Camille Peters: In the essay, "On repetition in black culture" (1981), James Snead outlines a theory of repetition in black culture that is remarkable for its breadth and historical emphasis. Today we will focus on the musical aspects of his theory. Darinda begins with a discussion of the high and low culture split in music. Next, I will talk about Snead's description of repetition in black music. Darinda will then show how Snead's theory can be applied to jazz, hip-hop, and the academy. Snead's essay has been cited in several works of musicology and we will refer to two of them: Tricia Rose's Black Noise (1994) and David Brackett's Interpreting Popular Music (1995). Finally, I will talk about applications of Snead's theory in classical, or more specifically, European art music, and Darinda will add some concluding remarks.

The terms of Snead's argument are "black" and "European;" black encompasses both African and African-American, while European is employed in recognition of the degree of black influence in American culture. It is important to note that for Snead, these categories are not essential. Rather, culture is a kind of insurance, protecting itself against internal and external breakdown, continually defining and redefining itself yet hiding its own historical construction. One of the functions of culture is to present itself as immanent and eternal. Of course, this is not the case. As Snead illustrates with excerpts from Hegel, the concept of black culture was invented by Europeans as a means of defining their own.

Darinda Congdon: According to Snead, the word "culture" acquired two meanings in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first was culture as "that with which one whole group aggressively defines its superiority vis-à-vis another," and the second, "that held at a level above the group or mass, for the benefit of the culture as a whole, by the conscious few" (Snead, 1981, 147). As Camille stated, Snead uses these definitions in his article to illustrate European concepts of high and low culture (147). Europe defined Africa and African culture as both low and mass culture, and Europe defined itself in opposition to the African other as both superior and as high culture. Snead states that as the self-delineated high culture, Europeans equated notions of progress with high culture; music described as progressive was equated with cultural superiority (147).

Despite repetition in European music, Europe highlighted harmonic chord series and motivic development in European art music as both progressive and as high culture. Placing repetition in opposition to progression, Europe described "repetition" and rhythm as both African and as part of low culture. This high and low culture musical divide elucidated by Snead still exists today in some cultural institutions of music. While many teach and celebrate African, African American, and many other musics, European art music, or classical music, is still often taught (beginning in elementary school) as the primary basis of musical knowledge as well as the most developed or aesthetically pleasing means of musical expression. For example, many "music appreciation" classes still teach European art music as the music to be appreciated¹. Snead demonstrates the relationship of European concepts of high and low culture to a need for a sense of cultural superiority and an aesthetic of art which must be above that of the masses (147). Continuing to equate European art music with the notion of music to be appreciated perpetuates ideas of superiority, marginalizing not only the musically expressive and creative power of other forms, but also the cultures within which they obtain and originate. In these instances, European art music is still, as Snead defined high culture, that held at a level above the group or mass, for the benefit of the culture as a whole, by the conscious few (147). Yet Snead shows that repetition in black culture and music is both aesthetically beautiful and culturally coherent.
Camille: Snead describes repetition in black culture at both the ontological and aesthetic levels, with the latter as a manifestation of the former. Repetition is built into the very notion of being, through the recognition and celebration of natural life cycles. The value of repetition is then inscribed and reflected in the music produced by black people. Part of the genius of Snead's description of repetition in black music is exposing its inevitability, which he does by connecting artistic production and existence. Rather than attempt to apologize or justify pure repetition, he shows that in many ways, the highly valued notions of progression are in fact illusory.

