with a
on aa scale
scale from
from 11 to
to 6,
6, or
or she
she felt
felt like
like that statement
statement described
described very well
well how her
her
1 on
favorite song functions

functions in her life.
R24 wrote about the song "Changes" by 2pac.
This song
song makes
makes me think
of how
how people
people think
think only
because your
yourfamity
think of
only because
family came
came
jail. This song
from bad
bad places
places that your
your going
going to be the one in jail.
from
song is talking
talking about
about
how we should
should change
change the way
way we think, talk, act
act and
come from
from New
and even
even eat. 1
I come
how
I'm Latin
Latin and
and most
most people
people look
think she
she'll
York and
'11bebethe
theone
onewho
who
and I'm
look at me and
and think
will
out of
baby at a young
but that
that
of school,
school, have
have a baby
young age, but
will steal
steal from
from me and
and drop
drop out
40
song makes
makes me think
think that
that people
people do really
really need
need to change.
change. I'm
I'm in high
school and
song
high school
and
2pac has
has made
made me look
look in life that
that If don't
don't need
and that we should
should love
2pac
need to change
change and
each
other no matter
of what
from that
same.
what or where
where we come
come from
that we are all
all the same.
each other
matter of
R24 wrote about how she feels like people perceive her as a bad person or a
person who will not succeed. R24's writing showed that this song helps her manage those
emotions and understand her place in the world. The most notable part of
of the essay is
when R24 proclaims that 2pac has made her look at life and see that it is ok to be yourself
yourself
shouldn't have to change for anybody and at the same time we should accept
and that you shouldn't
of music and even types of
others. So often
often we dismiss whole genres of
of people. One might
say, "1
"I hate rap" or "1
"I hate country music." It is important
important to note that positive powerful
powerful
life shaping moments happen with gangster rap as a soundtrack, even as an aid in the
process.
R24 mildly agreed with both question 2 and question 4 and gave the statement
statement on
of 1 on a scale from 1 to 6, implying that the statement described
question 9b a rating of
functions in her life.
very well how her favorite song functions
of writing that reflects
This next writing sample is quite possibly the best example of
reflects
of Frith's third
Frith's second function. It also contains language that implies an element of
function or "to organize one's sense of
function
of time." In this essay about the song "Perfect"
"Perfect" by
Simple Plan, R29 wrote:
When If turn
turn on this song, If do it because
my truth, it is how
towards my
because it is my
how Iffeel
feel towards
even more
more because
because it shows
shows me that
people that feel
feel the
Dad. If like it even
that there
there are people
same way
express it much
but If do feel
feel that way,
same
way as If do, If don't
don't express
much but
way,
f'm still
still trying
hold on to the fact
fact that I'm
f'm not perfect
perfect &
never will
will be, f'm
I'm
trying to hold
& never
I'm
dad but
but I'm
I'm not, & in this
explains thatfeeling,
explains how
how Iffeel
sorry dad
sorry
this song, it explains
that feeling, it explains
feel
&
& that
that is why
why it is my favorite.
favorite.
41
The previous statements show that R29 used this song as a way to communicate
communicate
her feelings. She even addressed her father through the essay. R29 wrote two times that
the song states exactly how she feels.
Function 3
Function
reflects the second element of
R29 also used language that reflects
function
or "to organize one's sense of
of time." R29 told the story of
of how she has been separated
of the period of
from her family and how this song reminds her of
of time that she was with her
of Frith's third
family. The question on the survey regarding this particular
particular element of
function was question 6 or "I associate this song with a certain, historical event, time
function
period or era. R29 strongly agreed with that statement.
Frith (1987) describes his third function
function or "to shape popular memory, organize
one's sense of
intensify a given experience."
function of
of popular music is to shape popular memory, to
The third function
of the effects
effects of
organize our sense of
of time. Clearly one of
intensify our experience of
of good
pop, is to intensify
music, to put it another way, is, precisely, its 'presence', its ability to
'stop' time, to make us feel we are living within the moment, with no
after
memory or anxiety about what has come before, what will come after
(p. 140).
(p.140).
Frith also explains that this function
function has a lot to do with youth and how music does more
just "trigger
"trigger associated memories, but, rather, that music in itself
itself provides our most
than just
of time passing." In his explanation
function Frith gives an
vivid experience of
explanation of
of this function
explanation of
of how youth is experienced.
Youth is experienced, that is, as an intense presence, through an impatience for
time to pass and a regret that it is doing so, in a series of
of speeding, physically
insistent moments that have nostalgia
nostalgia coded into them.
42
function is largely about time and how popular music functions
functions as a
Frith's third function
marker in it or enhancer
enhancer of
of a certain period. When someone says, "this song gets me
pumped
intensifies that given
pumped up for my basketball game," they are saying that the song intensifies
of time. Many participants wrote things similar to the previous
experience or period of
statement. Others wrote stories about how their favorite song reminds them of
of a specific
specific
period in their life, suggesting that the song organizes their sense of
of time in a way. There
were no essays containing language that reflected
of Frith's third
reflected the first element of
function
function or "to shape popular memory." This may be because the participants are
experiencing now the memories that they will remember
experiencing
remember collectively later as popular
memories. For instance, the song "Stayin' Alive" by The BeeGees reminds almost
everyone of
of the seventies and, more specifically,
specifically, of
of the disco era. The participants'
favorite songs for the most part are songs that have been written in the last few years, and
of the essays
it is unclear which of
of these songs will define the last decade for them.
thcm. Most of
containing language that reflects Frith's third function
function had language that reflected
reflected the
third element of
of that function
function or "to intensify
intensify a given experience." This fact matches
Frith's thoughts about youth and his third function. So much of
of what teenagers do has a
sense of
of immediacy to it. The dance, the game, the girl, the boy, or whatever crisis or
event is most important
important to them. The writing samples in this study give one the sense that
the
of immediacy
the participants'
participants' favorite
favorite songs
songs intensify
intensify the
the sense of
immediacy in their
their activities and
soundtrack to
snowboarding to
worries, and provides
provides aa soundtrack
to everything
everything from
from snowboarding
to doing homework,
in the
function in
in aa film
1999; Vitouch,
2001).
in
the same
same way
way music
music might
might function
film (Lapedis,
(Lapedis, 1999;
Vitouch, 200
I).
R5 wrote,
This song
song is my
my favorite
favorite song
song for
for many
many reasons.
reasons. Reason
Reason one, it gets
gets me pumped
pumped
up. Reason
Reason two, it makes
makes things
things more
more fun
fun and
and intense,
intense, especially
especially the boring
boring ones.
ones.
43
Reason three, I feel

