1.14: Complex Numbers
View tutorial on YouTube: Complex Numbers
View tutorial on YouTube: Complex Exponential Function
We define the imaginary number \(i\) to be one of the two numbers that satisfies the rule \((i)^2 = −1\), the other number being \(−i\). Formally, we write \(i =\sqrt{−1}\). A complex number \(z\) is written as \[z=x+iy,\nonumber\] where \(x\) and \(y\) are real numbers. We call \(x\) the real part of \(z\) and \(y\) the imaginary part and write \[x=\text{Re }z,\quad y=\text{Im }z.\nonumber\]
Two complex numbers are equal if and only if their real and imaginary parts are equal.
The complex conjugate of \(z = x + iy\), denoted as \(\overline{z}\), is defined as \[\overline{z}=x-iy.\nonumber\]
Using \(z\) and \(\overline{z}\), we have \[\label{eq:1}\text{Re }z=\frac{1}{2}(z+\overline{z}),\quad\text{Im }z=\frac{1}{2i}(z-\overline{z}).\]
Furthermore, \[\begin{aligned}z\overline{z}&=(x+iy)(x-iy) \\ &=x^2-i^2y^2 \\ &=x^2+y^2;\end{aligned}\] and we define the absolute value of \(z\), also called the modulus of \(z\), by \[\begin{aligned} |z|&=(z\overline{z})^{1/2} \\ &=\sqrt{x^2+y^2}.\end{aligned}\]
We can add, subtract, multiply and divide complex numbers to get new complex numbers. With \(z = x + iy\) and \(w = s + it\), and \(x,\) \(y,\) \(s,\) \(t\) real numbers, we have \[ z + w = (x + s) + i(y + t);\quad z − w = (x − s) + i(y − t);\nonumber\]
\[\begin{aligned} zw&=(x+iy)(s+it) \\ &=(xs-yt)+i(xt+ys); \\ & \\ \frac{z}{w}&=\frac{z\overline{w}}{w\overline{w}} \\ &=\frac{(x+iy)(s-it)}{s^2+t^2} \\ &=\frac{(xs+yt)}{s^2+t^2}+i\frac{(ys-xt)}{s^2+t^2}.\end{aligned}\]
Furthermore, \[\begin{aligned} |zw|&=\sqrt{(xs-yt)^2+(xt+ys)^2} \\ &=\sqrt{(x^2+y^2)(s^2+t^2)} \\ &=|z||w|;\end{aligned}\] and \[\begin{aligned}\overline{zw}&=(xs-yt)-i(xt+ys) \\ &=(x-iy)(s-it) \\ &=\overline{z}\overline{w}.\end{aligned}\]
Similarly \[\left|\frac{z}{w}\right| =\frac{|z|}{|w|},\quad\overline{\left(\frac{z}{w}\right)}=\frac{\overline{z}}{\overline{w}}.\nonumber\]
Also, \(\overline{z + w} = \overline{z} + \overline{w}\). However, \(|z + w| ≤ |z| + |w|\), a theorem known as the triangle inequality.
It is especially interesting and useful to consider the exponential function of an imaginary argument. Using the Taylor series expansion of an exponential function, we have \[\begin{aligned}e^{i\theta}&=1+(i\theta )+\frac{(i\theta )^2}{2!}+\frac{(i\theta )^3}{3!}+\frac{(i\theta )^4}{4!}+\frac{(i\theta )^5}{5!}\cdots \\ &=\left(1-\frac{\theta^2}{2!}+\frac{\theta^4}{4!}-\cdots\right)+i\left(\theta -\frac{\theta^3}{3!}+\frac{\theta^5}{5!}+\cdots\right) \\ &=\cos\theta +i\sin\theta.\end{aligned}\]
Since we have determined that \[\label{eq:2}\cos\theta=\text{Re }e^{i\theta },\quad\sin\theta =\text{Im }e^{i\theta },\] we also have using \(\eqref{eq:1}\) and \(\eqref{eq:2}\), the frequently used expressions \[\cos\theta =\frac{e^{i\theta}+e^{-i\theta }}{2},\quad\sin\theta=\frac{e^{i\theta}-e^{-i\theta}}{2i}.\nonumber\]
The much celebrated Euler’s identity derives from \(e^{iθ} = \cos θ + i \sin θ\) by setting \(θ = π\), and using \(\cos π = −1\) and \(\sin π = 0\):
\[e^{i\pi}+1=0,\nonumber\] and this identity links the five fundamental numbers—\(0,\: 1,\: i,\: e\) and \(π\)—using three basic mathematical operations—addition, multiplication and exponentiation—only once.
The complex number \(z\) can be represented in the complex plane with \(\text{Re }z\) as the \(x\)-axis and \(\text{Im }z\) as the \(y\)-axis (see Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). This leads to the polar representation of \(z = x + iy\):
\[z=re^{i\theta},\nonumber\] where \(r = |z|\) and \(\tan θ = y/x\). We define \(\text{arg }z = θ\). Note that \(θ\) is not unique, though it is conventional to choose the value such that \(−π < θ ≤ π\), and \(θ = 0\) when \(r = 0\).
The polar form of a complex number can be useful when multiplying numbers. For example, if \(z_1=r_1e^{i\theta _1}\) and \(z_2=r_2e^{i\theta _2}\), then \(z_1z_2 = r_1r_2e^{i(θ_1+θ_2)}\). In particular, if \(r_2 = 1\), then multiplication of \(z_1\) by \(z_2\) spins the representation of \(z_1\) in the complex plane an angle \(θ_2\) counterclockwise.
Useful trigonometric relations can be derived using \(e^{iθ}\) and properties of the exponential function. The addition law can be derived from \[e^{i(x+y)}=e^{ix}e^{iy}.\nonumber\]
We have \[\begin{aligned} \cos(x + y) + i \sin(x + y) &= (\cos x + i \sin x)(\cos y + i \sin y) \\ &= (\cos x \cos y − \sin x \sin y) + i(\sin x \cos y + \cos x \sin y);\end{aligned}\] yielding \[ \cos(x + y) = \cos x \cos y − \sin x \sin y,\quad \sin(x + y) = \sin x \cos y + \cos x \sin y.\nonumber\]
De Moivre’s Theorem derives from \(e^{inθ} = (e^{iθ})^n\), yielding the identity \[\cos(nθ) + i \sin(nθ) = (\cos θ + i \sin θ)^n.\nonumber\]
For example, if \(n=2\), we derive \[\begin{aligned} \cos 2\theta +i\sin 2\theta &=(\cos\theta +i\sin\theta)^2 \\ &=(\cos^2\theta -\sin^2\theta)+2i\cos\theta\sin\theta.\end{aligned}\]
Therefore, \[\cos 2θ = \cos^2 θ − \sin^2 θ,\quad \sin 2θ = 2 \cos θ \sin θ.\nonumber\]
Write \(\sqrt{i}\) as a standard complex number
Solution
To solve this example, we first need to define what is meant by the square root of a complex number. The meaning of \(\sqrt{z}\) is the complex number whose square is \(z\). There will always be two such numbers, because \((\sqrt{z})^2 = (−\sqrt{z})^2 = z\). One can not define the positive square root because complex numbers are not defined as positive or negative.
We will show two methods to solve this problem. The first most straightforward method writes \[\sqrt{i}=x+iy.\nonumber\]
Squaring both sides, we obtain \[i=x^2-y^2+2xyi;\nonumber\] and equating the real and imaginary parts of this equation yields the two real equations \[x^2-y^2=0,\quad 2xy=1.\nonumber\]
The first equation yields \(y = ±x\). With \(y = x\), the second equation yields \(2x^2 = 1\) with two solutions \(x = ±\sqrt{2}/2\). With \(y = −x\), the second equation yields \(−2x^2 = 1\), which has no solution for real \(x\). We have therefore found that \[\sqrt{i}=\pm\left(\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}+i\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\right).\nonumber\]
The second solution method makes use of the polar form of complex numbers. The algebra required for this method is somewhat simpler, especially for finding cube roots, fourth roots, etc. We know that \(i = e^{iπ/2}\), but more generally because of the periodic nature of the polar angle, we can write \[i=e^{i(\frac{\pi}{2}+2\pi k)},\nonumber\] where \(k\) is an integer. We then have \[\sqrt{i}=i^{1/2}=e^{i(\frac{\pi}{4}+\pi k)}=e^{i\pi k}e^{i\pi /4}=\pm e^{i\pi /4},\nonumber\] where we have made use of the usual properties of the exponential function, and \(e^{iπk} = ±1\) for \(k\) even or odd. Converting back to standard form, we have \[\sqrt{i}=\pm (\cos \pi /4+i\sin \pi /4)=\pm\left(\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}+i\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\right).\nonumber\]
The fundamental theorem of algebra states that every polynomial equation of degree \(n\) has exactly \(n\) complex roots, counted with multiplicity. Two familiar examples would be \(x^2 − 1 = (x + 1)(x − 1) = 0\), with two roots \(x_1 = −1\) and \(x_2 = 1\); and \(x^2 − 2x + 1 = (x − 1)^2 = 0\), with one root \(x_1 = 1\) with multiplicity two.
The problem of finding the \(n\)th roots of unity is to solve the polynomial equation \[z^n=1\nonumber\] for the \(n\) complex values of \(z\). We have \(z_1 = 1\) for \(n = 1\); and \(z_1 = 1\), \(z_2 = −1\) for \(n = 2\). Beyond \(n = 2\), some of the roots are complex and here we find the cube roots of unity, that is, the three values of \(z\) that satisfy \(z^3 = 1\). Writing \(1 = e^{i2πk}\), where \(k\) is an integer, we have \[z=(1)^{1/3}=\left(e^{i2\pi k}\right)^{1/3}=e^{i2\pi k/3}=\left\{\begin{array}{l}1; \\ e^{i2\pi /3}; \\ e^{i4\pi /3}.\end{array}\right.\nonumber\]
Using \(\cos (2π/3) = −1/2,\) \(\sin (2π/3) = \sqrt{3}/2,\) \(\cos (4π/3) = −1/2,\) \(\sin (4π/3) = − \sqrt{3}/2,\) the three cube roots of unity are given by \[z_1=1,\quad z_2=-\frac{1}{2}+i\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2},\quad z_3=-\frac{1}{2}-i\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}.\nonumber\]
These three roots are evenly spaced around the unit circle in the complex plane, as shown in the figure below.


