Ethan Teaches You Music Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music in this episode:The Beatles - "She Said She Said" (1966)The Beatles - "Hey Jude" (1968)The Grateful Dead - "Morning Dew" (1972)Lorde - "Royals" (2013)The Beatles - "Here Comes The Sun" (1969)The Rolling Stones - "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968)Melanie Safka - "People in the Front Row" (1968)Yoshihito Yano & Saki Kabata - "Lonely Rolling Star" (2004)The Beatles - "A Day in the Life" (1967)Jimi Hendrix - "Hey Joe" (1967)Al Green - "Take Me To The River" (1974)Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn & Little Nell - "Time Warp" (1975)Read more about plagal cadences.Read more about “Take Me To The River”, including the Talking Heads cover.You can learn more about Trever de Clercq and David Temperley’s study of the Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs here (I neglected to mention Trever de Clercq in the episode.) Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

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

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

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

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

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