feel like
like II relate
relate to it. The beat
beat gets
gets me
me pumped
pumped and
and into
into what
what ever
Reason
ever
I'm doing, no matter
how boring.
I'm
matter how
boring.
There are many more examples with language just
just like this. The statement
statement on the
survey with which participants strongly agreed the most was "This song makes doing a
Eighty-five percent of
of the participants agreed
certain activity easier, more fun or better." Eighty-five
with that statement.
Function 4
Function
Frith's fourth function
of musical ownership." He wrote this
function is "to provide a sense of
about it.
It is not just
just the record that people think they own: we feel that we also possess
the song itself, the particular
particular performance,
performance, and its performer. In 'possessing'
of our own identity and build it into our sense of
of ourselves.
music, we make it part of
ourselves,
(p.142)
(p. 142)
Compare that with what Rl wrote about "Blackbird" by the Beatles.
It's not
not one of
of the well
well known
known Beatles
Beatle.~' songs
songs like Hey
Hey Jude
Jude or Let
Let it be, which, I
It's
why I like it so much.
Something about
about having
having everyone
everyone know
know a song
song kind
guess is why
guess
much. Something
kind
of bugs me. I feel
everyone
o.lbugs
feel like
like it doesn't
doesn't really
really belong
belong to me
me personally
personally when
when everyone
knows
it.
knows it.
of musical ownership is represented
represented in the writing of
Frith's unique description of
of the
participants of
of this study in many ways, but the example above perhaps most keenly
represents the idea that "we make it part of
of our own identity and build it into our sense of
of
ourselves" (p. 142).
Only 4 out of
of 75 essays used language that reflected
reflected Frith's fourth function
function and
only 2 of
of those used words about a song being "ours" or "mine."
44
Summary
In this study, the participants' favorite songs fulfilled

fulfilled Frith's four functions
functions
according to their own writings about their favorite songs and a survey on that topic. The
participants' favorite songs fulfilled
fulfilled certain of
functions better than others. The
survey was helpful
of these participants' favorite songs fulfilled
fulfilled at least
helpful in finding that all of
one sociological function
function on some level. Some participants' writing samples provided no
information
function but the survey did provide information
information about how the song
information about function
functions
information I gained was through the use of
of
functions in their lives. The most valuable information
both the sample writing and the survey when they matched. Some samples did not match
the survey and some surveys did not match the writing samples. When they both matched
the data became more conclusive. The purpose of
of this study was to examine whether a
of adolescents' favorite songs fulfill
of popular
certain group of
fulfill Frith's functions
functions of
popular music
according to those same adolescents' own writings and a survey on that topic. This certain
group of
fulfilled Frith's functions
functions of
of adolescents' favorite songs fulfilled
of popular music
according to their writings and a survey on that topic.
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER
SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS,

RECOMMENDATIONS,
POPULAR MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM
AND APPLICATIONS OF POPULAR
CLASSROOM
Summary
specified group of
The purpose of
of this study was to determine whether a specified
of
fulfill Frith's functions
functions of
adolescents' favorite songs would fulfill
of popular music; (a) to create a
of self-definition;
type of
of
private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape popular

of musical ownership,
time, and intensify
according to those same adolescents' own writings and a survey on that topic. The study
took place at a high school in the Salt Lake Valley. Seventy-five
Seventy-five sophomores from
from three
English classes wrote a one-page essay about why their favorite song is their favorite
favorite
song and completed
completed a survey about how their favorite song functions
functions in their life. Data
collection occurred in one day. Data analysis proceeded
proceeded using the deductive approach
described by Abrahamson
"If we begin with a theory that we wish to test
Abrahamson (1983): "If
empirically, we will proceed
proceed in a deductive mannerfrom
manner-from the more general or abstract to
146). I began this study with a theory that I then tested
the more specific
specific or concrete" (p.
(p.146).
empirically. That theory was that a certain group of
of adolescents' favorite songs would in
fact fulfill
fulfill to some extent the four sociological functions
functions of
of popular music identified
identified by
Frith (1987).
46
Frith defines
defines his functions
functions in such a way that they are not specific
specific to any genre of
of
particular type of
of person, and are therefore
therefore more general or abstract.
popular music or any particular
Because the current study's purpose was to determine whether certain adolescents'
of popular music, the goal of
of the
favorite songs fulfill
fulfill the four sociological functions
functions of
specific or concrete examples of
content analysis of
of exactly
how the participants' favorite songs function
function in their lives. Through a search for key
words and phrases that implied
specific functions, I then matched those concrete and
implied specific
specific examples to the more general and abstract functions. The participants' writing
specific
samples provided
functioning in their lives in
provided concrete examples of
of their favorite songs functioning
ways that match Frith's functions.
functions.
Some of
of the examples given by study participants did not seem to fit at first, but
of his functions. For instance,
upon closer inspection did fit into Frith's descriptions of
several participants wrote about their favorite song being a way to escape, either directly
or indirectly. When read with Frith's definition
definition of
of his third function, "to shape popular
intensify a given experience," the function
memory, organize one's sense of
of time, and intensity
function of
of
corresponded well with Frith's third function. Frith says this about
providing an escape corresponded
his third function,
function,
of the effects
just pop, is to intensify
Clearly one of
effects of
intensify our experience
of
of good music, to put it another way, is, precisely, its
'presence', its ability to 'stop' time, to make us feel we are living within the
moment, with no memory
memory or anxiety about what has come before, what will come
after,
140)
after. (p.
(p.140)
The idea that Frith presents here, of
of music allowing us to live in the moment,
"with
"with no memory or anxiety about what has come before, what will come after," implies
a typc
type of
of escape. Though Frith does not specifically
specifically mention an escape function, he
47
of escape into the function, "to intensify

