THEORY

UNPUBLISHED//THEORY

PUBLISHED//THEORY

Embodied Meaning In John Adams' El Niño

Curriculum//Ear-Training

The following first-year undergraduate ear-training curriculum is one that was built and implemented successfully by Dr. Bruce Roter, Kari Francis, and myself. It develops the ear in traditional western common-practice, contemporary, and music industry-related sound structures. Areas of development include melodic dictation/transcription, chord progression recognition, harmonic dictation (including voice-leading and harmonies), and rhythmic dictation (one line, as well as two- and three-line drum dictation/transcription.) We are making it open-source, so feel free to make use of it yourself in your undergraduate classroom setting. (Student version and sound files provided here. Instructor copy will be made available on or after May 6, 2021.)

first semester ear-training (student version)

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 1–7

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 8–14

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 15–21

First Semester Ear-Training (Instructor Version)

second semester ear-training (student version)

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 1–7

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 8–14

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 15–21

second Semester Ear-Training (Instructor Version)

Music Theory ideas in incubation (informal notes)

1. Flexible scale-degrees 6 and 7 as

opposed to the 3 standard forms of the

minor scale (a la Gary S.

Karpinski's presentation in the
Manual for Ear Training and Sight
Singing)

2. Triadic cadence names that are more

specific than "progressive" and

"conclusive" when they don't fit into

traditional cadence

nomenclature; subdominant

cadence (ends on IV, iv) supertonic

cadence (ends on ii); supertonic-tonic

cadence (ii–I), etc.

3. Secondary Modal Borrowing: For

example, consider the following harmonic progression: C F#ø7 B7b9 Emaj7...the

progression continues in C major. From the

perspective of E major, where this chord

progression ends, the preceding two

chords can be seen as a iiø7 V7b9 from E

minor (the parallel minor of E major). This is

an instance of modal borrowing; however, it

is from the perspective of a chord which is

not a tonic, but a locally tonicized chord

(which incidentally is not the expected Em

or iii chord in the more global C major).

From this perspective, the Emaj7 is a

Picardy 3rd and maj7 borrowed from E

minor's parallel major. However, Picardy

3rds are usually the purview of tonic

chords, not any and all possible triads. This

situation then, proposes two different

instances of modal borrowing, both with a

"secondary" quality to them. The ii-V is an

instance of secondary modal borrowing

since it is borrowing from the parallel minor

of a tonicized chord. The tonicized chord is

an instance of "secondary" modal

borrowing in the sense that it achieves the

possibility of a Picardy third only as a very

localized tonic rather than a global one.

4. Double function in the cadential

V7sus chord.

5. Melodic Dictation In Pedagogy: Why

Contour Matters In Taking Melodic

Dictation. Some students will insist that

they "got the right note" if, for instance, they

move from sol up to do at the conclusion of

a melodic line when, in fact, it moved

from sol down to do. The pitch class is

correct while the pitch is incorrect and the

contour is incorrect. Would the rest of the

world recognize these types of scenarios

as the "correct" tunes if we took well-known

tunes and completely altered the registers

and directionality of the melodic lines of our

favorite well-known songs? Obviously this

is taking the same concept to the point of absurdity, but by so doing it does help

make the point that we need to be able to

hear directionality as a basic listening

component in melodic

dictation/transcription.

6. Pedagogy: Making Explicit The

Reasons For Note Specificity. Some

students have a tendency to see a teacher

who requires note specificity as the sign of

a bullheaded instructor rather than viewing

such specificity as a practical necessity of

all musicians. For example, a student might

say "I know I said the answer was A C E G,

but of course you know I meant Ab C E Gb.

Same thing. You are so specific." Explicitly

pointing out (and even demonstrating) to

students the musical situations in which the

lack of specificity completely breaks down

in terms of achieving compositional and

performance accuracy which would be

demanded of any musician in any musical

scenario may effectively break students of

such habits.

7. Distinguishing swing at the beat

division level and beat subdivision

level: At the beat division level, the beat is

divided into two unequal parts (long-short)

somewhere between two straight eighths

per beat and straight triplet eighths in

which the first two eighths are tied while the

third is not. At the beat subdivision level,

the divided beat (8th note, assuming a

quarter note beat unit) is divided into two

unequal parts (long-short) somewhere

between two straight 16ths per 8th and

straight triplet 16ths in which the first two

16ths are tied while the third is not.

8. Help! I can't hear intervals! A multi-

contextualization process for

scaffolding the aural recognition of

intervals. An example: The basic idea is

varying small contexts for individual

intervals we are studying. Let's take the

major 2nd for example. I'll use a referent of

C Major.

a. Play the major 2nd melodically, then

harmonically.

b. Play it as an add-note chord: C major, then

Cadd2

c. Play the major 2nd melodically, then

harmonically.

d. Play C major with a doubled root (C-E-G-

C), then Cadd9

e. Play the major 2nd melodically, then

harmonically.

f. Play a whole-tone scale beginning on C

(WT-0)

g. Play the major 2nd melodically, then

harmonically.

h. Play a whole-tone 4-note cluster chord with

a bass note of C.

i. Play the major 2nd melodically, then

harmonically.

j. Play C and D as a M9.

k. Play C4, D5, C5 melodically.

l. Play C4, D4, C4 melodically.

m. Play C4, D4, C4, Bb3 melodically to orient

it to a different key context (new tonal

center.)

n. Play a Gsus4 (G-C-D) going to G major (G-

B-D) *4-3 suspension.

o. Play Gsus 4 without resolving it.

p. Play a major 9 (C-D)

q. Play Cmaj9

r. Play a major 9 (C-D)

s. Play C9

t. Play a major 9 (C-D)

u. Play a C-9

v. Play a major 9 (C-D)

w. Play a Cø9

x. Play a major 9 (C-D)

y. Play a Cº9

z. Play a major 9.

aa. Play a Csus2, then C (CEG)

In this way, we can help them not be so "hit or

miss" with intervals, but scaffold their listening

experience through small musical contexts for those intervals. We can simultaneously

introduce them to sounds (both traditional and

contemporary) that make use of those

intervals.

9. Measuring Strength Of, And

Conformance To, Tonic Perception In

Melody: Create various melodies intentionally

crafted with the intent of measuring how much

listener conformance to (or deviation from) the

perception of a particular tonic(s) occur(s)

depending upon the structure of a given

melody.

10. Examples Of Negative Musical Space

In Pitch And Rhythm (and Timbre?):

This idea comes from Bert Ligon in his

textbook entitled Jazz Theory Resources (p.

23) where he states "Negative space is

implied space created by a positive image.

Visual artists depend on the recognition of

negative space. The concept of negative

space is also important in music. Any pitches

that are played (positive space) may imply

other pitches that are not played. A certain

pitch may be stressed by playing a number

of pitches around that pitch that point to that

pitch, while never actually playing the pitch.

...As with pitches, any rhythm that is played

(positive space) may imply a rhythm not

played (negative space)." Perhaps an

example would be a ii-V which implies a

certain tonic resolution, but never actually

provides it. Another example could be

running a major scale from low do up to

high ti and then simply stopping. In certain

contexts, we may feel an implication

that ti implies a resolution to do, whether or

not this implication is actualized. When these

types of implication are not realized, they are

examples of negative musical space.

Informal Thoughts On Semiotics: Means Of Communication

(These thoughts are indebted to Kofi Agawu, Patricia Attiba, Care Bears, Diana Deutch, Robert Hatten, David Huron, Inside Out 2—Ennui character, Timothy Koozin, Lego Movie 2, James Lyke, Tony Caramia, Geoffrey Haydon, Ronald Chioldi, Mary Poppins, Jace Mosher, Zachary Mosher, Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher, Charles Sanders Pearce, Petikan, Janna K. Saslaw, Rob Schultz, Indre Viskontas, Kristen Wallentinsen, and more.)

Consistent mouth sounds (two subcategories: (a) "unpitched"—though emphasis, use of pauses between words, repetition as a signal of intentionality (Deutch and Viskontas), word order and the general contour can indicate meaning and question, statement, amount of emphasis attributed, choice of specific words that are synonyms to various degrees can have various amounts of overlap in meaning, noting that denotation and connotation can shift over time with usage and context, etc. and (b) tone languages in which around five? tones are used in relative contour and are attached to the meaning of the words themselves, (c) whistle languages (Diana Deutch refers to them in Indre Viskontas's Cadence, Season 1: Episode 1 or 2), (d) music as a language, (e) Morse code as a language, (f) texture used in consistent ways to express meaning as a language (Braille), (g) flag movements such as those used at Signal Point during the U.S. Civil War, (h) any visual art medium is communicative of meaning(s)

Consistently-drawn shapes (two subcategories: (a) pictorial, as in Chinese characters that indicate entire words) and (b) spelling languages in which the drawings represent sounds strung together to make words; subcategory: capitalization can be used to indicate weight, value, importance, draw attention to, yell, show excitement

Punctuation as meaning are consistently-drawn shapes attributing the dependency of one idea upon another idea (comma), the amount of connectedness between ideas in a single thought (semicolon), the communication that a basic idea has concluded at some level of depth (period), the idea that a string of connected thoughts go together at a deeper level (paragraph indentation), (same concept on out to chapter, book, volumes in a set)

Facial expressions

Bodily movements

Conducting as gesture to evoke mood and character

Hand Gestures: Sign language: there are many, not just ASL; these are hand motions used in consistent ways to express meaning; these, I believe, can be of the. spelling or "pictorial" ("whole-word-based") variety; for example, you can spell your name, but you can also make one symbol for the word "sunset"

Gestural communication in non-human species: examples include cat tail motions, ear direction, echolocation, distance from other organisms, placement of body so as to position for the best line of sight toward all traffic-flow directions, fight-flight-frisson response (a la David Huron talks), dog tail wagging (situational with multiple meanings), types of barks, fish communication moving away from electrodes, dolphin communication (extensively documented—communication distance is also significant), whale song (likewise extensively documented—communication distance is also significant), birdsong, crickets, cicadas, bees

Sarcasm and Irony as meaning: Change of tone, pitch, contour, and non-denotative aspects of words and word combinations, and/or context, cause word meanings to mean their opposite (irony). Verbal examples: Anything stated by Ennui in Inside Out 2. Musical and verbal example: "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins in which the denotative meaning of the words (lyrics) state that you should "Stay awake, Don't rest your head. Don't lie down upon your bed. While the moon drifts in the skies, Stay awake, Don't close your eyes." Simultaneously, the musical cues are those of a lullaby. The musical cues achieve Mary Poppins' purpose of having the children go to sleep while the verbal cues satisfy the children's obstinate defiance. In opera, theatre, and film, we see music providing information to the audience about the character of the individuals on stage which the other characters on stage are not privy to since the other characters on stage are only imagined to have access to the words being spoken while the audience hears the deeper message in the music. The information provided to the audience is based upon the director(s)' hopes that the music will affect the audience in a particular way, allowing them to know whether the individual is to be seen valiantly or villainously (or any other affect the director(s)' might be attempting to convey).

Segmentation, grouping, accent placement as meaning:

Examples in spoken language:

-"Care-A-Lot, we care a lot." (from Care Bears)

-"Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi" ["Queen Whatever I Want To Be"] (from Lego Movie 2)

In music, this is expressed through items like placement of rests, articulations, breath marks, changing metric locations of a repeated riff (examples in minimalism, post-minimalism, rock, jazz, pop, CCM, and more), dynamics (and micro-dynamics—the smaller un-notated note-to-note dynamics that help musicians shape phrases effectively).

Informal Thoughts On Directionality And Numbering Systems

(These thoughts are indebted to Brent Auerbach, Louise Becker, Cadwallader and Gagne, Thomas Christenesen et al., Alan Forte, Gary S. Karpinski, Timothy Koozin, Lerdahl and Jackendoff, Lippius, Justin London, Padgett, Janna K. Saslaw, Arnold Schoenberg, Craig Sikes, John Snyder, Joseph N. Straus, Dmitri Tymoczko, Indre Viskontas, Elizabeth Wallace, and more.)

Pitch is "higher" when it vibrates at a faster frequency, "lower" when it vibrates at a slower frequency.

The sun "rises" and "sets".

Guitar Directionality and Numbering Systems: As you move "higher" on the fretboard, you move closer to your body. As you move "lower" on the fretboard, you move away from your body. Guitar "numbering" systems use T, 1, 2, 3, 4 (thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky). (In classical settings, p (pulgar—Latin for thumb), i (indece—Latin for index), m (medio—Latin for middle), and a (anular—Latin for ring) are used to label fingers. A chord chart diagram for fretting a chord visualizes the guitar fretboard as if you were holding the guitar vertically and facing you. It also limits the frets shown to basically those necessary to fret the chord. If "higher" on the neck of the guitar, it will indicate the fret number you are looking at as the first fret shown. The counting system for frets is fret zero equates to an open string (not usually stated in this way) and each fret "ascending" the fretboard increases by one. (When we "fret" a note, we do not literally place our fingers on the fret, we place them "in front of" (just further away from the "body" of the guitar on the "neck" of the guitar than) the fret we indicate. Guitar tablature uses "lower" on the page to indicate a "lower"-sounding string (though as we typically play a guitar, the "lowest"-sounding string is "higher" (or higher from the ground as a reference point). Traditional music notation also uses lines on a page in a "lower" sound finding its location "lower" on the page.

Piano Directionality and Numbering Systems:

As you move "higher" on the keyboard, you move to the right of your body as a reference point. As you move "lower" on the keyboard, you move to the left of your body as a reference point. Piano "numbering" systems use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky). A piano chart diagram may place dots on the locations of the notes to be played in a given chord. Typically, the amount of the keyboard shown is about an octave or a little more, or just framing the visual space needed to show which notes will be played. (A post-tonal numbering system might indicate either C as zero and "ascend" numerically by half-step (yet another counting system: steps—whole and half-steps related to diatonic (fuzzy mod7-based system which uses letters and inflections of those letters as "stand-ins" for numbers) versus chromatic (mod12-based system like our modern calendar; also note that our Arabic counting system is base 10 or mod-10 relating to the number of digits on our hands) counting methods based perhaps on the constuction of the music to be played to it) to B or choose the chord root as a zero starting point and "ascend" numerically from there. The piano chart will take the keyboard and rotate it toward you as if it were facing you on the page. It maintains the same right-left directionality as the piano keyboard itself. If a particular register is desired, one could indicate this by using octave designations in addition to pitch-class lettering.

Note the following piano, guitar, and calendar numbering comparison-contrasts "side-by-side":

Piano: 1 (thumb), 2 (index finger), 3 (middle finger), 4 (ring finger), 5 (pinky)

Guitar system 1: p (thumb), i (index finger), m (middle finger), a (ring finger), *pinky unused?

Guitar system 2: T (thumb), 1 (index finger), 2 (middle finger), 3 (ring finger), 4 (pinky)

2 Interchangeable Calendar Counting Systems (Illustrated Here with examples of Years followed by Centuries Counting Methods (equal sign placed in between the two counting systems): 0-99 = 1st century; 2000s=21st century

Directionality in Schenkerian Analytical Practice: "deeper" levels of structure on a Schenkerian graph are shown "higher" on the page; the "background" is at the "top" of the page and moves toward the "foreground" at the "bottom" of the page

"Hypometer"-Meter-Hypermeter: Meter and hypermeter are given two distinct terms, but are continuous concepts/experiences. Both terms have to do with the regular interaction of multiple levels of pulse streams. Meter is typically more closely associated with the levels of pulse streams notated by note values we have standard symbols for. As we move into pulse streams related by longer timespans that exceed the human temporal perception window, (and require pulse streams present within that temporal perception window in order to perceive), we begin to count these pulse streams in "measures" or "formal sections", etc. The same concept could be extended in the opposite direction by moving into "hypometer", which we might understand as moving into relationships between multiple levels of pulse streams that are too fast to our perception to be considered reasonable for distinct note values on sheet music. (As you move to faster and faster pulse streams, at some point a type of perceptual "fusion" occurs in which the distinct attack points are so fast that we perceive them as a steady tone, much like the visual analogue of a nickelodeon.

Directionality in Theology: We often tend to refer to God as "up" even as the globe is "round".

Informal Thoughts On Building-Out An Open-Ended Index Of Pop And Jazz Harmonies

(These thoughts are indebted to Alan Forte, Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka, Mark Levine, David Liebman, Stefan Caris Love, Felipe Salles, Joseph N. Straus, and more.)

What if we considered creating an open-ended index of pop and jazz harmonies using a hybrid post-tonal approach alongside common current voicings? We could place the normal order (normal form) number alongside the pop label. The reason I say open-ended is because pop and jazz harmonic usage may (and does) change over time. For example, G7#9,b13 could be expressed alongside (02478)/4. The second of these two labels is in normal order (normal form), but not prime form and has a slash-chord look to it as is used in pop music labels. It might be helpful in this hybrid approach to leave the post-tonal label in normal order rather than putting in prime form in order to highlight a sound-over-sight approach. The slash-chord approach to the notation allows us to understand which of these tones in this sonority is to be understood as the bass-root, as bass and root are often synonymous (though certainly, not always) in much jazz literature. Following the two chord labels, we could then show pictures of some common voicings of the chord as possibilities, noting that other arrangements of the tones might be selected or become more popular voicings. One voicing that could be shown for the example above could voice the chord as G (m7) F (+3) A# (m2) B (d4) Eb.

An example from popular music might be a Bbadd4. This pop chord label could be expressed alongside (0457)/0 rather than its inversion in prime form (0237), again, prioritizing a sound-over-sight approach.

Informal "What If"?

(These thoughts are indebted to Joseph N. Straus, brilliant.org lesson on polar coordinate graphing, and more.)

Currently, our equal-temperament system is a mod12-based system. What if we created (unless it already exists and I'm not aware of it) a mod8-based equal-temperament system, thusly.

C=0, C three-quarters sharp (or D half-flat)= pi/4, D sharp (or Eb)=pi/2, E half-sharp (or F half-flat)= 3pi/4, F# (or Gb)=pi, G half-sharp (or A three-quarters flat)=5pi/4, A=3pi/2, A three-quarters sharp (or B half-flat)= 7pi/4

Let's try it out, start making some physical and software instruments that are based on this system, and start acclimatizing our ears to the myriad of sound worlds we could create with it (or any other modular equal-temperament systems)!

Possible Reconsideration Of Some Music-Theoretic Terminologies?

(These thoughts are indebted to William E. Caplin, Andrew Davis, Hepakoski and Darcy,

Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne, and more.)

Should we consider re-evaluating music-theoretic terminologies which may have negative connotations and updating those terms with more neutral terminologies? Some examples for consideration might include the following: (I have put the terms we might consider changing in italics.)

-Authentic Cadence

-Imperfect Authentic Cadence

-Perfect Authentic Cadence

-Centric

-Deformation

-Minimalism

-Nonfunctional harmonic structures
-Normal Form (Normal Order)

-Retardation

-Retrogression

Informal Thoughts On Music, The Arts, And Aesthetics In Therapeutic Usage

(These thoughts are indebted to Art Pharmacy, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, 1 Samuel 16:14-23, Lisa Sanders,

Alexander Scriabin, Craig and Debbie Sikes, Elizabeth Wallace, Jordan Winkler, and more.)

(*Disclaimer: I am not a music therapist. Nor do I have the professional background or licensure for the statements below. These statements are my informal opinions based upon literature I have read and observational experience.)

When approaching music, the arts, and aesthetics in therapeutic usage, consider the following thoughts:

-"Modulate" musical approach in real-time during live music performance (or DJing live with recorded music) based upon your detailed attention to non-verbal communication from your listeners in order to better meet their needs. Look for non-verbal signs of: (a) peace--fear (no (or low) anxiety--high anxiety, (b) happiness--discontentedness, (c) alertness/focus/attentiveness/energy/engagement--sleepiness/boredom/distractedness, or others. Look to see if there is need for emotional catharsis, for "being with" them in a sad situation, a space for hopeful and/or joyful music (and at what level of intensity and in what mixtures). The goal here is to "see" your listeners and monitor your "seeing" of them consistently as you best attempt to meet their needs in these ways. Use music which might best relate to your listeners in tone and/or text, including all parameters of music in your consideration (and the environment in which the music takes place). You should "modulate" any parameter(s) in real-time as you sense and observe the changing emotive-thought states of your listeners.

-Other non-musical environmental factors to take into consideration:

-aesthetics of the room

-use of (and intensities of, where this applies):

-lighting

-colors

-room temperature

-air-flow--stagnation

-humidity--dryness

-spaciousness of the room, its size, its shape, its corners

-amount of open space--amount of used space in room

-location of individuals in room

-location of entryways and exits

-scents in the room, as well as the amount of saturation of those scents, including the even distribution

of the amount of saturation of those scents

-amount of sound decay in the room (how sonically "wet" or "dry" is the room and/or each instrument

or voice?)

-try giving your listeners a reassuring texture to hold in their hands

-natural light (amount of), including outdoor scenery view, accessibility to it, and how it interacts with

all the other elements here described

-some knowledge of those you will be playing for in determining your choices in the elements here

described

Informal Thoughts On Everyday Contexts In Which Music

Positively Influences Behavior

(These thoughts are indebted to a lecture I heard at an ICMPC (International Conference On Music Perception

And Cognition) session, and more.)

(*Disclaimer: The particular musical attributes may not be one-size-fits-all.)

