Electric guitar performance techniques : meaning and identity in written discourse

This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of selected electric guitar performance techniques and technologies, including the power chord, the wah-wah pedal and finger tapping. Employing discourse analysis, the purpose of the thesis is to identify and understand themes within a wide range of written source material pertaining to the electric guitar. I analyse primarily Anglo-American originating, English-language sources that discuss these techniques and technologies, including archival and online materials, popular and trade publications, academic writing and my own participant interviews. From my analysis, I identify a number of themes that are present within written discourse pertaining to electric guitar performance techniques and technologies, and which also cut across them. The first three main chapters consider three particular aspects of electric guitar discourse. In Chapter 2, I explore the existence of clear invention and discovery narratives for each of the three performance techniques considered in the thesis, concluding with a general list of features that appear to promote the narratives’ continuity and prominence. In Chapter 3, I look at the contemporary meaning of virtuosity and the electric guitar, suggesting that ascriptions of virtuosity are closely linked with the assumptions that underpin aesthetic preference. In Chapter 4, I examine the meanings and attitudes that are apparent in discourse relating to new electric guitar technology, demonstrating that there is a clear yet inconsistent binary between acceptance and rejection of technological change. In Chapters 5 and 6, I theorise more generally about the electric guitar, situating a range of relevant written discourse within theories of late 20th and 21st Century Neoliberalism. I suggest that many of the values and attitudes I identify within electric guitar discourse reflect those of neoliberalism, particularly with respect to the shared value attached to authenticity, individuality, innovation and a willingness to engage with the marketplace.

本论文对选定的电吉他演奏技巧和技术进行了深入分析，包括强力和弦、哇音踏板和指弹。通过话语分析，本论文的目的是识别和理解与电吉他相关的大量书面资料中的主题。我主要分析源自英美、用英语撰写的涉及这些技巧和技术的资料来源，包括档案和网络材料、大众和行业出版物、学术著作以及我自己进行的参与者访谈。通过我的分析，我识别出了一些存在于与电吉他演奏技巧和技术相关的书面论述中的主题，这些主题也相互交叉。前三章主要探讨了电吉他论述的三个特定方面。在第二章中，我探讨了本论文所涉及的三种演奏技巧各自清晰的发明和发现叙事的存在，并最终列出了一系列似乎促进这些叙事的连续性和显著性的特征。在第三章中，我研究了精湛技艺在当代与电吉他的含义，认为对精湛技艺的归因与支撑审美偏好的假设密切相关。在第四章中，我考察了与新电吉他技术相关的论述中明显的含义和态度，表明在对技术变革的接受和拒绝之间存在一种清晰但不一致的二元对立。在第五章和第六章中，我对电吉他进行了更一般性的理论探讨，将一系列相关的书面论述置于20世纪末和21世纪新自由主义理论的框架内。我认为，我在电吉他论述中识别出的许多价值观和态度反映了新自由主义的价值观和态度，特别是在对真实性、个性、创新以及参与市场的意愿所赋予的共同价值方面。