In black music, repetition is valued in and of itself, at the most basic timbral and sonic levels, rather than with an eye toward development. As he puts it, "the peculiarity of black music-that it draws attention to its own repetitions-extends to the way it does not hide the fact that these repetitions take place on the level of sound only" (150). Rhythmic repetition creates the framework for improvisation, polymeter, and call-and-response, long acknowledged as basic features of both African and African-American musics.
As a jazz keyboardist, Snead certainly knew the importance of repetition to improvisation. He began playing the piano at a very young age, but seeing Miles Davis live at the Village Gate in 1970 was a turning point. After this, he became interested in jazz artists like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, and above all, John Coltrane. As we heard yesterday, Snead played professionally, touring extensively while at Cambridge. Doubtlessly, his own experiences as a musician contributed to the perceptive and compelling discussions of music in this essay.
Darinda: By the end of his article, Snead also demonstrates the political agenda inherent in European concepts of high and low culture as they relate to repetition and African cultural expressions of music. As Camille stated, Snead was well aware of the aesthetics of repetition as used in jazz. In this musical art, repetition of an harmonic series provides the basis for the creative improvising soloist. Jazz, as a musical expression, reflects musical ways of knowing, a specific, highly developed, musical aesthetic, which is different from that of European art music.

Though viewed in its conception as popular music and part of low culture, jazz is now taught in universities and is celebrated as an American musical form. Yet jazz is often taught in a position secondary to that of European art music. And while jazz is now often taught within the musical academy, many institutions still do not teach another African American musical expression, that of hip-hop. Whereas jazz is often described as a combination of African and European musics, and as American art music, hip-hop, with its rhythmic elaborations, is currently more clearly associated in public imagination with African American and popular culture. It would seem that America has now relegated hip-hop to a current status of low or mass culture, devaluing an entire musical and cultural aesthetic, in a move parallel to Snead's description of the European devaluing of African musics and the original treatment of jazz. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

In her 1994 text, Tricia Rose responds to the question "is hip-hop really music?" through an investigation of the ways hip-hop artists employ technology to foreground patterns of sounds-repetitions-in ways that are artistically pleasing and socially meaningful. She describes applications of technology such as tape loops and drum tracks, which create repetition in the music, fitting within Snead's description of an African aesthetic. Technology in hip-hop is also used as a means for artists to access and repeat sounds of their musical predecessors, by intentionally using an older mixing board or keyboard, and by sampling (Rose, 1994, Chapter 3). I emphasize technology in hip-hop music because technological innovations in European art music, such as tape loops in minimalism, have often been portrayed as high culture in education, whereas tape loops in hip-hop have not. Hip-hop artists also creatively apply the concept of the cut, or break beat, an aesthetic part of many styles of African and African American music.
Camille: One of Snead's most significant contributions to an understanding of repetition in music is his explanation of the "cut." He defines the "cut" as "an abrupt, seemingly unmotivated break… with a series already in progress and a willed return to a prior series" (150). The cut foregrounds repetition by exposing the different layers of cycles that comprise a work. Rupture and disjuncture are thus folded into the set of expectations, making unpredictability a desirable quality. The cut, like repetition in general, reflects an orientation towards life. Black culture builds "accidents" into its set of expectations, realizing that ultimate control is unattainable-and I would add that this is particularly useful for groups of people that have historically been oppressed, unable to presume such control. Through the cut, this harsh fact of life is appropriated, transformed into an aesthetically pleasing musical technique.

Snead cites James Brown as a "brilliant American practitioner of the cut whose skill is readily admired by African as well as American musicians." Musicologist David Brackett, in his chapter on Brown's song "Superbad," references Snead's idea of the cut, emphasizing its presence in the rhythmic structure. In this song, layers of repetition build up to create a shifting musical fabric, beginning with percussion, bass, vocals, and horns, eventually joined by guitar. Each instrument (including James Brown himself) participates in creating cycles and disrupting them. One of the most striking cuts is at the end of the bridge, where the saxophone, trumpet and voice wrench the song back into materials from the introduction. This return to an earlier cycle provides the backdrop for improvisation by sax player Maceo Parker. Repetition is also at work in the lyrics, which are non-narrative and percussive.