Describing Waves
Skills to Develop
- Describe the basic wave properties and resonance
- Distinguish the 2 types of wave interference
- Explain the significance of standing waves
Understanding waves is essential to understand the rest of this section, because we will be talking about many different types of waves. Light has wave properties, and standing electron waves explain many chemical properties.
Basic Properties of Waves
You have probably studied waves a little bit in a previous class. Waves include sound waves, ocean waves, and light waves. You have probably also studied sine and cosine waves in math class. Here will will review some of these topics. A wave is defined as "a periodic disturbance that moves through space." The disturbance could mean the high and low parts of an ocean wave, or the high and low pressure parts of a sound wave, etc. Periodic means that the disturbance repeats. As an example, consider a graph of y = sin(x). This is a wave. In this case, the amplitude is 1, because this is the distance between the average value of y and the maximum value. The wavelength is 2π. In non-mathematical waves, wavelength (abbreviated λ) is given in meters. A cycle is when the wave goes through one wavelength, so it ends at the same part of the wave where it started. The frequency of the wave is the number of cycles/second. So if you look at one position, you will see the wave go up and down at that point. The time it takes for the wave to go through one cycle at that point (from the top to the bottom to the top again) is the period . Frequency is 1/period, (we'll abbreviate it ν) and is usually reported in Hertz, which is just s -1 . You can think of it as cycles/second, but sometimes people use radians/second instead (you can convert between these using 1 cycle = 2π radians). Because wavelength is meters/cycle and frequency is cycles/second, wavelength x frequency is meters/second or velocity.
Wave Interference
This describes what happens when waves interact with each other, or overlap. The best way to see what this means is to watch: try watching the video on the Double Slit experiment to see waves interacting. Basically, to find the total wave made of several different waves, you just add the amplitude at each point. For instance, if the high part (amplitude 1, say) of one wave overlaps the low part of another (-2, say, this wave is bigger), the result is a smaller wave (-1, here), called destructive interference . If the 2 peaks (high parts) overlap, then the wave get bigger, called constructive interference . In the graph below, the sum wave has big peaks in regions of constructive interference, and small peaks in regions of destructive interference.
Standing Waves
An important type of wave for us is a standing wave . Standing waves are present in musical instruments, and are how the instrument produces sound of the correct frequency (or pitch, the term used in music). Standing waves don't travel, because they are confined in the instrument. For instance, in a stringed instrument like a guitar or a violin, the whole string vibrates, but the wave doesn't travel because it is trapped in the string, and the string has end points (where it is attached to the instrument, or held down by the musician's finger). Because the ends are fixed in place, the amplitude at these points has to stay zero, but the amplitude in the middle of the string can change. This limits the wavelengths possible to the string. The properties of the string, like its mass/length and tension, will determine the velocity, and the frequency is determined from the combination of wavelength and velocity.
What does velocity mean? The standing wave comes from the wave traveling down the string, reflecting off the fixed ends, reversing direction, reflecting again... when the frequency/wavelength/velocity all match up, the wave reflections reinforce each other, or interfere constructively, which is called resonance . Resonance generally describes a vibration that is reinforced by the particular properties of the surroundings because it matches their natural frequencies. When waves with the wrong wavelength bounce back they will cause destructive interference with themselves. The result is that the string can easily vibrate at its natural, resonant frequencies, but can't really vibrate at other frequencies because those waves cancel themselves out. For instance, a harp (an instrument with many strings) will laugh with you, because some of the strings will match some of the frequencies in your laugh and start to resonate, creating sound waves in the air. Here's a 1 min video of using resonance to break a glass. Here's an amazing video showing the location of 2-D standing waves using metal plates and the bow of a violin.
Outside Links
- Khan Academy: Introduction to Waves (13 min)
- Amplitude, Period, Frequency, and Wavelength of Periodic Waves (14 min)
- Brightstorm: Wave Interference (8 min)
- Veritasium: The Original Double Slit Experiment (8 min)
- Brightstorm: Standing Waves (10 min)


1.A: Review Questions
Complete as directed:
1. OSHA will permit variances from their standards under specialize circumstances. The two types of variances OSHA issues are ________ and ________ .
2. OSHA has established a penalty schedule for employer violations. The severity of the fine depends upon the severity of the violation. Penalties of up to $ ________ per violation can be proposed for willful violations.
3. OSHA recordkeeping requirements specify that any on the job accidents that result in the death of ________ or more employees or the hospitalization of ________ or more employees must be reported to the nearest OSHA office within ________ hours.
4. What are the three most frequently cited serious OSHA violations for the construction industry? General Industry?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Multiple Choice:
5. Which of the following would receive OSHA's top priority in terms of inspection:
a. ________ Catastrophes
b. ________ Fatalities
c. ________ Employee complaints
d. ________ Imminent danger conditions
6. Employers may take which of the following actions against employees who file a complaint with OSHA:
a. ________ Demotion
b. ________ Take away benefits
c. ________ Firing
d. ________ Transferring to another job
e. ________ Employers are not permitted to discriminate against workers with any of the above.
True or False: (Mark Correct Answer)
7. T or F
Employers must provide the employees all the necessary training required by the OSHA standards.
8. T or F
States may choose to adopt their own OSHA plans provided they ensure that the state plans are as effective as Federal OSHA.
9. T or F
All employees have the responsibility to comply with all OSHA regulations. Employees who don't comply with the OSHA regulations will be cited by OSHA.
10. T or F
OSHA may codify safety requirements from any standard or organization they choose.


8.5: Modern Nation-States
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
- Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, & Marjorie M. Snipes
- OpenStax
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Distinguish nation from state and describe how the two are linked in modern nation-states.
- Define the concept of imagined communities.
- Identify the importance of colonialism in shaping postcolonial nation-states.
- Describe the field of postcolonial studies.
- Explain the fragility of postcolonial states.
- Provide two examples of the consequences of globalization for national identities and politics.
Before 1400 or so, the world was a variegated array of empires, kingdoms, and chiefdoms with their tributary societies, loosely linked by trade with acephalous societies at the peripheries. The contemporary globe is an economically integrated order fundamentally organized into nation-states. How did this happen?
The nation-state is a hyphenated concept joining two entities, the state and the nation. As discussed earlier, the state is an institution exercising centralized rule over a territory. States have bureaucracies that make, interpret, and enforce law. States collect taxes and use them to build infrastructure and public works. States organize and regulate the economy. States maintain monopoly on the use of force through the military and the police. Because states tend to be militant and expansionist, they also tend to form multiethnic empires, dominated by one ruling group. Ancient empires did not attempt to absorb their tributary societies into one common ethnicity or peoplehood. Ancient states were defined by territory and bureaucracy alone, with no effort to achieve cultural uniformity.
The nation is a much more idealistic and cultural notion. A nation is a sense of cultural belonging or “peoplehood.” A cousin of the word native , the term nation refers to the original inhabitants of a territory, those who were born there. Nations often claim a common language as a sign of group membership. Nations tell a common origin story about where they came from, and they ritually commemorate that story in a ritual calendar of feasts and holidays. Nations claim a common destiny, a special future or sacred duty assigned to them by God. And finally, nations promote certain social norms and values, evaluating individuals and groups according to those ideals. The concept of nation is close to the old-fashioned notion of culture as communal and unchanging. A nation-state is a state with a common culture, in some cases a dominant ethnicity.
Political scientist Benedict Anderson (1983) argues that all modern states deliberately cultivate this sense of peoplehood for those living in the state. They draw from a large repertoire of methods to summon the loyalty of their citizens and reinforce the legitimacy of the state system. Through practices both within and beyond the government, state societies encourage their citizens to imagine themselves as part of a larger community of like-minded people in a harmonious society bound by a common history and common destiny. Government promotes national identity through practices such as elections, censuses, taxes, schools, and the dramas of law making, interpretation, and enforcement. Modern states rely on meaningful public rituals and symbols, such as flags, anthems, pledges of allegiance, national holidays, historical monuments, and national museums. Outside of government, the mass news media highlights the importance of the daily actions of the state, providing continual coverage that fixes the attention of citizens on the state as the central power in society.
As a citizen of a nation-state, you will never know all of the members of your national community. Such communities are far too large to generate organic social groups based on face-to-face interaction. Without all of the practices and rituals listed above, you might not even consider yourself a member of the larger political community at all. Because of this, Benedict Anderson refers to nations as imagined communities . By imagined , Anderson is not arguing that such communities are simply imaginary or not real, but rather that national identity is a powerful sense of unity that is strategically constructed by the state and mass media.
The nation-states of western Europe grew out of an assemblage of kingdoms and territories, some of them once incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. From the 15th to the 19th century, the states of Europe slowly emerged, one by one, as the various European powers entered into peace agreements that established international borders and sovereignty over territories. In general, the wars and treaties of political elites meant very little to the common farmers and traders living in these territories. Among English commoners, for instance, their sense of community was not much affected by the continually changing map of territories that constituted the state of England. What did make a difference for European commoners was the development of the printing press around 1440.
The printing press targeted a growing population of literate commoners. Driven by the capitalist profit motive, printers sought to reach the widest possible audience. Thus, they printed their books, pamphlets, and newspapers in local languages rather than in Latin, which was the pan-European language of elites and the Catholic Church. For each emerging nation-state, mass media helped standardize a diversity of dialects into one common language that could be used to spread common messages and carry out common practices such as schooling, law, political campaigns, and government bureaucracy.
Of course, the printing press did not singlehandedly create the modern nation-states of Europe. Around the same time that the press began churning out mass discourse, a rising class of capitalist merchants was gaining economic power, hoping to displace forms of political leadership associated with the church and the feudal monarchies. The felicitous coincidence of class motivation and printing technology combined to propel the development of European nation-states.
