Esa Olavi Lilja

Førsteamanuensis i musikkteori

Esa Olavi Lilja

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

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, Maria Medby; Lilja, Esa; Gorbe-Ferrer, Laura; Gaustad, Tarje Børsum (forthcoming 2025). "Opptaksprøvene i teori og gehør til høyere musikkutdanning: om opptaksprøvenes evne til vurdering av søkernes forkunnskap og faktorer som kan påvirke disse." 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

Publikasjoner

Vitenskapelige publikasjoner

Lilja, Esa

(2019)

Harmonic function and modality in classic heavy metal.

Metal Music Studies.

ISSN 2052-3998.

Volum 5.

Hefte 3.

s.355-378.

DOI: 10.1386/mms.5.3.355_1

Lilja, Esa; Creutlein, Timo von

(2019)

SDT-sointukulun oppikirjamuoto suomalaisen musiikinteorian oppikirjallisuuden ja neljän ohjelmistoaineiston valossa.

Musiikki.

ISSN 0355-1059.

Volum 49.

Hefte 1.

s.43-95.

Formidling

Tollefsen, Maria Medby; Lilja, Esa; Gorbe-Ferrer, Laura

(2023)

Opptaksprøven i teori og gehør i høyere musikkutdanning - et prosjekt i fire stadier.

Skandinavisk gehørpedagogisk konferanse;

2023-02-23 - 2023-02-24.

Tollefsen, Maria Medby; Gorbe-Ferrer, Laura; Lilja, Esa Olavi

(2023)

The entrance exams for higher music education in Norway - a project in four stages.

Ways forward for higher music education;

2023-11-02 - 2023-11-03.

Gorbe-Ferrer, Laura; Tollefsen, Maria Medby; Lilja, Esa Olavi

(2023)

Las pruebas de acceso en la enseñanza superior en Noruega. Primeros pasos hacia una revisión sistemática.

CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL SATMUS: UNA APROXIMACIÓN PEDAGÓGICA E INTERDISCIPLINAR AL ANÁLISIS Y LA TEORÍA MUSICAL;

2023-04-20 - 2023-04-22.

Lilja, Esa

(2023)

Music theory as a regulative system: A case of harmony analysis in entrance exams.

Ear Training Pedagogic Conference;

2023-02-23 - 2023-02-24.

Lilja, Esa

(2022)

The so-called ‘textbook cadence’ and other music theory fiction.

Music and the University;

2022-07-07 - 2022-07-09.

Lilja, Esa

(2022)

Improvising on a chord formula - A practical method linking music theory and ear training.

Sentiamoci i Parma: Eartraining Workshop & Forum;

2022-02-27 - 2022-03-02.