From the monthly archives:
Yesterday I brought my questions about improvisation to my music theory class. I asked “Do you think that 18 and 19 year olds are too old to learn improvisation?” The class growled in disagreement. I asked for their thoughts and ideas and was delighted at what I heard.
I’ve always wanted to learn but never have [...]
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I’ve installed Google Analytics on this blog to see a variety of statistics. Rest assured I never know who is reading this unless you post, and only then if you’ve given my your real name.
85% of my readers go right to rogerbourland.com or redblackwindow.com (the latter forwards to the former). Following that majority, here are [...]
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Here are three songs sung by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. The first two songs are Philip Koutev arrangements and the third is a silly little arrangement of “Oh Susanna.” I need to hear this music from time to time, and this morning was one [...]
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I must admit that in the light of the student massacres at Virginia Tech, I have had moments of fear in my career as a teacher. Having to deny a student who wished to go on to the Ph.D., knowing that his parents might disown him upon his return home (his worry); every year we [...]
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Our Dean is hot on us including improvisation as an integral part of our students’ education. The question is: how do you do it? Is it a course by itself? Is it part of theory class? Is it a weekly endeavor? or one of 2 or 3 term projects done outside of class?
I wonder whether [...]
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Those of you who teach music theory have likely been through the following dilemma: do you offer it where all the components are taught and coordinated in one “super class” or do you break it down into modules? The module approach will offer a class or two in harmony, one or two in counterpoint, a [...]
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The moment you’ve all been waiting for is only four days away! POSSUM DEATH SPREE Episode 1 is coming April 20th to AtomFilms.com! Visit the Possum Death Spree website for all the shocking details. Why am I telling you this? Cuz I did the music!
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Composer William Kraft (Bill) and I were having lunch one day at the UCLA Faculty Center. Half way through a bite of his sandwich (teachers and composers ALWAYS talk with their mouths full) he bolted and said “Roger, I have a new mode I’ve been working with. It’s terrific, it has so many great qualities. [...]
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We have two male Italian greyhounds named Cody and Giaco. Daniel “designed” Cody’s name by looking for vocal sounds that were short, simple, and able to be repeated many times — like when the dog is lost and you have to say Heeeeere Cody Cody Cody Cody, and not names like Heeeeere Alexander Alexander Alexander [...]
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Yesterday I attended a presentation sponsored by the UCLA Library in conjunction with an office that oversees copyright and ownership issues on campus. Music librarian Gordon Theil presented most of the talk. Musicologist and award winning author Raymond Knapp also spoke of the copyright issues in his most recent books.
Gordon had this information on the [...]
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