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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
FZ: I really got into studying IONISATION. I have found so much more than I ever did. I’ve typed up my analysis for you to check.
EV: Hmmml… This is amazing. I never knew the piece had this symmetry but your argument is convincing. Yes, yes, YES! Frank, you got it!
ANALYSIS
by Francesco Zappa
99% of my class made it on time today with the time change and a cranky letter from me.
On the way home I heard a segment on the radio that told of a group called the “B society” in Denmark who have decided to fight back against the early-riser hold on their society. “‘Why should […]
I have a handful of students in my 9 am music theory class that can not haul their asses out of bed to make it to class on time. I have been assured it is a “sleep issue” and not boring lectures that is the problem.
I remember seeing a documentary on our need for […]
Rosemary Brown was using my computer the other day. What a surprise I had when I discovered that she had left the browser open to the Akashic Records. Silly woman, letting a mere mortal like me have access to such information. Being the curious chap that I am, I started routing around. I clicked on […]
One of my composition students claimed today that she “hated” C sharp major. Puzzled, I froze for a moment thinking that perhaps the vibration of one of the octaves rattled her fillings or vibrated her skull in an annoying way. I pointed out that 7 sharps could be really bothersome and that D flat, the […]
My old buddy from Harvard, Peter Sellars, was invited by our Dean to visit our music task force. The committee’s task is to dream up new ways of teaching core offerings in music that can be applicable to young performers, historians, composers, and world music students. We have been encouraged to think “blue sky.” Peter […]
[Email sent to M. Rufus Wainwright from M. Claude Debussy; 19 February 2007]
Mon cher,
Do not listen to that macho cowboy Ives about changing your name. He is an idiot.
I was assigned to oversee your work on your new opera, but told not to interfere. I have been in correspondence with Ms. Brown about my insistence […]
Many teachers, myself included, wish they did not have to grade students. Grading can be wildly subjective and mean different things in different fields. Grade deflation in the arts is rampant, and I suspect and have heard that grade inflation is the norm in the sciences.
In teaching composition, the way I teach undergraduates is […]
I have instituted a new tradition in my 2 year core music theory class at UCLA: Show and Teach. These are ungraded 3 to 5 minute presentations by a member of the class that are, truth be told, variations on “show and tell” where music or something related to music is presented to the […]
I thought it would be of interest to report the feedback I got from our “honest interviews” last week. One student had an audition, and it was not a good one. He could not identify intervals, chord qualities and their inversions, couldn’t sight-sing a melody, and knew very little classical repertoire. I held up the […]
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