When considering the plethora of ways that music positively influences behavior, consider the following:

-Music As Extending Our Capacity For Patience

-Music as mitigation of road rage (aiding in reduction of traffic accidents)

-Music as extending our ability to patiently wait in lines (in elevators, supermarket lines, theme park lines, or any

other place we find it necessary to wait)

-Music As Extending Our Body's Energy

-Music keeping you from getting sleepy on long road trips

-Music motivating you to exercise, extending the amount of time that you are motivated to exercise once you get

started, and musical tempo at most salient pulse stream contributing to the pacing of your exercise

Informal Thoughts On Music As Evocation Of Time And/Or Place

(These thoughts are indebted to lectures I heard at a session of the Popular Music Interest Group at SMT (Society for Music Theory), Kofi Agawu, Timothy Chenette, Matthew Dirst, Napua Greig, Robert Hatten, David Huron,

Inside Out 2—Nostalgia character, Stefan Caris Love, Kuana Torres Kahele, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (aka Braddah Iz), The Lego Movie, James Ford Murphy, Katherine Svistoonoff, Edna Thoreson, Richard Twiss, Indre Viskontas, Wikipedia.com, and more.)

(Similar to the way a scent can seem to almost "take us back to a certain place and time" in incredibly vivid detail (For example, among the many associations (multivalence) I have with the smell of pine needles, it can "take me back" in this way to my grandmother's cabin in Ruidoso, NM that we frequented when I was a child.), music and musical timbre can similarly evoke a sense of place. (In this context, what I mean by place is "location" in addition to all of the other para-associations (multivalence to various intensities depending on current context) that we may have to that particular place. Note that this may be somewhat of community-shared sense of place, but also with important nuances for individuals based upon their own personal histories. It is also multivalent for each community and individual. By this I mean that though pine needles evoke my grandmother's cabin in Ruidoso, NM, there are many other associations which it may call to mind as I have many other experiences with them—Christmas trees, slalom snow-skiing at Ski Apache, the Pine Village at Yankee Candle Company in Deerfield, MA, etc.)

When considering the many ways that music may evoke a sense of "place", it is also incredibly important to honor the origins and histories of the music and musical timbres that we are considering. Sometimes, we may not know. This provides ample opportunities for education and areas of research for both myself and others. Below are a small list of examples to consider.

–Out-of-tune piano as a signifier for old western bar-room scene

–Steel drums as a signifier for the Caribbean

–Ukuleles as a signifier for the Hawaiian islands (Again, as with all of these examples, there is potential for multivalence. With this particular example, more recent and increasing use of the ukulele within at least U. S. elementary music classrooms, if not as well in other locations around the world, the association with the ukulele and the elementary music classroom also evokes another layer of "place". A third layer of place is found in the incorporation of the ukulele into "pop" music with pieces including Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's (Braddah Iz's) use of the instrument in his medley of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World". A fourth layer of "place" is found in its use in short films like Disney's short film Lava. Multivalence. Origins are important. History is important. Honoring one another is important.)

–Banjo as a signifier for bluegrass and Appalachian music, originally from Africa. (Multivalence. Origins are important. History is important. Honoring one another is important.)

–Organ as a signifier of Christian church music is also utilized in pop, rock, and jazz music. It was also used live in early silent films and perhaps later recorded for silent films rebroadcast on television. Additionally, it has been used live and later recorded at carnivals in the merry-go-rounds. Multivalence. Origins are important. History is important. Honoring one another is important.)

–Early music performers will often now intentionally perform on period instruments for the reason of hearing the music in as close a manner as possible to the ways in which the original listeners would have heard it, evoking a type of historical sense of "place". (*Disclaimer: We acknowledge that though this does bring us closer to the ways they may have heard it, they did not have the same biographical listening history that we do.)

–The particular "sound" of a recording itself (micing techniques, recording approaches, use of particular recording technologies, and more, from a given time period)

Informal Thoughts On Music And The Brain: Music As An Aid In Memory Formation And Retention

(These thoughts are indebted to the Animaniacs television series, Diana Deutch, Gary S. Karpinski's Music Cognition and Perception class and readings, ICMPC (International Conference on Music Cognition and Perception)— presentation-performance of members of the deaf community as a part of the conference, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, Martha Jane Thoreson Mosher, Carmen Shirley Bunn Mosher, Pearson Silver-Burdett, Preschool Prep video series, Switched At Birth television series, "Music In The Brain" by Anne Trafton, which can be read at https://mcgovern.mit.edu/2015/12/16/music-in-the-brain/, "Your Brain On Music: The Sound System Between Your Ears" article found at the Trump Kennedy Center, which can be read at https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music-the-sound-system-between-your-ears/, Cadence podcast—Indre Viskontas, observing those with hearing aids and members of the deaf community, and more.)

Brain research has shown that music is not solely processed in one region of the brain (See the article linked above entitled "Your Brain On Music: The Sound System Between Your Ears" found at the Trump Kennedy Center), though "...a neural population in the human auditory cortex that responds selectively to sounds people typically categorize as music, but not to speech or other environmental sounds." has been located. (See the article linked above entitled "Music In The Brain" by Anne Trafton.). Perhaps the way that music connects multiple areas of the brain together makes it quite powerful in allowing us to "make connections" that we otherwise would be unable to make, which may help us as humans in all domains of our lives.

In addition, music seems to last quite a long time in our memories (With Alzheimer's patients, music has been shown to be one of the "last parts of the memory to go".), which may give it potential for making our memories in other domains that are connected to music last longer as well. In other words, there is evidence that music aids both in memory formation and retention. Here are some examples of this, below:

-"The Alphabet Song" (Roman alphabet, used in U. S. schools) aids us in remembering a string of 26 letters (This is a much longer string of information than is typical to retain without music. Also note that "chunking" information, a process in which we can group or subsume smaller amounts of information into larger meaningful "chunks", typically occurs at a maximum of 7 +/- 2 items (or "chunks") of information. This particular song uses its musical phrasing to group the letters of the alphabet into "chunks" of this size. For example, the first phrase is "A, B, C, D, E, F, G" (7 letters), "H I J K L M N O P" (9 letters (7+2) or 7 pulses at same pulse stream), etc. Other cultures likely have songs for recalling their alphabets as well. (Most of us can likely still sing our alphabet song, though if you are reading this, you were likely taught it years ago, and it is doubtful that you put it on your playlist yesterday—with likely exceptions.)

-Preschool Prep video series for children incorporates music into the learning process in its presentation of Letters, Colors, Numbers, Digraphs, Blends, Sight Words and seemed to be quite effective for learning within our family.

-"The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas" and "Beep Beep, Here Comes A Satellite" were "science songs" I was taught as a child, which have acted as strong memory aids for me.

-The Animaniacs television series has songs which aid in the memory of (a) the countries of the world, (b) the U. S. states and capitals, (c) the planets of our solar system, and likely others I do not currently recall.

-Pearson Silver-Burdett includes a song in their elementary music curriculum entitled "Fifty-Nifty United States" that aid children in remembering all the U. S. states.

Continued research in these areas should prove fruitful. It might also be particularly helpful to focus some of our future research on assisting those with cochlear implants and other hearing aid devices in order to develop musically-robust models of sound for them for the purposes of facilitating their memory retention and deepening their musical enjoyment.

What Would It Look Like If We Expressed All Major Keys Enharmonically? (Just For The Fun Of It)

(These thoughts are indebted to Daniel Huey, Gary S. Karpinski, a lesson entitled "Identify and Represent Proportional Relationships from into Math (Grade 7) by Edward B. Burger, Juli K. Dixon, Timothy D. Kanold, Matthew R. Larson, Steven J. Leinwand, and more.)

When we learn our major scales and their tonics' relationships to the Circle of Fifths, we learn 12 sonically-distinct major scales; however, we learn 15 major scales with respect to our traditional notation system (because we traditionally express 3 of those 12 scales enharmonically as well). What would it look like if we extended the enharmonically-expressed key concept to every major scale? Below, you will see three expressions of each key area.

B-sharp major: B sharp, C double-sharp, D double-sharp, E sharp, F double-sharp, G double-sharp, A double-sharp, B sharp [12 sharps]

C major: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, (C) [0 sharps and 0 flats]

D double-flat major: D double-flat, E double-flat, F flat, G double-flat, A double-flat, B double-flat, C flat, (D double-flat) [12 flats]

F double-sharp major: F double-sharp, G double-sharp, A double-sharp, B sharp, C double-sharp, D double-sharp, E double-sharp, (F double-sharp) [13 sharps]

G major: G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp, G [1 sharp]

A double-flat major: A double-flat, B double-flat, C flat, D double-flat, E double-flat, F flat, G flat (A double-flat) [11 flats]

C double-sharp major: C double-sharp, D double-sharp, E double-sharp, F double-sharp, G double-sharp, A double-sharp, B double-sharp (C double-sharp) [14 sharps]

D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, (D) [2 sharps]

E double-flat major: E double-flat, F flat, G flat, A double-flat, B double-flat, C flat, D flat, (E double-flat) [10 flats]

G double-sharp major: G double-sharp, A double-sharp, B double-sharp, C double-sharp, D double-sharp, E double-sharp, F triple-sharp, (G double-sharp) [15 sharps]

A major: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, (A) [3 sharps]

B double-flat major: B double-flat, C flat, D flat, E double-flat, F flat, G flat, A flat, (B double-flat) [9 flats]

D double-sharp major: D double-sharp, E double-sharp, F triple-sharp, G double-sharp, A double-sharp, B double-sharp, C triple-sharp, (D double-sharp) [16 sharps]

E major: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, (E) [4 sharps]

F flat major: F flat, G flat, A flat, B double-flat, C flat, D flat, E flat, (F flat) [8 flats]

A double-sharp major: A double-sharp, B double-sharp, C triple-sharp, D double-sharp, E double-sharp, F triple-sharp, G triple-sharp, (A double-sharp) [17 sharps]

B major: B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, (B) [5 sharps]

C flat major: C flat, D flat, E flat, F flat, G flat, A flat, B flat, C flat [7 flats]

E double-sharp major: E double-sharp, F triple-sharp, G triple-sharp, A double-sharp, B double-sharp, C triple-sharp, D triple-sharp, (E double-sharp) [18 sharps]

F sharp major: F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B, C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, (F sharp) [6 sharps]

G flat major: G flat, A flat, B flat, C flat, D flat, E flat, F, (G flat) [6 flats]

B double-sharp major: B double-sharp, C triple-sharp, D triple-sharp, E double-sharp, F triple-sharp, G triple-sharp, A triple-sharp, (B double-sharp) [19 sharps]

C sharp major: C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B sharp, (C sharp) [7 sharps]

D flat major: D flat, E flat, F, G flat, A flat, B flat, C, (D flat) [5 flats]

E sharp major: E sharp, F double-sharp, G double-sharp, A sharp, B sharp, C double-sharp, D double-sharp, (E sharp) [11 sharps]

F major: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, (F) [1 flat]

G double-flat major: G double-flat, A double-flat, B double-flat, C double-flat, D double-flat, E double-flat, F flat, (G double-flat) [13 flats]

A sharp major: A sharp, B sharp, C double-sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F double-sharp, G double-sharp, (A sharp) [10 sharps]

B flat major: B flat, C, D, E flat, F, G, A, (B flat) [2 flats]

C double-flat major: C double-flat, D double-flat, E double-flat, F double-flat, G double-flat, A double-flat, B double-flat, (C double-flat) [14 flats]

D sharp major: D sharp, E sharp, F double-sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B sharp, C double-sharp, (D sharp) [9 sharps]

E flat major: E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C, D, (E flat) [3 flats]

F double-flat major: F double, flat, G double-flat, A double-flat, B triple-flat, C double-flat, D double-flat, E double-flat, (F double-flat) [15 flats]

G sharp major: G sharp, A sharp, B sharp, C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F double-sharp, (G sharp) [8 sharps]

A flat major: A flat, B flat, C, D flat, E flat, F, G, (A flat) [4 flats]

B triple-flat major: B triple-flat, C double-flat, D double-flat, E triple-flat, F double-flat, G double-flat, A double-flat, (B triple-flat) [16 flats]

*Moving in a sharpward direction (clockwise) around the Circle of Fifths increases the sharp collection by one with each click up to 19 sharps (where we stopped with B-double sharp major); it decreases the flat collection by one with each click. Moving in a flatward direction (counterclockwise) around the Circle of Fifths increases the flat collection by one with each click up to 16 flats (where we stopped with B triple-flat major); it decreases the sharp collection by one with each click.

Informal Notes On The Use Of A "Taste" Metaphor To Express Consonance-Dissonance Perception

(These thoughts are indebted to a conversation with my wife (Renee' Kathleen Gonzales Mosher) about taste-testing foods at a local farmers' market, informal feedback from students in music theory classes on interval perception of consonance-dissonance, and more.)

What if we tried putting our sense of taste to use as a metaphor to describe our consonance-dissonance perception? People have different tastes for foods and drinks, so we could use our taste bud palettes as analogous to our aural palette for consonance-dissonance. Doing so would allow us to acknowledge individual differences (perhaps based in whole or in part on our personal historical listening backgrounds) in the following areas:

(a) harmonic perception of intervals

(b) harmonic perception of 3-or-more-note sonorities

Looking at consonance-dissonance perception through this lens could also allow for our aural perceptions to change over time as often our tastes for certain foods and/or drinks change over time as well.

Informal Notes On "Musikenglish" and/or "Musiklanguage"

(These thoughts are indebted to the B-A-C-H motive, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, serialism, total serialism, discussions and readings from Rob Schultz's Motivic Analysis class, music note-reading worksheets from elementary music class that spell words like "cabbage", etc., and more.)

What if we converted every tone of a quarter-tone scale into a letter of the alphabet in order to use our music to "play" words? We would have 24 characters to work with if we removed the letter "c" from the alphabet (allowing the soft "c" to be spelled with an "s" in its place and allowing the hard "c" to be spelled with a "k") and removed the letter "q" from the alphabet (allowing "kw" in its place). Melodic lines could then spell out words. Segmentation from one word to the next could be achieved through the use of rests. Simultaneities would be self-contained words that we could read from the lowest-to-highest-sounding note. If more registers are needed for particular words, we could have instruments that play together and indicate in what order to read those instruments' contributions to the words.

*The example here is based upon use of a mod24 system adapted to the 26-letter English alphabet, but could be applied to any modular space in order to correspond to an alphabet of any size (length).

Informal Notes On "...And Heaven And Nature Sing"—Animal And Plant Speech And/Or Song (And Effects Of Speech And/Or Song On Plants)

(These thoughts are indebted to Colossians 1:16–23, Job 12:7–8, Luke 19:40, Numbers 22: 21–34, Psalm 19:1–4a, Romans 8:21–22, St. Francis of Assisi, Kerry Dearborn, Diana Deutch, Jane Goodall, National Geographic, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (My Fair Lady), Indre Viskontas, Eric Whitacre's "The Seal Lullaby", Wild Dolphin Project and Google's DolphinGemma (AI machine learning model), "Is There a Role for Sound in Plants?" by Filippo Del Stabile, Vittoria Marsili, Luca Forti, and Laura Arru, and more.)

Below, you will read a description of some of my thoughts on how we might decode the language(s) of dolphins (and/or other creatures). Some disclaimers here: (a) It appears that a lot of work has already been done to this end with some animals, in particular with dolphins via the Wild Dolphin Project and their use of Google's DolphinGemma (AI machine learning model). (b) I have no formal training in this area of research; I simply find it fascinating. (c) There is much work to be done on this (these) topic(s), though a rigorous literature review would be necessary to know where to effectively jump into this (these) topic(s).

-record sounds

-organize sounds from broad to fine categorical groupings

-whistles, clicks, blowhole sounds, etc. (as the largest groupings)

-under (for example) whistles, organize these sounds by pitch, pitch contour, width of pitch contour, length of sound, rate of pitch change, energy

expended and at what rate within the sound, etc.

-under (for example) clicks, organize these sounds by how many clicks occur in a given time spacing, the number of clicks, the distribution of the clicks

within the time frame (clustering of clicks within the timeframe), acceleration or deceleration of clicks within the time span, intensity: waxing or waning

or staying fairly constant, pitch contour to the clicks, are the clicks "voiced"—engaging vocal folds—or "unvoiced"—not engaging them

-under (for example) blowhole sounds, organize these sounds by pitch height, width or thickness of the sound, amount of open/spread or closed or tall

sound to the sound, amount of spray or air expended or amount of mixture

-consider that these could be syllables? words? word picture statements as in full-thought sentences? etc. To this end, try seeing how dolphins may combine them in groups of two or more sounds. Look for any consistent combinations here. Make these comparisons with video as well to see how non-sonic communication may interact as part of a consistent meaning for these sounds. Also, check dolphin actions that may consistently go with these sounds, etc.

-Note that all dolphins may not have the same language as all humans do not either. They may be regionally localized (distributed) to various points, though perhaps related.

-Also, record these sounds from many dolphins within a region so that you can generalize about these sounds in a way where one sound with one meaning might sound different in different dolphins because of the physical structure differences among them.

-Further, any sounds they may make outside of the range of human hearning, translate into the range of human hearing, but take the original pitch height into consideration in your analysis.

-Might there be musical and/or deep emotive value (further aesthetic value) to the patterns of sounds and silences they make?

-Value of similar approach to other animals outside of dolphins which may have been less studied or not studied at all?

-Though some work has been done, further work would be very helpful in studying the effects of speech and/or music on plants and perhaps looking at the ways in which they communicate via sound (acoustic perception and communication). (According to "Is There a Role for Sound in Plants?" by Filippo Del Stabile, Vittoria Marsili, Luca Forti, and Laura Arru, "...plants not only respond to sound, they actually seem to emit sound as well.")

Informal Notes On Personalized Music For Smart Household Appliances

(These thoughts are indebted to a discussion I heard on the radio between two DJs while I was waiting to get a haircut, and more.)

What if we could program personalized playlists via Spotify or another music platform which could connect to smart household appliances in order to vivify our daily experiences. A few examples might include the following:

-You arrive home and open the front door. You start hearing Chris Martin singing "Home, home, where I wanted to go." from "Clocks" by Coldplay (among a larger repository of songs which could be set up to play when you open your front door either randomized or played in an order you set up).

-It's Tuesday night and you put in your refrigerator's app that Tuesday night's dinner is Taco Tuesday. You open the door to the refrigerator and music from Los Tigres del Norte begins to play while you take out the Mexican food ingredients.

-You turn on the stove and Selena begins to sing.

-After dinner, you decide to have ice cream for dessert. As you open the door to the freezer you hear "The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, Not a footprint to be seen" from Frozen's "Let It Go".

-After dinner, you decide to take a bath. As you turn the water on you hear, "Splish, splash. I was takin' a bath, long about a Saturday night, yeah." from Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash".

-Now it's time to head to bed. You open your pajama drawer and hear "And oh, my dreams, It's never quite as it seems, Never quite as it seems." from "Dreams" by The Cranberries.

Informal Notes On Including Games, Gaming, and Gamification Elements In Our Teaching Of Music Theory And Aural Skills

(These thoughts are indebted to Michael R. Rogers, John Snyder, former students, and more.)

*Disclaimer: I have not done a literature review on this topic, so ideas presented here may not be novel. It is also my understanding that gamification is currently a broader trend across educational disciplines, not specific to music theory and aural skills.

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun aaaaand "snap", the job's a game!"—Mary Poppins from Mary Poppins

Games, gaming, and gamification of any content matter allow us to present that content in such a way that motivates student learning, makes it fun, memorable, and engaging, and further encourages future attendance, collaboration with peers, and "stick-to-it-ive-ness" (mental staying power with content matter). Below are just a few examples and/or possibilities in music theory and/or aural skills:

--Make reviewing of material in advance of an exam a game show (music theory): Divide the class into two teams. A representative from each team takes a seat facing away from the board. Put examples to work on the board in two separate locations (one for each team). Once the examples are ready, say "Go!". The team representatives get up from their chairs and run to the board. They work the examples as quickly as they can and return to the seat they got up from. The first team representative back to their seat with the correct solution(s) wins a point for their team. Repeat this process until all students have had an opportunity to play. You can decide if teams can help the representatives or not. First team to "X" wins. Congratulate everyone for working hard and playing hard—make it fun for all!

--Team dictations (aural skills): Divide into any number of teams (perhaps 3 or 4 to a team is a reasonable size). Have the teams come up to the whiteboard within their own areas so they have enough space to take down a dictation. Play the dictation and have each team write the music you have played. You determine number of playings and amount of time between playings. The students work within their teams to notate what you've played. First team to complete the dictation accurately and say "Final answer." wins. Congratulate everyone for working hard and playing hard—make it fun for all!

--Community dictations (aural skills): All students remain in their seats while you play a dictation. Each student is individually working on the dictation on their own staff paper from their seats. Allow for a little time to pass after the first playing (you determine the amount of time). Then state that you would like to allow for someone to contribute the first X amount of notes or beats. A volunteer comes and writes the beginning of the dictation on the whiteboard. If it needs correcting, do not correct it unless it is unable to be corrected by another student from the class. (*With this game, it is important to convey in advance that we are workshopping. It is not for a grade. We are working as a team. There is no shame in writing something incorrectly and being corrected by a peer. This is all part of the learning process for all of us. There is a certain amount of trust and camaraderie that must be developed in the playing of this game—which is also a good thing!) Play the dictation again. Allow for some more time to pass. Invite a new student contributor to add a certain amount of notes or beats to the dictation. Continue this process of allowing the class to collectively form the dictation on the board until all are satisfied that what they have on the board matches the sound of what you've played.

--Use of supplemental online resources like teoria.com for some homework assignments on rudimental concepts (music theory). These resources can allow for the students to practice a concept until their accuracy and speed with that concept reach a point of fluency. They also receive immediate feedback on their accuracy throughout their practice.

--Use of Quizlets in reviewing select materials (music theory)

--Music theory and aural skills RPGs (music theory and aural skills knowledge and skills put to use within the game help you advance in the game)?

