...As John Cage and the academic serialists pursued their apparently contradictory aesthetics on the East Coast, another compositional wave was taking shape on the edge of the Pacific. Known as minimalism, it was led by La Monte Young, the only composer in the history of Western music who has so...

...This chapter examines the chord type and harmonic palette of rock music. It explains the concepts of melody and harmony and suggests that their interaction is best understood in relation to melody and harmony in Western music over the ages. It also analyzes the harmonic palette of several rock...

...Many people in America or even the world probably know who John Cage is, but only a few may have actually heard his music. Cage understood how technology altered Western musical culture, yet rejected the basic premises of most Western music early. His interest in composition led him first to Henry...