Alright, folks. Buckle your seat belts; this one is going to be a doozy. (I don't know if it will show up on your screens, but Google has underlined "doozy" in that angry, red, wavy line it uses to denote a spelling error. For the record, doozy is a real word. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doozy)
I am going to start with a piece of social commentary. Last week, I went to Matt's trombone recital. This week, I went to Elizabeth's harp recital, and heard the orchestra and choir at the Kimmel Center Concert. A thought occurs to me: when did classical music become uncool? Seriously, how can everyone not love this stuff? Let's be real. Do I love every piece of music that tucks itself under the umbrella of classical music? No. But, do I love every jazz tune? No. Do I love every rock tune? No. See a pattern here? It keeps on going. (No, I am not going to list every genre. Yes, I am sorry for not mentioning your favorite musical genre. Fine: do I love every zydeco tune? No. Happy?) (oh, some of you don't know what zydeco is? Look it up. Maybe go see a show!) Anyway, getting back on track... Will the novice listener be able to digest, appreciate, and love every piece of classical music? Possibly, possibly not. But there are enough pieces with, what I feel is, mass appeal that there is classical music out there for everyone. The only thing standing in the way of people enjoying what we do is themselves and their perception of what is "cool." As I sat in the Kimmel Center Sunday evening, listening to the orchestra play Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, I realized that recordings do not do our medium justice; you truly have to sit in the concert hall, hear the music live, and see the musicians to get the full, mult-sensory experience. So, I issue a challenge. If you think you do not like classical music, go to a concert. Go with an open mind. If you tell yourself you will hate it before you go, you most likely will. Set yourself up to be moved. Give the musicians the chance to convince you (of what, depends on the musician). If you have been to a concert and didn't like it, go to another concert. Just because the pieces on the last concert didn't speak to you doesn't mean others might not. If you don't know where to start, what pieces you might like, or what ensembles are making amazing music, don't despair; there are musicians who walk among you! We are more than happy to be your guide, to help you find the music that will change your life. The last part of this challenge is for you musicians out there. Find someone who claims to not like classical music, pick the right concert to take them to, and change their minds. Well, there it is folks. A challenge, issued; a line in the sand, drawn. Let's make it cool again! After all, if we don't do it, who will?
Well, if you read the last paragraph, and I hope you did, you saw the bit about the Kimmel Center concert. That's right, folks, I played on stage at the Kimmel Center. Here is the contra on stage:
I had some frustration in preparing for this concert, though. There is a moment in the piece we played where there is a contrabassoon solo (yes, you read that right) which happens at a tempo change. I have been having so much trouble catching the new tempo and I am completely exposed. I had no idea what was going wrong. I swear I was watching! I ended up memorizing the solo so I could keep my eyes glued to the baton. It worked. I was (mostly) in tempo on that part at the concert. I still have to figure out what is keeping me from picking up tempi as well as I should. Experiences like this are really good for me, though. It is a reminder of the frustrations students might be having while I am conducting.
Night Owls on Monday night was an interesting experience. I am conducting a piece entitled Scherzo Without Instruments. It is a piece written for body percussion (making sounds by striking parts of your body with other parts of your body). The rhythms are quite intricate at times and the group is struggling with them. What's more, I don't think I did a very good job teaching the piece this week. I am struggling to find the best way to work through the piece because of the nature of the ensemble. It is not a class, so I can't take time to teach the rhythms in an academic kind of way. But, I don't think that teaching them by rote is the right answer either. I stumbled my way through the rehearsal of the piece and, though the group improved over the course of the rehearsal, I don't feel as though I was at my best. I am going to try a very different tactic as I work through it this coming rehearsal. Hopefully, a fresh perspective will lead to bigger, quicker gains.
Dr. C. pulled a fast one on us this week in Teaching Music in Higher Education. We were split into two teams and instructed to prepare for and engage in a debate over the merits (or lack there of) of the tenure system. After the debate was over, and we settled in to discuss what had transpired, we spoke not about the content of the debate, but about the structure of the debate. It turns out that the class wasn't about tenure at all. It was about how to construct a convincing argument and converse with colleagues about issues which many are passionately attached to. I didn't see it coming!
On Wednesday, I gave a musical offering at the beginning of Measurement and Evaluation. I played the first movement of Bass Nightingale, a piece for solo, unaccompanied contrabassoon (Julius took a video. I might show it if it turned out well enough. That is not a comment on his videography skills, but one of my contrabassooning skills). Well, I must admit, I need to practice more! So, I am going to start working up some solo rep and at some point, I will give an internet recital for you all. Yes, you have to... I mean get to... watch and listen to some solo contrabassoon!
Remember that statistics paper and midterm that I was having such trouble with?
Midterm:
Bam!
Paper:
Bam!
The sad thing is that I still have no idea what I am doing!
Temple Prep was a mixed bag this week. I picked a piece to work on that I thought the kids would like it had a lot of extended technique and sound effects. But, they ended up thinking it was hokey and stupid. Literature choice: fail. But, in musicianship class, we started working on tuning. And at the end of class, the students all hung around the room trying to play in tune with each other. Student motivation for musical growth: success!
I went to the gym! Twice! You know, it was so easy riding the stationary bike while I was reading. I didn't even notice the time going by. And I got some good reading done in the process. This week's weight: 209 lbs (Week: -4 lbs, Total: -1 lb) Let's keep this weight loss going!
Future Dr. Mitch, out!
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