Informal Notes On Extending The Idea Of Intervallically-Based Chord Labeling In Compositional Contexts Which Seem To Be Based Upon Voicing As A Paramount Focal Point

(These thoughts are indebted to Stefan Kostka, Stefan Caris Love, Felipe Salles, and more.)

*Disclaimer: This is not a novel idea, but simply an extension of a labeling system that I've seen in Materials and Techniques of 20th-Century Music by Stefan Kostka.)

Within a diatonic context, (below I will use C major as a demonstration and three-note sonorities as a demonstration) we may indicate the number of notes in a given harmonic sonority followed by the general interval (from within its diatonic sound world) being replicated followed by the bass-root note and referent diatonic sound world.

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C; sonority: C D E; label: 3 x 2 on C maj diatonic

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C; sonority: C E G; label: 3 x 3 on C maj diatonic

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C; sonority: C F B; label: 3 x 4 on C maj diatonic

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C D; sonority: C G D; label: 3 x 5 on C maj diatonic

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C D E F; sonority: C A F; label: 3 x 6 on C maj diatonic (*yes, some will be recognizable triadic inversions;

resist seeing/hearing them this way within a context focused on intervallically-based voicings)

Diatonic context derived from: C D E F G A B C D E F G A; sonority: C B A; label: 3 x 7 on C

Within a chromatic context, we may indicate the number of notes in a given harmonic sonority followed by the specific interval being replicated followed by the bass-root note.

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B; sonority: C C#/Db D; label: 3 x ic1 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B; sonority: C D E; label: 3 x ic2 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B; sonority: C D#/Eb F#/Gb; label: 3 x ic3 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B; sonority: C E G#/Ab; label: 3 x ic4 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B; sonority: C F A#/Bb; label: 3 x ic5 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C; sonority: C F#/Gb C; label: 3 x ic6 on C (*could be seen as 2 x ic6 on C with doubling of "C" at

octave)

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D; sonority: C G D; label: 3 x ic7 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E; sonority: C G#/Ab E; label: 3 x ic8 on C (*yes, again, some will be recognizable

triadic inversions; resist seeing/hearing them this way within a context focused on intervallically-based voicings)

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb; sonority: C A F#/Gb; label: 3 x ic9 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab; sonority: C A#/Bb G#/Ab; label: 3 x ic10 on C

C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb; sonority: C B A#/Bb; label: 3 x ic11 on C

Informal Notes On Use Of Algorithms (Or Recipes) For Rudimentary Skills In Music Theory

(These thoughts are indebted to Help Your Kids With Computer Coding: A Unique Step-By-Step Visual Guide, From Binary Code To Building Games (authors include Carol Vorderman, Jon Woodcock, Sean McManus, Craig Steele, Claire Quigley, and Daniel McCafferty; previous music theory courses, and more.)

Help Your Kids With Computer Coding defines an algorithm as a set of simple instructions for performing a task. Merriam-Webster defines recipe as (1) a set of instructions for making something from various ingredients, (2) a formula or procedure for doing or attaining something.

Students of music theory rudiments could find use of explicitly written-out algorithms (or recipes) incredibly helpful as they work with new musical materials. As they develop increasing speed and fluency with a musical topic through repeated practice, outlined versions of these algorithms (recipes) become helpful in weaning them off the need for the complete algorithm. As fluency with the musical material is approached, the need for the algorithm or outline to be explicit is eliminated since the process has become internalized.

Building A Major Scale

(ingredients: knowledge of musical note names, knowledge of the definition of the term "scale", knowledge of locations of note names on modern clefs, knowledge of sharps and flats, knowledge of the locations of notes on a keyboard, knowledge of the term "step", knowledge of the distinction between types of step: half-steps and whole-steps; knowledge of the half- and whole-step formula for the major scale structure (WWHWWWH))

(Complete algorithm. No part of the following process has been internalized.)

1. Pick a starting note.

2. Place the starting note on the staff in the appropriate location.

3. Place your second note a whole step above your starting note.

4. Place your third note a whole step above above your second note.

5. Place your fourth note a half step above your third note.

6. Place your fifth note a whole step above your fourth note.

7. Place your sixth note a whole step above your fifth note.

8. Place your seventh note a whole step above your sixth note.

9. Place your eighth note a half step above your seventh note.

(Outline. The process is understood. Only the overall plan is necessary as a scaffold.)

1. Pick a starting note.

2. Add successive ascending notes that conform to the structure WWHWWWH. (You should end on starting note 8va.)

(Fluency. Major scales are internalized.)

1. Pick a note.

2. Build its major scale.

More Informal Notes On Embodied Learning At The Keyboard

(These thoughts are indebted to Timothy Koozin, and more.)

Have you ever had this experience? I memorized this piece of music a while back. I don't really remember it, but my hands do. So you end up able to play it. (Muscle memory)

What if we could put muscle memory to use intentionally in our approach to the teaching of keyboard skills?

We can, for example, internalize the various ways a major chord can feel physically. Zooming in on this example, a close voicing major chord in root position can fall into six categories of "feel" to the hands (even as they all fall into the same intervallic structure of a major third below, a minor third atop, and a perfect fifth as the bounding interval). Below are the 6 "feel" categories for this example.

Category 1: white note-white note-white note (wh-wh-wh): C major, F major, G major

Category 2: black note-white note-black note (bl-wh-bl): C#/Db major, D#/Eb major, G#/Ab major

Category 3: white note-black note-white note (wh-bl-wh): D major, E major, A major

Category 4: black note-black note-black note (bl-bl-bl): F#/Gb major

Category 5: black note-white note-white note (bl-wh-wh): A#/Bb major

Category 6: white note-black note-black note (wh-bl-bl): B major

All chord shapes can be categorized in like manner to the system shown by this above example.

Chord progressions too can be approached in this way. Let's use a three-voice right hand texture as an example. We can think of our approach to the chord progression from the standpoint of parsimonious voice leading, emphasizing economy of means. For example, a I-vi-IV-ii-cad64-V7-I in any major key in a 3+1 texture could have the right hand voiced as follows:

Begin with the notes as such (stated from lowest to highest voice, only RH voices shown; LH would cover notes implied by the above harmonic progression):

EGC (action required to move to next sonority: bounding voices remain, middle voice moves up by step within the key)--> EAC (action required to move to next sonority: top two voices remain, bottom voice moves up by step within the key)--> FAC (action required to move to next sonority: bottom two voices remain, top voice moves up by step within the key)--> FAD (action required to move to next sonority: all three voices slide down by step within the key)--> EGC (action required to move to next sonority: middle voice remains, outer voices contract by step within the key)--> FGB (action required to move to next sonority: middle voice remains, outer voices expand by step within the key)--> EGC.

Informal Notes On Contour, Pulse Streams, Groove, And Similarities Of Effect Across Instruments

(These thoughts are indebted to Timothy Koozin, Rob Schultz, John Snyder, Kristen Wallentinsen, and more.)

One of Merriam-Webster's definitions of groove is "a pronounced enjoyable rhythm". Grove Music Online includes "vital drive and rhythmic propulsion" in its definition. Many consider groove from the standpoint of a composite interlocking rhythmic effect created by the repeated rhythmic coordination of several instruments working together to create an overall rhythmic feel that is fairly palpable. I would like to consider general contour points as a stand-in for the several instruments noted in this last approach to groove. In other words, when a certain contour point is sounded, imagine that contour point to actually be the sounding of a particular "instrument". I will then show how these repeated contour shapes are created by the drum set (my first example), the acoustic guitar (my second example), and the piano (my third example). *Disclaimer: Some will likely see these as "accompaniment patterns" as opposed to "grooves", and that's OK by me at this point as at some level I think what I am exploring here in this nascent stage is the similarity between a drum set as an accompanist and more strongly pitched instruments which have overlap with the drum set in their approach to accompanying.

A Sample Drum Set's Collective Contour Points and Overall Shape (rough outline)

Contour Point 6: Cymbals

Contour Point 5: Snare

Contour Point 4: Tom 1

Contour Point 3: Tom 2

Contour Point 2: Tom 3

Contour Point 1: Kick Drum

(Basic Rock Beat in 4/4; Kick on beats 1 and 3, Snare on beats 2 and 4, Hi-hats (Cymbals) every eighth note)

6: C C C C C C C C

5: S. S

1: K K

Travis Picking On An Acoustic Guitar—Collective Contour Points and Overall Shape (rough outline—chords and their particular constituent notes may change as the chords change, but do not matter for the purposes of groove contour and overall shape)

Contour Point 6: String 1 (highest-sounding/thinnest string)

Contour Point 5: String 2

Contour Point 4: String 3

Contour Point 3: String 4

Contour Point 2: String 5

Contour Point 1: String 6 (lowest-sounding/thickest string)

(Travis picking uses a low, high, mid-low, mid-high contour repetition pattern)

D major chord

6 (string 1): F# F#

5 (string 2): D D

4 (string 3): A A

3 (string 4): D

2 (string 5): A

1 (string 6):

*Notice above that there are two iterations of the contour. The bass notes of D (string 4) and A (string 5) function as the low point in the four-point contour. The fact that the bass note changed does not matter from the standpoint of the groove contour or overall shape.

Alberti bass pattern in left hand of the piano (again, the particular chords used or chord changes do not affect the overall shape)

Contour point 3: high note of chord

Contour point 2: middle note of chord

Contour point 1: low note of chord

(Alberti bass uses a low, high, middle, high contour repetition pattern.)

G major chord

3: D D

2: B

1: G

Informal Notes On Scalar Shapes Embodied At The Keyboard Through Various Techniques Via Muscle Memory Emphasis As Pedagogical Reinforcement

(These thoughts are indebted to Elizabeth Wallace, Timothy Koozin, and more.)

You are trying to learn your scales at the keyboard. Let's say you're working on major scales in particular. Assuming you know your major scales intellectually from music theory class and could verbally state the notes of any major scale in order, do you know them in an embodied physical sense at the piano keyboard, for example? In working on this embodied knowledge, it is once again important to recognize patterns for a number of reasons, but specifically here for the purposes of grouping scales with identical fingerings so that if you know the fingering for one scale, you can apply that same knowledge to any other scale that reproduces that same fingering pattern. This significantly cuts down on cognitive (and embodied) load. Use patterns to your cognitive and embodied advantage. Let's focus on what some instructors refer to as Group 1 major scales. Group 1 major scales all use the following fingerings.

Right Hand (ascending read left to right; descending read right to left): 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 (5)/1 *The 5 in parentheses indicates you would use your pinky as the top note of your scale when you have decided to turn around and descend; otherwise, you would use your thumb in order to progress to the next register.

Left Hand (ascending read left to right; descending read right to left): (5)/1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1. *The 5 in parentheses indicates you would use your pinky as the starting note of your scale as you begin your ascent; otherwise, you would use your thumb in order to progress to the next register.

Group 1 major scales that use the above fingerings include C major, G major, D major, A major, and E major. Combine your intellectual knowledge of the notes in these particular scales with the embodied Group 1 fingerings at the piano keyboard and you've got it. This may be enough. However, in the case that our fingers need reinforcement, we may try a few physical techniques that emphasize to our hands the shapes we want to create and recreate.

Cluster chord-scale approach:

Recognizing that our right hand pattern is essentially two shapes: (a) 123 and (b) 1234 on repeat, we can make cluster chords out of these two shapes and run them over the entire range of the piano keyboard. For example in C major, find the lowest CDE and play them as a chord with 123. Follow that up with FGAB played as a chord with 1234. Repeat this process moving all the way to the top of the piano keyboard and back down. (Do the same technique with other Group 1 scales in your right hand.)

Recognizing that our left hand pattern is essentially two shapes: (a) 4321 and (b) 321 on repeat, we can make cluster chords out of these two shapes and run them over the entire range of the piano keyboard. *In starting, we will begin our first octave with 54321 since 5 initiates the scale in the left hand.* In C major, 54321 plays CDEFG in the lowest register as a chord. Follow that up with ABC played as a chord with 321. Beginning in the next register, play DEFG as a chord with 4321, then ABC with 321, now repeating the 4321, 321 chordal process moving all the way to the top of the piano keyboard and back down. (Do the same technique with other Group 1 scales in your left hand.)

Time-weight-over/under exaggeration approach:

With this technique we draw attention to the moments in the sequence in which we have to either tuck our thumb under another finger or cross a finger over our thumb. We do this by physically leaning into these moments with extra weight in the hands and by lengthening these notes to add a temporally marked quality to these moments. This again, is a technique for learning through exaggerated embodied motions. Once the scales are internalized, you would want to even out the weight of each note and make the timing between note attacks equidistant.

RH alone: 1 2 3---- 1---- 2 3 4---- 1---- etc.

LH alone: (5)/1 4 3 2 1---- 3---- 2 1----4---- 3 2 1---- etc.

Informal Notes On Arhythmic To Rhythmic To Rhythmic-At-Tempo Tw0-Handed Piano Practice As A Technique For Learning

(These thoughts are indebted to Elizabeth Wallace, and more.)

Hands-alone practice at the piano is often incredibly important and it does a lot to solidify what each particular hand will do when it is put together, but it is certainly not a given that because you can perform something hands alone that you can perform it hands together. So as we put something hands together, we pay particular focused attention to precisely the sensations we physically feel as both hands create this shape right now, vertically, at the same moment in time. It may be necessary to begin this process arhythmically. If so, find your starting hand position. Mentally prepare yourself for which fingers in each hand will be depressed simultaneously, activating the weight of those fingers until you are ready to strike that shape at the keys. Once mentally and physically prepared for the first simultaneity, strike. Now look at the next simultaneity and repeat this same process. If practicing arhythmically, do not concern yourself with how long each simultaneity takes. Focus on pitch accuracy and attention to the physical feeling of playing that particular shape that you are focused upon. After you've successfully played two sonorities, try playing them back-to-back. Again, initially don't worry about the time it takes to get from one shape to the next. Rather, focus on the physical sensations of playing one sound, changing shape, and playing the next sound accurately. Once this is achieved with a consistent accuracy, introduce a very slow tempo and rhythmic accuracy within it. Your body now knows the shapes. Try very gradually working up to knowing those shapes at a consistent speed. As your accuracy becomes consistent at that speed, slowly increase the speed until you are at tempo. Take this concept and continually expand your approach and continuation window (prior to and following the harmonic moment with which you began).

Informal Notes On The Essence Of Community (Through The Lens Of (Musical) Ensembles)

(These thoughts are indebted to my communities, colleagues, and students, both past and present. If past, know you are ever-present with me; if present, I am grateful for the gift of your presence.)

-everyone belongs

-everyone is seen and accepted

-a place of calm

-a place of connection

-a place you can just be

-being heard

-being listened to

-listening to

-a place where we are all imperfect people, but we care about each other completely and always choose restoration when we get it wrong

-supportive

-all of us are for you, not against you

-a place of equality and equity

-a place where we share each others’ joys and hardships

-a sense of “we’ve got time for you, all the time in the world", and if you need our time, that doesn’t feel like an imposition, but an honor to gift you our time

-a place of play, joy, creativity, spontaneity

-a place of inclusion, not exclusion: You are welcome here. Me?, Yes, you. But I…, Yes, absolutely you.—wholeheartedly and individually, and each person is valued in this way. Always.

-A place we can express shared meaning together through song and music to the very best of our abilities without judgment, but instead with support.

-A place where our music can express all the feels— our ups, our downs, our ins, our outs, our I don’t knows, our emotional mixtures—all of our emotional complexities.

-A place we can’t wait to get to. A place we don’t ever want to leave.

-A place with doors that are always open and lights that are always on because we are always waiting expectantly for you to arrive.

-A place without “us” v. “them” because we are all always—all of us—"us”.

Informal Notes On "Hey! Who Turned Out The Lights?"—Kinesthetic Learning At The Piano Keyboard

(These thoughts are indebted to eye tracking studies, Dr. Gary S. Karpinski, Dr. Elizabeth Wallace, and more.)

As we learn at the piano, one of the things we can become aware of is that as we are at a certain point in our learning process, our eyes quickly shift between sheet music and our hands at the keyboard itself many times. "What notes am I supposed to play?" We quickly scan the score for the moment in the piece we are about to play and quickly take in all of the notes that need to be played in the next instant. Before we play, our eyes shoot downward to our hands. "Is my right hand positioned correctly for each note it will play?" We quickly shoot our eyes over to our left hand. "Is my left hand positioned correctly?" Then we may trust it and play the sound. That instant of sound is created correctly or incorrectly and a similar type of process repeats. The amount of information that must be taken in at once in "real time" is significant. Treble clef with multiple notes sounding at once. Bass clef with multiple notes sounding at once. All of this represents only one moment in time, so we must not only have fairly instantaneous recall of our notes in both clefs, but also be able to scan ahead of the next few moments in time and use our working memory to maintain a mental image of what sounds are upcoming. This will allow us to spend just a few moments longer looking at our hands when needed to focus on actually making those shapes at the keyboard and sounding them. The process over time becomes slightly more fluid as we shift between quick moments of time imaging larger swathes of music and more quickly finding those shapes at the keyboard with our hands. As we develop at the keyboard, however, we need to begin to develop an internal spatial image of our hands and their relationship to the keyboard itself so that we can minimize the need to look at our hands and the keyboard at all. One way to develop this skill is to take a scale, a chord progression, a brief excerpt that you can transpose, an interval, a short piece that you've memorized and literally turn out the lights in your practice room. This forces you to find the sounds that your mind's ear is looking for with a kinesthetic knowledge of your hands' size(s) and shape(s) and their relationship to the keyboard itself. These two entities should over time become "hand in glove" where your body simply knows where the note is, where the chord is, how it feels to take an octave and leap two octaves upward, etc. Start small. Be gentle on yourself when it comes to errors as there will be much error fixing in this type of practice (less and less over time). Start with shapes and sizes that are only near your body's center, the center of the keyboard, and require minimal shifts in hand positions. Then move gradually to more extreme positional shifts. (For example, a small shift would be from a C major chord in the 4th register (C4, E4, G4) to an F/C (C4, F4, A4). A larger shift would be a shift from Bb3 and Bb4 played simultaneously followed by a leap to Bb5 and Bb6. The goal is to make the keyboard such an extension of the body that it "feels like home". This kind of work over time will allow you to minimize the need to look down at your hands as you read music and also as you play by memory. So, "Hey! Who Turned Out The Lights?" You should.

Informal Notes On Alternatives To Traditional Musical Notation/Graphic Scores

(These thoughts are indebted to 20th/21st century experimentation in graphic notation, Ableton Live, brilliant.com, contour theory, historical musical notational developments, Dave Liebman, player piano rolls, Conlon Nancarrow, Rob Schultz, Dmitri Tymoczko, and more.)

Below, you will see a Cartesian graph in which the x-axis represents a steady pulse stream in eighth notes with the 8th note made equal to 160 beats per minute and the y-axis represents pitch height by a stable distance in half-steps (ic1). The plots may either be "dots" which indicate that pitch (or those pitches) at that moment in time or "lines" which indicate the pitches are sounded for the number of eighth notes they pass through on the x-axis. The system is flexible in that the time points on the x-axis may equate to any bpm and the pitch height on the the y-axis may equate to any scalar formation or interval class cycle of one's choosing (including uneven steps ("fuzzy categories") that accommodate for M2 v. m2, etc, gapped scales, non-octave repeating scales, or other scales of your own creation).

Pitch height (ic1) (up/down)

C5 . ______ ______

B4 .

A#/Bb4

A4 ______ ______

G#/Ab4

G4 . .

F#/Gb4

F4 ______

E4 . . ______

D#/Eb4

C#/Db4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Pulse stream (left to right)

(8th notes; 8th note=160bpm

Informal Notes On Musical Works Made Of Negative Musical Space

(These thoughts are indebted to many.)

Imagine a musical pitch system. For our purposes, we'll use a diatonic C major system with pitch-classes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, (C). If, in our imagined work, we played the chord C major, we can imagine the negative musical pitch-class space as all the other pitch classes available in the system. Since C major is made of the pc set [C, E, G], the negative musical pitch-class space in that diatonic system is the pc set [D, F, A, B]. We could conceive of realizing musical works which perhaps maintain other musical parameters of a pre-composed piece, substituting out the negative space for each sonority. Voicings would be up to our compositional design. Other parameters could be maintained. The "new piece" could be understood as the negative pc space of the original piece. This same negative musical pitch-class space could be applied to other parameters creatively as well either individually or in combination.

Informal Notes On The Proposed Use Of Even-Further-Layered Musical Analytical Systems

(These thoughts are indebted to Thomas Christensen, Stefan Caris Love, Gary S. Karpinski, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Felipe Salles, and more.)