Snead's mention of James Brown's popularity in Africa as well as the U.S. calls up another point about the essay. Black culture, for Snead, consists of both African and African-American cultures, and this conflation might seem problematic. Yet his main focus is really African-American, and his discussion of the origins of black culture-caused by a European reaction to the African, and thus based on outside perceptions-transfers easily across the Atlantic. Moreover, many musical studies, including important essays by Olly Wilson, have shown how many features of African-American music are based in African music. James Brown's success in African countries, as well as his influence on later generations of African musicians, is another indication of aesthetic similarities. So while many different black cultures exist, Snead's theories still apply to what Wilson calls the "conceptual approaches to music-making" (1974) common among Africans and African-Americans.
Darinda: Snead's theories may also be applied to demonstrating a cultural ambivalence towards the actual realities of repetition in music. When popular music and hip-hop are described as "repetitive" by scholars such as Adorno, repetition is foregrounded as a negative characteristic (Adorno, 1990)². In contrast, repetition existing in European art music, such as that of the minimalist tape loops mentioned earlier, is celebrated as innovative. As Snead demonstrates, there is a difference between the existence of repetition in music, and the recognition of that repetition (148-153).

Perhaps the artistic form of musical repetition which has received the most attention in hip-hop is that of sampling. Sampling fits within the creative and cultural aesthetic of hip-hop. Yet this musical practice has become a space of negative public attention. Many artists who engage in sampling are not portrayed in popular culture as creators of art within an expressive cultural and musical aesthetic; rather, as you know, they are portrayed as thieves.

Scholars, such as Wallis and Malm (1984)³, and Rose (1994, 91-93) point out that current copyright laws are not effective for monitoring the economic compensation and recognition rights of many musicians. Those musical styles which fit within the parameters of the law may be copyrighted and owned for economic compensation as well as artistic recognition. The musical forms, such as sampling in hip-hop, which do not fit within this legal framework do not receive the same protection. Some would argue that sampling is stealing, for original artists are being denied the compensation they deserve. Yet Rose would point out that many of the copyrights for the original samples are held by music industry conglomerates, and not by the original black artists (Rose, 1994, 91-92). In this scenario, payment is remitted to the music industry and the law does not protect either the original musicians or the hip-hop artists.

This debate over hip-hop sampling and compensation is well known, as is the fact that hip-hop artists themselves often give artistic credit to those whose music they are using, through lyrical acknowledgment or CD liner notes. In contrast, fewer seem to be aware of the practice of "illegal" sampling and its consequences in European art music. According to jazz scholar and performer Nathan Davis, the contemporary European composer Stockhausen asked certain jazz musicians to play for him and then used their music in his own work (Personal Interview). These jazz artists were not given and have not been given public credit for their "sampled" music. The European artist of "high culture" seems to have free access to the music of other artists, whereas hip-hop artists who give credit to the music of other artists are still criminalized; the cultural privileging of one aesthetic has political and artistic repercussions.

The celebration of classical music is a celebration of beautiful music, yet the privileging of this music as "best" in university and cultural settings undermines the legitimacy of other musical forms, and in doing so undermines the art, cultural value, and social/political expression of those in already marginalized positions. If it's not good music, then one doesn't need to listen to it, understand it, or teach it-additionally, one can exploit it musically and economically. This not only works to marginalize certain musical styles; it also marginalizes lyrical messages. Lyrics in hip-hop communicate significant dialogic utterances and provide cultural commentary in a musically meaningful way. Foregrounding opinions that all hip-hop lyrics are merely vulgar, violent, or non-musical associates these forms of lyric poetry with low culture in order to dismiss them. If hip-hop is not good music, then the messages and issues presented by some artists do not need to be understood, discussed, or recognized in the musical and academic community as both artistic and valid. In this way, both hip-hop music as an artistic means of expression and the social messages expressed in the music are elided.

Consider the hip-hop track titled "Break" by the California group Jurassic 5. The title, "Break," references the cut or break Snead described discussed today by Camille, and as you can see the lyrics refer to this break in terms of both music and culture. Repetition can be clearly heard in the full recording in the drum track and the return of the melody used for the sections marked chorus and "all." The section of music heard here is indicated by an "*" on the lyrics page; this section of music highlights the "break" musically and textually.