defines a type of
intensify a given experience," which is the
of Frith's third function.
third element of
function.
Not all the participants used language that implied function
function directly or indirectly;
useful instrument
instrument because it provided concrete cvidence
therefore, the survey was a useful
evidence of
of
popular music functioning
functioning in the lives of
of the participants when there was no evidence in
the writing samples. When there was evidence in a writing sample, the participant's
survey helped to make that evidence more concrete. Even with writing samples that
directly or indirectly implied sociological

sociological function, the survey proved to be useful
useful in
clarifying just
functioned according to
just how well the participants felt their favorite songs functioned
clarifying
Frith's four functions. Some participants directly implied one or more of
functions
and strongly agreed with statements that either described that same function
function or used
Frith's exact language for that function. Other participants used language that seemed to
imply that their favorite song functioned
functioned according to one or more of
functions but
then disagreed strongly with, or were not sure about, the statement
statement or statements on the
survey that described that function.
function.
There is an explanation for this phenomenon. Obviously, Frtih's functions were

not written with this study in mind. I used Frith's language on the survey to determine
whether the participants felt that their songs functioned

functioned in the way that Frith describes
functioning for society as a whole. Just because some students did not
popular music functioning
agree with a certain statement that used language that reflected
reflected Frith's functions does not
mean that their favorite song does not function

function in that way. It could mean that the
participant
statement and therefore
participant did not understand the statement
therefore was not able to answer whether
48
functioned that way. It could also mean that their song just did not
the song actually functioned
function
function that way.
Because the participants were sophomores in high school, I attempted to use
language that would be understandable
understandable to them, but the survey may still have been
difficult
of Frith's four functions
difficult for the participants to understand. Every element of
functions is
represented by at least two questions each on the survey. In at least one of
of each of
of those
questions I used language that was as close to Frith's language as possible, and the rest of
of
the questions were translations of
of Frith's language. There is no way of
of knowing now
which of
of these questions were answered more accurately. It was important
important to me that
Frith's meaning came across clearly in the survey. That, however, was not easily done.
For
function is "to provide a way of
of managing the relationship
F or instance, Frith's second function
between one's private and public emotional lives." This function
of
function appears in a couple of
different
different ways in the survey. Question two reads, "This song helps me think about who I
am on the inside versus what I let other people see." In comparison, the two statements
seem to be unrelated
statement seems to
unrelated in some ways and related in others. The second statement
deal with identity and the first statement
statement seems to deal with emotions. Emotions are a part
of
of conveying Frith's meaning.
of identity; therefore, the translation serves the purpose of
Question four was, "I use this song to help me understand and work through my
relationships with my friends, family and other people." This statement
statement was a closer
translation of
of Frith's language:
of intimate
Love songs are a way of
of giving emotional intensity to the sorts of
things we say to each other (and to ourselves) in words that are, in
themselves, quite flat. It is a peculiarity of
of everyday language that our
most fraught
'I
'I'm angry/scared' - which are boring and
banal; and so our culture has a supply of
of a million pop songs, which say
49
these things for us in numerous interesting and involving ways. These
songs do not replace our conversations - pop singers do not do our
courting for us - but they make our feelings seem richer and more
convincing than we can make them appear
appear in our own words, even to
ourselves. (1987, p.
141)
p.141)
Some participants wrote about using their favorite song to work through their
feelings for others. A translation, "I
"1 use this song to help me understand and work
through my relationships with my friends, family and other people," of
of Frith's second
function, "to provide a way of
of managing the relationship between one's private and
public emotional lives," resembles Frith's description of
itself out
of how this function
function plays itself
in society. Some participants wrote things like, "When
"When I turn
turn on this song, I do it because
because
it is my
my truth, it is how
how I feel
feel towards
towards my
my Dad.
Dad. " ItIt is
is how
how they
they feel
feel toward
toward their
their dad. Not
Not
just
just close to how they feel toward their dad, but exactly how they feel toward their dad.
Pop singers do not do our rebellion for us, to paraphrase Frith, "but they do make our
feelings seem
scem richer and more convincing than we can make them
thcm appear in our words,
141). Table 11 shows which qucstions
questions from thc
the survey dealt
dealt
even to ourselves" (1987 p.
p.141).
with each of
of Frith's functions. The final essay template can be seen on Appendix C. The
final survey can be seen on Appendix D.
Discussion
Discussion
When thinking about how music functions
of adolescents, particularly
context of
of this study, one might envision students browsing through their iTunes
in the context
library, saying to themselves, "Which
"Which of
of these songs will help me manage my private and
Of course, that is
public emotional lives? Ah yes, 'Change' by 2pac should do nicely." Of
not how it happens. But is that vision that far from the truth? Do teenagers actively seek
out songs to function
function in certain ways? It seems logical that they would. Take Frith's first
50
function, or "to create a type of self-definition."

self-definition." For example, teenagers will not look for
songs to download, saying to themselves "which
"which of these helps me create a type of selfdefinition?" They might look for the song that their favorite snowboarding team "boards"
to. They might look for music that their friends
friends listen to.
often be surprising. A person who does not