When we do harmonic analysis of musical passages, we layer two historical systems—figured bass and Roman numeral analysis. Figured bass is concerned with the intervals above a given bass note. It prefigures chord theory altogether. A bass note is written on the staff and Arabic numerals below the staff indicate to the performer what intervals above that bass note should be supplied for the sonority's realization. Traditional chord theory, which came later, understands sonorities from the vantage point of sonorities stacked in thirds. Once arranged into this position, the bass note is then understood as the "root" of the chord from which we name the chord. In terms of musical function, we then relate that chord to its root's position in the prevailing major or minor scale relative to a governing tonic of the passage or piece. The chord can then be assigned a numeric value indicated by a Roman numeral. Further, that Roman numeral can indicate the specific structure of the chord with capital Roman numerals indicating that the quality of the chord is major and lowercase Roman numerals indicating that the chord is minor. Sometimes addendums to these Roman numerals are added to triads to further indicate qualities such as augmented (+) or diminished (º). I would like to propose a further addendum to the use of seventh chords in order to further clarify their structure. We already do this with diminished seventh chords built upon the leading tone. In the major mode, we can build a viiø7. The half-diminished label (ø) tells us that the structure of the triad is diminished while the seventh is minor. In the minor mode, we can build a viiº7. The fully-diminished label (º7) applies the "degree" symbol to both the triad and the seventh as the "degree" symbol without an appending "7" means a diminished triad, but with the "7" following is understood to refer in both directions to the triad and seventh of the chord. However, I would like to recommend clarity, for example, among the I7, IV7, and V7 chords derived from the major mode. Via their functional labels as just shown, they would appear to all be of identical structure, but we know they are not. The V7 is a major-minor seventh chord; it consists of a major triad with a minor seventh above its root. The I7 and IV7 are major-major seventh chords; they consist of major triads with major sevenths above their roots. As we are comfortable with the analytical clarity afforded through layering figured bass and traditional chord theory, I would like to recommend that we further pull from pop chord labels into this analytical amalgam for the I7 and IV7 chords above described in particular. If we were in the key of C major, the I7 would get a pop label of Cmaj7 (or a delta symbol in the place of "maj"); the IV7 would get a pop label of Fmaj7. The "maj" label refers to the quality of the chord seventh, while the root label by itself is understood as shorthand for a major triad. I recommend we simply pull the "maj" label (and/or delta label) into functional analytical practice where these chords arise. I7 could easily be labeled Imaj7 and IV7 could easily be labeled IVmaj7. In jazz contexts, these labels do get used for this type of clarity. I think we could also benefit from them in analysis of Common-Practice-Era Western Art Music since at least IVmaj7, though certainly far less common than V7, does exist in the literature and the Imaj7 exists as a theoretical construct that comes up in our pedagogy when illustrating diatonic seventh chords which can be built from each degree of the major scale. As theoretical constructs, when illustrating seventh chords derived from the "three forms of" the minor scale, we could also include imaj7 (a minor triad with a major seventh which can be seen as derived from the harmonic or melodic minor scale), the III+maj7 (an augmented triad with a major seventh which can be seen as derived from the harmonic or melodic minor scale), and the IV7 (a major triad with a minor seventh which can be seen as derived from the melodic minor scale—inclusion of this chord as a theoretical possibility would also necessitate the use of "maj" in the IVmaj7 derived from the major mode to distinguish it from this theoretical chord; also note that within the blues tradition, the labels I7, IV7, and V7 do indeed all refer to major-minor seventh chords as the labels appear to indicate). Use of these labels for further clarity also allow for students to see them as possibilities in their own compositions even as they derive materials from familiar scale systems. It also assists in allowing us to broaden the scope in the undergraduate music theory sequence of the areas of repertoire we include outside of CPWAM. In settings where we do this, these chords then can become more than simply theoretical constructs, but options used in other repertoires and possibilities in current neo-tonal settings.

Informal Notes On Self-Awareness During Piano Practice

(These thoughts are indebted to many.)

Piano practice can be a joy. We can find joy in the process. We can find joy in practice. We can find joy in the performance. It is simultaneously a discipline, and we also can find joy in the discipline. You don't ever simply instantly arrive as the perfect pianist able to play any and everything always, no matter how long you have played the instrument. Skill levels are in a constant state of increase and decrease in this area or that area. Our love of the music and the instrument cause us to approach it as a lifelong journey and in itself as a practice. There is joy in this and hard work—and the joy of observing our hard work make a difference in the quality of our abilities with the instrument. All of this said, when we come to the practice room we don't come mindlessly. We come with intentionality. From one practice session to the next, some of our specific goals may be different, but we are working on some things—hopefully several different things. As we practice, our constant musical-awareness and self-awareness are incredibly important in terms of effective use of our practice time. In other words, we should be constantly monitoring both what is happening musically and what is happening within ourselves. As you practice, be checking in on your enjoyment of the process as you engage with a particular passage. Check in on your energy levels, your level of joy, anger, frustration, boredom, enthusiasm, focus, satisfaction. As you are practicing with particular strategies for improvement, are you seeing a reasonable musical performance quality increase in the passagework or are you beginning to see diminishing returns for the effort put in or perhaps even regression in the quality of your performance of a given passage (or the technique you are using to approach improving said passage). If you are in the zone, go after it; you are in the flow or a sweet spot of developmental improvement. If you are sensing that is not what is happening and you are seeing the quality of output slow or decrease while your frustration increases or your engagement decreases, it may be time to either take a short break, focus on your breath, go for a short walk to clear the head, change repertoire or focal areas of your practice, stand up and stretch, or take some other form of either mental break or change in focal activity. This will allow a mental reset, more productive and enjoyable practice, and a fresh engagement with the material that will prove more fruitful upon your return to the passagework that was causing you difficulty. Practice well.

Informal Notes On Music, Learning, and Theory Of "Place"

(These thoughts are indebted to Daniel Levitin, Elizabeth Wallace, and more.)

To my best current understanding, music has a strong ability to evoke a sense of "place". You hear a song playing that you first heard in a particular place and you can sometimes literally reconstruct all memories associated with the place you heard it. This can also be multi-layered. I can hear Debussy's Deux Arabesques and recall multiple places that I've heard the pieces. To use this ability, perhaps we should practice our instruments and study for quizzes and exams in multiple places because the reverse is also true. I can be sitting in the kitchen and want to go grab an item from the car and then forget what I was going to get once I get to the car. Upon returning to the kitchen, I recall what I wanted to get from the car perhaps because I thought of it in that "place". In practicing our instruments and studying for quizzes and exams, it may be helpful to study and practice where we will be taking the exam or performing our repertoire. That way the memories of what we are studying are present in that location. In addition, so as not to simply learn for the sake of the exam, but rather to allow the concepts and/or musical materials to travel with us outside of the specific location, we should study and practice our instruments in many different places so that our brains realize it is the informational content and musical content we are seeking to hold onto regardless of place.

Informal Notes On Alternate Ways Of Being Tonal Music: A Moment With Impressionism, Blues, Jazz, and 20th-and-21st-Century Popular Musics

(These thoughts are indebted to Brent Auerbach, T. Dennis Brown, Timothy Chenette, David Huron, Gary S. Karpinski, Stefan Caris Love, Drew Nobile, David Orr, Salvatore Macchia, Austin Patty, Felipe Salles, Lisa Sanders, Rob Schultz, Craig Sikes, Mark Spicer, Dmitri Tymoczko, John Wykoff, and more.)

Unpack the differences in terms like tonal versus centric
- Understanding that the level of detail that is given to analysis of what we traditionally refer to as tonal music is also worth this level of analytical attention when it comes to music that uses scalar systems beyond the CPWAM major/minor usage of the term. Rather than simply labeling this music as tonal and its tonal center as a tonic, it is often more common to label this music as centric, assigning a tonal center or centric note, but not being necessarily willing to label the tonal center a tonic because the harmonic and scalar language do not conform to the prior practice of particular works of particular composers from a particular era.
Unpack the differences in terms like harmonic progression, harmonic succession, and harmonic retrogression.

Understanding what we mean by the terms harmonic progression, harmonic retrogression, and harmonic succession. They seem to have differing connotations. Using the term progression appears to indicate that the choices in our chords are advancing, indicating that using such chord patterns makes them somehow more fitting to quality music. Retrogression appears to indicate that we are choosing chord patterns that are moving backwards or perhaps that using such chord patterns makes them somehow less fitting to quality music. Succession appears to indicate that we are simply aimless in our stringing along chord after chord. I will paraphrase my own personal take away from a video interview I heard of John Cage. Tones do not want to go to other tones; chords do not want to go to other chords; we may want them to go particular places, but this is based upon our own biographical listening histories (and social pressures based upon what we are told is “good music”) rather than the fitness of the melodies or harmonies themselves.

Unpack the differences in the level of detail important for analysis at the microscopic musical level such as:
- microtimings important to various expressions of musical swing (which are not all identical, but cluster around era, band, and individual, as opposed to simply labeling them with straight eighth notes and indicating that they are to be swung as if all musical swing is the same)
- Bent notes, blue notes, growls, rips, sound effects (natural and synthetic, recorded and live, also including earcons), elements of spatialization, use of vibrato (including when it is engaged within the timespan of the note, how wide the vibrato it is (and changes in this aspect), and the rate of speed of the undulation (and changes in this aspect)), proportion of breath-tone, and other non-discreet pitches which are important to the sounds of genres outside of (and inside of) standard CPWAM literature, but often not notated or easily accessible on all instruments
Unpack the perhaps unspoken differences in view among types of musical notation and aural traditions
How do we view the quality of music once we find that it is written on modern traditional sheet music, a lead sheet, a chord chart, a non-standard notational format (such as a graphic notation—though these are all in a sense graphic notations), or not notated at all? Do our views with respect to this question need reassessment?

Below is a figure which illustrates a possible way of viewing music from the whole tone scale. In such a case, "C" would function as the tonic and the other chords would be used in relation to "C" as the orienting note. A composer could use the primacy effect, the recency effect, repetition, reiteration, use at registral extremes in the texture, doublings (triplings, etc.) of the note, drones, and perhaps other ways to reinforce it in order to make certain that this is indeed still heard as the central tone around which the others are related. The composer should let the ear be the guide in doing this. (*It should also be noted that biographical listening history may also play into which note is heard as a tonic with respect to other listeners as I have seen a live experiment conducted in which some musicians heard one tone in a sounded musical passage as a reference point while other musicians in the room heard a different note as the reference point—see Drew Nobile's, Mark Spicer's, (and other theorists') work on the concept of the Double Tonic Complex in popular music.)

In the figure above, one may view these triads from a pop chord symbol approach on top of the grand staff; under the grand staff, one may view these same triads from a functional (how the chords relate to a given tonic) tonal viewpoint. In a scale such as WT-0 (0, 2) with "C" as a tonic, one will please note three things: (1) prior to the Roman numerals in some chords, there are directional arrows in use, (2) A#+ and Bb+ are both shown despite the fact that these chords would sound identical to one another, and (3) I have spelled all chords in stacked thirds. With respect to item 1, I am choosing to use the major scale as a reference point for the root locations of each chord. While this may seem odd, our mod-12 chromatic scale is traditionally used with a 7-letter-name system which allows for downward and upward inflections of those seven names. Since the major scale is such a common structure to many of our ears (mine included), I have chosen to use it in this instance as the point from which to inflect notes and chords upward and/or downward with respect to it. With respect to item 2, I have shown both versions of the final chord in the scale because our 7-letter-name system will create a gap in letter names at some point in a scale made of 6 scale tones. The composer is free to choose where to place the gap. With respect to item 3, though enharmonicism is completely an option, I have chosen here to spell these chords in 3rds consistently even when it causes some notes to require double sharps (etc.) for the "logic" of it (or the consistency of it, or the familiarity we have with spelling chords in 3rds).

Just Another Basic Analysis Of A Musical Excerpt?

(These thoughts are indebted to Brent Auerbach, Charles Burkhardt, L. Poundie Burstein, Timothy Cutler, Michael Horvit, Gary S. Karpinski, Timothy Koozin, Stefan Kostka, Stefan Caris Love, Robert Nelson, Matthew Santa, Joseph Straus, and more.)

Below, you will see a six-bar musical example I've written. It looks fairly basic and requests that the analyst label the key, the harmonies with Roman numerals and figured bass, embellishing tones, the harmonic sequence that takes place, and the cadence. However, in what initially seems a straightforward analytical exercise, we quickly encounter a number of complexities.

The first complexity involves non-chord tones. (I prefer the term embellishing tones which Burstein and Straus use.) Within our key of Bb major, we see a tonic triad governs the first bar of music; however, how do we understand the C-natural in the melody in m.1, b.2? Perhaps this is an easy answer. It is an appoggiatura since it is approached by leap and left by step. That would certainly be a correct reading. That being said, there are other contexts in which we use terms like register transfer and coupling in order to discuss connections we hear between octaves, a way of hearing not only pitch but pitch-class. The Bb4 on m.1, b.1 becomes a Bb5 on m.1, b.3. before returning back to the 4th octave registration, effectively allowing our ears to hear these 4th and 5th registers as aurally linked or connected in some manner. If then we were to collapse or flatten these two registers because of the way in which they are being used, the line in m. 1, b.1–3 becomes Bb-C-Bb and C functions as a neighbor tone. In addition, our contemporary ears are unable to unhear all the music we have heard in our current historical situatedness and so perhaps despite the anachronism in such a reading, our ears may hear this entire measure (particularly if performed with the sustain pedal) as a Iadd2 chord in which the C is simply part of the overall sound of the chord (or a Iadd9 if we do indeed want to draw attention to the registral disparity between the right and left hands). We can recognize both that this is not how listeners in the Romantic-era would have heard it (although I composed it two days ago as opposed to in the Romantic-era, lol) and also recognize that our ears can and sometimes do. We will return to other instances of embellishing tones I wish to consider within a larger overall discussion momentarily.

The second complexity involves our understanding of harmonic sequences. If I simply made the statement that the harmonic sequence is a sequence in descending thirds, as in Pachelbel's "Canon in D", I don't think I would have many that would argue against that reading. We move from I (Bb) down to V (F) up to vi (Gm) down to iii (Dm) etc. The overall pattern is a two-chord pattern copied and then pasted down by third within the key. It can summarily be labeled as D3(D4,A2). (In reading this notation of the sequence, it means that to achieve an overall downward trajectory of a descending third in terms of chord roots, we take two moves to get there—a root that descends by fourth and then ascends by second (within the key). The complexity arrives in the second-to-last (penultimate) measure. Where does the sequence end? If we continued the sequence further than I stated above, we would have the following: I (Bb) down to V (F) up to vi (Gm) down to iii (Dm) up to IV (Eb) down to I (Bb) down to V (F). In looking at the penultimate measure, we see that indeed, the chords do follow this pattern and don't break it until the final measure as we cadence on our tonic triad of Bb major. Is this an incorrect reading? My guess is that in the second to last measure, many want to hear something more traditional akin to a IV-cad64-V-I. Could both readings be correct? Also on the downbeat of m.5, what if we used a common substitute for IV such as a ii6? Now this calls into question whether or not we always only are talking about chord roots when we are talking about harmonic sequences. What if it were a ii65? What if it were a IVadd6? Further, beat 3 of this same measure is often thought of as a dominant functioning chord where scale-degree 5 (the F in the bass) is really the root and the other two tones are thought of as embellishing tones (the Bb and D) which fall by step into their actual "functioning" positions on beat 4. At the same time, it is also a tonic triad in its spelling and does indeed continue the harmonic sequence. Do both readings have validity? Are they two ways we can hear this?

This complex moment (the penultimate measure) also brings back our understanding of embellishing tones in the melody. What is the F5 in the melody on beat 2? The entire melody is a sequence with small variations upon each iteration. If we saw the C6 on m.1, b.2 as an appoggiatura, then it would make sense that this would be too. It is approached by leap and left by step as well; however, it does not resolve to a chord tone. If I use my contemporary ears (which are the ears I have by my historical situatedness), I could hear it as a IVadd2 or a IVadd9 anachronistically (but not really because it was written two days ago while imitating a 19th-century practice). Again, what if the chord were a common sub such as ii6, would the full sonority be a ii11 in first inversion? Would it be a IVadd6,add9? I could hear these being possibilities even as I also hear the characteristic use of the appoggiatura. The most weird thing to me is that this excerpt does not sound all that out-of-the-box to me for a Romantic-era sound world.

Moving on to beat 3 of the penultimate measure, what is the Eb5 in the melody? Is it an accented passing tone? It can't be if the F prior is an embellishing tone. It also has the effect on my ears of a 4-3 suspension, but it was not approached by common tone...unless we invoke register transfer again, which we could. But that reading would understand this chord as a I64, not a V64 (or cad64) at a cadence. If understood as a V64 with the F in the bass as the root, does the Eb in the melody then become a seventh? It does resolve downward by step as we teach that sevenths do.

The third complexity involves the cadence. As I see it, there are three possible readings. My guess at the most traditional reading is to understand it as a PAC. This reading understands beats three and four of the penultimate measure as a cadential 64 to 53 and finishing with a root position tonic triad with tonic in the melody as well. The points to consider, however are that it breaks with the left hand figuration which has been taking place for the rest of the piece. The left hand pattern was set up with the root that governed the measure on downbeats. In the penultimate measure, it is Eb (sd4) which governs the measure, not F (sd5). If we say that the F3 in the chords of the penultimate measure's beats 3 and 4 are indeed the governing harmonic root, then why do we then ignore the bass positions of the chords in the last measure on beats 2–4 as they have the same F3.

The second way we could see the cadence is as an IAC, although an odd one. In this reading, we say that the F3 in the penultimate measure is indeed governing these harmonies, despite its movement into an "inner voice". It then would state that the chords in the final measure on beats 2–4 need to be read the same way and so the final chord's sound is indeed inverted despite ending on a not-so-traditional "I64".

The third way we could view the cadence is as a plagal cadence (PC). This view retains the downbeats of each measure as the driving harmonic force for the measure and so despite the "inner voice" motion to the dominant on beats 3 and 4 of the penultimate measure, it would understand that motion as happening at a "lower level" of structure.

A fourth complexity involves meter. Sometimes it is advantageous to view simple duple and simple quadruple meters as interchangeable. In this particular musical example, I don't think they are. If we rewrote this piece in 2/4 with twice as many measures and left everything else the same, would accompaniment patterns such as this really be equally well expressed in either meter or would the expression in 2/4 cause performers to accent the music distinctly?

Music is complex.

Composer Notes For "Space-Time-Movement-Stillness" By David Mosher And All Performer-Creators Of The Piece

(This piece is indebted to Tibetan singing bowls, Christian meditation musicians, Gary S. Karpinski, Joseph N. Straus, 20th-century aleatoric and indeterminate works, and more.)

Instrumentation: This piece is for an unspecified musical instrument or group of instruments (understanding the voice as a musical instrument as well) of the performer-creator's (or performer-creators') choice.

Directions: Select any 5-note set of pitches (pentatonic). This may be any combination of 5 pitches, not just the ones we typically think of as "the" pentatonic scale (sds 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the major scale), although this 5-note set is perfectly acceptable to use as well if you so choose. Play any note or note combination from the set as you feel led by the Holy Spirit of God. If you do not yet feel led to play a sound, sit peacefully in silence until you do, then play the sound(s) you feel led to play. Timing and the strength with which you play the notes should also be done in this manner. The amount of ring or the timing of damping the sound and note overlap amounts, where applicable, should also be done in this manner. The piece in some sense should continue on eternally into the way you live your entire life. That being said, you may cease playing the piece for a time in your physical body and go about your day when you feel led by the Holy Spirit of Jesus to do so.

The performer-creators could also be creative with use of other sensory modalities in the domains of light, fragrance, taste, and/or texture. Light, for example, could be operated through a light board operating colored lights which operate on faders and would be performed in a similar manner to the directions above in the sonic domain.

If you find yourself, for any number of reasons, uncomfortable understanding your movements and cessations of movements as issuing forth from the Spirit of God, please do not in any way allow this to hinder you from participating in this piece if you have the desire to participate in it. Perhaps, if this describes you, understanding your movements and cessations of movements in terms of acting on a positively-valenced impulse to move or a positively-valenced impulse to rest, a positively-valenced desire to gesture or a positively-valenced desire to stillness may better welcome you to participation in this piece today. Above all, if (and only if) you desire to participate-cocreate this piece, feel free to understand your participation in whatever fashion makes the most sense to you and sets you most at ease today. Holistic peace to you, my friend. Welcome.

Informal Notes On "Hey DJ, Make Us A Sonic Quilt!"

(These thoughts are indebted to Dorothy Bullard, Stefan Caris Love, Zachary Mosher, Rob Schultz, Frank Zappa, previous students, previous graduate students in my cohort, and more.)

*I begin this entry with a large disclaimer and acknowledgement of ignorance with regard to the worlds of DJing and quilting. If the analogy below misses the mark, I ask forgiveness in advance.

When a person makes a quilt, their imagination is captured by a fabric or a pattern or fabrics and patterns that they have a vision for in combination as they imagine putting them into adjacencies and juxtapositions and at opposing corners and in different shapes all coming together under an overarching vision for the whole of the quilt they will design. Disparate objects come together and make a new composite object that didn't exist before as they are brought together. Something beautiful. Something new.

This image of an artist strikes me as analogous to the artwork of a DJ, a sonic quilter, as it were. DJs find and collect a large variety and repository of songs. They imagine an event for which they will DJ and envision what pieces might work together over a large time span that would be most meaningful for those participating in the event. In real-time, DJs will choose a song they think will speak to the participants. They will real-time monitor engagement with the piece and do real-time editing—looping moments they think will create impact (changing the original form of the piece to fit the needs of the moment, a type of improvisation), changing tempo to effect mood, crossfading from one song to the next to either change up the mood or inject added energy into the space, etc. Song adjacency and overall arc (trajectory and curating of pieces throughout the event) also shape meaning in terms of how we understand them in relation to one another—contextual understanding (This occurs to participants consciously and/or subconsciously.). Changing order within a song (such as looping or repeating a section of the form) or from song to song (perhaps you originally heard a given piece in the context of its original album) or in the overall arc of the event (think of the event itself as analogous to a concept album) recontextualizes the sonic objects, allowing for new understandings. (To use another analogy, ordering books of the Bible in terms of (1) our best current archaeological knowledge of age of production, (2) by our best understandings of literary genre(s),

(3) by traditional order of the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim) as the CJB orders the Hebrew Bible, or other orderings, shape our understandings as if turning a prism in the light.)

Thanks to our quilters and thanks to our DJs for being artists that create something new, something beautiful.