For Max Weber, the nation-state is associated with the complete formalization of rational-bureaucratic power—that is, power concentrated in bureaucratic institutions with legal authorities. The legal and political systems of nation-state bureaucracies often purport to be based on rules and procedures rather than social status or identities. For instance, in the American system, the ability to vote is based on legal citizenship, not social class, gender, or ethnic identity. However, legal and political bureaucracies reserve the power to determine who is and who is not a citizen as well as procedures for voter registration and voting in elections. Through these procedures, certain categories of people can be barred or discouraged from voting, resulting in racial or ethnic bias. If people of color are less likely to have state-sponsored photo identification (such as a driver’s license), then laws requiring such ID to vote may constitute forms of racial discrimination.
French philosopher Michel Foucault (1978, 2007) describes such power to define and control populations of citizens as biopower. A special form of power exercised in modern states, biopower includes ways of regulating the bodies of citizens, such as practices associated with birth, death, sexuality, wellness, illness, work, and leisure. The ability to count and categorize the inhabitants of a state is a form of biopower. The ability to confine people who have certain illnesses or bodily conditions or have engaged in certain behaviors is a form of biopower. When you walk through a body scanner in an airport security station, you are experiencing a form of biopower. While Weber focused on specific institutions in which power is concentrated, Foucault describes biopower as a diffuse form of social control, widely practiced by citizens both within and outside state bureaucracies. In American society, people routinely carry state-sponsored identification on their bodies (in a pocket or purse) wherever they go. The information on this identity card links to bureaucratic files associated with a person’s citizenship status, criminal history, voter registration, and many other data sets. Bureaucratic power is thereby melded to bodies of modern citizens.
Colonial and Postcolonial States
Outside of Europe, a similar array of kingdoms, chiefdoms, lineage orders, and village democracies patterned much of the rest of the world. Recall that ancient state societies had emerged at various times in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India, and Central and South America. Kingdoms were prevalent forms of centralized rule on most continents as well. All around these highly centralized societies were smaller chiefdoms and acephalous communities.
The continent of Africa, for instance, featured large, centralized states and kingdoms such as Egypt in the north; Aksum, Zimbabwe, and Swahili in the east; Luba and Kongo in central Africa; and a multitude of kingdoms across West Africa, including the great trade-based empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai (Monroe 2013). As noted in the discussion of acephalous societies, communities outside of these great kingdoms and states were politically organized, with forms of leadership, decision-making, and dispute settlement that maintained social order.
British historian Basil Davidson (1992) has argued that African societies such as the Asante and Zulu were proto-states , or states in formation, at the time of European colonization. Between 1400 and 1900—the time frame during which European nation-states were emerging—many African societies were undergoing similar developments as militant kingdoms consolidated large territories of empire. Based on intensive agriculture and extensive trade networks across the continent (and beyond), such highly centralized societies had state bureaucracies, multiethnic populations, systems of law, and monumental architecture. They also had dominant ideologies that emphasized the accumulation and appropriate distribution of wealth. In other words, many African societies were state societies well on their way to becoming modern nation-states.
Instead, colonialism happened. As we learned in Work, Life, Value: Economic Anthropology , the growth of industrial capitalism prompted the major European powers to seek access to raw materials and markets for their finished goods. Many set their sights on the mineral wealth and agricultural potential of Africa. European representatives met in Berlin in 1884–1885 to negotiate their territorial interests on the African continent. Laying out a map of the continent, they drew boundaries around the areas they hoped to control, though they knew very little about the land or peoples in much of those areas. They agreed that they could maintain exclusive claim on those areas only if they established government administrations to rule over the people who lived there.
By the early 20th century, Europeans had established colonial government over nearly all societies in Africa, subordinating local African political systems under European rule. As the whole point of colonialism was to secure resources to fuel European colonies, the colonial states established by Europeans were authoritarian, militaristic, and extractive. They invaded African territories and slaughtered Africans who would not submit to European rule. They forced Africans to work on colonial projects such as mines and roads. They made Africans pay taxes to fund the colonial enterprise. And they designed and controlled African economies to channel profits to European merchants and manufacturers. Oddly, as European nation-states pulled away from direct control over their own economies, European colonial states exerted complete control over colonial economies. Moreover, as European nation-states became increasingly participatory and democratic, European colonial states were managed in ways that were repressive, authoritarian, and openly violent.
Because of colonial rule, the two forces that contributed to the rise of the modern nation-state in Europe—a wealthy capitalist class and the printing press—were prevented from playing the same role in African societies. Africans were deliberately sidelined from the import-export trade and were not allowed to start factories, preventing a class of wealthy capitalists from developing under colonial rule. Instead, colonial rule established a two-tiered system of governance in the colonies consisting of a militant authoritarian state apparatus governing over local African political systems, including proto-states, chiefdoms, lineage orders, and a few scattered band societies. In places where there were chiefs, colonial officials used those chiefs to carry out colonial policies, often against the wishes and interests of the chiefs’ own people. In places where there were no chiefs, colonial authorities often forced Africans to pick one to perform those duties. In some colonies, African political institutions were banned altogether.
Anthropologists working on political issues in previously colonized states (such as most African ones) often combine historical and contemporary research to understand the intersection of local and foreign influences that make up this complex picture. In one form or another, colonial processes shaped the development of political systems in Africa, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, the Americas, and eastern Europe. The interdisciplinary field of postcolonial studies emerged in the 1970s, combining history, anthropology, political science, and area studies in an effort to understand the diversity, complexity, and legacy of colonialism throughout the world.
“Fragile” States and “Failed” States: The Legacies of Colonialism
The study of African politics provides an excellent example of the weaving of local culture and colonial history in the making of contemporary postcolonial societies. Journalists and political scientists frequently lament the political instability of African states and their susceptibility to popular unrest, ethnic conflicts, coups, and corrupt leadership. Some refer to African states as fragile states or failed states. A fragile state is a government that cannot adequately perform the essential functions of a state, such as maintaining law and order, building basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges, guaranteeing basic amenities such as electricity and clean water, and defending its citizens against violence. Such a state is fragile because it is susceptible to popular uprising, coups, civil war, and foreign invasion. A failed state is a state that can no longer perform any state functions at all .
Many anthropologists are critical of this simplistic and ahistorical way of stigmatizing non-Western governments. Rather than viewing the world as a set of discrete states in isolation, anthropologists pay attention to historical processes of interaction among states that have shaped global patterns of inequality. Examining the notions of state fragility and state failure through a critical lens, anthropologist note how some states have become more powerful while others have struggled to meet the needs of their peoples.
At various times over the past 30 years, many African states have qualified as fragile or failed, including Somalia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 2005, the Fragile States Index has ranked all states in the United Nations according to a set of key political, economic, and social indicators. Among the top 50 “most fragile” states in the 2020 index, all but two have experienced some form of colonial rule, and 35 of the top 50 most fragile states are African states. For more information on fragile states see Fragile States Index .
Why do so many African states face such deep-seated problems? How did colonialism contribute to the current fragility of postcolonial states?
As an example, take the postcolonial West African state of Ghana. What can an anthropological approach tell us about contemporary politics in Ghana? Most African countries won independence in the middle of the 20th century. Once free from colonial domination, new classes of African political elites won control over the colonial apparatus of the state, including its colonial institutions and boundaries and its bureaucratic rule over African chiefdoms and acephalous societies. In other words, at independence, the structure of the state as it had existed under colonialism remained essentially unchanged. The new leaders of these African states faced the near-impossible challenge of politically and economically restructuring their states while holding together the diverse groups existing within colonial boundaries, groups frequently pitted against one another under colonial rule. As an additional stress, finances were limited and unpredictable.
Leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister and, later, the first president of Ghana, sought to reform the state to make it serve the interests of Africans. He started schools and hospitals and built roads, bridges, and dams in an effort to do all the things a state should do to command the loyalty of its citizens. He used symbols of chiefdom to promote his own political power, even though he was not a chief or even from a royal lineage. His administration reduced the regional power of chiefs in an effort to enhance the centralized power of the state. Nkrumah was wildly popular at first, but over time, economic and regional factors challenged his rule. Some cocoa farmers felt they were being exploited to fund grand projects benefiting urban elites. Facing widespread criticism, Nkrumah became increasingly autocratic, throwing political opponents in prison.
In 1966, nine years after declaring Ghanaian independence from the British, Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown by a military coup that accused him of corruption and political repression. Over the next 15 years, Ghana endured four more military coups and two (brief) elected governments, an exceptionally long string of political instability. Each military coup justified its takeover by claiming the previous regime had been massively corrupt—and each one eventually became the target of the same accusations of corruption.
Political instability, popular unrest, military coups, corruption—a similar narrative describes the political development of many other African states. The commonality of political crisis in Africa has prompted many journalists and policy experts to wonder what is wrong with African states. What is the underlying problem? Postcolonial studies suggest that we must think both culturally and historically to understand how postcolonial societies function. Postcolonial states are very often fragile states not because they are doing something wrong but largely because of the legacies of colonialism.
In many African societies, colonialism tainted precolonial political systems while also constructing a repressive, authoritarian state. Recall our earlier discussion of checks and balances in the system of chieftaincy practiced by the Akans. Akan chiefs were expected to act in the interests of their people or else face the consequences. If a community became unhappy with their chief, the asafo could eventually depose the chief by force. Though asafo had many civic duties, the term itself literally means “war people,” referring to their role in defense and in deposing bad chiefs.
British colonial rule put Akan chiefs in a contradictory position. Forced to act as agents of colonial rule, chiefs were ordered to collect colonial taxes, supply teams of forced labor, and enforce unpopular colonial laws. At the same time, chiefs were presented with new economic opportunities in the colonial system—such as selling off land and pocketing the money—that further undermined their commitment to the welfare of their own people. As their positions became increasingly conflicted, some chiefs succumbed to the temptations of embezzlement, extortion, and authoritarianism.
Fed up with these corrupt chiefs, many asafo groups took action. In the 1920s, a spate of asafo uprisings deposed unpopular chiefs throughout the southern part of the colony. Fearing the consequences of African popular protest, British colonial officials quickly suppressed the asafo uprisings and forbid the asafo from any further action against their chiefs. So, to be clear, British colonialism corrupted the institution of African chieftaincy and then forbade the exercise of African protest against that corruption.