The musical tastes of individuals can often
may
look like a country music fan may reveal that he loves Tim McGraw. A parent may
reveal that she listens to 2pac. In either case, the surprise arises from the perception
perception that
only cowboys listen to cowboy music, and only "gangstas" listen to gangsta rap. Popular
music has been linked to identity in the collective psyche. It seems true that the younger
younger a
person is,
is, the truer that is.
is. That is to say that one is more likely to choose music that
matches a style of dress, the tastes of one's companions, and one's spare time activities.
Of
Of course, one cannot simply generalize all teenagers, but it seems easy enough to
imagine a teenager seeking out music that will help him/her identify
identify with a group, style,
identify one's self
self with a certain style of
or idea. Perhaps it is more important in youth to identify
of
music for sociological reasons, to fit in, or ally oneself
oneself with a certain idea or overall style.
Johnstone and Katz (1957) wrote that, "Musical tastes and preferences
preferences for particular
songs and for particular

particular disk jockeys are found to be anchored in relatively small groups
of friends, suggesting that personal relations play an important
of
important role in musical fads and
fashions" (p.563). In other words the teenagers in their study sought out music that
helped them identify
identify better with a certain group of friends or created
created a type of selfdefinition
definition for them.
Imagine a teenager
teenager consciously
consciously seeking out a song that fulfills
fulfills Frith's second
function or "to provide a way of managing the relationship between one's private and
function
51
difficult to imagine anyone actively looking for a song that

public emotional lives." It is difficult
fulfills
function in our
fulfills this function, and yet there are many songs that do fulfill
fulfill this very function
lives. Is it a coincidence that so many songs help people understand how they feel about
the people in their lives? It is not difficult
difficult to see that an artist or songwriter
songwriter would write
songs that reflect
of everyday
reflect a common experience. Frith wrote, "It is a peculiarity of
of feeling have to use phrases -language that our most fraught
'I love/hate you', 'Help me!', 'I'm
'I'm angry/scared' - which are boring and banal; and so
our culture has a supply of
of a million pop songs, which say these things for us in
numerous interesting
interesting and involving ways." It is not a coincidence that art imitates life,
and life imitates art.
Cooper (1996) illustrates an example of

of this. He presents a study about popular
calculatedly written to sound
sound like letters. He
love songs during World War II that were calculatedly
writes about how, from 1941 to 1945, love songs, using what he calls the I/You song
of correspondence for many couples that were

structure, functioned
functioned as an actual form of
separated
of the war.
separated because of
of love songs continuously
continuously reinforced
reinforced the validity and vitality of
Radio broadcasts of
of
temporarily divided relationships. As letters crisscrossed
crisscrossed the Atlantic and the
temporarily
Pacific
of fear, anguish, boredom, loneliness
Pacific bearing understandable sentiments of
and pain, music of
of lyrical support
of the early '40s afforded
afforded a persistent pattern of
between
between soldier and sweetheart, husband and wife, brother and sister, son and
mother. The root of
of this psychological
support system was the traditional love
psychological support
(p.
15)
ballad,
ballad. (p.15)
He goes on to cite specific
specific examples such as "I'll Be Home For Christmas" by Bing
of this nature that popped up during that
Crosby. Cooper (1996) notes that many songs of
time.
all-encompassing patriotic tunes, corporate

While striving desperately to produce all-encompassing
recording moguls finally recognized that traditional love songs were emerging as
52
the binding force between soldiers and their home front supporters. Military
themes constituted
constituted the musical backdrop for romantically
romantically reinforcing
reinforcing songs that
translated
translated thoughts and feelings over airwaves more quickly and more efficiently
efficiently
than the postal service.
service, (p.23)
fulfilling Frith's second

Cooper
Cooper (1996) presents evidence of
of popular music fulfilling
function
of correspondence
correspondence between people separated
separated by
function during World War II in the form of
oceans. He even goes as far as to write that it helped end the war. "In the end, the battle
for hearts was won with lyrical pens rather than military swords. Coming home from the
war was a goal made more appealing not by patriotism but by love" (p.27). Cooper also
makes a very important
important point about the artists responsible for these epistolary type songs.
He mentions that their careers were built on this format
format and that they continued to
capitalize on it for decades after. One might argue that the I1You
I/You song structure discussed
by Cooper has been a successful
successful format ever since for roughly the same reasons it was
successful in the forties. How many songs are there that have the words I or You or both I
successful
successful songs that follow the
and You in the title? It seems reasonable to say that successful
I/You format
format probably help people manage the relationship between their private and
public emotional lives.
Researchers examine the functions of

of music in specific
specific settings (Pieslak, 2009;
Rose, 2007; Rosenthal, 2001). Pieslak (2009) examines the functionality
functionality of
of popular
of soldiers in the Iraq war in his book Sound Targets: American

music in the lives of
Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War. There are many personal accounts of
of how music
functioned in an everyday way for the soldiers. Here is one account given by a soldier
functioned
from Operation Desert Storm:
As my track passed through the breach, I had AC/DC 'Are you ready' and
'Thunderstruck' playing over the track intercom system. Kinda made for a good
'Thunderstruck'
of us with headphones on. Officers
Officers inside the track
atmosphere/feeling
atmosphere/feeling for all of
53
didn't mind cuz it wasn't

wasn't cluttering up the unit comms.
comms ....
of the music I
. . . Much of
myself wound up ...
listened to at the time was to get myself
. . . amped up so that I was
ready for anything at that point. Being on an adrenalin rush felt good and having
some AC/DC or some Megadeth accompanying
accompanying it was even better.(pg.47)
element of
function
This account uses language that implies the third clement
or "to intensify
intensify a given experience." Here is another example of
of soldiers that used
popular music in a similar way:

popular
(Infantry Division), which was one
My husband was there with the Fourth 10
ID (Infantry
rotation prior to mine. They were in the shit a whole lot more than I was. They
would go out and before
before they would go out, he said he remembers listening to a
song [Lil' John's "I Don't Give a F***"]. They would listen to it over and over
and over again, and they called it their "getting crunked" song. "Getting crunked"
mindset.
is just getting right with whatever
whatever you have to do, and getting in the right mind
set.
They would play it, and it had a refrain
refrain in it.
it ...
and
they
would
just
chant
that
..
just
over and over and over again until they were pretty much screaming it. I
understand because it takes a lot to get amped up to go out there because you can
go out and you don't know what's going [to] happen. You have to be really kind
of
refrain that they
of hyped up and ready for anything. It was just this loud, crude refrain
could just repeat over and over and over again until they were ready to go out.
(p.53)
In other similar accounts, Pieslak (2009) discusses the common
common themes in the
most popular
popular songs among soldiers in the Iraq war, including death and killing. He also
discusses how advances in music technology have allowed soldiers to use music in new
ways. Soldiers were able to link mp3 players to their military vehicles and in turn into the
communication systems in their combat helmets, allowing them to listen to whatever
communication
music they wanted to while they were on patrol or on a mission.
Advances in musical technology and technology in general have changed the

