Often when we listen to music, we just instinctually enjoy it. Sometimes, though, it’s worth dissecting a song or other composition to figure out how it’s built.Take the 1953 jazz standard “Satin Doll,” written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, whose subtle structure rewards a close listening. As it happens, MIT Professor Emeritus Samuel Jay Keyser, a distinguished linguist and an avid trombonist on the side, has given the song careful scrutiny.To Keyser, “Satin Doll” is a glittering example of what he calls the “same/except” construction in art. A basic rhyme,…