Informal Notes On The Need For The Doubly-Augmented Unison

(These thoughts are indebted to attempting to mass transpose scales in a music software program, and more.)

As I have been working in a music software program, building scales and attempting to group piano fingering patterns for those scales in order to aid student learning of those scales, I have found it incredibly helpful to copy a scale, paste it, and then transpose it by the interval necessary to put it in the new key, updating the key signature for the scale so as to relocate the accidentals that ensue into the key signature. In so doing, I have run into the need for an interval which I have up to this point not had a practical need for using, but now do see such a need. The interval is the doubly-augmented unison. Read that again. Yes, the doubly-augmented unison. I had already written out the A# harmonic minor scale and now wanted to write the Ab harmonic minor scale. I wanted to use the copy-paste-transpose method which I described above rather than re-typing out every single note again in the new key, but doubly-augmented unison as a transpositional distance does not exist in the options. So instead, my workaround was to transpose down by augmented unison from A# harmonic minor to A harmonic minor and then again from A harmonic minor to Ab harmonic minor. Doable, but one extra step. Here's to the doubly-augmented unison for practicality's sake! ;)

Informal Notes On Piano Fingering Grouping Logics In Major And Harmonic Minor Scales

(These thoughts are indebted to perhaps "common" knowledge, Carmen Shirley Bunn Mosher, Louise Becker, Mrs. Padgett, Patty Arambula,

Dr. Elizabeth Wallace, and more.)

Major and Harmonic Minor scale fingerings on the piano may be grouped according to the following principles:

Group I Scales: C major and C harmonic minor, G major and G harmonic minor, D major and D harmonic minor, A major and A harmonic minor, E major and E harmonic minor

-RH: 12312341231234(5): read left to right shows the ascent; read right to left shows the descent; the underlined portions show finger

crossovers or crossunders; 5 indicates the turnaround point

-LH: (5)43213214321321: read left to right shows the ascent; read right to left shows the descent; the underlined portions show finger

crossovers or crossunders; 5 indicates the initiating point

Group II Scales: F# major/Gb major, C# major/Db major, Bb major and Bb harmonic minor/A# harmonic minor, Ab major and Ab harmonic minor/G#harmonic minor, Eb harmonic minor

-Group II fingerings use the following principles:

-(a) 234 RH for groups of three black keys ascending (432 RH for groups of three black keys descending)

432 LH for groups of three black keys ascending (234 LH for groups of three black keys descending)

-(b) for each set of two white notes between the sets of 3 or 2 black notes, use the thumb (or 1) on the appropriate note in the key

*In Group II scales that don't use all of the 3 black keys laid out together on the piano or the 2 black keys grouped

together on the piano (Bb major, Ab major as examples), those black keys that are used correspond to the fingers that you would use under
"principle (a)" above.

Group III Scales: no complete members, only hybrid usage of its principles; the principles only have application for the RH; there is no LH membership; for hybrids, see Hybrid Scales below

-Group III fingerings use the following principles:

-RH: thumb after black note or black note group ascending; thumb before black note or black note group descending, *exception at the leading tone,

which uses the 2nd finger

Group IV Scales: no complete members, only hybrid usage of its principle; the principle only has application for the LH; there is no RH membership; for hybrids, see Hybrid Scales below

Hybrid Scales:

-Group I/II Hybrids:

-F major: RH is Group II; LH is Group I

-B major/Cb major: RH is Group I; LH is Group II

-Group III/II Hybrids:

-F# harmonic minor: RH is Group III; LH is Group II

-C# harmonic minor: RH is Group III; LH is Group II

-Group II/IV Hybrid:

-Eb major: RH is Group II; LH is Group IV

*A note to the scale practitioner: Standardized fingerings for scales are not meant to be inhibitors to your freedom on the instrument as a pianist, but rather are pre-worked out for you in order to ease your fluency in navigating large swathes of the keyboard quickly and easily and with an eye toward ergonomics.

Informal Notes On "It's Electric!"

(These thoughts are indebted to John Campbell, and more.)

We have electric keyboards and synths that can modify their timbres to great amounts as well as electric guitars and electric drums that can do similar timbral changes. We also have electric violins, cellos, and double basses (not sure if we have electric violas?) of which I am uncertain as to the degree of timbral modification these allow. What if the entire orchestra (or simply all instruments both inside of a standard orchestral instrumental collection and outside of it—including the voice) could have electric counterparts to their acoustic originals (not in replacement of) in order to allow for an incredibly wide (exponential increase in) range of expressive and timbral possibilities outside of, and in addition to, those they already have in their acoustic forms? Perhaps the EWI (electronic wind instrument) is the kind of thing I am thinking of at least for wind instruments, but with a physical body and operation that as closely as possible keeps the physicality of the acoustic instrument in tact; and it should allow for the expressive range of, for example, a Nord piano keyboard or an electric guitarist with an incredibly large set of options in foot pedals and/or instant live real-time access to mind-staggering amounts of software patches. We could allow each instrument to have synthetic instrument capabilities, premade sounds, as well as allowing for significant modifications to those sounds throughout the sound envelope—attack, sustain, decay, release, in addition to room ambiance controls (wet-dry room amounts). We could allow for creating your own synthetic sounds—either novel in their timbre or with various degrees of modifications to known acoustic or more common electronic instrument sounds. This would allow for each orchestra (or ensemble of any kind) to really create quite distinctive collective timbral palettes, either unique to their sound as an ensemble, much as many popular music groups have a "sound" of their own (sound stamp) or unique to each piece or performance of a given piece.

*Somewhat related note: What if MIDI input for software instruments in DAWs like Logic, ProTools, etc. were equally set up for each of these electric instruments rather than only through MIDI piano keyboards? Why not through MIDI sitar or MIDI erhu? (Apologies if this is already the case to a larger degree than I am currently aware of. If not, let's do it!)

Informal Notes On Value And Music

(These thoughts are indebted to many.)

When assessing the value of something, I have often been told to consider a counterfactual or perhaps an alternative reality in which the item under question is absent from lived experience. Here is a brief series of thoughts which may spur creative thought around the value we place on or don't place on music. (The same thought exploration could and should be applied to all the arts individually and collectively as well, though the following will briefly consider just music.)

A World With No Music

-Live music is gone. Recorded music is gone. Musical notation of any kind is gone. There is no such thing as a musical instrument. There is no such experience as using any object musically. We don't sing tunes in our heads. We don't hum. We don't sing. Singing happy birthday at birthday celebrations is simply not a thing. Worship services are spoken only. The book of Psalms, the Magnificat, The Song of Moses and Miriam, Song of Songs are all nonexistent (as well as perhaps all poetic books of the Bible and sections of poetry which may have been sung). Church bells don't ring. Wedding ceremonies are devoid of any musical components as are the dances that follow in wedding receptions. Any and all types of cultural celebrations are sans music in contributing to celebration. Funerals have no music to aid in our grief expressions. We don't find songs with or without words that connect to our souls or connect our souls to one another because the songs don't exist. There is no such expression. Sonic expressions of culture, history, imagination, community of various instantiations in which song brings us together around these ideas are totally absent in these settings. There is no band. There is no choir. There is no orchestra. There are no ensembles. There are no teens creating their own garage bands. There are no music festivals. There are no summer concert series. Cities cannot rally around their symphony orchestras or opera companies because these are nonentities. Movies have no songs, no orchestral scores, no sound effects—everything is simply spoken. In video games, your character navigates the RPG in absolute silence. Musicals occur sans music as well. Seasonally, we find no holiday music aiding in creating the seasonal and/or religious aesthetic. Elevators operate in more silence than they already do. Restaurants and businesses are hopelessly silent as well, other than the sound of air conditioners or heaters (which are unable to be heard musically either). Videos on social media are always spoken only. No such thing as a music app. What are wax cylinders, records, tapes, CDs, streaming music? These concepts are not present in this reality. Music stores—nope. Teaching lessons? Nope again. Advertisements have no jingles. Sporting events have no music to pump you up. Music cannot function to help us express love, joy, laughter, pain, catharsis, or be used in any personally or collectively therapeutic sense because it doesn't exist. Even the natural world is somehow absent of musicality. If birds do make sounds, our brains cannot process anything aesthetically pleasing about the sounds they make; that, or they sound more spoken as well. Even the speech cannot be understood by our brains rhythmically in any way. We don't have musical capacity in this world. This could go on, but I'm not sure I could at the moment. Do we like this world? Do we miss the musical world at all? A little bit? A lot? How much do we miss it? Do we value music? To what extent? How expendable is it? How essential is it? Do we treat it like it is?

Informal Notes On Alternative Ways Of Being Tonal

(These thoughts are indebted to Gary S. Karpinski, and many.)

The following figure and text associated with it should be understood in the context of a previous "Informal Notes On..." entitled "Informal Notes On Alternate Ways Of Being Tonal Music: A Moment With Impressionism, Blues, Jazz, and 20th-and 21st-Century Popular Musics". Related specifically to the figure in this entry, several points are worth noting. (Other important related points may be found in the previous "article" I just referenced.) All tones represented here are derived from the whole tone scale, specifically WT-0 (0, 2). The type of harmonic entity which serves as the basic structure is the seventh chord, specifically an augmented triad with a minor seventh (one of two standard altered dominant seventh chords which can both be understood as derived from a whole tone scale, the other being the "V7b5"). Above the staves, I have opted for two ways which could be used to notate these chords in a pop chord label style. Pop label option A, as shown, is to label it with the root of the chord followed by the number 7, which together would indicate a Mm7 chord; however, after the 7 is appended a ↑5. The ↑ is a modification used by Karpinski in his Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing textbook. The arrow up or down indicates that the note is raised or lowered. This is in use rather than the more pop and jazz traditional "b5" or "#5" approach. Though "b5" and "#5" are in standard usage in these repertoires, and therefore should be understood by musicians, the arrow notation allows us more specifically to recognize that altering a note upward or downward by semitone does not always yield a sharp or a flat; it depends upon context. The other pop notation I have shown (pop label option B) is a letter name that indicates the root of the chord followed by the "+" symbol, indicating that the triad is augmented. The appended 7 is placed in parentheses thusly, (7). The reason for this is so that performers don't understand the "+" symbol as applicable both to the triad and the 7th as you would in a fully-diminished seventh chord with the "º" label. The parentheses thus allow us to understand the 7 as the standard m7 which you would assume when no symbol is applied to it. Underneath the staves there are two options for functional labels. They work in exactly the same manner as I have described for the pop labels with the exception that the Roman numerals are used to indicate their scalar relationship to a given note understood as a tonic.

*It is also perhaps important to note that above, I've used the term "altered dominant", which I have often heard used. This term is a shorthand for a standard modification of a Mm7 chord built upon the 5th scale degree of the major or minor scale (the dominant scale degree); the standard modification is to alter the fifth of the chord, which would normally be sd2 in either the major or minor scale, either upward or downward by a semitone. If one is in a major mode context and moves the fifth of the chord upward by semitone and allows for enharmonicism, one could view the new chord as borrowing sd3 from the parallel minor; if one is in a minor mode context, this tone is already available diatonically, again, allowing for enharmonicism. If one is in a major or minor mode context and moves the fifth of the chord downward by semitone, one could view the new chord as borrowing sd2 from the parallel Phrygian mode. (This expanded concept of modal borrowing, which includes parallel modes beyond just the parallel major and minor modes, including borrowing from any parallel mode of the major scale—or perhaps even other scalar structures—may prove highly useful analytically in a surprising number of traditionally tonal and neo-tonal contexts. (It may prove useful in some contexts approached via Neo-Riemannian theory as well. For example, within a C major context, a move from a C major chord to an Eb minor chord—a doubly-chromatic mediant chord relationship—could be understood via Neo-Riemannian theory as a PRP transformation, but could also be understood as borrowing from the parallel Locrian; similarly, within that same C major context, a move from a C major chord to an F#/Gb major chord (enharmonicism allowed) could be understood via both lenses; in transformational theory, it could be seen as a PRPR transformation, while expanded modal borrowing could view it as pulling the triad from the parallel Locrian once again.) Using an example that is not normally approached via a Neo-Riemannian lens, but rather as N or bII, we have the Neapolitan chord. Use of this chord could be understood as borrowing from the parallel Phrygian.) Returning to my original point about "altered dominant" or "V7b5" or "V7#5", these terms fit better within a major/minor system in which we are building the Mm7 chord on sd5. Within this whole-tone context, the augmented triad with minor seventh that we are featuring is built on every degree of the scale; the fifth scale degree also is not what we traditionally understand as the "dominant" scale degree because it is not a P5 above the tonic. It seems best, then, to refer to these with the labels shown in the figure, rather than understanding them as "dominants" within this tonal and scalar context.

Informal Notes On Alternative Ways Of Being Tonal: C Octatonic (0,2)

(These thoughts are indebted to many.)

The type of harmonic entity which serves as a basic referential structure in the figure above is the three-note chord stacked in fourths. The octatonic scale has eight tones, but exists within a system in which note names have seven unique letters, so one letter name is duplicated with an inflection. As I have chosen to render the scale above, both F and F# exist; all other notes of the scale have unique letter names. Above the staff, I have chosen to label these chords by combining two systems and somewhat altering the second of the two. The label "3x4 on 'insert note name here'" indicates that there are 3 notes to the chord, that they are stacked in fourths, and that the note which should be understood as the "bass-root" is the letter name at the end of the label. The second system affixed to the label comes from pitch-class set theory. It rearranges the tones of the chord in their most compact positioning, treats the lowest tone in this arrangement as "0", and simply counts numerically up to the next note in the chord. This chord position (note arrangement) is called normal order or normal form. I have opted to apply the labels at this point in the process rather than putting the chords into traditional prime form, an arrangement which compares the normal order with its same interval structure read in the opposite direction. (For example, a C major chord, CEG, would be the most tightly-packed arrangement of those notes, thus in normal order. C would be set to "0", arriving on E would be arriving on "4", arriving on G would be arriving on "7", so the normal order would be (047); however, taking the same tightly-packed structure and reading from G as "0" down to E, E would become "3" and C would become "7". Reading this same structure would yield (047) from "bottom to top" and (037) from "top to bottom". Traditional set theory would label the chord (037) because it reads in a more compact manner to the left side of the label. From a visual standpoint, it's like taking a hat (a basic structure) and turning it upside down and understanding that it is still a hat no matter how you turn it. The problem, in my opinion here (and I believe for many others as well), is that it does not really line up with the way a human brain processes the sonic experience (to my current knowledge and personal experience). If we label a C major chord as (037), what else is a (037)? C minor is also a (037) where C is set to 0, Eb is 3 and G is 7. I hear a qualitative difference (Gestalt difference, holistic difference) between a major chord and a minor chord. I do not sonically experience them at all in the same way I experience seeing a hat as right-side up or upside-down. The auditory and visual domains function differently in this regard for me. I can certainly hear constituent intervals—I can hear a minor 3rd, a major 3rd, a perfect fifth—but placing a major 3rd below a minor 3rd and the resulting bounding perfect 5th is again qualitatively distinct to me from a minor 3rd below a major 3rd with a resulting bounding perfect 5th. This is why I propose using normal form as a label more closely aligned to sonic experience.

To use a term in a slightly different manner than we traditionally use it, the chords are all "diatonic". Traditional usage of this term means that they conform to the key signature. Perhaps a new term is in order within this context as there are no key signatures set up for octatonic collections; key signatures were set up for major and minor keys (major and natural minor, specifically). Whether this might indicate that we need expanded key signatures and/or a new definition for "diatonic" is an important question. Here, I will use the term "diatonic" to simply mean that all of the chords correspond to the scale from which they are derived—the C OCT 0-2 collection.

It is, to me, interesting to note that even within "quartal" harmonies, we end up with some structures that we more commonly hear (and perhaps think of more quickly) in their tertian harmonic form. A few examples include 3x4 on F# (047) which sounds like a B major chord in second inversion, but is spelled in quartal fashion. 3x4 on G# (037) sounds like an F minor chord in first inversion, but is spelled in quartal fashion. 3x4 on B (026) sounds like an incomplete B7 chord (missing the fifth of the chord, as is very common), but is spelled in quartal fashion. It should be noted that how one spells their octatonic scale, as in where the duplicated letter name with inflection is located, affects both the spelling of the chords and the resulting sounds of the chords because what constitutes quartal stacking is based upon spelling. For example, if I had spelled my scale with Gb instead of F# (followed by G#), the quartal chord on Gb would be spelled Gb, C, F instead of F#, B, Eb—different chords and different sounds. Both of these chords are possible within the collection, but spelling plays into what structures you build and the resultant chords and their sounds.

Lastly, below the staves, I have applied functional labels consistent with the pop labels above the staves. The functional labels are identical to the pop labels other than indicating how the chords relate to the tonic of C as scale-degree 1. Again, note that use of enharmonicism determines how we understand scale degree. I have, as previously, opted to use the major scale as a referent when using up/down arrows to indicate raised or lowered scale degrees due to my own (and many others) strong biographical listening experiences that likely root the major scale more deeply in me than other scalar structures.

Informal Notes On Alternative Ways Of Being Tonal: The Symmetrical Expanding-Contracting Hexatonic—C Sym Exp-Cont Hexa (0,1)

(These thoughts are indebted to many.)

The term hexatonic classifies it under an umbrella category of 6-note scales: two others that I am aware of are (a) the whole-tone scale, which replicates interval-class 2s from tonic to tonic, and (b) the augmented scale, which alternates the replication of an ic1 followed by an ic3 (or the reverse, depending upon mode (or rotation)). Next, let's explore how it is symmetrical. The scale evenly divides the octave by splitting the chromatic scale (the notes traditionally available, for example, on a piano keyboard) from one instantiation of a given letter name to the next note with the same letter name an octave above (in this case, from C to C). The halfway point between these two Cs is F#. C to F#=C [0],C#/Db [1] , D [2], D#/Eb [3], E [4], F [5], F# [6], and is the same semitonal distance as F# to C, where F# [as here for illustration is set to 0], G [1], G#/Ab [2], A [3], A#/Bb [4], B [5], C [6]. So there are 6 semitones from C to F# and also from F# to C. It is also important to note that F#, which does indeed divide the octave evenly, is also the midpoint of the scale itself; from C to C within the scale, there are three notes before F# and three notes after F#, so it both divides the octave evenly and divides the scale itself evenly. There is one further area of symmetry which I will address as I cover the next descriptors in the name of the scale.

The term expanding-contracting views the scale in both a left-to-right manner and a right-to-left manner. Reading the successive intervals in the scale in a left-to-right manner, we encounter the following interval succession: C to Db=ic1 (m2), Db to Eb=ic2 (M2), Eb to F#=ic3 (+2 or enh. m3), F# to A=ic3 (m3), A to B=ic2 (M2), B to C=ic1 (m2). Removing the letter names and only looking at the intervallic succession between them, we see the following pattern: ic1, ic2, ic3, ic3, ic2, ic1. Notice in this succession that the intervals begin with an ic1, successively expand by semitone to an ic3; then they restate the ic3 and successively contract by semitone back to an ic1. The intervals expand and contract per the name I've chosen to apply to the scale. The axis of symmetry is between the two statements of ic3 (in our rendering, on the note F#, which also divided our octave and the number of notes in the scale). Another way to think about this is to say, if F# is our midpoint we can go up by ic3 to the following note (A) or down by ic3 to the previous note (Eb); from A we go up an ic2 (B) and from Eb we go down an ic2 (Db); finally, from B we go up an ic1 (C) and from Db we go down an ic1 (C). The scale is symmetrical in all of these ways.

I have also chosen to explore some of the harmonic possibilities which can be derived from this scale (3-note chords explored only). I will only highlight some points here. System 2 considers secundal harmonies (clusters), which are understood generally as adjacent scale degrees. A point should be made here that with the gap of a 3rd on either side of the midpoint of the scale, not all adjacent notes in the scale actually lead to chords in seconds unless you choose to enharmonically spell them that way. They might then also be viewed as mixed interval chords. Some enharmonic spellings are explored in this system, particularly when an alternate spelling highlights a possible more familiar tertian hearing of the sonority. In all systems, I have put "pop chord labels" (my term in most of these instances as I doubt you will find these in any current charts) above the staves and functional labels (as per my description in previous "articles") below the staves.

System 3 considers tertian harmonies, by which I generally mean using every other note of the scale. Again, enharmonicism may allow for exceptions here which I have tried to make allowances for by indicating that secundal and quartal sonorities can show up via this method as well. Even though "tertian", I have mostly opted to use the [number of tones] x [interval being replicated] on [insert letter name here] approach in conjunction with an affixed normal order (expressed with parentheticals like you would typically see a prime form—for reasoning, please see my previous "article" on that topic). In one case I did use a traditional Roman numeral label. Either option may work where the chord actually conforms to our expectations of Roman numerals. *A momentary aside: The [number of tones] x [interval being replicated] on [insert letter name here] approach in conjunction with an affixed normal order has the function of honoring both the importance of voicing to a sonority, particularly in instances like clusters and quartal and quintal harmonies in which the voicing is part of the effect the composer is often looking to highlight as well as the importance of providing us with the precise and tightest arrangement of the notes in play for precision in analytical comparison between one chord and another for classification purposes. Back to "tertian" examples in System 3, I think it interesting to highlight that the 3x3 on sd↑4 (027) and the 3x3 on sd7 (027) are made of the exact same notes in different arrangements. They also look and sound like an F#sus4 and a Bsus2, respectively. This also brings up an interesting discussion on voicing, bass-root, and pop chord labeling and hearing depending upon context, which will need to be saved for another time.