ways that music functions in all of
of our lives. Many teenagers have access to not just
music anytime they want but music video anytime they want. A few of
of the participants in
this study wrote about how a music video allowed them to understand the meaning of
of
their song, or made them like their song more. It is conceivable that music videos can
54
function
of the same ways that popular music functions. For instance, many
function in some of
people watch music videos on mobile devices while traveling on trains, planes or buses,
and presumably, many of
of them would agree that watching that video makes their
experience more intense or more enjoyable. In writing samples in this study that
described the video of
of a favorite song, participants seemed to imply that the video
supported the meaning of
of the song. Depending on how the music functions
of
functions in the life of
functionality of
the particular
particular listener or viewer, video could enhance the functionality
of a particular
song.
Frith described his fourth function
function by writing that a person does not just "own"
the music physically, but a person "owns" certain performers
performers and performances. People
of a certain album or
are upset by others who do not agree with them about the validity of
song in the overall scheme of
of popular music. Frith describes encountering
encountering anger about
how he treated someone's
someone's favorite singer in a review he gave as a rock critic. People
would tell him that they were personally offended
of their favorite
favorite
offended by the bad review of
artists.
Conclusions
of the participants in this study demonstrated

demonstrated in their essays and surveys
Many of
that their favorite songs function
function in the ways that Frith identifies
identifies as the four sociological
functions
of self-definition;
of
functions of
of popular
popular music: (a) to create a type of
managing the relationship between one's private and public emotional lives; (c) to shape
intensify a given experience; and (d)
to provide a sense of
of the writing samples
of musical ownership. Through the analysis of
coupled with the surveys I have concluded that the participants' favorite songs fulfill
fulfill one
55
or more of
functions of
of the
of popular music to some extent in the lives of
participants.
Recommendations For Further Research

Recommendations
As is the case with almost all research, this study has generated ideas for more
of reading and analyzing essays about popular

popular music stimulated
research. The process of
of popular
popular music and its functions. Recommendations
many questions about the nature of
for further
of popular
further research include (a) research about the sociological functions of
of popular
popular music, and (c) research about the use of
music, (b) research about the nature of
of
popular music in education.
The Sociological
Sociological Functions
Functions of
of Popular
Popular Music
Music
number of
The current study could be replicated with any number
of populations. Some
examples of
of the types of
junior high or middle school
of populations that would work are (a) junior
students, (b) college students, (c) music education
education majors, (d) high school choir students,
(e) students who are learning English as a second language, (f) adults, (g) seniors, (h) at
risk youth, (i) elementary students (though obvious changes would need to be made), (j)
professional musicians, and (k) teachers.

professional
difference between
between popular music that is
Researchers might try to determine the difference
used intentionally
intentionally for a certain purpose, or music that is intentionally functional, and
popular music that functions

unintentionally in people's lives. What types of
of music are
popular
functions unintentionally
more likely to fulfill
fulfill each of
of Frith's functions?
functions? When does a song stop being functional
functional
sociologically?
56
function or "to
A study could be done about the third element of
intensify a given experience." Using the same recommendations
recommendations for types of
intensify
of populations
mentioned
mentioned previously, a study could be created that collected
collected data through a survey about
what kind of
of music best fulfills
fulfills the third element of
of Frith's third function. The same study
might be replicated
of Frith's functions. Researchers could measure how
replicated with all of
functional a specific
specific song is for certain populations.
functional
Case studies might examine any number of
of types of
of people and how music
functions
function journal in
functions in their everyday life. Participants could be given a music function
which they would record how music functions in their life on a daily basis. Researchers
could examine the functionality

of music videos.
functionality of
Popular Music
The Nature
Nature of
of Popular
Music
popular music is always changing, there are new types of
Because popular
of music and new
phenomenon of
ways of
of listening. Researchers might examine the phenomenon
of "listening" to music
Y ouTube. How is music labeled
labeled into genre categories? Using some of
on YouTube.
of the writing
samples from this study, further
further research could be done that examines the transcendent
qualities of
popular music. One could do a case study that examines how popular music
of popular
can be used to enlighten and heal. Are there common musical elements in songs that
become "hits?" How much does music actually change across genres?
The Use of
Popular Music
Music in Education
of Popular
Education
Studies that examine the use of
of popular music in core subjects such as math,
science, social studies, and language are needed. One might examine the difference
difference
between learning a piece of

between
of popular music that has been arranged, and a piece of
of popular
57
music that is learned by wrote in a school setting. How do students respond to learning
popular music by wrote versus learning popular

popular music through notation? What are
popular
parents' attitudes towards the use of
of popular
popular music in school? What are teachers'
attitudes toward
toward the use of
of popular music in schools?
of music have an affect
different genres of
Does education
education about different
affect on genre
preference? Researchers could examine writing songs in popular styles in a school
preference?
setting.
Recommendations/or
Music Education
Education Practice
Recommendations
for Music
Practice
of the participants in this study demonstrate
dcmonstrate how their
The essays and surveys of
favorite songs function
function in their lives. Frith's functions
functions provide a wealth of
of discussion
of students. Students in ensembles that perform
perform popular
material for many different
different ages of
particular popular
music could be asked to determine which of
functions a particular
of ensembles who focus on
song they are learning is most likely to fulfill. Directors of
popular styles of
of'music
functions as a theme for the year, developing
popular
music could use Frith's functions
rehearsals and discussions about how the particular
particular songs might function
function in the students'
or others' lives.
Teachers of
of general music classes could replicate the current study twice a year to
see if
if the students' favorite songs change over the course of
of the year. An effort
effort should be
made by all music teachers to help their students make text-to-life
text-to-life connections. Using
music that students are familiar
of
familiar with is a way to encourage that connective type of
thinking. Getting students to write about how the music they listen to and perform
perform
functions in their lives also creates connections. Discussions about the nature of
functions
of the
music they listen to can be a helpful
helpful connection to other core subjects such as social
58
studies and literature. Popular music lyrics are rich with references
references to older popular music
bothmusical
musical and
andnonmusical.
nonmusical. Popular
Popular
songs, current events, and people in history
-- both
music is also rich with musical references
references to composers from the past and present. Both
of
of these elements of
of popular music can be used in numerous ways to expand the musical
learners understanding of
of how music works, where it comes from and what it means.
Popular music is complex both culturally and musically and therefore, worthy of
of
study and the attention of

