It’s Wednesday morning and I’m finally writing my Tuesday blog. That must mean I’m back in school…
Seriously though, it’s been quite a week and I’m only three days into it. I have to admit that I’m doing some great stuff this year and my blog will probably end up being full of how I’m dealing with it all. So here are some of the cool things…
Jazz History: It is once a week for about 3 hours and it is much more than just a chronological history of the music. We started this week discussing the realities of racism and it’s effect not only on Jazz but on all popular music and culture. Even though the first “Jazz” recordings were released in 1917 or so we are looking at the 1820’s as the start of jazz in America as African slaves brought musical traditions to North America. We discussed some traditional African music and discussed how the concept of time is more about rhythmic cycles instead of the more metrical approach that Western European music (and it’s popular descendants) took. We also learned about how music is heard in layers, divided by different rhythmic groupings and sonic textures. Traces of these elements can be found in jazz and most contemporary music. I’m already getting ideas for new compositions for my senior recital. Check this out for a short primer: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Music_of_Africa#Musical_components
“Music History”: This is the third semester of the 351 cycle of history. There was a survey class that we had to take before and there will be a world music class after this one for five semesters of music history in this degree program. This semester we pick up where last semester left off in the Late Romantic period and we will go all the way to contemporary art music. A large portion of learning about music is not only about the dry facts of “who/what/when/where” but also looking at the social, cultural, technological and political forces of the times to learn what drove the innovations of each era. This week was no different with our discussion of Late Romantic-era Opera being contextualized by discussing the Industrial Revolution, nationalism and the unification of both Germany and Italy before diving into Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.
My “Music Theory” class is called “20th Century Techniques to 1945” and we get to learn about the concept of “tonality” going away and all of the ways that composers tried to define music after deciding that they had gone as far as they could go with the “common practice period” type harmony. Think of the major and minor keys and scales that we still use in popular music. By the start of the 20th century, composers had ridden those concepts as far as they could go and essentially tore it all down and started over again, which gave us much of the modern music that sounds “noisy” to us. We started this week discussing the “Tristan chord” in Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Here is a video analysis:
Last night I topped it all off with ensemble auditions for the big bands. I haven’t played in a “Big Band” since my first time in school almost three decades ago so it was fun if a bit humbling to fumble through these charts at Mach 3. I did much better than I expected but most of the horn-playing kids had much less trouble than me:
I’m pretty excited for this semester if a bit concerned about my schedule. I already feel like I am going to be learning a massive amount and my professors are all excellent. The one dark spot is a biology lab class that I have to take once a week with a bunch of students less than half my age. That was already super awkward, but I’ll live. And then my general ed requirement will be finished and I’ll only be working on music for the rest of my time here.
My blog will probably be a little more informed by my school experiences (and gigs) for a while but if I’m learning or experiencing something I think you guys will benefit from my sharing. I also participated in a recording project last week that I hope y’all will see in the next few months as well. See you next week, and hopefully on time!