System 4 explores quartal sonorities by spelling. Not all possibilities are shown here. Enharmonics are used. In this system, I did not use the "skip two notes in the scale and use enharmonics when necessary" approach. I rather used each note in the scale as the bass note for a quartally-spelled sonority, regardless of the number of notes skipped and with use of enharmonics when needed. More possibilities could certainly be explored here. It is interesting to me to note that several chords do indeed sound tertian: the 3x4 on sd↓3 (046) sounds like an Ebø7 without a chordal third; the 3x4 on sd↑4 (047) sounds like a B major chord in second inversion; the 3x4 on sd6 (037) sounds like an F#m chord in first inversion; the 3x4 on sd7 (026) sounds like a B7 without a chordal fifth.

System 5 explores quintal sonorities by spelling. Not all possibilities are shown here. Enharmonics are used. In this system, I did not use the "skip three notes in the scale and use enharmonics when necessary" approach. I rather used each note in the scale as the bass note for a quintally-spelled sonority, regardless of the number of notes skipped and with use of enharmonics when needed. More possibilities could certainly be explored here. It is interesting to me to note that the 3x5 on sd↓3 (047) sounds like a B major chord in first inversion; the (3)x5 on sd↑4 sounds like a tritone dyad with the bass-root doubled enharmonically at the octave (which it is); 3x5 on sd6 (026) sounds like a B7 in third inversion without a chordal fifth.

I hope, whether this scale is novel or already in use in music of which I am unaware, that composers are able to creatively make use of the possibilities that this structure makes possible. Perhaps at some point, I too may try my hand at writing some music with it.

*One final aside: In some cases in the figure, you may see a label like this—3x(3+2) on C. This label means that there are three notes in the chord and that the chord is made up of a third on the bottom with a second above it, and finally, that the structure is built on C. The entity is diatonic (in the sense of conforming to the scale) and there is also a normal form associated with such labels so one can make certain that the correct specific notes are in use.

Informal Notes On “Skating and Music—That’s So Punk Rock!”

(These thoughts are indebted to Mark Dean, Bob Dylan, Damon Kelly, Charlie Mackesy, Darrow L. Miller, and others.)

For a time in the 1990s, I was a skater. Long story short, a friend got into skating and asked me if I wanted to skate with him, and I was drawn to it. There was no “making the team” or not, there was no entry bar, there was no hierarchy or pecking order or questions I had to answer correctly, just did I want to. If I did, come on. That appealed to me. Disclaimer: This is not a wholesale endorsement of all things skating. There are aspects to the skating community with which I interacted that were less than ideal. That being said, aspects I enjoyed within the skating community were that skaters were like cats—you come and go as you please; split off as you please; learn from whom it looks like, from observation, you could learn from; there was complete approachability with everyone around; there was a sense of community, of people who liked being together, but it was organically organized and, again, with complete freedom to come and go as you please.

Interacting with the 1990s world around us at the time in our area, we found we were in a world around us that sought our erasure. There was no good place to be, to exist. If we were on the sidewalks, these were meant for pedestrians so we should not be there. If we were on the streets, these were meant for cars so we should not be there. If we were in parking lots, business owners would tell us to leave and then have “no skateboards” signs up the following week. Empty community swimming pools which would not be used for eight more months in any way were locked gates, which skaters had no problem climbing, until barbed wires were placed atop those gates in order to keep us out. You get the idea—erasure.

The music for this community at the time was punk rock—it emotionally hit for us. It was fast, it was energetic, it was full like a wall of sound, it had grit, it was bold, brave, and unafraid, it was honest and unapologetic. It was related to what we thought of as the “garage bands” of our time which shared many of the above-described characteristics of skating.

Let’s return now for a moment to the concept of erasure. I will begin a brief philosophical discussion on an aspect of music here. My disclaimer up front is that this is in no way a wholesale endorsement to go and listen to all music and throw away our discernment. Rather, I would say we should be incredibly discerning about our music. That being said, I have read passages from books and articles which have a tendency to take the approach of being offended by perhaps even entire genres of music and in effect calling for their deletion, their erasure. While there is certainly no lack of music out there which does not cause us to celebrate each and every aspect of it, and we absolutely should be discerning in our music—in fact, I find myself preoccupied with doing my best to pay attention to what music I listen to quite often—I wonder what would happen if at times, we chose to step out of just our initial emotional reaction to it, and instead stepped back and thought about it in a slightly different way.

Why does this music exist? If it is an entire genre of music, what is it about this genre that is speaking to people? Who is it speaking to? What personal expression is taking place here? Is there hurt in this music? If there is, what is the deeper reason for this pain? Is there anger and frustration in this music? Why might those who relate to it be frustrated? Is it possible that some of these reasons come from some legitimate concerns, perhaps able to be expressed plainly, perhaps part of the 90% of the iceberg that is under the surface of the water. Do we have enough care for the people that this music speaks to in order to care about them and what they are thinking and feeling and processing? Could it be that life experience is so complex at times that even though in music with lyrics, lyrics are being articulated, that the music itself and its holistic characteristics are getting at something deeper that people who love this genre are feeling but perhaps can’t put into words? If a perspective that I don’t relate to is present in this music, could I lean in, love the person better, ask more questions out of curiosity and care rather than judgment? Could I possibly learn something through this music that I don’t know? Could it somehow teach me something? Could asking these questions bring us together more than separate us? Are there aspects about this music that I do relate to, that I value, that we as listeners have in common in order to allow music to bring us together rather than separate us, as we claim it does? Can we find a space to choose with discernment, guarding our hearts, some music that we might otherwise be inclined to apply erasure to, and listen with a heart that beats for the image bearer who made it and the image bearers who seem to “get it” so that we might “get” some aspect of them, and perhaps in so doing they might “get” an aspect of us they might not get otherwise, and maybe in so doing bring us closer to one another with a heart of love and care for one another.

In music and in life, what if rather than erasure, we could communicate in some form to one another (all one anothers without exception) these words that I'm drawn to by Charlie Mackesy: "Always remember you matter, you're important and you are loved, and you bring to the world things no one else can."

Informal Notes On Instrument Usage In The Aural Skills Classroom

(These thoughts are indebted to Jason Hooper, Taka and Houlahan, Justin London, Edward Sarath, and others.)

I will begin here by stating that there may be nothing genuinely "new" in this entry. I have, perhaps embarrassingly, a need to catch up on current scholarship in the music theory field, which I aim to do. That being said, my experience tells me that whether or not the scholarship is new, the "put the ideas from the scholarship into practice" is likely not happening at the scale that it could.

The topic is instrument usage in the aural skills classoom. My experience has been that this has historically been taboo. My understanding as to the reason it has been taboo is that if, for example, you are sight-singing from a piece of sheet music in front of you, your ear and brain working together need to decode the notes on the page in order to auralize what the sheet music is showing and then you use your vocal apparatus to realize it accurately in sound. In the aural skills classroom, we are heavily invested in the aspect of that process that involves the ear and brain working together in decoding music. However, it has traditionally been argued that the best, and/or only way for us to know if the brain is actually doing what it is supposed to do in decoding is to have it actualized out loud through the voice. Playing sheet music, even if it is sight-reading sheet music, is seen as "cheating" in the sense that it is understood as a type of "button pushing". I see the notes on the page and I know what "buttons" to push down on my instrument to make those sounds. In that approach, the ear and brain do not need to be decoding the sound of what the sheet music in front of them is showing. The instrumentalist could in some sense be completely surprised by the sounds coming out of their instrument in a way that causes the ear and brain to only "hear" it after it has been realized on the instrument.

Understanding the validity in the above description, we do run into issues when we have instrumentalists in our aural skills classes who have perhaps never really sung in their lives and are now feeling the immediate pressure of being graded in some way with respect to their singing in a college classroom. It can, and has been argued, that we are not really grading on the beauty of the singing in the way that we would at a vocal jury for a voice major, but rather on pitch and rhythmic accuracy so instrumentalists are not left thinking that the beautiful voices of the vocal majors automatically put them ahead in the aural skills classroom. This line of thinking could continue in this discussion along lines of intonation and other related topics. I will not delve into this at the moment.

All of this being said, is there any place for instrumental usage within the aural skills classroom at any point or under any circumstances? Yes, indeed there is. When we think of vernacular (popular) musics and the jazz tradition, we are often working in musical worlds that exist in some respects in a type of "aural skills" world in the sense that often there is no written music. They are typically aural traditions, or aural traditions first, or aural traditions primarily. The written music takes a big backseat to the sonic world in these settings. It is often the case that vernacular musicians and jazz musicians have very strong ears perhaps in part because of working in almost totally sonic-only environments (or with minimal or lesser primacy of attachment to the page). How then wouldn't there be a way for instruments to be a part of the aural skills classroom in developing our ears?

One method I have seen and used from time to time is a structured exercise like this. Students bring their instruments to class. Students come up with a brief lick that they will play given some confines by the teacher which restrict the lick to being made up of aural materials which we've already encountered in class. Once everyone has their lick, we put on a backing track in the key I've asked those licks to be in, typically a rhythm section vamp on a tonic-dominant drone or something basic like that to keep as a reference point over atop which the licks will be heard. A volunteer plays their lick. There is no written music for the rest of the class to reference. The class' job is to aurally decode what was played, so we sit in the sound of the backing track until a hand is raised and that volunteer attempts to accurately play back the lick. If it is accurate on that person's instrument, it means the lick was indeed decoded correctly. We repeat the process with each student's lick. For vocalists in the room, decoding an instrumental lick means they must sing it back on solfege or in scale-degrees to show they have truly decoded it; in this context, simply singing it back on a neutral syllable would not indicate they necessarily understood the structure of it.

I think we could continue to flesh out more and more how we could appropriately incorporate instrumental usage within the aural skills classroom in meaningful and inclusive ways.

Informal Notes On Timbral Usage In The Aural Skills Classroom

(These thoughts are indebted to former colleagues from The College Of Saint Rose with whom I informally discussed this topic, Anna Gonzales, First Nations Version New Testament, The Complete Jewish Bible, Albert Nyuke (who gave me and my wife our Mankanyan names—Mphantan Nyuke and Danti Bampoki), Jean Luc, Simon,Rosalie, Ange Bernard, Gerard Kali, Hyassenth, Rigobert, Jan, Sidi Sou, Patricia Attiba, Samba, Joe, Victorien, Tim Gaved of SIL, Sheila (ethnomusicologist in Ziguinchor, Senegal), the Casamance, Dakar, Gorree Island, the oral translation of the Mankanyan Bible, and others.)

Another area in which I believe we can grow as aural skills instructors in helping our music students develop their ears has to do with how we approach dictation. To my knowledge, the overwhelming majority of dictations are played on the piano. In an earlier entry, I mentioned brain research having to do with the way the brain takes in the totality of its environment when learning. In that entry, I recommended studying in multiple places in order for the brain to latch onto the content we are hoping to acquire without being quite so tied to place. I want to remember what I've learned whether I'm at home or at school or on vacation or wherever I am. (Recall the familiar concept of thinking of something you want to go get in the other room, but when you arrive in the room, you've forgotten what you went into that room to get. Then upon returning to the place you were when you thought of it, you again recall what you wanted to retrieve.) Along these lines, though again, this is born out of experience and observation, and not out of particular literature that I've read, we also want our students to hear the aural materials we are teaching them irrespective of timbral context. If I'm playing a I-vi-IV-V-I harmonic progression, my students might have learned this pretty well in class by hearing it played on the piano. Could they recognize it in a string quartet playing it in a rhythmicized manner rather than in isochronous whole notes at the piano at a whole note per chord harmonic rhythm? Could they recognize it in an electric guitar and electric bass playing it with distortion? Could they recognize it on an ethereal ambient synthetic timbre? Could they recognize it arpeggiated in scat singing by an acapella vocal ensemble? Could they recognize it in a band, choral, or orchestral setting? We want our students to be able to take these skills out of the aural skills classroom/lab setting and be able to hear these aural materials all around them wherever they hear music—in their own repertoire, at concerts they attend, in audio streaming, etc. And in these musical settings, those materials are going to show up in a variety of timbres and timbral combinations (and in different meters, tempi, and figurations and textures as well). *Relatedly, I come back to the Rob Paravonian stand-up comedy example of the "Pachelbel" harmonic sequence showing up in all kinds of guises, genres, musical settings (I only wish that for my timbral point to be made here that he wasn't performing all of them on acoustic guitar, though I think we can imagine their original timbral contexts even as he renders these pieces on acoustic guitar.—I'm providing the link to his stand-up routine; there is some language content, so be forewarned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM) I think some of what makes his stand-up routine funny is that most everyone is probably somewhat shocked to realize that all of these disparate works are making use of exactly the same harmonic progression. My point is, I don't want our students to be surprised. I want them to hear these structures everywhere in the musical worlds around them.

There are a number of ways we might approach unattaching our student's ears from piano-only dictations. One is to assign upcoming dictations to students in the class in this manner. Northumbria plays the flute. You hand Northumbria a melodic dictation which you ask her to play for the class at the next meeting. You have some choral students in your class: one sings soprano, another alto, another tenor, another bass. You assign them a harmonic dictation that they will perform on a given date for the class on a neutral syllable (or have them create their own text). Agamemnon plays the electric guitar. Have Agamemnon prepare a dictation for an upcoming class. You get the point. Allow the timbral variety inherent in any aural skills class to be utilized to their own aural benefit in this way. (I am talking to myself here as well as I need to grow in this area.)

Another way you can approach timbral variety in the presentation of dictations and transcriptions is through the use of a MIDI keyboard and music software program such as Logic. Bring your portable MIDI keyboard and laptop with you to class. When it comes time for dictation, select from the seemingly never-ending repository of timbral possibilities from the software's virtual instrument library.

With timbral (metric, tempo, figuration, textural) variety added to the mix, our students will begin to hear the aural materials we are working on in class outside of class as well in any and all kinds of musical situations they will encounter as musicians.

Informal Notes On The Use Of Guitar Within The Academy

(These thoughts are indebted to informal conversations with colleagues and students at Lee University, Stephen Goacher, Timothy Koozin, Joe Mulligan, Chris Winans, and others.)

When I was an undergraduate student, my primary instrument was piano and my secondary instrument was guitar. I recall that at the time, having a secondary in guitar was something of a question at my institution. Thankfully, they decided that it was ok for me to have as my secondary instrument. (Again, to my embarrassment, it would be better if I got back into regularly practicing it. Seriously.) Along these lines, I recall having a conversation with my jazz band instructor (an ensemble in which at one time I played the electric bass, and later, the piano) in which I expressed my frustration with the fact that there was any question as to whether the guitar would be allowed as a legitimate secondary instrument. I recall that he reassured me that the guitar would indeed be more respected in the academy over time. He encouraged me by saying that when he was an undergraduate at UCLA, he was not allowed to be a saxophone major; he could play the saxophone, but majored in clarinet instead. He said that later, saxophone was indeed allowed as a primary instrument of study at UCLA. I am grateful for that conversation; it was truly an encouragement.

Fast forward, and a question. We have class piano courses that every music major takes because even if a musician is not a piano major, there are a multitude of situations in which professional musicians will find themselves in which they will need a number of basic competencies on the piano. Thankfully, this is generally recognized in colleges and universities with music programs everywhere. But could it be that the guitar has also become something that at least musicians with certain professional aims should gain some level of basic competency on? For now, I am thinking particularly of music industry (or commercial music) majors, singer-songwriters, music education majors, as well as those in music and worship degrees. So many industry genres rely and/or have relied heavily on the guitar as a central instrument in and to their approach. Many worship leaders lead by singing and playing guitar. And, generally speaking, worship leaders would do well in serving their congregations to be able to understand the guitar at least enough to be able to work with musicians and worship music volunteers who understand music embodied through the lens of this instrument. Many singer-songwriters write in tandem with their guitar. Industry and/or commercial genres are chalked full of guitar-driven musical works. In music analysis, one can often tell that particular music has been composed at the guitar because of the choices in chord progressions and how these work with the ease of finger movements and open strings on the guitar (many times working in tandem with the CAGED system, perhaps a capo and/or a half capo, power chords, emphasis on fourths/fifths related to the instrument's tuning, and solos which allow for the hand to remain within a relatively stable location(s) on the neck). In music education, I used to teach class guitar to 4th and 5th graders on smaller-sized guitars. (If you are inspired to try this, I personally would recommend nylon string guitars for these first-time guitar students so you don't get students wanting to quit because their fingers hurt too much from steel strings prior to developing calluses. Tuners and a video on how to use them for parents/caregivers are also helpful as well as a handful of thin or medium-thin picks, a case with the student's name and contact information on it, one extra set of strings, and a guitar strap are also good ideas.) We learned some chords like "easy G" (strings 1–3 or 1–4), "easy C" (strings 1–3) or "medium C" (strings 1–4), D7, and "easy Em" (strings 1–3) or regular Em (all 6 strings). (You might also be able to add D and "easy G7" (strings 1–3 or 1–4). We used these to play and sing as a group along with a packet of about 30 children's folk songs. This is a great way to get young students started in simultaneous singing and playing as a combined skill set. Music educators would benefit greatly in being able to teach elementary students such skill sets. In all of the above scenarios, we don't need these college students to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughan, but some basic competencies would be incredibly helpful to them within their professional lives. A caveat here is that I at this time do not have a recommendation for how we add yet another item to a music major's plate. Perhaps opening this conversation up, however, may allow others within the academy who see some merit to this proposal to aid in fleshing out those important questions.

Relatedly, industry (commercial) guitar majors should not be without ensemble homes. Guitar ensembles, and genre-specific industry (commercial) ensembles should be generally available as options for these students to develop their craft in a variety of settings. Composition and analysis courses related to the standard repertoire in these genres should also be readily available to our students.

*By way of a sidenote, if you take the CAGED system, and rearrange the notes thusly, CDEGA, the roots of these chords spell out the notes of a major pentatonic scale. If you rearrange them thusly, ACDEG, you have a minor pentatonic scale. Both are important scales. The minor pentatonic as a scale is very important to rock-based musics. Much rock-based music is guitar-driven music. There is also much rock-based guitar-driven music that makes use of chromatic mediant relationships in its chord progressions, which again, is likely born out of the embodied setup of the instrument itself and ease of playing it as above described. Examples from CAGED which create chromatic mediant chord relationships include: Cmaj to E maj, C maj to A maj, E maj to G major. The Mixolydian's characteristic "flat sd7" is also contained here. If you have a key center of "A", the "G" is your subtonic. If you have a key center of "E", the "D" is your subtonic. If you have a key center of "D", the "C" is your subtonic. Rock's "bVI"-"bVII"-"I" is also born out of this system. With a key center of "E", this chord progression would be "C" (bVI), "D" (bVII), "E" (I). The double plagal progression too: in the key of A major, it would be G maj, D maj , A maj (IV/IV-IV-I). In the key of E major, it would be D maj, A maj, E maj (IV/IV-IV-I). In the key of D major, it would be C maj, G maj, D maj (IV/IV-IV-I). Rock's IV-I-V progression, which is the exact same chord sequence, but hearing a different note as tonic (and so therefore a completely different functional hearing by larger context) would be: D maj (IV) to A major (I) to E major (V) with a tonic referent of A; G maj (IV) to D maj (I) to A maj (V) with a tonic referent of D; C maj (IV) to G maj (I) to D maj (V) with a tonic referent of G.

Informal Notes On Conservation And Preservation In Musical And Other Domains

(These thoughts are indebted to Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura, Sue Gilbert, Damon Kelly, How (Not) To Read The Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture by Dan Kimball, Brant Lingle, Lomax field recordings, Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt, Christopher Tin's The Lost Birds, Amy Thornton, Greta Thunberg, Wall-e, Koyaanisqatsi, Keene State College recycling, park benches and recycling bins and pens and sculptures made of 100% recycled materials, Genesis 2:8 NRSVUE, Genesis 2:15 NRSVUE, Isaiah 2:4b NRSVUE, John 20:15–16 NRSVUE, John 6:12 NRSVUE, Matthew 10:29–30 MSG, Matthew 6:28–31 MSG (to say that God cares for all plant life and beauty and that we shouldn't be quite so worried and stressed out about our appearance—not that fashion is to be shunned, in fact, in a God-honoring way, it is artistic and creative just as our God is creative and artistic, Isaiah 11:6–9 MSG, and others.)

When I was a graduate student, I was fortunate enough to attend and present a paper at a graduate conference and symposium at the University of Calgary called Confounding Expectations. While there, I heard one particular presentation that has really stuck with me. (Hopefully, I get the details right as it has been a number of years since I heard this paper presentation.) A graduate student composer played some music that he had composed which also incorporated sounds he had field recorded at a small town in Iran in a building where people worked on looms. He explained that in his music, he was focusing on the preservation of endangered musical species (I'm not positive this is the precise term he used, but equivalent to it.). He said that the sound world of these loom workers was soon to be lost to time forever and it was his hope to preserve in audio the rhythmic sound world in which they worked as well as to attribute these sounds to the people and the original sound world from which they came even as he also attempted to honor them by incorporating these sounds into his own original compositions. I thought that sounded phenomenal. Endangered musical species. What a cool concept! There are probably so many endangered musical species or endangered sound worlds to preserve, and what an important thing to do. In preserving the sounds, attributing those sounds to the people who made them, and bringing them creatively into the present in vibrant ways, it honors the people who live(d) in those sound worlds, and gives us in the present day access to sounds and sound worlds that otherwise would soon be lost to us forever. See if you can think of some sounds that have in some way almost gone extinct. In a few moments of thinking this over, I think of the clickety-clack and ding patterns on old typewriters, the sound of a rotary phone, the sound of cuckoo clocks, the sound of dial-up internet, the sounds of 8-bit video game music, etc. Lo-fi recording intentionally does this type of thing as well by creating songs in the present day while simultaneously bringing in the crackling sounds of old records as if you were actually listening to one. Early music performers will often perform on period instruments so that contemporary listeners can hear the music closer to the way in which it would have been heard by listeners at the time. I'm sure you can think of a million others! Let's not lose these sounds to time. Let's think of them, preserve them, attribute them to the people who live(d) in those sound worlds, and creatively bring those sounds forward into the present and future.