of music educators, if
if not for the fact that popular
popular music is
culturally and musically relevant, then for the fact that it functions
of their
different ways. Knowing how music functions
of music
students in many different
students can aid music educators' repertoire choice, curriculum planning, and interactions
with their students.
find itit important
important to
to know
know what
what types
types of
of music
music my
my
As a general music teacher 1I find
students listen to and how they listen to it. It gives me an insight into how they use music
in their lives. I direct a choir at my school that is called the Rock n' Roll History
I listory Choir.
We only sing popular music, and we do not use choral arrangements. We learn the music
by listening and then singing. We have a student drummer, bass guitarist, electric
guitarist, piano player, and several acoustic guitarists. Just recently, I had choir members
write choir intentions essays in which they had to tell me why they want to be in choir
and what songs they think we should do next. Several of
of the students wrote about how
of music that we sing instead
of 'regular
they are glad that we sing the kind of
instead of
'regular choir music.'
My goal is that the Rock n' Roll History Choir become a student-led group, in
which all the music is student selected and arranged. This study was a step in my
of how popular
of an
understanding of
of adolescents and part of
59
overarching philosophy
philosophy that popular
popular music is a valuable tool for teaching the elements of
of
content areas.
music and connecting music to other content
of popular music hold true in the
functions of
The fact that Frith's four sociological functions
lives of
of the participants, validates the music that they listen to from a sociologically
functional standpoint. Using popular

popular music in my curriculum validates in another way the
functional
music that my students listen to. It lets them see that the music they listen to can be used
in a scholarly way to start conversations about many topics, to teach musical theory, and
to teach musical performance. The study of
of popular music education can validate the use
of
of popular
popular music in a school setting.
of Popular Music in the Classroom

Applications of
As a music educator, part of
of my philosophy of
of music education is that the use of
of
popular
popular music in the classroom can validate students as important participants in the
empower students by
classroom community, help to meet students where they are, and empower
allowing them to contribute new texts and materials to the curriculum.
objective in my
Young people, like adults, need to feel important. It is my objective
classroom
of view is heard, and that it is valid.
classroom that all students know that their point of
When I presented my students with the idea that we might sing some of
of "their music" in
our concerts I was flooded
of
flooded with requests. I was inundated with unsolicited
unsolicited papers full of
song titles and band names. I know that some of
of these students would not be in my choir
if
if we were not singing songs by Coldplay and Bob Marley. Participants in the present
study demonstrated
demonstrated through their writing that they "owned" certain artists and songs, or
used their favorite song "to create a type of
of self-definition"
self-definition" (Frith, 1987). Allowing my
60
students to bring similar possessions and identities to my classroom, and using them in a
formal classroom setting, therefore
therefore validates what they own and who they are.
myself several questions. What do

To help meet my students where they are, I ask myself
my students know about music? What do they like about music? How does music appear
in their lives? Knowing the answers to these questions helps me find a starting point for
my lesson planning. Invariably
find that my students know things about music that I do
Invariably I find
not know, that they like popular
popular music, and that music appears in their lives in ways that
it does not in mine. I am sure that if
if they asked me the same questions, they would find
that I like popular
popular music, that I know things about music they do not know, and that
music appears in my life in ways that it does not appear in theirs. Good teachers do not
expect their students to know what they know. Instead they start with a base of
of concepts
and skills that serve as a common ground
ground for both teacher and student from which they
can build. A music teacher can use popular music as a starting place filled with
accessible musical concepts and materials upon which to build. If
If popular
popular music is what
my students know and enjoy, it makes sense to validate it. Doing this will allow me to
meet my students where they are.
of writing as a tool for

Smagorinsky (1995) presents a reconceptualization
reconceptualization of
of what we consider
consider to be texts. He describes artistic
learning as well as a rethinking of
composition as the creation of
" ... educators ought to question
Smagorinsky states, "...educators
composition
of texts. Smagorinsky
the privileged status of
of the textual forms that they allow students to produce and consider
the potential of
thought, (p.
of other acts of
of composing for enabling
enabling students to develop thought.
Smagorinsky challenges "textual forms" and provides examples of
of other forms of
of
160)" Smagorinsky
composing to develop thought, and by doing so, presents the idea of
of a musical
61
61
composition as tex
text.t. Popular songs can be used as texts in almost all classrooms. A music
curri cu lum . Popular
teacher need not stretch very far to include popular
popular music in the curriculum.
ts that stude
nts are expected
ex pected to learn according
music contains all the elemen
elements
students
according to state and
allowing
write
national standards. By all
owing students to wr
ite music in popular
popular forms,
form s, as well
we ll as select
popular forms of music to ana
analyze
lyze and perform,
perform, a music teacher empowers the student.
Studentss can take ownership of
of their education
education when they
they supply the text or materials
Student
materials for
repertoire , the students

students choose it, and
learning. Instead of the teacher choosing the repertoire,
therefore become more invested in its success.
therefore
ar music ca
val idate and empower
Popul
Popular
cann help to validate
empower students in the classroom, and
und where both teacher
teacher and student can be comfortable
comfo rtable beg
inning
provide a commo
commonn gro
ground
beginning
musica
ll y. Teachers lose nothing by incorporating
incorporati ng popular
popul ar music into the curriculum,
curriculum, and
musically.
when they
Ihey do so, students have so much to gain.
APPENDIX A
A
APPENDIX
ESSAY
ESSA Y TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE
63
Name,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date,
Name
Date_ __
paper to tell me why
why your favorite
favo ri te song is your
your favorite
favor ite song.
Please use this paper
ma ny reasons
reaso ns as yo
bout why Ihis
so ng is your favorite.
fa vorite. You
Yo u
Please describe as many
youu ca
cann aabout
this song
can also tell me: when you
yo u listen to it, why you listen to it, how you listen to it, with
sten to it, or anything eelse
lse you
whom you listen to it, how it makes you feel when you lilisten
te ll me about this song. Pleas write the title aryaur
want to tell
of your favorite
favorite song and who
performs it in the spaces provided.
provided. You can use
usc the back of
performs
of this paper iifr needed.
Tit
le_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Title
Pcrformer_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Performer
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX
FIRST
FIRST SURVEY
SURVEY TEMPLATE
65
Favorite Song Survey