Now jump ahead to that long period of political instability in Ghana in the latter half of the 20th century. Ghanaian anthropologist Maxwell Owusu (1989) argues that this colonial history of corruption and protest has shaped postcolonial politics in Ghana. Just as the pressures of colonialism undermined and tainted the Akan chieftaincy, the near-impossible mission of the postcolonial state undermined and tainted the Ghanaian presidency. Just as asafo groups were motivated by allegations of corruption to rise up and depose their chiefs, the Ghanaian military rose up time and time again to depose Ghanaian leaders accused of corruption.
Nation-States and Globalization
In the latter part of the 20th century, increasing global flows of trade, people, technologies, communication, and ideas all coalesced in a strong but uneven wave of globalization rippling across the globe. To be clear, the world has always been integrated by such flows, but advanced technologies combined with the profit drive of corporate capitalism forced a sudden acceleration of these processes roughly from the late 1970s into the 2000s.
As people, objects, and messages began to travel across national boundaries with increasing frequency and speed, many scholars argued that nation-states would lose their relevance as structures of economic and political order for their populations. Some scholars thought that globalization would result in the erasure of cultural and national differences, replacing global diversity with a uniform culture based on American corporate capitalism and consumerism. Would globalization result in the “McDonaldization” of the world?
As global researchers with a powerful toolkit of cross-cultural methods, anthropologists were uniquely poised to address this question. In short, the answer was an emphatic “No!” Rather than diminishing the importance of local structures and identities, globalization has transformed and enhanced them. Consider the increasing popularity of global travel. Why would anyone go anywhere if things were the same wherever you went? Many nation-states invest heavily in their distinctive cultures, monuments, and environmental features in order to attract global travelers keen to experience something new and different.
Consider another strong force of globalization, the increasing tendency for large corporate manufacturers based in the United States to relocate their factories to poorer countries where labor is cheaper and environmental regulation may be weaker. Initially, this technique undermined the power of nation-states and local communities to challenge corporate practices. Over time, however, the resulting loss of well-paid working-class jobs in the United States has generated a great deal of political controversy. This loss of working-class jobs has resulted in rising levels of inequality in American society. Some politicians call for the American government to create incentives and regulations to keep American jobs within American borders. Ironically, then, globalization may provoke citizens to enhance the power of their nation-states.
In poorer countries, globalization has resulted in increased environmental damage as globalized industries take advantage of looser regulations. Industrial pollution and the dumping of hazardous waste by global corporations pose serious threats to the health of local communities in many non-Western countries. Responding to these threats, local peoples turn to their governments to enact environmental protections. Moreover, the forces of globalization have created a strong network of transnational resistance to environmentally destructive practices with organizations such as the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
In the wake of Benedict Anderson’s (1983) formulation of nation-states as imagined communities, many anthropologists have considered how globalization creates transnational forms of imagined community alongside the nation. Cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai (1996) argues that globalization freed popular imagination from the constraints of the nation, creating multiple realms of imagined community cross-cutting national borders. Appadurai postulates five dimensions of global flows, constructing realms of activity and imagination: ethnicity, technology, finance, media, and ideology. The global environmental movement, for instance, constitutes a transnational imagined community based on ideas of environmental sustainability. Through media and communication technologies, people all over the world join in the discussions and activities of this imagined community.
Appadurai has also pointed to the darker consequences of globalization for national and transnational politics. While globalization might seem to be associated with free flows and flexibility, the forces of transnationalism have also resulted in a proliferation of forms of political violence, especially violence against ethnic, racial, and religious minority groups (2006). With increasing global flows, many communities are subject to increased cultural mixing and pressures for change. With rising immigration, for instance, national communities may be forced to reformulate notions of common language, practices, and values. While some citizens of a national community may embrace a more cosmopolitan and multicultural identity, others may experience a sense of insecurity and threat to their way of life. This insecurity is particularly keen among those working-class and poor groups that suffer from the increased inequality brought about by globalization. Appadurai describes how cultural and economic insecurity can provoke majority ethnic and racial groups to acts of violence against minority groups in their national communities. Seeking an elusive and imaginary national “purity,” dominant groups seek to reassert their power over political, economic, and cultural institutions. Anti-immigrant politics in the United States and anti-American politics in some non-Western countries are both dangerous and sometimes violent responses to the common forces of globalization.
Profiles in Anthropology
Laura Nader (1930-)
“What was proven in the last election is that the United States is not an electoral democracy, by which I mean the two parties’ stranglehold on power has made it impossible for other voices to be heard.” —Laura Nader (in Nkrumah 2005)
Personal History: Born and raised in Winsted, Connecticut, Laura Nader grew up in a family with strong commitments to community and public service. Her mother, Rose, was a politically minded schoolteacher who frequently wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper. Her father, Nathra, owned a restaurant where local people met to talk about community and political issues. Laura’s parents challenged her and her siblings to debate political issues and develop their own opinions.
Area of Anthropology: Nader earned a BA in Latin American studies from Wells College (Aurora, New York) and then went on to study anthropology at Harvard, earning a PhD from Radcliffe College in 1961. Nader’s areas of interest include politics and law, in particular how the legal-political system operates as a form of social control.
Accomplishments in the Field: For her dissertation, Nader studied local courts in the Zapotec village of Talea in southwestern Mexico (1990). She discovered that the legal system in Talea was shaped by a strong emphasis on harmony rather than conviction and punishment. When conflicts arose, the courts brought people together face to face to engage in discussions aimed at reaching reconciliation and balanced solutions. Rather than focusing on blame and criminality, the legal process sought to restore community solidarity and consensus in the wake of the rift. Nader traced this “harmony ideology” to the context of colonial conquest by the Spanish, showing how missionaries and colonial administrators emphasized the moral value of harmony in order to dominate and pacify Indigenous peoples. She argued that local peoples in villages such as Talea have appropriated harmony ideology to their own ends, adopting methods of conflict resolution in order to prevent outside authorities from interfering in their affairs.
Bringing the lessons of her research back home to the American legal system, Nader argued that harmony ideology operates as a strong force against Americans seeking justice against large corporations. Though the American system is focused much more on blame and conviction, large corporations are able to evade the consequences of wrongful actions by using sophisticated legal procedures and forcing monetary settlements. Many such settlements include stipulations preventing people from publicly talking about the controversy, essentially purchasing the silence of complainants. Though governed by harmony ideology, the goal of such legal processes is not the restoration of good relations among community members but rather the forcing of capitulation and silence on complainants. Nader’s comparative work on the law in Talea and the United States is vividly portrayed in the ethnographic film Little Injustices (1981).
Importance of Their Work: In 1960, Nader was the first woman hired for a tenure-track anthropology position at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1984 to 2010, she taught an innovative and popular course called Controlling Processes, exploring dominant ideologies and techniques of power in complex industrialized societies such as the United States (the author of this chapter took this course at Berkeley in 1990). Nader’s own research identifies controlling processes that shape law and justice in many societies, exploring how citizens participate and challenge these hegemonic legal processes. Throughout her career, she has worked to make legal anthropology a force for justice reaching beyond the scholarly arena into public life. She has been a visiting professor in law schools at Yale, Stanford, and Harvard.


5.1: Introduction
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
- Vicki Mayer
- University of California Press
Over the past twenty years, regional governments around the world and global film industry corporations have collaborated, if not colluded, to provide a steady stream of workers for film location shooting through legislated incentives. Seeking to reduce labor costs in relation to other fixed expenses, industry executives have successfully used incentives to reduce budgets. Meanwhile, regional policymakers have looked to film and television production as a panacea for anemic economic growth and declining employment indices. 1 Together, governments and industry have made labor into one of the primary fault lines in the political economy of film production.
For the former constituents, film employment may boost jobs numbers on annual reports but have not produced sustainable economic growth. As critics of film incentive policies point out, the vast majority of these film jobs have been transient, low-wage, or both. 2 At the upper end of the employment spectrum, the highest-skilled workers moved with productions. They have had the same economic impact as business elites, taking their earnings with them as they move from one fancy hotel to another. The larger proportion of film location workers, however, has not been so mobile. These workers—mostly in trades and services—have seen wages driven down. The adoption of right-to-work laws in the United States has put film unions in competition with antishop labor, especially in states that lack sufficient members to meet demand. Economic development offices frequently count service jobs, such as hotel, catering, and transportation staff, as multiplier results of the film economy, knowing that voters will not see the vast quantity of these low-wage, high-turnover jobs as quality careers. To mitigate the political fallout that film incentive policy has caused since the 2009 recession, local boosters typically promise that film jobs will attract other kinds of financial investors in the future, espousing a kind of optimism that has made the policy itself as precarious as the jobs it has generated.
For the film industry, the downward pressures for more abundant reserves of cheaper laborers have not abated. Producers have faced the stress of raising money and cutting costs. They have to weigh the money saved by producing outside Southern California or another major center against the investment in transporting resources, particularly the highest-skilled workers, to the location. Production budgets for labor are stratified, with decreasing studio investment distributed disproportionately to a few workers with star or brand name recognition. The move to reality television has marked an increasing reliance on talent that is either unpaid or underpaid. Volunteers, in the guise of endless levels of interns and assistants, have become part of the production apparatus. Producers have begun to face difficulties in stimulating a labor pool motivated to work for free. Workers have become jaded, even litigious; they now know that these exploited forms of labor rarely lead to stable career paths, particularly outside a global media and entertainment industry hub. In the face of a potential policy upheaval, the uncertainty of finding workers has to be strategized in new ways.
Figure 1: Filming of the HBO television drama Treme in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo credit: Derek Bridges, via Wikimedia Commons).
This chapter examines one strategy in the face of this emerging uncertainty in the current film labor regime. Specifically, it looks at the New Orleans–based production of the quality HBO television drama Treme (2010–2013) and its ability to create a moral economy for low-paying or unpaid film jobs. This strategy relied on a particular kind of call to work as a form of boosterism for the local economy and the culture that both sustains and emerges from it. The strategy succeeded because it fit well in the context of the current political economy as well as an imagined community of like-minded citizen-workers in the future. Based on conversations with series workers, primarily extras, this chapter provides a lesson about the labor strategy based on those workers who occupy the most precarious jobs in locational shooting.


