by Joe Bennett | Jun 11, 2026 | 5live, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
This week on the show we marched to the beat of our own (snare) drum! The snare drum is descended from the medieval tabor, a drum with a single-gut snare strung across its bottom. It has its origins in warfare, but is now a central feature of any modern... 
by Joe Bennett | Jun 9, 2026 | 5live, Forensic Musicology, music education, musicology, Popular Music, Research, Songwriting
This week, Tony and I Hit the North (stay tuned for more on that)! Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England, and is bordered by Greater Manchester. Cumbria, North and West Yorkshire, Merseyside, and the Irish Sea. The county has a long tradition of... 
by Joe Bennett | Jun 9, 2026 | 5live, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
On the show this week, Tony and I opened The Hot List and listened to songs about A-listers. Songs about celebrities have existed for around a century; essentially since the birth of celebrity culture. This week we explored some notable names who have found themselves... 
by Joe Bennett | Jun 9, 2026 | 5live, fm, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
This week, Tony and I explored the ii-V-I! The ii-V-I, or 2-5-1, is a type of harmonic progression known as a cadence. Cadences are sequences of two or more chords used to conclude a passage, section, or song; they are a kind of musical punctuation. The ii-V-I is a... 
by Joe Bennett | May 26, 2026 | 5live, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Research, Songwriting
This week Tony and I tuned up the twelve-string! Twelve-string guitars date back to the nineteenth century, and feature 12 strings in six courses (each pair are closely spaced) that produce a thicker and more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Their use... 
by Joe Bennett | May 7, 2026 | 5live, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Research, Songwriting
!sdrawkcab tnew I dna ynoT keew sihT! Backwards – or reversed – audio became a possibility with the advent of recording technology, and has been employed by artists and producers across decades to ornament songs and intruige listeners. On the show this...
Recent Comments