Survey
1. This song helps me describe myself.

a. Strongly Agree
b. Mil
dly Agree
Mildly
c. Not sure
d. Mil
dly Disagree
Mildly
c.
e. Strongly Disagree
2. This song describes how I feel about so
meth ing as well as I can or
something
better.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mi
ldly Disagree
Mildly
c.
3. Thi
what I let other
Thiss song helps me think about who I am on the inside versus what
Peop le sec.
People
see.
a. Strong
ly Agree
Strongly
Mild ly Agree
b. Mildly
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
c.
song.
4. My friends
frie nds and I really identify
identify with this so
ng.
Strongly Agree
a. Strongly
b.
h. Mildly Agree
c. Not
NOI sure
d. Mildly Disagree
e. Strongly Di
Disagree
c.
sagree
(girlfriend, boyfriend
boyfriend,, other
other friend,
else)
5. My friends (girlfriend,
fr iend, sister, brother,
brother, or anyone elsc)
thiss to be our song.
and 1I consider thi
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mi
Mildly
ldly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
c.
ly Disagree
e. Strong
Strongly
6. I use this song to help me understand and work through my relationships with
my friends,
people.
fr iends, family and other peop
le.
a. Strongly Agree
Mildly
b. Mi
ldly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
Disagree
sagree
e. Strongly Di
66
7. Thi
of a spec
ific person.
Thiss song reminds me of
specific
a. Strongly Ag
ree
Agree
ldly Agree
b. Mi
Mildly
c. Not sure
sure
d. Mi
ldly Disagree
Mildly
c.
sagree
e. Strongly
Strongly Di
Disagree
specific
8. Thi
ofaa spec
ific time in my
my life
li fe or
or event.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not Ssure
life
d.
d. Mildly Disagree
c.
9. 1I feel lilike
ke every
body associates
assoc iates this
thi s song with the same period of
everybody
of history or
historical
hi storica l event.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly
Mild ly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly
Mildl y Disagree
c.
sagree
e. Strongly Di
Disagree
ng makes do
ing a certain activity easier,
eas ier, or with more enjoyment
10. Thi
Thiss so
song
doing
enjoyment,, or
better.
belter.
a. Strongly Agree
b.
b. Mildly Agree
Agree
c. Not sure
Disagree
d. Mildly Di
sagree
e. Strongly Di
Disagree
c.
sagree
11. This song helps me describe myself.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
sure
c. Not sure
Disagree
d. Mildly
Mi ldly Di
sagree
Disagree
e. Strongly Di
sagree
of these best describes
12. Which
Whi ch of
desc ribes how this song functions
functions in you
you life? Choose all
Thiss song;
that apply. Thi
a. This song helps me define
de fi ne my se
lf.
self.
b. Thi
Thiss song helps me connect my private
emotional life and my more
pri vate emotional
publicc life.
publi
c. This song reminds me of
of specifi
periods in history or historical
specificc periods
events.
of time.
d. Thi
Thiss song organizes my sense of
Thiss song makes a given experience
expe rience more intense.
e. Thi
f. I feel
thiss song belongs
fee l like thi
be longs to me.
me .
APPENDIX C
Y TEMPLATE
FINAL ESSA
ESSAY
68
ate,_~_
Name _ _ _ _ _ _~,D
Date
thi s paper to tell

te ll me why your
your favorite
favorite song is your favorite
favor ite song.
Please use this
ibe as many reasons as you
yo u ca
Please descr
describe
cann about why this son
songg is your favorite.
Vou can also tell me: when you listen to it, why you listen
listen to it, how you listen to it, with
wit h
You
whom you listen to it, how it makes you feel
fee l when you listen to it, or anything
anythi ng else you
Pl ease write the title
tit le of
your favorite
favorite song and who
want to tell me about this song. Please
of your
usc the back of
paper if
ifneeded.
performs it in the spaces provided. You can use
of this paper
needed.
Song Titlc
Title _ _ _ __ __ _ __
,Song
Perrormer_ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
Song Performer
APPENDIX D
APPENDIX
FINAL SURVEY
SURVEY TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE
70
Favorite Song
Song Survey
Survey
4. I use this song to help me
understand and work through
my relationships with my
friends, family and other
people.
Name
Name
1. This song helps me define

define
myself.
a.
Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
a.
Strongly Agree
c. Not sure
b. Mildly Agree
d. Mildly Disagree
c. Not sure
e. Strongly
Strongly Disagree
d. Mildly Disagree
2. This song helps me think
about who I am on the
inside versus what I let
other people see.
a.
Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
3. My friends (girlfriend,
boyfriend, other friend,
boyfriend,
sister, brother or anyone
else) and I consider this to
be our song.
of a
5. This song reminds me of
specific time in my life or
event.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
6. I associate this song with a
certain, historical event, time
period or era.
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c. Not sure
d. Mildly Disagree
7. This song makes doing a

certain activity easier, more
fun, or better.
71
71
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree

c.
c. Thi
periods
history
specific peri
ods in hi
story
or historical events.
c. Not sure
d. Mildl
Mildlyy Disagree
ngly Disagree
e. Stro
Strongly
c.
d.
ng organizes my
d. Thi
Thiss so
song
sense of
of time.
ci like I own this son

g.
feel
song.
8. If fe
a. Strongly Agree
b. Mildly Agree
c.
e. This song makes a given
experience morc
more intense.
sure
c. Not sure
d.
d. Mildly Disagree
e. Strongly Di
Disagree
c.
sagree
f.
thi s song
I feel like this
belongs to me.
9. Which of these best

describes how th
is so
ng
this
song
function s in ),our
functions
your lifc"
life?
Give each opti
on a rati
ng
option
rating
from Ito
j_to .
6 in the space
from
provided, 1
J_ bei
being
ng the option
that best describes how thi
thiss
song functions
functio ns in your lilife
fe
and
6
being
the
option
that
and . bei ng the opti on that
describe
at all how
does not descri
be al
thiss song functions in your
thi
life.
Thiss song helps me
a. Thi
define myse
myself.
lf.
youu very much.