2.1: Pure Substances and Mixtures
In Chapter 1 , we learned that atoms are composed of electrons, protons and neutrons and that the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom (the atomic number) defines the identity of that element. For example, an atom with six protons in its nucleus is a carbon atom; seven protons make s it nitrogen; eight protons makes it oxygen, and so on. The periodic table organizes these elements by atomic number and there are currently over 118 known elements.
Because there are clearly more than 118 different types of substances in the world around us, we can see that most substances that we encounter are not pure elements, but are composed of different elements combined together. In chemistry, we refer to these as compounds , which we define as a substance that results from the combination of two or more elements in a constant ratio. For example, water is a compound composed of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom. We can show the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in this compound by using subscripts on the chemical symbols for each element. Thus, water (two hydrogens and one oxygen) can be written as H 2 O. This shorthand notation for water is called a chemical formula . For any compound, the chemical formula tells us the elements that are present and the ratio of the elements to each other. Later we will see that water is a member of a special sub-type of compound, called a molecular compound. In a molecule , the atoms are not only bonded together in a constant ratio, but they are bonded in a specific geometric arrangement as well. In the following chapter, we will look more closely at how elements are bonded together in compounds, but first we will examine some of the properties of chemical substances.
When we speak of a pure substance , we are speaking of something that contains only one kind of matter. This can either be one single element or one single compound, but every sample of this substance that you examine must contain exactly the same thing with a fixed, definite set of properties. If we take two or more pure substances and mix them together, we refer to this as a mixture. Mixtures can always be separated again into component pure substances,because bonding among the atoms of the constituent substances does not occur in a mixture. Whereas a compound may have very different properties from the elements that compose it, in mixtures the substances keep their individual properties. For example sodium is a soft shiny metal and chlorine is a pungent green gas. These two elements can combine to form the compound, sodium chloride (table salt) which is a white, crystalline solid having none of the properties of either sodium or chlorine. If, however, you mixed table salt with ground pepper, you would still be able to see the individual grains of each of them and, if you were patient, you could take tweezers and carefully separate them back into pure salt and pure pepper.
Mixtures fall into two types, based on the uniformity of their composition. The first, called a heterogeneous mixture , is distinguished by the fact that different samples of the mixture may have a different composition. For example, if you open a container of mixed nuts and pull out a series of small samples and examine them, the exact ratio of peanuts-to-almonds in the samples will always be slightly different, no matter how carefully you mix them. Common examples of heterogeneous mixtures include dirt, gravel and vegetable soup.
In a homogeneous mixture, on the other hand, any sample that you examine will have exactly the same composition as any other sample. Within chemistry, the most common type of homogeneous mixture is a solution which is one substance dissolved completely within another. Think of a solution of pure sugar dissolved in pure water. Any sample of the solution that you examine will have exactly the same ratio of sugar-to-water, which means that it is a homogeneous mixture. Even in a homogeneous mixture, the properties of the components are generally recognizable. Thus, sugar-water tastes sweet (like sugar) and is wet (like water). Unlike a compound, which has a fixed, definite ratio, in a mixture one can vary the amounts of each component. For example, when you add a little sugar to one cup of tea and a lot of sugar to another, each cup will contain a homogeneous mixture of tea and sugar but they will have a different taste. If you add so much sugar that some does not dissolve and stays on the bottom, however, the mixture is no longer homogeneous, it is heterogeneous;you could easily separate the two components.


10.8: Summary and Review
Summary
Relationships are complex, and getting what you want out of them can be tricky. In this chapter, we have discussed how interpersonal communication contributes to coming together, maintaining relationships, and coming apart. No matter what type of relationship we are dealing with, interpersonal communication is the critical tool that allows us to navigate all the ups, downs, and in-betweens in our families, friendships, work relationships, and romantic partnerships.
As you read in this chapter, one of the most important strategies for building relationships is self-disclosure. Knowing how to follow the unwritten rules of early relationship development, without over or under self-disclosing, helps us build trust with a new relationship, whether platonic, work-related, or romantic. Long-term relationships benefit from healthy, positive communication. As described both in Gottman’s work and emotionally focused therapy, the way that we communicate with our romantic partners determines relational satisfaction, and ultimately the fate of the relationship.
Remember Yasmeen from our introduction? We left her at the Thanksgiving table, with the decision of how to proceed when asked to say a prayer in a home that practices a different religion than her own. Yasmeen has many options. She could say a non-denominational prayer or self-disclose that she does not know a prayer appropriate for Thanksgiving. She could ask for support and have another person at the table start the prayer and she could add something of her own. She could also ask the family to say a prayer for her partner, who is currently deployed with the armed forces. This is something everyone at the table can agree with.
What advice would you give to Yasmeen? In your own life, you will encounter many situations like this, especially as you are meeting new people from diverse backgrounds. Also, as you build your lifelong relationships with friends and loved ones, we hope that this chapter has provided some guidance, strategies, and tools to support healthy communication.
Discussion Questions
- Considering a past relationship, did you experience all of Knapp and Vangelisti’s relationship stages? Did you skip some, or stay in one stage longer than others?
- When it comes to terminating relationships, do you believe relationships can end in a positive way? If so, what are effective and positive ways to end a relationship?
- As you reflect on the relationships covered in this chapter (family, friends, romantic partners, and work), which category do you find the most challenging? Why? What communication tools from this chapter might help you to improve your satisfaction in these relationships? How will you apply them?


1.4: Meter and Time Signatures
Meter involves the way multiple pulse layers work together to organize music in time. Standard meters in Western music can be classified into simple meters and compound meters , as well as duple , triple , and quadruple meters.
Duple, triple, and quadruple classifications result from the relationship between the counting pulse and the pulses that are slower than the counting pulse. In other words, it is a question of grouping : how many beats occur in each bar. If counting-pulse beats group into twos, we have duple meter; groups of three, triple meter; groups of four, quadruple meter. Conducting patterns are determined based on these classifications.
Simple and compound classifications result from the relationship between the counting pulse and the pulses that are faster than the counting pulse. In other words, it is a question of division : does each beat divide into two equal parts, or three equal parts. Meters that divide the beat into two equal parts are simple meters ; meters that divide the beat into three equal parts are compound meters .
Thus, there are six types of standard meter in Western music:
- simple duple (beats group into two, divide into two)
- simple triple (beats group into three, divide into two)
- simple quadruple (beats group into four, divide into two)
- compound duple (beats group into two, divide into three)
- compound triple (beats group into three, divide into three)
- compound quadruple (beats group into four, divide into three)
In a time signature, the top number (and the top number only!) describes the type of meter. Following are the top numbers that always correspond to each type of meter:
- simple duple: 2
- simple triple: 3
- simple quadruple: 4
- compound duple: 6
- compound triple: 9
- compound quadruple: 12
Notating meter
In simple meters , the bottom number of the time signature corresponds to the type of note corresponding to a single beat . If a simple meter is notated such that each quarter note corresponds to a beat, the bottom number of the time signature is 4. If a simple meter is notated such that each half note corresponds to a beat, the bottom number of the time signature is 2. If a simple meter is notated such that each eighth note corresponds to a beat, the bottom number of the time signature is 8. And so on.
In compound meters , the bottom number of the time signature corresponds to the type of note corresponding to a single division of the beat . If a compound meter is notated such that each dotted-quarter note corresponds to a beat, the eighth note is the division of the beat, and thus the bottom number of the time signature is 8. If a compound meter is notated such that each dotted-half note corresponds to a beat, the quarter note is the division of the beat, and thus the bottom number of the time signature is 4. Note that because the beat is divided into three in a compound meter, the beat is always three times as long as the division note, and the beat is always dotted .
Hearing meter
For a more detailed explanation of meter with an emphasis on hearing and recognizing standard meters, see the following two videos:
Meter - counting pulse from Kris Shaffer on Vimeo .
Meter - grouping and division from Kris Shaffer on Vimeo .
Following are the musical examples referenced in the above videos:
"Come Out Clean," Jump Little Children
"With or Without You," U2
"The Tourist," Radiohead
Examples
Simple duple meter
Symphony No. 5, Movement IV., Ludwig van Beethoven
"Idioteque," Radiohead
Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1, Movement I., Ludwig van Beethoven
Simple triple meter
String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421, Movement III., Wolfgang A. Mozart
Symphony No. 90 in C Major, Hob: I:90, Movement III., Joseph Haydn
Simple quadruple meter
"With or Without You," U2
"Come Out Clean," Jump Little Children
"Shh," Imogen Heap
Compound duple meter
"Shiver," Radiohead
Strong Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, K. 458, "The Hunt," Movement I., Wolfgang A. Mozart
Compound triple meter
"The Tourist," Radiohead
Sonata No. 42 in G Major, Hob. XVI:27, Movement II., Joseph Haydn
Compound quadruple meter
"Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3," Muse
Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2, "Moonlight," Movement I., Ludwig van Beethoven
St. Matthew Passion, No. 1, Chorus, "Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen," J.S. Bach


32.3: Lipase Inhibitors
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
- 32.3.1 Identify the characteristics of lipase inhibitor drugs used for weight management.
- 32.3.2 Explain the indications, actions, adverse reactions, and interactions of lipase inhibitor drugs used for weight management.
- 32.3.3 Describe nursing implications of lipase inhibitor drugs used for weight management.
- 32.3.4 Explain the client education related to lipase inhibitor drugs used for weight management.
Lipase is a digestive enzyme that enables the body to digest and systemically absorb dietary fat. Lipase inhibitors bind to gastric and pancreatic lipases in the intestine. This prevents hydrolysis of dietary triglycerides into monoglycerides and fatty acids and the absorption of dietary fat. Currently, orlistat is the only one drug approved by the FDA as a lipase inhibitor (Yip & Ambizas, 2019).
Orlistat
Orlistat ( Alli , Xenical ) is a nonsystemic gastric lipase inhibitor that reduces intestinal absorption of dietary fat by approximately 30%. Orlistat binds to lipases, reducing absorption of dietary fat while also demonstrating the ability to lower total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, fasting glucose, and insulin concentrations. Additionally, client blood pressure measurements often improve (Sahebkar et al., 2018).
