what do i care about more...?
i am taking counterpoint lessons with lloyd rodgers. i had my second lesson today. so far, lloyd says my counterpoint is good, my voice-leading is fine, but that my melodic lines are stuffy. i smiled when he said that because i was being so conservative when i wrote them, of course they were stuffy. but that is fine. i did not want to do what my old roommate used to do with her counterpoints. i guess i was a bit traumatized.
i have to say that i really am enjoying the work. lloyd asked me if i was getting out of the lessons what i had expected. i told him that i am and that i was having fun doing it. i don't know if most people have fun doing five exercises above and below each cantus firmus, but i do. i'm learning a lot and it's really changing the way i listen to intervals. i'll probably get more out of this in terms of musicianship than i did out of the three semesters of musicianship at csuf. woop woop. at last, i can't stop being mediocre!
i'm currently working out of 2/3 books. the jeppeson, the swindale (an out of print british book that is really quite good and has all of lloyd's highlights of important stuff in it), and the fux. i write '2/3' because we really aren't using fux so much. swindale and jeppeson both agree that fux's scholarly approach was a bit off base. i brought that up with lloyd in my lesson today and he said it was true and that fux is good basis for learning 18th century counterpoint.
why am i studying 16th century counterpoint? well, i wanted to take the class but it was not offered the semester i was planning on taking a counterpoint class. so i took 18th century counterpoint. that was a mistake because lloyd teaches it almost as a continuation of 16th century counterpoint (which it is but...the class i mean). so since i hadn't take the class, i was clueless. "species? what? 5th species? grid??? you mean this isn't like my theory class where you realize the bass line?!!!!" apparently not since i tried to do the same things i was doing in my theory class in the 18th century counterpoint and getting D's! ha. don't worry, i got a B in the class in the end. the only B lloyd has ever given me!!! it was literally a sink or swim situation for me and for a moment, i was drinking water. but somehow i learned that if i kick my legs and i use my hands to keep me afloat, i would survive.
when carl took 16th century the following year, i was jealous because he seemed so into the class that he was ignoring me! i didn't see what was so fab-u-lous about 16th century counterpoint. come on, give me a break. i'm way better looking than any of those dead guys, in the first place. anyhow, i soon came to realize that carl was actually learning what the hell first species was, second species, third, fourth , fifth, tenth, one-hundreth...(ok so there really aren't that many) and i was pissed off. if i had taken 16th before 18th i would have received an A in the class, not a B!!! hmm, perhaps that last statement reveals something about me that isn't neccessarily a positive quality in some circles...
furthermore, i began to realize that carl seemed to suddenly have this insight into music that i was lacking and what's more his musicianship was suddenly genius. what happened?!!!!!! then, of course, everyone i know who has studied with lloyd has taken 16th century counterpoint with him. i wanted to be a part of the in-crowd, too.
so there you have it. i like writing music. i would have studied composition if it weren't for the fact that i wouldn't graduate in four years. screw that. i can learn outside of the institution more than inside.
other than that, i've been working on trying to make oboe reeds. it's hard and boring. i gave a couple of weeks ago but i'm gonna start again. i really shoud learn how to make a decent reed. i suck. :)
carl and i are done house-sitting for another one of our professors (comp prof., as well...go figure). today was also my last day at the law office. somewhat of a depressing day.
oh well. i'll get over it!
i have to say that i really am enjoying the work. lloyd asked me if i was getting out of the lessons what i had expected. i told him that i am and that i was having fun doing it. i don't know if most people have fun doing five exercises above and below each cantus firmus, but i do. i'm learning a lot and it's really changing the way i listen to intervals. i'll probably get more out of this in terms of musicianship than i did out of the three semesters of musicianship at csuf. woop woop. at last, i can't stop being mediocre!
i'm currently working out of 2/3 books. the jeppeson, the swindale (an out of print british book that is really quite good and has all of lloyd's highlights of important stuff in it), and the fux. i write '2/3' because we really aren't using fux so much. swindale and jeppeson both agree that fux's scholarly approach was a bit off base. i brought that up with lloyd in my lesson today and he said it was true and that fux is good basis for learning 18th century counterpoint.
why am i studying 16th century counterpoint? well, i wanted to take the class but it was not offered the semester i was planning on taking a counterpoint class. so i took 18th century counterpoint. that was a mistake because lloyd teaches it almost as a continuation of 16th century counterpoint (which it is but...the class i mean). so since i hadn't take the class, i was clueless. "species? what? 5th species? grid??? you mean this isn't like my theory class where you realize the bass line?!!!!" apparently not since i tried to do the same things i was doing in my theory class in the 18th century counterpoint and getting D's! ha. don't worry, i got a B in the class in the end. the only B lloyd has ever given me!!! it was literally a sink or swim situation for me and for a moment, i was drinking water. but somehow i learned that if i kick my legs and i use my hands to keep me afloat, i would survive.
when carl took 16th century the following year, i was jealous because he seemed so into the class that he was ignoring me! i didn't see what was so fab-u-lous about 16th century counterpoint. come on, give me a break. i'm way better looking than any of those dead guys, in the first place. anyhow, i soon came to realize that carl was actually learning what the hell first species was, second species, third, fourth , fifth, tenth, one-hundreth...(ok so there really aren't that many) and i was pissed off. if i had taken 16th before 18th i would have received an A in the class, not a B!!! hmm, perhaps that last statement reveals something about me that isn't neccessarily a positive quality in some circles...
furthermore, i began to realize that carl seemed to suddenly have this insight into music that i was lacking and what's more his musicianship was suddenly genius. what happened?!!!!!! then, of course, everyone i know who has studied with lloyd has taken 16th century counterpoint with him. i wanted to be a part of the in-crowd, too.
so there you have it. i like writing music. i would have studied composition if it weren't for the fact that i wouldn't graduate in four years. screw that. i can learn outside of the institution more than inside.
other than that, i've been working on trying to make oboe reeds. it's hard and boring. i gave a couple of weeks ago but i'm gonna start again. i really shoud learn how to make a decent reed. i suck. :)
carl and i are done house-sitting for another one of our professors (comp prof., as well...go figure). today was also my last day at the law office. somewhat of a depressing day.
oh well. i'll get over it!
1 Comments:
now you know the secret to fight club. see its not that hard.
congrats,
p
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