Alan W. Pollack is a

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

. He is best known for having musically analysed every song released by the English rock band

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. He started the task in 1989 and finished in 2000, with 187 original songs and 25 cover songs. The analyses have come to be known as the "Notes on ..." series, as each is entitled "Notes on '

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United ...

'", "Notes on '

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help! ( ...

'" and so on. The notes were released weekly, usually on Wednesdays, on the rec.music.beatles

usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...

group. Gary Burns, editor of the journal ''Popular Music and Society'', groups Pollack with authors and academics such as

Wilfrid Mellers Wilfrid Howard Mellers (26 April 1914 – 17 May 2008) was an English music critic, musicologist and composer. Early life Born in Leamington, Warwickshire, Mellers was educated at the local Leamington College and later won a scholarship to Dow ...

, Terence J. O'Grady and Walter Everett who have each advanced the field of musicological study into the Beatles' work. Pollack's song analyses and comments on unifying themes were later incorporated by Everett in his two-volume study ''The Beatles as Musicians'' (1999; 2001). The "Notes on …" series is also among the "Recommended Resources" in author and critic

Kenneth Womack Kenneth Womack (born January 24, 1966) is an American writer, literary critic, public speaker, and music historian, particularly focusing on the cultural influence of the Beatles. He is the author of the bestselling ''Solid State: The Story of A ...

's 2014 book ''The Beatles Encyclopedia''. Pollack holds a B.A. in Music from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

and both an M.A. and PhD from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in Music Theory and Composition. He was an instructor of music theory and composition at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1975 to 1977. From 1978 through 2013 he pursued a career in software engineering. Since 2014 he has been working as a freelance classical pianist and musical commentator.

References

External links

Pollack's "Notes On" Series

Alan W. Pollack's musicological journey through the Beatles' songs by Ger Tillekens
1948 births University of Pennsylvania alumni Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American Jews American musicologists Living people 21st-century American Jews {{US-music-bio-stub