Orlistat is available as an oral capsule. Alli is available over the counter, whereas Xenical is available through a prescription. Capsules are taken up to three times a day, up to 1 hour before meals containing fat.
Adverse Effects and Contraindications
Orlistat is not systemically absorbed, so the most common side effects are gastrointestinal: flatus, abdominal pain/discomfort, nausea, oily rectal discharge, fecal urgency, diarrhea, and fatty/oily stool. The adverse GI effects often subside within 4 weeks.
Orlistat is contraindicated in clients with hypersensitivity to the drug. It is also contraindicated in conditions such as gallbladder disease, cholestasis, malabsorption X drug syndrome, hypothyroidism, anorexia/bulimia nervosa, and organic causes of obesity. Orlistat is contraindicated in pregnant clients. It should be used cautiously with gastrointestinal diseases, nephrolithiasis, hyperoxaluria, and known dietary deficiencies of vitamins A, D, E, and K. Providers should exercise caution in older adults, lactating clients, and children under age 12.
Table 32.3 is a drug prototype table for lipase inhibitors featuring orlistat. It lists drug class, mechanism of action, adult dosage, indications, therapeutic effects, drug and food interactions, adverse effects, and contraindications.
|
Drug Class
Lipase inhibitor Mechanism of Action Reduces pancreatic and gastric lipase, thereby reducing absorption of fat in the GI system |
Drug Dosage
One 120 mg capsule with each fat-containing meal (3 times per day). |
|
Indications
Overweight and obesity Therapeutic Effects Reduces overall weight Reduces GI absorption of dietary fat |
Drug Interactions
Pravastatin Vitamins A, D, E, and K HIV medications |
|
Adverse Effects
Flatus Oily rectal discharge Fecal urgency Fatty stool Headache |
Contraindications
Hypersensitivity to drug Malabsorption syndrome Cholecystitis Gallbladder disease Pregnancy Caution: GI disorders Vitamin deficiencies, especially A, D, E, and K Children under age 12 |
Nursing Implications
The nurse should do the following for clients who are taking orlistat:
- Consistently monitor the client’s weight, blood pressure, and serum lab values associated with obesity (e.g., lipids, glucose, and hepatic function tests).
- Monitor clients with diabetes closely for hypoglycemia and/or the need for medication reduction or elimination. With weight loss, a client’s need for medications to treat diabetes may be reduced or eliminated.
- Monitor clients with hypertension closely. With weight loss, a client’s need for medications to treat hypertension may be reduced or eliminated.
- Monitor client’s weight every 3 months for dosage changes as needed.
- Provide client teaching regarding the drug and when to call the health care provider. See below for client teaching guidelines.
Client Teaching Guidelines
The client taking orlistat should:
- Distribute daily fat intake evenly across all three meals.
- Be educated to supplement with a multivitamin that also contains vitamins A, D, E, and K because lipase inhibitors may prevent absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin supplements should be taken 2 hours before or after taking a lipase inhibitor.
- If taking levothyroxine concurrently, take orlistat 4 hours before or 4 hours after levothyroxine to avoid reducing the serum availability of levothyroxine.
- Report low blood glucose levels to their health care provider because their medication may need to be readjusted or eliminated with weight loss.
The client taking orlistat should not:
- Eat very high-fat meals, to minimize uncomfortable GI effects.
Nonpharmacological Lipase Inhibitors
Nonpharmacological natural lipase inhibitors are present in various foods and supplements. Ox bile supplements have lipase inhibitor activity and are taken in much the same way as orlistat. Although ox bile supplements are considered safe, they may cause uncomfortable GI symptoms and deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K). Ox bile supplements have been used for centuries in Eastern medicine to support various GI symptoms.
Less-invasive natural lipase inhibitors include caffeine, green coffee bean extract, tea (especially green tea), panax ginseng, soybeans, apples, grapevines, yerba mate, mulberry extract, and peanuts. These food items and supplements may contain several natural lipase inhibitors such as flavonoids, lactones, and polyphenols. However, any weight-loss supplements should only be used under the guidance of a weight-management health care professional.
Special Considerations
Losing Weight
Finding a health care professional with experience in weight loss improves a person’s long-term weight-loss and management success. Different modalities work for different clients. An experienced weight-loss health care professional can develop an individualized weight-loss plan that includes a foundation of meal planning and exercise.
(Source: Perrault, 2022)


1.5.5: Buffers
Learning Objectives
- Describe the composition and function of acid–base buffers
A mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base (or a mixture of a weak base and its conjugate acid) is called a buffer solution, or a buffer . Buffer solutions resist a change in pH when small amounts of a strong acid or a strong base are added (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). A solution of acetic acid (\(\ce{CH3COOH}\) and sodium acetate \(\ce{CH3COONa}\)) is an example of a buffer that consists of a weak acid and its salt. An example of a buffer that consists of a weak base and its salt is a solution of ammonia (\(\ce{NH3(aq)}\)) and ammonium chloride (\(\ce{NH4Cl(aq)}\)).
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): (a) The unbuffered solution on the left and the buffered solution on the right have the same pH (pH 8); they are basic, showing the yellow color of the indicator methyl orange at this pH. (b) After the addition of 1 mL of a 0.01-M HCl solution, the buffered solution has not detectably changed its pH but the unbuffered solution has become acidic, as indicated by the change in color of the methyl orange, which turns red at a pH of about 4. (credit: modification of work by Mark Ott)
How Buffers Work
A mixture of acetic acid and sodium acetate is a buffer because it contains both the weak acid and its salt. Hence, it acts to keep the hydronium ion concentration (and the pH) almost constant by the addition of either a small amount of a strong acid or a strong base. If we add a base such as sodium hydroxide, the hydroxide ions react with the few hydronium ions present. Then more of the acetic acid reacts with water, restoring the hydronium ion concentration almost to its original value:
The pH changes very little. If we add an acid such as hydrochloric acid, most of the hydronium ions from the hydrochloric acid combine with acetate ions, forming acetic acid molecules:
Thus, there is very little increase in the concentration of the hydronium ion, and the pH remains practically unchanged (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).
A mixture of ammonia and ammonium chloride is a buffer because it also contains the salt of the weak base. If we add a base (hydroxide ions), ammonium ions in the buffer react with the hydroxide ions to form ammonia and water and reduce the hydroxide ion concentration almost to its original value:
If we add an acid (hydronium ions), ammonia molecules in the buffer mixture react with the hydronium ions to form ammonium ions and reduce the hydronium ion concentration almost to its original value:
Buffer Capacity
Buffer solutions do not have an unlimited capacity to keep the pH relatively constant (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). If we add so much base to a buffer that the weak acid is exhausted, no more buffering action toward the base is possible. On the other hand, if we add an excess of acid, the weak base would be exhausted, and no more buffering action toward any additional acid would be possible. In fact, we do not even need to exhaust all of the acid or base in a buffer to overwhelm it; its buffering action will diminish rapidly as a given component nears depletion.
The buffer capacity is the amount of acid or base that can be added to a given volume of a buffer solution before the pH changes significantly, usually by one unit. Buffer capacity depends on the amounts of the weak acid and its conjugate base that are in a buffer mixture. For example, 1 L of a solution that is 1.0 M in acetic acid and 1.0 M in sodium acetate has a greater buffer capacity than 1 L of a solution that is 0.10 M in acetic acid and 0.10 M in sodium acetate even though both solutions have the same pH. The first solution has more buffer capacity because it contains more acetic acid and acetate ion.
Selection of Suitable Buffer Mixtures
There are two useful rules of thumb for selecting buffer mixtures:
-
A good buffer mixture should have about equal concentrations of both of its components. A buffer solution has generally lost its usefulness when one component of the buffer pair is less than about 10% of the other. Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\) shows an acetic acid-acetate ion buffer as base is added. The initial pH is 4.74. A change of 1 pH unit occurs when the acetic acid concentration is reduced to 11% of the acetate ion concentration.
Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): The graph, an illustration of buffering action, shows change of pH as an increasing amount of a 0.10-M NaOH solution is added to 100 mL of a buffer solution in which, initially, [CH 3 CO 2 H] = 0.10 M and \(\ce{[CH3CO2- ]}=0.10\:M\).
- Weak acids and their salts are better as buffers for pHs less than 7; weak bases and their salts are better as buffers for pHs greater than 7.
Blood is an important example of a buffered solution, with the principal acid and ion responsible for the buffering action being carbonic acid, H 2 CO 3 , and the bicarbonate ion, \(\ce{HCO3-}\). When an excess of hydrogen ion enters the blood stream, it is removed primarily by the reaction:
When an excess of the hydroxide ion is present, it is removed by the reaction:
The pH of human blood thus remains very near 7.35, that is, slightly basic. Variations are usually less than 0.1 of a pH unit. A change of 0.4 of a pH unit is likely to be fatal.
Lawrence Joseph Henderson and Karl Albert Hasselbalch
Lawrence Joseph Henderson (1878–1942) was an American physician, biochemist and physiologist, to name only a few of his many pursuits. He obtained a medical degree from Harvard and then spent 2 years studying in Strasbourg, then a part of Germany, before returning to take a lecturer position at Harvard. He eventually became a professor at Harvard and worked there his entire life. He discovered that the acid-base balance in human blood is regulated by a buffer system formed by the dissolved carbon dioxide in blood. He wrote an equation in 1908 to describe the carbonic acid-carbonate buffer system in blood. Henderson was broadly knowledgeable; in addition to his important research on the physiology of blood, he also wrote on the adaptations of organisms and their fit with their environments, on sociology and on university education. He also founded the Fatigue Laboratory, at the Harvard Business School, which examined human physiology with specific focus on work in industry, exercise, and nutrition.
In 1916, Karl Albert Hasselbalch (1874–1962), a Danish physician and chemist, shared authorship in a paper with Christian Bohr in 1904 that described the Bohr effect, which showed that the ability of hemoglobin in the blood to bind with oxygen was inversely related to the acidity of the blood and the concentration of carbon dioxide. The pH scale was introduced in 1909 by another Dane, Sørensen, and in 1912, Hasselbalch published measurements of the pH of blood. In 1916, Hasselbalch expressed Henderson’s equation in logarithmic terms, consistent with the logarithmic scale of pH, and thus the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation was born.