Sym Exp-Cont HexA (0,1) Attempt 1.0.org.com.pdf.rock.paper.scissors

Informal Notes On "Weeds", "Noise", And Other Musical Nuisances

(These thoughts are indebted to a presentation about animals (including an injured one) I saw at the Mountain Arts Community Center, the scene in the 1951 animated Disney film Alice In Wonderland in which the head flower informs all of the other flowers that Alice is a "common mobile vulgaris" aka "a weed", Wild Robot, "Kiss The Sky" by Maren Morris, "Touch The Sky" by Hillsong United, I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky by John Adams, Encanto, The Lorax, Hoppers, John Cage, screamo (or skramz as I learned from Google), Kathy Dailey, Jeremiah 31:3b MSG, 2 Peter 3:9 NRSVUE, Luke 15:4–7 MSG, Hebrews 12:2 NRSVUE, and others.)

While I was mowing my lawn today, I was reflecting on the concept of "weed" and analagously in music, the concept of "noise". In my opinion, it is so incredibly important to note that when someone uses either of these terms, they are not making an "absolute" statement. What I mean by that is that the term "weed" says much more about the feelings a particular person has toward a given plant (perhaps in a given context) than it does about the plant species itself. We can understand "weed" as an unwanted plant (or an unwanted plant within a given environment with other particular plants that the speaker does want). By analogy, the term "noise" as applied to particular music or musical genres is simply indicative of how the speaker using that term feels about, and therefore categorizes, the sounds they are hearing.

In the plant realm, examples that come to mind are vines on a brick building, kudzu, and mint. The strangest thing about these three examples is that I am inexplicably drawn to them all. The first time(s) I saw vines on the side of a brick building, I thought to myself, "How incredibly artistic! What a beautiful sight! Intriguing!" I wanted to take pictures of it and just stare at it in wonder. I still feel this way. Again, this has been a while, but I recall mentioning how beautiful I thought it was only to receive a response that it is actually a weed in that context and can do structural damage to the building. Now, I am not a structural engineer, so I cannot speak to that particular statement with any depth of knowledge. All I can speak to was how my heart dropped when I heard this because this incredible image that had literally captured my imagination was something I was being informed should be eliminated.

The second example in the plant world that comes to mind is kudzu. I am not a botanist. I am simply, again, telling my experience. When I arrived in the area in which I now reside, I recall the first few times I was driving near where we live and I saw what I thought was the most amazing vine-like blanket draped over parts of the forest. I was so drawn to this particular "look" that I made a point to ask locals what it was. I was informed that it was called kudzu and that it generally is considered an invasive weed. As with my above example, I am certainly no expert in plant life whatsoever; but what I saw instinctively as beauty was in this story too considered a weed, and the general consensus was that it needed to be eliminated.

The third example that comes to mind is mint. The first time I did yard work at my current residence, I was overcome by the strong scent of mint in the air. I was overjoyed! Mint is an absolute favorite of mine! I love mint ice cream. I like creme de menthe flavoring. I like peppermints. I like spearmint. I love the fact that mint is the default toothpaste flavor. Etc. When I realized that I had mint interspersed throughout my yard, I wanted to do an Irish jig (if I knew how to do a proper Irish jig)! In this scenario too, I was soon to find out that mint is considered an invasive plant. Womp womp.

As mentioned at the beginning of this entry, the term "noise" has an analogous function to the term "weed" when it comes to the musical world. We typically think of this in the phrase "That's not music! That's just noise!" being uttered by someone. Once again, it is important to remind ourselves when this happens, that we should not take this down in our notes for ourselves and say, "Oh, I just learned that Song A or Song B or Genre A or Genre B equals Not Music. I'll commit that to memory. Oh ya, and I also won't forget that it falls under the category of "Noise". Fantastic! You learn something new every day! I never knew that, but now I do, thankfully." No. This is not how to understand such a statement. As with the concept of "weed", the term "noise" is simply telling you that the speaker doesn't like the sounds. That's it. It doesn't mean you have to agree. It doesn't mean that you don't like the sounds. It doesn't mean you don't love the sounds and think it is fantastic music. This is such an important concept. I think that, for me, if I am moved by a certain piece of music or genre of music and then encounter such a statement, that statement can affect me negatively at a very visceral level. If someone has taken the time to create this music, it was very likely meaningful for some reason for that person. The music, then, is a possibility for connection with that person. The same is true at a larger level when it comes to genre. As I've stated before, if a genre exists, it is meaningful to a group of people. It speaks to them. Writing off what is meaningful to them as personal and communal artistic expression feels like writing them off. It's as if in saying that what some consider artistic expression is "just noise", the speaker wants to close their ears, say "la la la" as loudly as they can until it just goes away. And the receiver of such communication is well aware of that. What then typically happens is not that the "noise" goes away. It (the music) and they (the people to whom it speaks) simply go away from any interactions with the speaker (which may not be actually what the speaker intended) and instead circle up with each other and continue to create the music that they love. This is what I get out of a title like Milton Babbitt's "Who Cares If You Listen?". Of course, people may write off all kinds of music, and by extension the creators of such music, but some of the ones I've most often heard written off include: avant-garde and experimental music, impressionism in its inception, rap, hip-hop, popular music, jazz, rock, minimalism, screamo (or skramz as I learned from Google), much 20th and 21st century art music repertoire. Historically, in fact, "the new" has always received pushbacks like this from those who may feel they are guarding tradition. This statement is not intended to slam tradition or the impetus to make sure we are making good choices in our art. That is, again, as I have previously stated, incredibly important, and something that I try very hard to do myself to make sure I am honoring God with my listening, creative, and artistic choices. That being said, to stifle the new or different simply because it is so, and not without unassailable grounding for doing so can do incredible damage and wreak profound shockwaves of harm. Instead, let's make incredible restorations and bring profound shockwaves of healing. Perhaps not all music is going to be meaningful to you personally. But if it is meaningful to someone else, perhaps we could try asking something like: "Is that music meaningful to you? Could you tell me more about that? I would genuinely love to know how it is speaking to you because I care about you and so I would love to know more about what you care about and why."

A Brief Tribute To John Adams

John, you have affected me deeply beyond words for a very long time and continue to affect me deeply today and for the foreseeable future. Thank you. I am so incredibly grateful for you and all you have poured out of yourself for our world. Absolutely by no means exhaustive, but thank you for (in no particular order):

-Short Ride In A Fast Machine

-El Nino

-"For With God No Thing Shall Be Impossible" from El Nino

-Hallelujah Junction (the musical work)

-Hallelujah Junction: Composing An American Life (the memoir)

-Phrygian Gates

-China Gates

-Nixon In China

-The Death Of Klinghoffer

-Dr. Atomic

-A Flowering Tree

-I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky

Informal Notes On John Adams' Use Of The Chorus And Orchestra As Drumset

(These thoughts are indebted to John Adams, Andrew Davis, Stephen Goacher, Damon Kelly, Timothy Koozin, Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher, Rob Schultz, John Snyder, Kristen Wallentinsen, and others.)

When I first started playing piano for jazz band at my undergraduate institution, I remember that one of the first things my jazz band teacher taught me was a different way of thinking about the piano. He said (paraphrase) that the piano should be understood within a jazz band context as a quasi-percussion instrument (which in some respects, acoustic pianos are in that you strike a key and ultimately a hammer strikes a string(s)). He reinforced this by saying that the piano was part of the rhythm section of the jazz band along with our drumset, bass, and guitar player. Collectively, we were the timekeepers for the ensemble. That was an incredibly important function. We kept the groove. Without a tight rhythm section, we would never have a rhythmically tight ensemble. Even as I was playing actual groupings of pitches together as chords (comping), I should pay a lot of attention to how those pitch combinations fit into the timing of the groove of the rhythm section. My chordal punctuations needed to interlock well within the composite groove of the rhythm section.

When I hear certain pieces of John Adams works with large choruses and instrumental ensembles (a prime example being "The Night Chorus" from The Death Of Klinghoffer), I feel like I'm listening to something similar to what I've just described above. I feel as if the entire chorus(es) and instrumental ensemble are laying down one large groove (or more than one groove as the groove shifts either dramatically from section to section within the piece or those sections are layered atop one another or perhaps smaller changes over time, including fragmentation of parts of an originally longer rhythmic statement.) In effect, I feel like the chorus and instrumental ensemble are singing and playing collective pitch combinations (as I am when I comp as a pianist within a jazz ensemble), but primarily focused on the holistic interaction of the groove (with various parts of the chorus and instrumental ensemble interlocking together rhythmically to create a full-texture groove).

From an analytical perspective, I feel that modified contour theory is a great way into mapping this type of orchestral interaction. We can literally think of the full score of chorus(es) + instrumental ensemble as one big pitched drumset.

Let's create a hybrid drumset-notation/contour notation that will work for this. The kick drum is our minima or contour point "0" and can map our lowest register sounds, notes, and/or chords that work in lockstep with one another. In similar fashion, the tom 3 on a drumset could map as a contour point "1" (mid-lows), tom 2 as contour point "2" (mids), tom 1 as contour point "3" (mid-highs), snare as contour point "4" (highs). Let's make hi-hats or ride cymbal contour point "5" and function as our most isochronous and salient pulse stream (if that is not a "high" pitch within the texture, you can adapt the method to put this function where it stands within the actual musical texture of the piece you are analyzing), and crash cymbal as contour point "6" which will function as any part of the texture used as either formal marker and/or phenomenal accent (corresponding to typical uses of a crash cymbal). (Again, as with the hi-hats, if this is not the "highest" pitch or chord within the texture, you can renumber accordingly to fit the actual context of the piece with which you are working.)

(For the following, I will need to re-examine the score, as it has been a minute since I've looked at it with a musico-analytical eye, but I think the following is the case.) In""The Night Chorus", the chorus(es) and instrumental ensemble together create a groove and change chords in a particular harmonic rhythm in a manner that to a point reminds me of popular music. I think the hybrid drumset-notation/contour notation described above will work well alongside more traditional approaches to contour theory in gaining insight into the individual and collective interactions of a number of musical parameters including pitches, pitch ranges, chords within the collective ensemble that work in lockstep, texture, timbre, timbral combinations, changes in timbre, rate of changes in timbre (same for texture), rate of harmonic rhythm, dynamics, rates in changes in dynamics, chord voicings (secundal, tertian, quartal, mixed, other) and how these changes within any and all of these parameters relate to where we are within the overall form of the piece as well as how they relate (individually and collectively) to the timing and coordination with setting a particular text and what effect that may have on potential meaning(s). (With this long list of musical parameters, some will lend themselves to the hybrid drumset-notation/contour theory method I've described above and some will work better with something more akin to more traditional approaches to contour theory in these musical domains. You, as the analyst, will decide in which cases one or the other proves more insightful.

Lastly, with this particular musical selection which I've highlighted as an example for this methodological approach, I would simply like to add a basic question for our own personal reflection (myself included).What are the effects on ourselves and others (and animal life, plant life, the environment, the world itself, space, other planets?) of the ways in which we interpret scriptural passages?

Informal Notes On Repetition And Growth And Learning

(These thoughts are indebted to many, many sources, but were brought to mind through a number of interactions at the West African Dance Presentation and Worskshop and Q&A Session featuring C. J. Wade, Ashlee Rogers, and Barry Johnson, hosted by Joanna Pepple in coordination with Lee University.)

When we go to the gym to work out with weights, we put repetition to good use. We may do three sets of twelve reps (repetitions) to help build our muscles, and then move on to repetition of this same pattern with training our next muscle group. The twelve repetitions is immediate repetition without variation. The idea of a set is that after your twelve repetitions you will need to rest for an amount of time before beginning those same repetitions again, and then finally, you will do all of that a third time. When you finish your three sets, you take that first iteration of the overall pattern and copy/paste it onto your next muscle group, and then the next, and so on. After an hour or so of your copy/pasted nested repetitions, you give it a couple of days of recovery time for those particular muscle groups and then, guess what? You copy/paste that pattern making the nested pattern of repetition yet one level deeper in structure. Does this repetition have purpose? Yes, indeed. It is a nested repetitive pattern that makes you healthier, gets you in better shape, makes you stronger, grows your muscles. Without it, you don't achieve those goals. Repetition put to positive human outcome.

Prayerful meditation and contemplation is another example. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalms 19:14 NRSVUE. The assumption here is that we do meditate. We think about. We dwell on. We focus on. We repeat thoughts, with exactitude and with similarity. With modification, with consideration, with return. We let thoughts go down deep through spending time with them, focus on what our thoughts mean. We kindly question them with all kinds of questions. We hold them up and turn them around so as to look at them from different angles; we hold them above us, below us, walk around and inspect them. We try to poke holes in them to see what substance they are or aren't made of. We ask God's guidance in clearing up our thoughts, dusting them off, polishing them up, convincing us of what is valid and invalid. As we chisel off the invalid and sit with the valid, we grow as people. We grow our maturity. We grow in depth. We learn and grow and are shaped by God as we invite Him to lead and shape this lifelong process.

Laying down a groove: When I took percussion methods as an undergraduate student, I remember my instructor saying that one of the absolute worst things you can say to a drumset player (as we were beginning the unit on drumset) is that if you can play something once, you can play it a hundred times. He said (paraphrase) when you hear this kind of thing, hand someone a pair of drumsticks and let them show you that this is the case. It is not. As you sit down at the drumset, you have a job for each of your appendages. Your right foot is on kick; your left foot is opening and closing the hi-hats; your right hand is crossing your body and is striking the hi-hats; your left hand strikes the snare. Now you must be able to apply each appendage individually to a pulse stream or rhythm. Then you must be able to combine those individual rhythms into an interlocking set of rhythms and execute an iteration of the composite pattern. As with the workout description with which we began, these are nested patterns. If you've never played the drums, this one iteration of the composite pattern may take some incredible coordination to get your body used to how it feels to do this. Then you celebrate that you got one iteration of the groove. Awesome. Now keep all of that completely in tact, together, both the individual parts and the composite sound, being infinitesimally correct and accurate and consistent in your timing for each part and the whole and see if you can keep that groove coming steady for the next five minutes. I'm counting. Let's go! Hopefully, this makes the point that repetition in a musical context (and nested repetitions) are anything but simple. If I haven't made this point (which if that is the case, I'm guessing any pushback would be coming from non-drummers), instead of just reading this drumming description, go actualize this exercise for yourself on an actual drumset rather than just reading about it. Hopefully then I will have made sense. (Incidentally, this description is highly simplified in a number of ways in that it does not include any tom work, drum fills, use of ride or crash or other cymbal work, changes of groove within a piece, intentional microtiming nuance, positional listening and rhythmic interactions or musically "talking to" other members of the ensemble through your playing, etc. all of which require a very solid foundation in being able to lay down a steady groove without rushing, lagging or loose inaccuracies between the various parts of the drumset.

Statistical learning is a way that our brains naturally learn, picking things up through repetition and repeated exposure. We can put this to use in learning something we hope to learn—by allowing ourselves immersive exposure to it. In our high-volume repetition, the updated adage "practice makes 'permanent'" comes to mind. It is much harder to undo something learned incorrectly than to learn something correctly initially.

Language and music acquisition work this way. First language acquisition (and arguably second and third languages and so on) is best learned through this type of immersive repetitive listening environment. Surrounded for a long time by the language and literally unable to escape your statistical exposure to it if you wanted to, hearing the words of a given language spoken all around you wherever you go all the time, your brain just naturally starts picking it up to the point of ease and fluency.

Learning a musical language(s) works precisely the same way. Immersive listeneing to sonic structures of a given musical language familiarizes your expectations for what sounds typically show up in a given musical language (and which typically don't).

Examples in lanuage and music: Expectations developed through statistical learning for an "mph" sound at the beginning of a word would teach that this sound typically does not show up in that position in English, but that same statistical learning in Mankanyan would show it as much more common to that language as in the name "Mphantan". In English we do have that same sound in different positions within the word though as in "emphasis". The "zh" sound is statistically common in French as in "Je vais manger du pain." My Moldovan-American cousin Zhenya begins her name with that sound. My last name has an "sh" that is pronounced as a "zh". However, it is a less common sound statistically speaking in English, though it exists in words like "garage". English much more frequently uses the "dge" sound as in "badge" or "fridge" etc., adding an initial "d" sound to the "zh" to make "dzh".

Comparable examples in music cause us to instinctively realize within particular musical genres whether a particular sound structure is more or less commonly in use. For example, parallel perfect fifths are not stylistically used within CPWAM, but are an absolute defining feature in punk rock music, etc. and through statistical exposure, we pick up on these sounds as having a "goodness of fit" or not within these musical languages. If I randomly substituted in a G7b9,#9,b13 in a Haydn piano sonata, you would jump because it doesn't typically fit the sound world of this musical language, but we would find it a wonderful fit for a vocabulary item in jazz music. Or try ending the Waldstein on a major 9th chord or an add6/9 chord. Our brains naturally (through statistical exposure) know this sonic structure fits the traditional language of jazz music much more so than it does the Waldstein. By immersing ourselves in these music traditions, our ears have naturally and instinctively picked up on sonic structures and their commonality or lack of it in given musical situations.

Novelty in music: Typically what we've so far been discussing may have to do with some of our "hot response" to new sonic placements. We hear a sound that we've not heard before or not heard in that context before and may think "that doesn't go there" because it hasn't before, or we might think "Wow, that's new and fresh and different—cool!", depending perhaps, in part, on predisposition or enculturation or some combination of predisposition and enculturation. With either response, our statistical learning is kicking in, giving us instant recognition as to what has gone before in a particular musical (or linguistic) setting. Sometimes composers will introduce a new sonic entity or two or three and keep everything else familiar so as to allow for a large amount of comfort in familiarity for listeners knowledgeable in a given style as well as allowing for a couple of marked moments that these listeners will take into consideration and come to conclusions about. Interposing sections of Arnold Schoenberg's Drei Klavierstucke, op. 11 within Beethoven's Fur Elise might really jar listeners as the musical languages are so drastically different. In language too, we invent new words and terminologies and ways of expressing ourselves in a given language and even borrow terms from other lanuages that become part of our own language. Our language as a whole shifts dramatically by region, dialect, and much more drastically by historical era. Compare "Old English", "Middle English", and contemporary English in the United States and you will see how incredibly different they are. Or try reading Beowulf in "English" followed by Caedmon's Hymn in "English" and then follow that up by reading today's headlines as a final example of our discussion on how much lanuage (speech, writing, and musical languages) changes over time.

Informal Notes On Some Further Thoughts About Statistical Learning

Someone who grew up with John Smith and Sarah Cross as names they heard a lot likely can say these names correctly without a lot of difficulty. But if they did not grow up with Alejandro Gutierrez or Elodia De la Cruz, Francois Depardieu or Ambre Saint-Michel, Zhengqihan Chen or Yile Zhao (these last two already placed into an alphabet I am more familiar with) as names they heard a lot, they will likely have more difficulty saying them correctly. The same will likely be the case with those for whom the second pair of names were statistically common sounds, but not the first, third, and fourth pairs. The concept, of course, would also hold with those for whom the third pair of names were heard a lot, but the first two and last pairs were not. And it would hold for the fourth pair of names with respect to the first three pairs. Is it the case that one set of names are really that much more inherently difficult than the others? Most likely statistical exposure (including the lack of it) in these cases will determine our perception of difficulty. The names we have heard the most often will be perceived as the easiest. Those we have heard least often or not at all will likely be perceived to be the most difficult. Note accordingly that each group would give different rankings to which pairs of names were least to most difficult though from the perspective of statistical exposure they would be doing the exact same thing in their rankings. They would be telling us what they had heard the most often, the second most often, the third most often, and the least (or not at all).

In music, a similar effect can be shown. Students who have biographical listening histories immersed in the blues or blues-influenced music are more likely to be able to accurately and easily recognize, identify, and/or sing a whole step down from the tonic and back, for example. In do-based relative solmization syllables that is "do-te-do". That figure would be much more statistically common in music that uses notes of the blues scale since those notes are in the blues scale, and "te" is a part of the major-minor seventh chord built on the tonic (I7). All of the modes of the major scale except major (also called Ionian in modal language) and Lydian also contain these notes in their scalar structures so musics that spend a lot of time in, for example, Mixolydian or Dorian or Aeolian or Phrygian or Locrian or all of the above (jazz) would be much more statistically familiar with the "do-te-do" figure. In CPWAM, listeners would be much more accustomed to the "do-ti-do" figure as it is so much more statistically common in that repertoire. Is one easier than the other? Or are we perhaps just differently exposed to those figures in our biographical listening histories?

We are accustomed to this statistically-informed holistic approach working hand-in-hand with other aural strategies in our harmonic dictation and transcription practice. Consider the progressions I-vi-ii-V-I and I-vi-IV-V7-I. As you are listening, you are trying to determine the antepenultimate chord in the progression. You know that it is in a predominant position just prior to V. It doesn't sound "out" or chromatic (a holistic judgment based upon your overall statistically internalized notion of what it sounds like to be "in key". You surmise it is a triad because you don't hear any real "crunch" to it (also a statistically-informed holistic hearing of an overall quality to the collective sound). You decide through theory knowledge then that we are looking at a ii or a IV. You listen again and hear that it is minor (another holistic near-instantaneous quality recognition through lots of exposure to music with minor chords). You have determined correctly. It is important to note that the theory terminology is important too. You may have heard a minor chord, or more specifically a minor supertonic chord, a billion times and would be able to say something like "I know that sound. I recognize that sound. I've heard that sound." But without a label to attach to what that sound is, we don't have something specific to call it when we do hear and recognize it. We need a consistent and specific name for it, in this case, the minor supertonic triad.

