Bodies in Focus: The Importance of Analysing Popular Music Visuals for Musicians in Popular Music Higher Education

Abstract

Focusing on bodies in popular music, this article argues that a critical engagement with and ability to analyse the body as part of the visual spectacle of music is crucial in the professional development of any young musician aiming for a career in the music industry, and therefore should be part of popular music higher education (PMHE) curricula, especially in vocational, practice focused courses. It advocates a constructivist approach to learning, arguing that this enables students to develop conceptual understanding through the practical application of analytical approaches to their own creative outputs, specifically the body as a key visual aspect of their music-related promotional images and music performances. Taking a social semiotic approach, the article outlines and exemplifies an initial analytical toolkit synthesised from a range of sources, focusing on representations of the body in images and the moving body in performances, analysing how the body is costumed, settings for the body, and what the body is doing.