Medicine: The Buffer System in Blood
The normal pH of human blood is about 7.4. The carbonate buffer system in the blood uses the following equilibrium reaction:
\[\ce{CO2}(g)+\ce{2H2O}(l)⇌\ce{H2CO3}(aq)⇌\ce{HCO3-}(aq)+\ce{H3O+}(aq)\]
The concentration of carbonic acid, H 2 CO 3 is approximately 0.0012 M , and the concentration of the hydrogen carbonate ion, \(\ce{HCO3-}\), is around 0.024 M . Using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and the p K a of carbonic acid at body temperature, we can calculate the pH of blood:
\[\mathrm{pH=p\mathit{K}_a+\log\dfrac{[base]}{[acid]}=6.1+\log\dfrac{0.024}{0.0012}=7.4}\]
The fact that the H 2 CO 3 concentration is significantly lower than that of the \(\ce{HCO3-}\) ion may seem unusual, but this imbalance is due to the fact that most of the by-products of our metabolism that enter our bloodstream are acidic. Therefore, there must be a larger proportion of base than acid, so that the capacity of the buffer will not be exceeded.
Lactic acid is produced in our muscles when we exercise. As the lactic acid enters the bloodstream, it is neutralized by the \(\ce{HCO3-}\) ion, producing H 2 CO 3 . An enzyme then accelerates the breakdown of the excess carbonic acid to carbon dioxide and water, which can be eliminated by breathing. In fact, in addition to the regulating effects of the carbonate buffering system on the pH of blood, the body uses breathing to regulate blood pH. If the pH of the blood decreases too far, an increase in breathing removes CO 2 from the blood through the lungs driving the equilibrium reaction such that [H 3 O + ] is lowered. If the blood is too alkaline, a lower breath rate increases CO 2 concentration in the blood, driving the equilibrium reaction the other way, increasing [H + ] and restoring an appropriate pH.
Summary
A solution containing a mixture of an acid and its conjugate base, or of a base and its conjugate acid, is called a buffer solution. Unlike in the case of an acid, base, or salt solution, the hydronium ion concentration of a buffer solution does not change greatly when a small amount of acid or base is added to the buffer solution. The base (or acid) in the buffer reacts with the added acid (or base).
Glossary
- buffer capacity
- amount of an acid or base that can be added to a volume of a buffer solution before its pH changes significantly (usually by one pH unit)
- buffer
- mixture of a weak acid or a weak base and the salt of its conjugate; the pH of a buffer resists change when small amounts of acid or base are added
Contributors and Attributions
-
Paul Flowers (University of North Carolina - Pembroke), Klaus Theopold (University of Delaware) and Richard Langley (Stephen F. Austin State University) with contributing authors. Textbook content produced by OpenStax College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Download for free at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>).


1.9: Soul Music
Soul Music
Soul music has its roots most firmly implanted in gospel music, both in lyrical content (messages of love and relationships, though not necessarily spiritual) and especially in the emotional and embellished vocal style. Like Gospel, Soul vocal styles incorporate many notes per syllable in an embellished and improvisational approach. The lyrical content, with roots in Gospel, was intertwined with the civil rights movement, singing of equality, love, and respect for your fellow human being.
The soul styles of the northern and southern USA had differing qualities. Southern styles often had a gritty and energetic vocal quality, and the instrumental playing was usually intense and energetic. Northern styles would usually had a more refined sound with improvisation and embellishments less pronounced. One possible reason for this is that gospel singing varied from church to church and region to region, developing in isolation without the aid/influence of radio.
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records was formed in 1947 and was largely responsible for the success of soul artists like Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and others. Later on, Atlantic would distribute recordings from a very diverse group of artists. But early on they were best known as a primary distributor of soul music. Atlantic’s recording studio was in New York but they would move artists to different studios (such as Stax studios in Memphis using Booker T and the MGs) depending on what kind of soul music they wanted to produce.
Ray Charles
Ray Charles – (1930–2004) Blind since the age of 6, Ray Charles nevertheless learned piano, trumpet, saxophone, and clarinet. He also learned to read and write music in braille as well as studying composition. Charles never actually sang gospel in church, but incorporated it into his rhythm and blues music. He was unique in his ability to synthesize country, jazz, rhythm and blues, blues, and gospel, sometimes using the story line lyrics of country and even recording albums of country covers.
Charles spent a few years starting in the late 1940s performing around the country with his group the McSon Trio. The group made their first recordings in 1948-49. Charles was eventually signed to Swingtime Records, and later Atlantic Records where he had his first great commercial success. Songs like “I’ve Got a Woman” (1954) provided Charles with radio play and wide exposure, and he quickly became one of the best known names in Soul. By 1959, Charles’ reached a new commercial high point with the single, “What’d I Say?” which became a top 10 hit on the pop charts. “I’ve Got a Woman” and “What’d I Say?” are examined in more detail below in Listening Examples 9.1.
In 1962, Charles released his groundbreaking album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music where he integrated the sounds of soul and blues with country and folk music in a revolutionary way. He blends the song forms and melodies of country and folk with stylistic norms from soul such as embellished vocal melodies and uneven beat subdivisions from blues.
Otis Redding
Otis Redding (1941–1967) was the biggest selling singer at Stax records whose emotional vocal style was a mixture of the rock aggressiveness of Little Richards and the smoother gospel style of Sam Cooke. He was also a hit songwriter, writing many of his own songs including “Respect”, the song that became best known in the version recorded by Aretha Franklin. Redding used gospel techniques like melismas that built tension, and put on energetic live performances as evidenced by the album Live in Europe from 1967 which includes a high-energy version of his hit “Can’t Turn You Loose” (1965) and an intense, soul-infused cover version of “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. He died in a plane crash in 1967, only 3 days after recording what would become his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”, co-written with Steve Cropper. More on that song in Listening Examples 9.1 below.
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin (1942–2018) was one of the most influential and well known soul singers in American popular music. The daughter of a minister, Franklin spent her youth singing gospel music in her father’s church. In her teens she began traveling to other churches and concert halls, performing and meeting gospel singers like Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, and others.
She moved to New York at age 18 to sing secular music like the blues. She was encouraged by producers to tone down the gospel influence for a more restrained approach. This changed in 1966 when Franklin was signed to Atlantic records and was encouraged to put that energy and emotion back into her music. At Atlantic Franklin had many hits including “Respect” (1967) which was No. 1 on both the pop and Rhythm and Blues charts.
“Respect” (Found in Listening Examples 9.1 ) was written by Otis Redding, but Franklin’s version became even more popular than Redding’s. The lyrics gained new meaning when sung from a female perspective. Initially a song about a troubled relationship between two people, Franklin’s version of “Respect” became an anthem for gender equality at a time when the discrepancy between males and females was heavily in the advantage of the male. The use of the horn section is apparent, and the vocal style of Franklin is reminiscent of the style of gospel singers like Mahalia Jackson and the blues styles of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. The form is comprised of an instrumental opening, three vocal sections (A section), an instrumental section (B), another A section, the C section ( the R-E-S-P-E-C-T breakdown), followed by a fragment of another A section.
Listening Examples 9.1
Ray Charles: “Confession Blues” (1949) is Ray Charles’ first recording and features the McSon Trio. Listen to the lyrics and try to identify the form. Stylistically, what does this song closely resemble?
Ray Charles: “I’ve Got A Woman” (1954) was an early hit song by Ray Charles. Lyrically, it is a reflection of attitudes on gender roles in the 1950s with lines like “ She’s there to love me, Both day and night. Never grumbles or fusses, Always treats me right. Never runnin’ in the streets, Leavin’ me alone. She knows a woman’s place, Is right there, now, in her home “. Lyrics here: I Got a Woman Lyrics It presents the listener with an interesting hybrid form, blending elements of 12-bar blues form with and overall AABA structure. The A sections use elements of the AAB lyrical scheme, but bring back the A line one more time after the B line, such as the following from the first A section:
A – Well, I got a woman, way over town, That’s good to me, oh yeah
A – Said I got a woman, way over town, Good to me, oh yeah
B – She gives me money when I’m in need, Yeah, she’s a kind of friend indeed
A – I got a woman, way over town, That’s good to me, oh yeah
Ray Charles: “What’d I Say?” (1959) was a No. 1 hit on the rhythm and blues charts and No. 6 on the pop charts. The single release included two separate versions on each side. Side A was a standard rhythm and blues version with Charles accompanied by a band, while side B features a soul version with call and response between Charles and a gospel-style vocal group as well as Jazz styled nonsense syllables. Formally, it is a 12-bar blues that incorporates “stop-time” where the bass and drums will cut out and let the electric piano play solo for a brief period.
“Careless Love” is a traditional country/folk song reinterpreted by Charles with gospel-style vocals and a horn section, taken at a slow tempo reminiscent of brooding blues songs by performers like B.B. King. It was released on Charles’ album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” (1962).
Otis Redding: “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding. I play the chords to an entire section of “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” (including the short intro). Notice how many chords are being played as opposed to a form like 12-bar blues. There are five different chords being played multiple times (compared to 3 in 12 bar blues form) and the entire section is 16 bars long.
Aretha Franklin:
Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke – (1935–1964) was the son of a Baptist minister, surrounded by gospel music as a child. He began working as a professional singer in 1951 taking the lead vocal duties in the gospel group, the Soul Stirrers. In 1956 he left the Soul Stirrers and branched out into secular music, releasing “You Send Me” in 1957, launching a pop music career in which he would blossom into a hit songwriter. When listening to “You Send Me” in Listening Examples 9.2 below, notice how Cooke embellishes certain syllables with many notes in an improvisation style. Formally, there are two contrasting sections that make up the entire piece; the A section (“You Send Me…”etc), two B sections (“At first I thought it was infatuation…”) incorporated in between, and it it is laid out as follows: AABAAABA. Cooke takes some gospel influenced improvisational liberties during the 4th and 5th iterations of the A section.
Cooke’s recorded output was often smooth and pop-friendly. Songs such as “Cupid”, “Chain Gang”, and “Twistin’ the Night Away” were generally toned-down, and the gospel vocal embellishments are rare (“You Send Me” is an exception to this generalization). By contrast, the 1963 live recording Live at the Harlem Square Club showcased a looser, more raw Sam Cooke; high energy, heavily embellished vocal melodies, and an almost scream-like vocal timbre. Cooke was tragically shot and killed under mysterious circumstances in 1964.