Camille: Yet Snead's theories of repetition and the cut are not only useful for analyzing hip-hop and other forms of black music. As Darinda mentioned, Western art music has recently begun to reveal and value its own layers of repetition. Snead cites Igor Stravinsky as one of the early figures in this shift, especially in works like Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). What is especially interesting about these examples is their emphasis on primitivism. Stravinsky, though Russian by birth, worked primarily in France at this point of his career. Exoticism and primitivism had great currency in French society in the early part of the twentieth century. As a respected composer, Stravinsky could mine these constructs of "the Other" for his music under the guise of modernism, while simultaneously capitalizing on his own Eastern European ethnicity-Russia was considered to be at very the borders of civilization. The Rite of Spring, for example, depicts a Russian pagan ritual in which a young virgin is sacrificed through dancing, while Petrushka is the story of a puppet come to life during a Shrovetide fair. With his invocations of pagans and peasants, Stravinsky consciously creates a primitive musical landscape in these two ballets. Therefore it is not surprising that repetition, with its associations of life cycles and nature, is a principal feature of these works.

A particularly striking example appears in "The Augurs of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls)" from the first part of The Rite of Spring. This excerpt features clear repetition, emphasizing rhythm and timbre; also listen for examples of the "cut" that occur later in the example, as the heavy pulses intrude into the repeated melody in the woodwinds and trumpet. (And of course, this ballet famously started a riot at its premiere. The uproar resulted when audience members disagreed loudly and violently over the merits of the work, supposedly incited by the driving rhythms and suggestive dancing.)

Though Snead does not explore the context for Stravinsky's uses of repetition, that context actually confirms Snead's notions of European music's ambivalence toward repetition. Repetition that does not progress belongs to other, low cultures, and thus Stravinsky's uses of repetition must be contained, justified by dancing and the images of wild primitives. At least by the early part of this century, repetition for repetition's sake was not a yet an intrinsically valuable concept in European music.
Darinda: As Snead shows us, repetition is an aesthetic, which is expressed differently in both African and European musics, and not a marker of high and low culture or a marker of clear-cut cultural division. Bourdieu (1980) has demonstrated that such cultural divisions or distinctions are often related to education and what is taught; perceptions of such cultural and political distinctions are then enhanced or defused by the music we teach.

As a musician, Snead understood and appreciated both the power of music as an artistic expression, and music's cultural and political relevance. Snead clearly elucidated the flaws inherent in arguments for these applications of high and low culture, ending his article by stating that the distinction between European and African cultures is "not one of nature, but of force" (153). Here we have applied Snead's arguments to both contemporary African American music and European art music, showing that the aesthetics of repetition exist in all music, the political/musical distinction is indeed "not one of nature, but of force."

WORKS CITED

Adorno, Theodor. "On Popular Music." In On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word,
Ed. Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990 [1941], 301-314.

Bourdieu, Pierre. "The Aristocracy of Culture." Media, Culture and Society 2/3 (1980):
225-254.

Davis, Nathan. Personal Interview by Darinda Congdon. Spring, 2003.

Jurassic 5. "Break." Power In Numbers. Interscope Records, 2002. CD

Jurassic 5. "Break" lyrics. http://www.jurassic5.com/break.htm, Spring, 2003.

Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.
Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.

Snead, James. A. "On Repetition in Black Culture." Black American Literature Forum
15/4 (1981): 146-54.

Wallis, Roger and Krister Malm. Big Sounds from Small Peoples: The Music Industry in
Small Countries. New York: Pendragon Press, 1984.

Notes

1 Rose (1994) in her chapter on technology comments on the prevalence of European art music in American culture.

2 Adorno here is criticizing the "standardization" of popular music as stilted. He references the "break," describing it as "nothing other than a disguised cadence" (308); Rose (1994) comments on this (72).

3 Wallis and Malm deal specifically with the concerns of musicians in smaller countries. Pages 45-50 describe copyright; individual cases are dealt with in each chapter.