Ethan Teaches You Music Podcast

Music in this episode:
Dolly Parton - “Traveling Man” (1971)
Dolly Parton - “Jolene” (1973)
Dolly Parton - “9 to 5” (1980)
Dolly Parton - “Travelin’ Prayer” (1999)
Dolly Parton - “Marry Me” (2001)
Dolly Parton - “Stairway to Heaven” (2002)
Dolly Parton - “Don’t Think Twice” (2014)
Dolly Parton - “Purple Rain” (2023)
References:
I include excerpts of a couple of interviews with Dolly. There’s this one:
and this one:
I also include an excerpt of this excellent Paul Thompson video about the bassline in “Traveling Man”:


Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode, not counting my Suno output:
Fleetwood Mac - “Dreams” (1977)
Thelonious Monk - “Round Midnight” (1968)
Cordelia’s Dad - “Montcalm and Wolfe” (1998)
The Bee Gees - “Stayin’ Alive” (instrumental) (1977)
Catherine Sikora - “The Knowing of Sums” (2016)
Ethan Hein - “The Knowing of Sums remix” (2020)
The Velvet Sundown - “Dust on the Wind” (2025)
Neil Young - “Out on the Weekend” (1972)
Koji Kondō - “Super Mario Bros Underworld Theme” (1985)
References
I refer to Margaret Boden’s 2004 book, The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms.
I also refer to a study of a songwriting class that quotes a student talking about the difference between musicians and artists. You can read that study here:
Dweck, J. (2023). Children as songwriters: The social-emotional benefits of songwriting in the elementary grades. Research Studies in Music Education, 46(2).
Here’s the interview with Mikey Shulman where he says that people don’t enjoy the process of making music.
Here’s my summary of the research on the learning impacts of LLM use:



Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:
Mormon Tabernacle Choir - “Old Folks At Home (Way Down Upon the Swanee River)” (1968)
Al Jolson - “Swanee River” (1950)
Bing Crosby - “Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)” (1945)
Pete Seeger - “Swanee River” (1959)
Paul Robeson - “Old Folks at Home” (1930)
Louis Armstrong & the Mills Brothers - “The Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)” (1937)
Ray Charles- “Swanee River Rock (Talkin Bout That River)” (1957)
The Honeys - “Surfin’ Down the Swanee River” (1963)
Fu-Schnickens - “Sneakin’ Up On Ya” (1994)
The Barbershop Singers - “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River” (2011)
Hugh Laurie - “Swanee River” (2011)
Al Jolson - “Swanee” (1945)
Judy Garland - “Swanee” (1954)
Aretha Franklin - “Swanee” (1966)
Matthew Morrison’s book Blacksound: Making Race and Popular Music in the United States is a must-read.
Read more about the history of these songs and the music education challenges they pose.
Here’s my 20th century American popular music history syllabus.


Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:
Julie Andrews - “My Favorite Things” (1965)
John Coltrane - “My Favorite Things” (1960)
Ethan Hein - “My Favorite Things jam track” (2026)
Mary Martin - “My Favorite Things” (1959)
Ariana Grande - “7 Rings” (2019)
John Coltrane - “Acknowledgment” (1964)
Miles Davis - “So What” (1959)
John Coltrane - “Giant Steps” (1960)
John Coltrane - “Chim Chim Cheree” (1965)
John Coltrane - “Spiritual (C)” (1961)
John Coltrane - “Greensleeves (B)” (1961)
John Coltrane - “My Favorite Things Live in Comblain-La-Tour” (1965)
References
Thembi Dunjana - “What McCoy Tyner does on My Favourite Things”
Sami Linna - McCoy Tyner, Modal Jazz, and the Dominant Chord
Cristinel Manascurta - “My Favorite Things - transcription”
Milton Mermikides - “‘Straight and Late’: Analytical Perspectives on Coltrane’s Time-feel”
Aimee Nolte - “Discovering McCoy Tyner: My Favorite Things Transcription”
Lewis Porter - John Coltrane: His Life and Music
John Seery - ““My Favorite Things” as Civil Disobedience: a Mingling Descant on Creativity and Contumacy”
Vinnie Sperrazza - “Raindrops on Roses”


Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe

Music in this episode:
Paul Dukas - “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (1897) performed by the Moscow City Symphony
Claude Debussy - “Clair de Lune” (1905) performed by Alexis Weissenberg
Don Golding - “Untitled Goose Game Soundtrack” (2019) based on Debussy’s “Prelude No. 12: Minstrels” (1910)
Richard Wagner - “Ride of the Valkyries” (1870) performed by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Stockton’s Wing - “The Drops Of Brandy” (1978)
Bulg Folk - “Daychovo Horo” (2012)
Kibariye - “İllede Roman Olsun” (2014)
Kostas Tzampazis - “Karsilimas” (2012)
Balkan Beat Box - “9/4 The Ladies” (2005)
Orchéstre Baka Gbiné - “Kopolo” (2012)
Toumani Diabaté - “Konkoba” (1988)
Fodé Seydou Bangoura - “Konkoba” (2006)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - “Blue Rondo à la Turk” (1959)
Led Zeppelin - “The Crunge” (1973)
Paul Simon - “The Cool, Cool River” (1990)
Tortoise - “Magnet Pulls Through” (1994)
Sungazer - “Bird on the Wing” (2019)
Ethan Hein - “Clair de Lune - Jazz Mix” (2020)
Ethan Hein - “Clair de Lune jam track” (2026) - learn more about the jam tracks project
References
Kate Wagner - “adorned with delicate armouries spring subdues the world”
Nikolai Ruskin - “9/8 Rhythms Explained on Frame Drum: Karşılama & Turkish Rom”
David Bennett - “Songs That Use 9/8 Time”
Adam Neely - “How to Play Music in 9/8”
David Bruce - “Radiohead and the Rhythmic Illusion”


Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe