Abstract
What is musical genre, and what does it really mean to us? More specifically, what does changing a song's genre entail, reveal, and represent? This thesis explores the process of “genre-bending”: creating a cover song of a different genre than the original or “canonical” recording. Drawing upon recent literature in musicology and ethnomusicology, the study begins by outlining the theoretical background of genre-bending: the processes, implications, and histories underlying the practice. I argue that many concepts surrounding genre-bending such as “original” or “cover” songs, and even genre itself, cannot be objectively defined but instead are societally ingrained, subjective ideas. Despite this malleability, genre provides meaning for both musicians and listeners as a mode of forming connections, communities, and identities. Genre-bending can be a way to analyze the boundaries of genre, find points of similarity between them and build off of them. In a sense, genre-bending can be used to gain a greater understanding of genre and music as a whole.
The thesis also includes an audio recording of my own performances of seven genre-bent songs, using a variety of genres and types of song arrangements (solo piano, small ensemble, and sampling). A detailed explanation of the process of creating these covers is also included in the written study.