First Days

The program officially started yesterday. Everything is off to a good start. It's funny how time can go so slowly and yet feel like it's so fast as well. And I'm amazed at the limited capacity of my mind to retain the events of the previous day. I think that's why I tend to post more encyclopedia length posts. Partly because I feel like a lot happened. Partly because I have the tendency to forget.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this is how the program is going:


For those of us who prefer words to pictures, the program is off to an intense beginning. Yesterday was a good day for several reasons (some of them definitely nerd status).

First, I found out I'm getting lessons with Lasser. Such a blessing. He's the head of the program and I was really hoping I'd be able to study with him. I received an e-mail that asked me to request people. It was hard because all the professors are good. I'm excited to study with Lasser because he liked the piece I wrote last year and had offered to teach me privately if I could ever make it to New York. 2nd, I think that the way I write music, and the way he thinks about music and analyzes it bear similarities. I think I'll learn a lot from him. My first lesson is tomorrow at 11am my time. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Second (nerd reason), I found out I made Invertible Cannon and Fugue. I'm really excited to learn how to write in this way. We're moving very quickly through review and I spent most of last night doing the homework for it. I woke up exhausted. Next Invertible meeting is Thursday.

Third, the woman who is the student coordinator found a gluten free store for me. She had passed it while she was getting things set up for the Vin, D'honneur and we went over there last night. I got chocolate muffins, gf pasta, and some gf cereal. Really, really good stuff.

Had chorale yesterday. It's a much more solid group than last year, which makes it fun.

Also started musicianship. Practiced singing clefless music with fixed Do solfege in imaginary Treble, Bass, Tenor, Alto, and Soprano clefs. It was a great exercise. I'm glad I'm taking it this year because the class forces me to learn the basics of music for the rest of the classes. Last year I didn't have that and I always felt slightly behind.

Sent some e-mails today and then headed over for Advanced Analysis class. We studied Schumann's Album for the Young. Humbled me as a composer to see the tremendous craft in the 43 little pieces. Also made me start thinking chicken/egg questions of how much I need to be thinking about what I do when I compose and how much I need to let intuition guide my compositions. I'm assuming that the better I am at my craft, the more all the details I witnessed in the pieces today will begin to creep into my music. However, the details might just be the measure of the individual's talent. If that's the case I pray to God that I can have that gifting. I'm going to work at it as though talent it given by effort rather than grace.

Also found out I'm in Keyboard Harmony 4. That class kicked my tail last year. It is planning on doing the same this year. However, I already find certain aspects that I never could get last year to be coming easier. We're also learning it somewhat by rote. Which is interesting and has already opened my eyes to see the benefit of hearing chords as products of individual voices rather than vertical chords. Transposition becomes simpler because the ear knows the pattern. It makes music portable. Like a circus, I can break it down into smaller blocks and reassemble it when I get to my new location, whatever new destination pitch I choose. However, I have to practice a lot to get that sort of level of comfort. I think this class will be the key to a lot of new music for me.

I'm amazed at the level to which I've been prepared emotionally and mentally for this program. Prior to any new thing in my life, something happens inside me where I'm ready to be done with whatever it is I'm in the middle of and I long to be involved in the next thing. However, the timing is usually way before I get to wherever the next thing is and inevitably, I must continue in what I don't want to be doing even as I'm looking to moving on. I think it's God's way of preparing me for what's to come and giving me an opportunity to practice contentment. Maybe a sort of final exam before He gives me something new. Even though I still have several months to go to finish school, these couple weeks are a gift to receive new inspiration and tools to finish up what he's given me for the past 3 years. I'm praying for direction beyond this summer and fall, but I know that when the time is right, the right thing will show up. I can definitely see how some of the lessons here will help me in the future. More on that later.

I'm gonna make some dinner. I'll have more news tomorrow.

-Brandon