Esa Olavi Lilja
Førsteamanuensis i musikkteori
Kontakt
Telefon: 51832162
E-post: esa.lilja@uis.no
Organisasjonsenhet
Fakultet for utøvende kunstfag
Avdeling for klassisk musikk
Kort om meg
Esa Lilja is a researcher, musician and composer in the fields of both euroclassical and popular music. His academic background is in musicology (PhD 2009, adjunct professor 2017, University of Helsinki), especially in music theory and analysis, and his academic publications and presentations are mainly concerned with music theory and analysis, guitar distortion, heavy metal and music education. Lilja has worked as a teacher/lecturer of e.g. music theory, analysis, transcription, music history and pop/rock ensemble work since 1997, and supervised dozens of master's theses in musicology.
Select academic publications
(for the free post-print versions and English translations, see https://stavanger.academia.edu/EsaLilja)
Monograph
- 2009 Theory and Analysis of Classic Heavy Metal Harmony. Vantaa: IAML Finland (229 pp.).
Articles and book chapters (peer-reviewed)
- Lilja, Esa (forthcoming 2025) "Perspectives on Harmony in Early Heavy Metal: Chords, Modes, Functions, and Texture." In The Routledge Companion to Heavy Metal Composition: Structures, Expressions, and Productions. Edited by Ciro G. Scotto and Lori Burns. Routledge Press.
- Lilja, Esa (forthcoming 2025) “The Tonal Language of Deep Purple Mk2 – Riffs, Modes, Chords, and Progressions.” In Who Do We Think They Are? Deep Purple and Metal Studies. Edited by Andy R. Brown. Equinox. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/deep-purple/
- Lilja, Esa (forthcoming 2025) "Harmony Analysis Tasks in the Music Theory Admission Test for Higher Music Education in Norway: A Proposal for Development." PlaySpace.
- Tollefsen, M. M.; Lilja, E; Gorbe-Ferrer, L. (forthcoming 2025). "Opptaksprøvene i teori og gehør til høyere musikkutdanning." In H. S. Blix, B. Haugseth & K. Junttila (Eds.), MusPed:Research: Vurderingsformer og tilbakemelding i kunstfaglig utdanning. Cappelen Damm Akademisk.
- Lilja, Esa (2019) ”Harmonic Function and Modality in Classic Heavy Metal”. Metal Music Studies. https://doi.org/10.1386/mms.5.3.355_1
- Lilja, Esa (2019) “SDT-sointukulun oppikirjamuoto suomalaisen musiikinteorian oppikirjallisuuden ja neljän ohjelmistoaineiston valossa [SDT-progressions in Finnish music theory text-books and four musical genres].” With Timo von Creutlein. Musiikki. https://musiikki.journal.fi/article/view/83253
- Virtala, Paula; Huotilainen, Minna; Lilja, Esa; Ojala, Juha; Tervaniemi, Mari. (2018) “Distortion and Western music chord processing – an ERP study of musicians and non-musicians”. Music Perception, Vol. 35 No. 3, February 2018, pp. 315-331. https://mp.ucpress.edu/content/35/3/315
- Lilja, Esa (2015) “Dealing with the 3rd: Anatomy of distorted chords and subsequent compositional features in classic heavy metal” Modern Heavy Metal – Markets, Practices and Cultures, 8-12 June, 2015, Helsinki. Eds. T.M. Karjalainen & K. Kärki. Pp. 393-403. https://iipc.utu.fi/MHM/Lilja2.pdf
- Lilja, Esa (2014) ”Populaarimusiikin transkriptio ja analyyttisen kuuntelun kehittäminen” [Popular music transcription and developing an analytic ear]”. Etnomusikologian vuosikirja 26, pp. 162-191. https://etnomusikologia.journal.fi/article/view/66793
- Arns, F.; Chilla; M., Karjalainen, M.; Lilja, E.; Maierhofer-Lischka, T.; Valnes, M. (2014) “Meaning in/of Janelle Monáe’s ‘Tightrope’ – Productional and formal aspects considered.” Song Interpretation in 21st Century Pop Music, eds. Ralf von Appen, André Doehring, Dietrich Helms, Allan F. Moore. Aldershot: Ashgate.
- Poutiainen, Ari & Lilja, Esa (2012) “Heavy Metal and Music Education.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 45. Eds. H. Ruismäki & I. Ruokonen. Elsevier. Pp. 517-526.
Select interviews
- 2019 interview on heavy metal, Quest’s World of Wonder, CNN International
- 2018 interview on heavy metal, This Is Finland [Foreign Ministry website]
- 2018 interview on heavy metal, BBC Global Beats