James Brown
James Brown – (1933–2006) Began performing as a child dancing on the streets for tips to save money for his aunt who was left to raise him after his parents left. Brown learned to sing gospel in a local church, and joined a gospel group in his twenties, becoming the lead singer. A change to secular music brought a name change to the Famous Flames.
Brown had his first hit with “Please Please Please” (1956) as the leader of the Famous Flames. The music featured a triplet pattern in the piano common in gospel and doo wop (dividing the beat into 3 parts instead of 2 parts) and doo wop-style backing-vocals (featuring nonsense syllables and echoes of the lyrics).
The stage act developed by Brown became legendary, with dramatic and intense vocal embellishments and complex dancing including dance steps, the splits, and drops to his knees. His vocal sound had a large expressive range: it could be soft and tender, or aggressive and growly like Little Richard. He also gave vocal cues to his band; each time he gave a certain “call”, horns or backing vocals would respond with a riff or short vocal phrase.
By the 70’s his music developed to include high energy funk alongside his earlier rhythm and blues. Brown developed drug problems (he had long been anti-drug), and these drug problems resulted in domestic violence charges and other legal troubles in the late 80’s that landed him in prison for two years. Nevertheless, he was popular with fans of rhythm and blues and funk his entire career.
Stax and Volt Records
Stax records (and its subsidiary, Volt) became the starting point for many soul artists’ careers. Based in Memphis Tennessee, this company attracted performers of Memphis Soul, a brand of soul music that combined the energy of Little Richard with gospel based singers like James Brown. The records that came out of Stax were often consistent because the studio group, Booker T and the MGs, played on many of the records. The group was named after their organist/arranger Booker T. Jones. They were also creatively involved in the songwriting and arranging process. In particular, guitarist Steve Cropper was a songwriter that co-wrote many hit songs at Stax with artists like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.
Wilson Pickett (1941-2006) Singer who began working at Stax, co-wrote “In the Midnight Hour” with Steve Cropper, became a No. 1 hit on the Rhythm and Blues charts in 1965. Cropper was an important songwriter for Stax. “In the Midnight Hour” used a parallel movement where multiple horns playing lines that move higher or lower in tandem, that became a signature sound of Memphis soul known as the “Memphis Horn Sound”.
Exercise 1
The first part of the article linked provides a short background into Berry Gordy and Motown. Later it contains a detailed analysis of some of the rhythmic characteristics of the Soul music from Motown and how these rhythms led to funk music. This analysis is, in part, a response to critics who were disapproving of the repetitive nature of popular music styles that didn’t fully comprehend it’s subtlety and nuance. Please read pgs. 1-5 (short bio of Gordy and Motown) and “Theorizing the Groove”, pgs. 14-20.
Listening Examples 9.2
Sam Cooke:
- “You Send Me” A section played by Todd Smith
- “You Send Me” B section played by Todd Smith
- “You Send Me” original recording by Sam Cooke
James Brown:
- “Please Please Please” live from the TAMI show in 1964. Notice the theatrical style of Brown as he performs the famous “cape routine”. The routine goes as follows: He performs in such a passionate way that he collapses from exhaustion and is assisted offstage by a bandmate, but as he’s being led off he has a change of heart. He throws the cape off his back and hobbles back to the microphone to finish the song. He repeats this a number of times, and the audience goes wild each time! Formally, the song uses a relatively new (for us) song form: Repeated A sections. This form allows for James Brown to improvise musically and theatrically over top of the form as it simply cycles the same music over and over.
Wilson Pickett:
Motown Records
Motown was a record company that created a specific brand of soul music (known aptly as “Motown”) that sought to gain the respect of white audiences for African Americans, not simply acceptance of the music. Motown represents the northern variety of soul music with it’s emphasis on refined imagery and arrangements.
Founded by songwriter Berry Gordy Jr. (born 1929) who named Motown after Detroit which is known as the Motor City. Motown artists sang of love and other subjects that a broad spectrum of humanity could identify with. With Motown one can see many No. 1 hits in both the Pop and R&B charts.
Gordy emphasized a sophisticated, refined image for his performers. Performers were molded through training in ‘sophisticated’ ways of walking, speaking and dancing. Musically, producers at Motown used refined background arrangements including orchestral strings, jazz bands, and other instruments. Compared to the singers at Stax records, Motown singers sang in a polished and conservative style. Blue notes and improvisational gospel-style singing were rarely used, and the music was often aimed specifically at a white audience. To draw listeners in, Motown producers often used catchy, repetitive rhythms and bass lines. Gordy, for the most part, had complete control over the artists working at Motown, and very few were in control of their own work.
The Funk Brothers
The regular studio group for Motown records was the Funk Brothers. This group was unique in that they had a background in jazz and rhythm and blues and had highly developed instrumental skills. Like Stax records with Booker T and the MGs, Motown recordings with the Funk Brothers feature more active contributions from the studio band than most other studio groups, many of whom were there simply to provide straightforward background music for the singers.
The Funk Brothers used three guitarists, each with their own role and style. Robert White played full chords on the beats with a warm tone, Eddie Willis played blues-styled melodic fills, and Joe Messina would stress the backbeat (beats 2 & 4) with bright percussive chords. Bassist James Jamerson played walking bass lines on his electric bass guitar with chromatic notes and syncopated rhythms instead of the usual overly simplified bass patterns. Earl Van Dyke was the leader and keyboardist, often playing a grand piano. Organ, horns, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments were often incorporated into the texture.
Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson – (Born 1940) Singer and highly successful songwriter. Robinson and his group, The Miracles, were one of the first groups signed to Motown by Gordy who was most impressed with Robinson’s songwriting abilities. Robinson wrote songs for Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and other groups at Motown. In addition to his song-writing duties he produced many of Motown’s recordings and eventually became the vice-president of Motown.
The Temptations
The Temptations were an all male group, and were one of the most popular on the Motown label. Smokey Robinson was their primary songwriter for their early hits. He also produced many of their recordings including “My Girl” (1965) which Robinson co-wrote, becoming one of their biggest hits. It used a polished and lush background with a variety of instruments including orchestral brass and strings, similar to a Phil Spector recording. It reached No. 1 on both the Pop and Rhythm and Blues charts.
The Temptations’ sound changed over the years, and as the lineup was constantly changing, so was the lead vocalist. Up to 1965, the lead vocalist was a tenor (higher-range male singer) named Eddie Kendricks, but starting with “My Girl” it became baritone (lower-range male singer) David Ruffin. In the later 1960’s Ruffin left the group and Norman Whitfield became their producer. With Whitfield, their sound evolved into the funk stylings of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone.
The Supremes
The Supremes were one of the most popular girl groups at Motown, led by lead singer Diana Ross. Their refined sound and image was characteristic of Motown groups, and they were highly successful, appealing to more mature audiences. Most of their hits were written by the song-writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The songs from this team often featured a “hook” (a simple and very catchy melody) over and over again. The form of these songs often followed a format of “Repeated A Sections” that would reenforce these melodic hooks. Put simply, a section of music is repeated over and over, while the lyrics would change
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder – (Born 1950) Began his career as a child. At age 13, he already had his first hit song (Motown’s second hit) “Fingertips (Part II)” in 1963. It reached No. 1 in both the Rhythm and Blues and Pop charts. Born blind and singing with a gospel-styled voice, he became known as a child prodigy and a young Ray Charles. Wonder learned many instruments as a child including harmonica, percussion, and piano.
When he turned 21, Wonder renegotiated his contract with Motown and gained complete control over his recordings, something that most Motown artists would never have. This period marked a significant change in his music that saw him embrace funk, gospel, and jazz, as well as Latin and African rhythms.
The “classic period” of Wonder’s music began with Music of My Mind (1972) and culminated with Songs in the Key of Life (1976). This period saw Wonder embrace new music technology such as synthesizers.
Jackson 5
When Stevie Wonder grew out of the child star image, Berry Gordy Jr. began looking for another similar performer. He found what he was looking for in Michael Jackson (1958-2009) and his brothers. The group became the Jackson Five. Gordy and Motown writers created songs that fit the youthful image and would attract the attention of teens and preteens. These young fans became the Jackson 5’s primary audience.
The Jackson’s father had been their manager and remained so when they signed to Motown. However, he was denied complete control the way Stevie Wonder had and so he moved the group to a different label. Later on, Michael Jackson had an enormously successful solo career after leaving the group.
Listening Examples 9.3
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles : In “You Really Got a Hold on Me” the triplet-pattern (three accents per beat) in the piano and the drums are very common in Soul music and pop music in general around this time. Notice the use of “stop time”, reminiscent of early rock and roll, during the section where Robinson sings “Hold Me! Hold Me! Hold Me!” etc. Also, the song features the relatively new form (see ch. 8) called verse-chorus form.
The Supremes: “Where Did Our Love Go?” became The Supremes’ first No. 1 hit on the pop charts. The music resonated with Americans struggling to understand the JFK assassination, the Cold War, and the emerging Vietnam War. Formally, the songs is simple; 16-bar A sections repeated over and over until the song fades out, also known as Repeated A sections . The chord sequence consists of 5 chords that continuously repeat over each A section throughout the song. The “hook” featured in this song is the vocal melody that continually repeats over every A section throughout the entire song (with the exception of a brief baritone saxophone solo).
The Temptations: “My Girl” Uses a new song form. Look at the lyrics here: My Girl – Lyrics What form is it?
Stevie Wonder: A young Stevie Wonder plays “Fingertips” showcasing his skill as a performer and harmonica player. “Sir Duke” uses complex chord changes from jazz, long complex gospel/soul/blues style melodies influenced by in part by African music, horn sections, electric instruments, and funk grooves inspired by artists like James Brown. The “Duke” would be Duke Ellington, and the song is a celebration of music history and the important figures that have contributed to a positive evolution of music. Finally listen to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” live (1973).
Jackson 5: “I Want You Back” was the debut and first hit by the Jackson Five, reaching No. 1 on the pop charts.