Protest Chants as Public Music Theory

Abstract

This article recounts a music theorist's experience with transcribing and analyzing protest chants as a form of public music theory, drawing from over a decade of fieldwork at demonstrations in Japan and the United States, including antinuclear protests in Japan, the Women's March, Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and protests related to reproductive freedom and gun control. While exploring how music analysis can serve public needs, the project also raises important methodological and ethical questions. The transcriptions demonstrate how protesters use rhythmic patterns, intonation, and musical structures to build solidarity and amplify their message, often drawing on historical precedents and popular culture. By publishing analyses through open-access platforms and social media, I make musical transcriptions and insights available to activists and the public. However, this approach also reveals tensions between academic and public-facing scholarship, including questions about notation methods, the limitations of transcription, recognition of the work as scholarship by colleagues, and the role of social media in knowledge dissemination. The article ultimately considers how music theorists can meaningfully engage with contemporary social movements while navigating the challenges of public scholarship in a digital age.