Episode 3 - Excuse me, while i kiss the sky!

Week 3 - 20.9.10

I have chosen what i would like to do my dissertation on this year. I would like to discuss the idea of the Hendrix with consideration of John Mayer, John Frustiante and Matt Bellamy. I would enjoy looking at each artist stylistically and what techniques they employ. Although, i might be giving myself too much to write about here. I may need to focus on Matt Bellamy rather than including the two John's. I hope to get a meeting with a lecturer to discuss what i could focus my dissertation on.

Episode 2 - Possible Titles

Week 2 - 13.9.10

This week i have been thinking about possible titles for my dissertation this year.

First up is the idea of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and his lyrical style. When looking at his lyrics, he is the voice of a generation. His words and rhymes all relate to the world as we know it today. I wanted to look deeper into the mind of Turner and see what effect his rhymes have on 21st century youth. I was also going to include a survey containing certain lyrics and see if people would agree that they portray modern youth culture.

My next idea was to be Hip Hoptimism: Positive effects of hip hop. For this i would look into the somewhat negatively portrayed lyrics in hip hop and attempt to show the positive effects that it can have on the listener with Eminem and 2pac at the forefront. This again would be a lyrical analysis but with elements of hip hop history As i have done many essay on hip hop prior to this, finding references and resources would not be a problem.

My final idea is a discussion of the 'next' Hendrix. I read an article stating that Matt Bellamy from Muse is the next Hendrix and i thought it would be interesting to discuss what constitutes as a 'Hendrix'. I would also like to discuss the possibilities of John Frustainte and John Mayer and their involvement. This would include musical analysis, a brief guitar history of each contender and comparisons of all three.

Episode I - Deadlines and Dissertations

Week 1 - 6.9.10

In our first research class, we were given all of our deadlines for the various research projects. We were then told, in detail, the methods of research which we could use to aid the writing of our dissertations and evaluations. The method of research are fourfold; Descriptive, Correlation, Explanatory and Exploratory. With each method, we were given a purpose and a working example to see how each method works. I found this lesson really interesting as i never knew there were so many different types of research. This will aid me greatly in my own research throughout my BA3 year.

In regards to a dissertation title, i have been thinking about ''The Next Hendrix'' idea. I was intending to discuss Hendrix and why he is so iconic as a guitarist and then see if any guitarists of a later generation have replicated this.