SMT-V: The Society for Music Theory Videocast Journal
SMT-V is the open-access, peer-reviewed video journal of the Society for Music Theory. Founded in 2014, SMT-V publishes video essays that showcase research in music theory in a dynamic, audiovisual format, presented so as to have the potential to engage both specialists within the field as well as interested viewers outside the music theory community. The journal features a supportive and collaborative production process, and publishes several videos each year. Read more about SMT-V here.
Latest Issue: 11.2 (March 2025)
“‘Why Can’t I Just Do It Straightaway?’ Bluey, Joff Bush, and Accumulation”
Derek J. Myler (East Carolina University School of Music)
Like many kids’ TV shows, Bluey frequently repurposes classical music. In designing Bluey’s soundscape, lead composer Joff Bush has frequently favored an end-oriented approach to revealing classical themes, engaging a formal process that productively interfaces with Peter Burkholder’s (1995) idea of thematic growth via cumulative form and Mark Spicer’s (2004) extension of the concept, textural growth via accumulative form. In this video, I generalize both kinds of growth into a holistic process of accumulation, and I show how Bush and his creative team often apply this process to support Bluey’s narrative goals. Three analytical vignettes demonstrate how Bluey’s audiences are often taken on a journey of discovery in the seven to nine minutes each episode encompasses—themes are initially hinted at, gradually assembled, and finally revealed in their full splendor at the episode’s narrative climax.
Keywords: Bluey, TV music, Joff Bush, children’s music, narrative, accumulation, melody;