Thank yo
b. Thi
Thiss song helps me to
managing the
relationship
relat
ionship between
private
my pri
vate and public
emotional
onal lilives
ves
emoti
APPENDIX E
APPENDIX
THE
THE FINAL
FINAL SCRIPT
73
(Pass out the essay templates) (Make sure that every participant
participant has one.)
Please clear your desks of
of everything except for the paper that I have given you
and a pen or pencil. (Wait until that is done.)
I am a music teacher at Nibley Park K-8 School and a Masters Student in Music
Education
of Utah. I would like to know about the music that you listen
Education at the University of
to.
Please take a moment
moment now to think of
of your favorite song. (Give the students about
15 seconds.) Think about why your favorite song is your favorite
favorite song. Think of
of as many
reasons why that song is your favorite song. Think about why you listen to it, how you
listen to it, with whom you listen to it, and how it makes you feel when you listen to it.
(Give them ten more seconds to think.)
Now read along silently with me the directions at the top of
of the paper that I have
given you.
gIven
Please use this paper to tell me why your favorite song is your favorite song.
Please describe as many reasons as you can about why this song is your favorite.
You can also tell me: when you listen to it, why you listen to it, how you listen to it, with
whom you listen to it, how it makes you feel when you listen to it, or anything else you
want to tell me about this song. Please write the title of
of your favorite song and who
performs
of this paper if
if needed.
performs it in the spaces provided. You can use the back of
You will have 15 minutes to write. I will give you 2 minutes to think about what
your favorite song is and why.
I will tell you when your fifteen
fifteen minutes starts and when you have five minutes
left. If
If you have any questions raise your hand and TI will
wi II come and answer them. Y
Ollr
Your
two minutes thinking time begins now.
(Observe the students writing their essays and watch the clock. Mark the time that
you started.)
(When
(When the 15 minutes are up direct the students to leave their essays on their
desks and to start on their survey as soon as they receive it.)
(Explain that if
if anyone has questions about the survey to raise their hand and that
you will help them the best you can.)
APPENDIX F
ANAL
YZED ESSAY
ANALYZED
ESSAY
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Criticism, and
and
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525-552.
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Campbell, P. S., Connell, C,
expressed meanings of
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American Culture,
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imagery, and romance during war-time, 1941-1945. Journal
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J. (2003). The words of
Frith, S. (1983). Sound
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leisure and
Sound effects:
and the politics
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& S., McClary,
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and society
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Housewright, W. L., Sarig, E. R., MacCluskey, T., and Hughes, A. (1969). Youth music:
Music Educators
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Journal 56 (3), 43-74.
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popular music: A study in the sociology of

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American Journal
Journal of
Sociology, 62, 563-568.
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of Sociology,
Lapedis, H. (1999). Popping the question: The function
function and effect
effect of
of popular music in
Popular Music, 18, 367-379.
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Popular Music
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Popular
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Merriam, A. P. (1964). The anthropology

anthropology of
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North , A. C. ((1999).
1999). The functions
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of music in everyday
li fe : Redefining
Redefi ning the social
North,
everyday life:
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music psychology. Psychology
Psychology oj
Music, 27(1), 84-95.
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Pies lak, 1.
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Pieslak,
J. (2009), Sound
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Singers
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THE FUNCTIONS OF POPULAR MUSIC IN

PN THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENTS

A thesis submitted to the faculty

Copyright Isaac Lamont Bickmore 2010

UTAH GRADUATE SCHOOL

SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE APPROVAL

Isaac Lamont Bickmore

FINAL READING APPROVAL

To the Graduate Council of the University of Utah:

Isaac Lamont Bickmore

1 have read the thesis of

its final form

Approved for the MajorDepartment

Approved for the Graduate Council

Dean ofTbe Graduate Scbool

own writings and a survey on that topic. Sophomores

Dedicated to Lesley, Will, Mom, and Dad

INTRODUCTION ................................... .... .......... ....... .... ..

Purpose orthe Study....... .................................. ... ............

Purpose of the Study

REVIEW OF LITERATURE...... ........ ........ .. ........ .... ...... ....... .

METHOD ............... ........ .......... .. ............... .......................

Summary DISCUSSION, CONCL USIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, 44

p.4S). In the spirit of

of this study, how that music functions

She challenges the approach of

Frith (1983) writes about the sociology of

functions that the students ascribed

of music. These studies regarding both

Other scholars have done studies that examine the functions

function and effect

song lyrics in the context of

of popular love songs whose

popular music in this era and that it

"have thus been successfully

to support that idea.

girls by finding out their preferences

Bradley (2005) presents a series of

Campbell, Connell, and Beegle (2007) "aimed

popular music: (a) to create a

function through his work as a rock

Abrahamson served exclusively as a

realized that I needed to mention to

Procedure for Actual Study

participant writing that is quoted in this document will be italicized and

defined these functions

Function two is to provide a way of

describes an entry from an adolescent's journal

song & it just

function is to shape popular memory, organize one's sense of

before other people provides a sense of

Some participants used language that implied a function

each element in that function was represented

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Thiss song helps me

his song rem

1133 1155 1 I1I 1 515

9e. The song makes a given

1166 1100 112

feell like thi

9b. This song helps me

Survey items regarding Frith's first function

Questions 2, 4 and 9b included language that resembles Frith's second function