Holistically-acquired statistical aural knowledge can be paired with other methods as I mentioned above. For example, knowledge of the structure of the ii and IV would tell you that they both share scale-degrees 4 and 6. Their unique notes are scale-degrees 2 (the root of the ii chord) and scale-degree 1 (the fifth of the IV chord). Listening for these notes and/or lightly humming one of them as the chord in question goes by will yield either a resonant unison (or octave) or a more crunchy 2nd. This method and the statistically-informed holistic approach can be used to double-check one another to make certain we are hearing what we think we are.

*A related aside: Approach to "difficult" concepts priming: We should be careful in approaching a topic and previewing it as an inherently "difficult" concept, topic, or aural ability. This can have a potentially negative long-term effect on our students in terms of how we see that material and how we bring ourselves to that material every single time we come to it. "Oh, no! Here comes that tritone!" You flubbed it. "Oh my goodness—that high note is coming up...yikes.....yikes!" You flubbed it. Priming us in advance that something is going to be very difficult as a matter of course may make it a kind of scary marked moment every time we encounter it when perhaps it might not have been had we not set ourselves up for it to be seen and approached that way.

Informal Notes On Pioneering Musical Tone Qualities And Timbres For Emulation, Finding Your Own Voice, And Finding Beauty In Diversity

(These thoughts are indebted to too many sources to name, but here are a few: Lee Performance Seminar, The College Of Saint Rose Convocation, The College Of Saint Rose New Album Listen-Throughs, The College Of Saint Rose New Music Ensemble, UMass–Amherst New Music Concerts, UMass–Amherst music students who volunteered to play for composers in composition class and new music debut performances, Timothy Koozin's Pop And Jazz Analysis Course (including the article I reference below but can't precisely cite at the moment), RMHS (all of you), RMHS Arts Department (all of you), RMHS Chorus (all of you), RMHS Drama Club (all of you), RMHS Band (all of you), RMHS Jazz Band (all of you), RMHS Visual Arts (all of you, including 2-D, 3-D, Graphics Arts, Photography, Animation, Broadcasting, TV, and Film), RMHS Administration And Department Head Team (Leadership Team) (all of you), Reading Arts Department (all of you), Reading Administration Team (all of you), Reading Finance (all of you), Reading HR (all of you), Reading Facilities Department (all of you), Reading IT Department (all of you), Reading parents of booster clubs (all of you), Andy Mullen, RMHS all of the above organizations' alumni, the Genesis creation account, the Message paraphrase translation, the NRSVUE translation, the FNVNT, Genesis 1–2, Revelation 4:6b–8, Suicide Prevention Month, Makoto Fujimara, T. Dennis Brown, Jesus' consistent love for and pursuit of the restoration and healing of any and all (societal) outcast, Matthew 5:1–12 MSG, anyone who has ever felt negatively viewed as the "other" or "outsider" (If this is you or has ever been you, I won't rest until I find you and make you an insider and a friend.), and more.)

*Disclaimer: References below to particular musicians should not be understood as a wholesale endorsement of every aspect of that musician's music, lyrics, works, album art, life choices, etc. Please understand the references I make to particular musicians as specific to the context and the concept I am explaining.

There is a certain aspect in jazz and popular musics that has to do with emulation and another aspect that has to do with the concept of finding your own voice. I recall in a pop and jazz analysis course I took, an article (which I can't recall the name of) which focused on how the invention of the microphone opened up all kinds of possibilities for vocalists that weren't there before. Prior to the invention of the microphone, if you had a large concert hall, you had to acoustically fill the space with your voice, and in some contexts over an orchestra. If I recall correctly, the author spoke of the crooners and how you could take a more relaxed, seemingly effortless approach to your vocal tone. You could speak without raising your voice. "How are you all doing out there tonight?" You could even whisper into the microphone if you wanted to and be heard over a big band. Prior to the invention of the microphone for someone to whisper a love song to you, you would have to be sitting right next to each other. Now you could whisper into the microphone and carry the same effect across the room or hall. The microphone itself was a new instrument for the vocalist to learn how to use and intentionally make use of in terms of how their own voice interacted with and through it.

As I mentioned before, there was also a sense in which you would both emulate things around you and at the same time find your own voice. In jazz, vocalists would imitate the sounds they heard on the horns (and vice versa), creating new sounds on their instruments. In another way of finding your own sound, Louis Armstrong (or Satchmo) would sing in a gravelly tone quality that was so unlike anything other vocalists were doing and if you hear it, you still think "Oh, that sounds like Louis Armstrong." Billie Holiday was known for creating a vocal sound all of her own. In the spirit of emulation, both emulation of her voice, and emulation in the sense of finding your own voice, many have followed in her footsteps. For me, you may hear it differently, I hear resonances of her voice in Olivia Dean, Corinne Bailey Ray, and Amy Winehouse even though Holiday's instrumental backing sounds much different. To a lesser extent I hear Billie Eilish—she, however, is a good example of whispering into a microphone as a vocal approach.

The spirit of new vocal sounds and approaches can be heard in vocal similarities that I hear in certain 1990s rock band vocalists like Scott Stapp of Creed, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback.

Take a song like "No Longer Bound (I'm Free)" by Mav City, Chandler Moore, and Forrest Frank and you have three very different vocal sounds combined for, in my opinion, a really cool effect. Two distinct vocal sounds in Chandler and Forrest, and the choral background vocals use quite a contrasting effect all of their own.

Intentionally achieving, celebrating, and valuing new timbral color and color combinations through emulation of any and all sounds and effects that one might be able to make on one's instrument (including voice as I have primarily focused upon here) is a continuing part of historical practice in jazz and popular musics. When pioneered, it may be emulated (as in Billie Holiday) or remain celebrated as one's own identifiable voice (as in Louis Armstrong) and may coalesce to be a defining sound of particular eras and related genres as in the 1990s rock band examples. Your own voice(s) may also be used in combination in a way that highlights beauty in simultaneous timbral distinction as in the Mav City, Chandler Moore, Forrest Frank example.

Don't be afraid to pioneer new musical tone qualities and timbres for emulation, find your own voice, and/or find beauty in diversity. God's creation is diverse. I googled the number of currently-known species alive today. It said "Scientists have formally identified and catalogued roughly 1.2 to 2.5 million known species on Earth, though the total number of living species is estimated to be much higher." In other words, God could have just made me. But he didn't. He made you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you (and a lot more yous). And he also chose to make a ridiculous amount of other species too. Sounds like He likes diversity. Also, in Revelation, there is a passage about the four living creatures. I don't claim to know what is literal and what is symbology here, but that sounds pretty cool and other-worldly. You can call me weird but I think we are going to be stunningly surprised at the species we were unaware of when we are around God's throne all together—whatever that ends up specifically looking like. According to Google, "Over 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth—representing over 5 billion species—are now extinct." I think we need to do some serious creation care for what's alive right now. No more species going extinct under our watch—no more musical species going extinct either.

There are many lanugages. There are many musical languages. Let's treat them all with dignity. Let's value every tribe, tongue, and nation—not just this one or that one.

*If you doubt musical complexity in pop, jazz, or CCM, take my analysis class on them.

**In pop and jazz recordings too, there is much to learn and be valued about the recording techniques, post-recording editing, mixing and mastering and all associated production processes including visual album elements, marketing, and artist fashion and style and integration of visual and audio aesthetics. In live performance too, let's not forget the incredible work that goes into micing, stage design, running sound and light boards, etc. If you think there's nothing to that, you're running them next week.

Informal Notes On "What If?...Regarding The Academy And Tone"

What if we were able to find or create a place of genuine interest and curiosity? What if people were unafraid to walk into a room because there wasn't some unwritten but very real memo about dress code that immediately caused everyone in the room to size you up based on how you fit or didn't within their pre-decided-upon decisions about how to appropriately navigate that code. (And the solution to that is certainly not to literally impose an actual everybody-must-wear-exactly-the-same-clothes-and-haircut policy, eliminating any and all possibility for use of our God-given artistic personal expression and choice and diversity and preference through hair, clothing, accessories, etc.) The solution is more of a mind and heart one—along the lines of the need to eliminate both personal and herd mentality when it comes to immediately being judgy in using fashion to create pecking orders and insider/outsider cliques based upon whether or not you conform well to those unwritten fashion standards. What if people were unafraid to just talk with each other without fear of being shunned because you didn't say something smart enough or you got a piece of information wrong or you weren't up-to-date on all the papers and authors and composers and particular works or particular moments in those works that you "should" be?

What if you were unafraid to talk to anybody because people are people rather than feeling like only people who went to this school can talk with people who went to that school or only people from this perceived tier of school can talk with people from that school because it's of a similar caliber. Or if you did dare to talk to this person from that school, make sure you emphasize your deference to them because after all, they come from a school two calibers above yours. And know that anything they say must be unquestioningly correct because of their status. And know that in anything you say, you should be grateful they even listen because what of value could you have to say?— after all your school is two tiers below theirs in reputation for quality. What if instead of all of this kind of stuff we could just genuinely be kind to all people, realize that we all have to use the restroom a little while after eating, regardless of where we came from and just talk to each other without all the posturing and positioning and hierarchical hoopla.

What if you were unafraid to present a paper that you had poured your mind and heart into because you felt the people in the room were on each others' sides and were also genuinely interested in what you were able to learn and share rather than jockeying for position or trying to bring you down or attempting to question you in such a way that the purpose is more to make themselves look good and smart and important to others they think they want to impress by making all of your hard work look bad and dumb and shabby and worthless? What if the questions came purely from their interest in collectively seeking answers—just a collective genuine curiosity that drives a hunger to find out more and dig deeper because it is something you both (and everyone else in the room) love? What if we all just saw each other as people who cared about each other and who are all on a journey together to help each other learn and grow and deepen our knowledge of something we love?

What if we eliminated the artificial boundaries we create between disciplines and let cross-pollination from field to field open us up to new ideas and possibilities within our own? What if specialization didn't mean having to rid yourself of other areas in your broader discipline that are a part of you? What if being a theorist didn't automatically mean you were no longer a performer? What if being a performer didn't mean you couldn't also be a composer? What if we stopped telling each other what we can't do? What if we actually believed as adults the kinds of things we tell our kids like (paraphrase) "Shoot for the stars! You (and we) will get there! I believe you (and we) will! And if it turns out you (and we) don't, at least you (we) will have gotten to the moon!" Encourage and build up saying, "Get up and let's go because God gave you something to offer that no one else can, so please, for the world's sake, give to us what special gift God has given to you and only you to offer to us. I can't wait to keep seeing it!" That's a place and attitude and environment in which I could thrive. I bet you would too. Let's build that.

Informal Notes On Interesting Title And Aural Effects

(These thoughts are indebted to Lorre Wyatt, Rusty Annis of Shoestring Studio, Springfield Symphony Chorus, Mark Alan Miller of Sonelab studio in Easthampton, MA, Steve Mosher, and more.)

A few days ago, I recorded an instrumental piece in Logic. I was too short on time to write, aurally critique, and edit much, but I got some ideas down that I think worked to get the gist of the idea. I named it "Sym Exp-Cont Hexa (0,1) Attempt 2.0.logic.rock.jam.yes." This is not your typical name for a piece of music. I named it this after a scale called the Symmetrical Expanding-Contracting Hexatonic (0,1), whose structure I explain in a previous article. The (0,1) indicates that it includes the notes C and Db. This is only the second piece I've written that makes use of this collection as an aural color palette. The first piece ("...Attempt 1.0...") I conceived of more as a contemporary "classical" work, in which by the term "classical" I simply use the term to indicate what would perhaps be heard in a concert hall that plays CPWAM, Early Music from Western European sources, and intersperses some New Music. This second piece was in part created as a type of "counterpoint" to that setting for the scalar material to show that equally complex music of value can be made from the same materials within what most would house under the broad umbrella term of pop music, perhaps more specific within hard rock with metal influence. I think as we curate our concerts from the immense library of music from the history of the world, it is important for us to recognize value in music from many sources rather than only a thin slice of that pie. The rest of the name, in formatting, is a bit of humor having to do with the way we make URLs. When these types of web addresses initially came into being, they struck me as ridiculous sounding, but now they are so integrated into our every day computing life that I hardly give URL names a second thought. Changing the context of a URL look into the context of a song title immediately places us back in the original sensation I got when I first saw a URL since we don't typically give such names to song titles. If we used titles for songs that looked like this as often as we have come to use them in a URL context, we also would come to become so familiar with them that we also would not give song titles such as this a second thought. It would no longer be marked in such a way for our consciousness as I'm pretty certain it is for most of us at the moment I'm writing this. That's the "interesting title" portion of this entry.

As for interesting aural effects, I wrote the piece via MIDI input into Logic on a Mac Book Pro. There are no lyrics to the piece—perhaps if I had a mic that gave my vocals a quality I liked a bit better I would add them. On the Mac Book Pro speakers, given the lack of time I felt I had to highly craft the piece, I basically liked the sound of the song. Later, I listened on an iPhone. It produced a slightly different mix I didn't like quite as much, but it was OK. I was more excited to listen on my car speakers, which I think are Bose speakers. I am not sure they are, but they are balanced by default with a heavier bass end, which I have found to be generally true of Bose speakers and headphones. I enjoy JBL speakers and headphones as well, but notice between the two that JBL's low end isn't as pronounced.

All of that to say, I recall being in the studio as a part of a process of recording an album with some friends. After recording, we sat in the control room for a while listening to takes. We had recorded in ProTools (not Logic) at a 96. (I don't know all of the technicalities of this, but the idea was that it captured a whole lot more of the entire sound we were creating than if we had recorded at a 48). After recording, we were working with the audio and finally got to the sound we liked for the song. We had been listening through speakers in the control room. Then the sound engineer said to put on headphones and listen, then to drive in a car on different roads at different speeds and listen. Each would sound a little different. Despite those differences, if we liked what we heard in each, we had achieved what we wanted in order to call that piece complete.

(*Interesting side note: Did you know that MP3s compress out the bottom end but our brain supplies it for us? As I understand it, the partials that are present in the complex tones we are hearing provide enough information to our brains to know what the fundamental would have been if it were present and our brains supply it for us. Fascinating.)

Back to "Sym Exp-Cont Hexa (0,1) Attempt 2.0.logic.rock.jam.yes", I was finally able to listen to it in the car yesterday morning. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that the bass, which was a major player in this particular recording was very low in the mix. (A trick I was taught if you want to really know how your balance is mixed in terms of volume from instrument to instrument is to turn the volume down one click at a time. As each instrument disappears from your mix, you are discovering that the instruments you can still hear are indeed louder in the mix. As you continue this process, your loudest instrument is the only one left at the end of this process.) The loudest instrument I was hearing was the drumset. I liked the drumset, but I wanted a very prominent bass. I was actually quite surprised at how little I heard of it, especially since, as I mentioned previously, my car has a very bass heavy mix by default. As I increased speed in the vehicle, I found that I heard less and less of the already much-less-prominent-than-I-hoped bass. As I listened, I realized that I could hear the road as my tires rolled across it. The sound of the road was in the frequency range of my electric bass writing and masking it, in effect, covering it up by outdoing it in the same frequency range and cancelling some of its sound out. Bummer dude. But fascinating concept.

One last interesting aural effect that I've experienced several times before, but it has been many years. My dad used to take me on motorcycle rides. As I was on the back of the bike, sometimes I would wear earbuds and listen to music. There would be times I would experience these weird aural effects to songs I already knew. I bring up that they were songs I already knew because I knew they didn't sound like I was experiencing them. I would need to reproduce this effect in order to describe it better, but to my best current description, it was as if pitch was "fluid". The whole audio recording would at times seem to go up or down or up and down as if someone was moving the pitch of the entire recording all at once via a slider. I know I was wearing a Shoei helmet that fit snugly around my ears and entire head, but air flow was possible through vents at the forehead, jaw line, perhaps under the jaw, and the face shield could open to various degrees. Perhaps these could be factors as well as vehicle speed, air speed and direction, vehicles passing us, us passing vehicles, vehicles passing us going the opposite direction? Is this the Doppler effect? Related to the Doppler effect? Something else? I would welcome collaboration on figuring this out!

Informal Notes On Logic And Rhetorical Devices

(These thoughts are indebted to Mock Trial lessons I took as a homeschooler in a co-op program (taught by the El Paso Assistant D.A. Marcos Lizarraga and attorney Rosales), iTunes University courses I listened to on Logic and Rhetoric, a book I read on logical fallacies, "Forces, Containers, and Paths" by Janna Saslaw, and more.)

As a kid, I remember other kids using the phrase "No offense, but..." and then finishing the sentence with something offensive or insulting. This one I heard primarily as a kid, though perhaps adults use the phrase as well. This type of language usage makes me think of the following:

-Admitting an opposite point in a way that effectively minimizes it through syntax and/or verbiage rather than actually making a better point. Essentially this type of thing: "Admittedly, (insert an opposing viewpoint here), but I mean the main issue is really (insert speaker's viewpoint here)." Or this. "To be fair, (insert an opposing viewpoint here), but the whole point is that (insert speaker's viewpoint here)." Or this. "I mean some people bring up that (insert an opposing viewpoint here), but what's really at stake here is (insert speaker's viewpoint here)." The word "but" doesn't even necessarily need to be used. The structure is simply to acknowledge a point from an opposing view in a way that makes you appear to see what they have to say, doing so in a way that minimizes the weight of that viewpoint (throw them a bone) and present your viewpoint in a wording that makes it sound as though your viewpoint is the end-all-be-all (hand yourself a trophy). "Others, even some very well-respected others, may have argued this or that (insert an opposing opinion or two or three), but it seems very clear to me (insert your opinion here)." There's also the "ad hominem" which you can add to it. "A lot of so-called experts seem to think (insert an opposing viewpoint or viewpoints), but anybody with half a brain cell knows that (insert your viewpoint here)." There is also a type of "assuming the sale" that can take place by stating something really extreme and recognizing it as extreme (which appears to lend you credibility) and then following it up with something to the effect of "but at least we can all agree that (insert your opinion here)" even if such agreement is not necessarily logically warranted. To our chagrin, all of us do this type of thing from time to time, myself included. As we write our scholarly music papers, let's steer clear of these and other logical fallacies. (The only example I provide here by its traditional name is the "ad hominem", but the others as I understand it, would fall under the heading of logical fallacies as well.)

Informal Notes On Ambidexterity In Basketball And In Music

(These thoughts are indebted to Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher, Randy Sheeks, John Wykoff, Evangeline Wykoff, Andrew Davis, the Lee University basketball court in the workout facility, Coach Kyle (Last name?) from Immanuel Baptist Christian School, Coach Rod from Jesus Chapel, the Boston Celtics, Zachary Mosher, Jace Mosher, the Guertin family (all of you), Jeremiah Pelham and D'Monye (Last Name?), Sherilla LeStrade, Daij Forero, Hannah Record, Anna Cuevas, RMHS Students Of Color Association (SOCA), Sudeshna (Last name?), choral students that did sports and arts in high school (btw I miss all of you by name in all of the choirs (and drama and band and jazz band and visual arts and the whole school and (in no particular order) Coolidge, Parker, Joshua Eaton, Killam, Birch Meadow, Wood End, Barrows, Rise Preschool, and apparently now E. Ethel Little School)—I'm just listing those I think did both sports and choir not in a particular order) Henry Myatt, Constantine Georgopoulos, Liam Synnott, Quinn Synnott, Quinn Grant, Cole Grant, Smritha Srinivasan, Sarah (Last name?), Julia Mullen, Olivia Mullen, (Ryan McCann—not chorus, but arts and dance), Miles Sopchak, Grace Brown, Astrid (Last name?), Eli Brown, Laurie Wise, Lauren Cook, Amara Psichos, Kylie Encarnacio, Sachi Selvakumar, Alana Doroquez, Celeste Damon-Bach, Dante DiSerio, Sophie Karlskind, Kate Stepler, Zoe McLaughlin-Shostak, Ryla DeMers, Sebastian Orsini, Declan Grant, Unclobber by Colby Martin, growing up going to basketball games at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) with my dad, Steve Mosher; grandpa, Marion Emmett ("Pete") Mosher; brother, Robert Mosher; and cousin, Tommy (Tom) Skipper; and more.)

I've been trying to get in better shape lately so I went to the gym today for about a half-hour. When I walked in, I decided instead of doing cardio on a treadmill or elliptical machine, I would shoot some hoops.

When I was in middle school and high school, I intermittently played on the school basketball teams. (Don't act too surprised. I was a definite second stringer, lol! but that's ok.) I recall my middle school coach saying to me that to be more unstoppable, you should both dribble and shoot with your left hand when on the left side of the court and your right hand when on the right side of the court. His idea was rooted in the concept that defense plays between you and the basket. If you dribble and shoot in this manner, you are keeping the ball in the furthest position from the defense rather than right in front of them. Lol—this is a skill I am still working on as I am much stronger and in control with my right hand and arm than my left.

This concept is also helpful in music, specifically in piano. As pianists, we need finger, hand, and arm dexterity on both the right and left sides of the body to be totally adept at the piano. Melodies are not always voiced to the right hand fifth finger or even just the right hand. A Bach fugue, for example, requires complete finger dexterity in both hands. In music making use of a melody and accompaniment texture, it is not always the case that the melody is in the soprano. A beautiful melody may be voiced to the bass (typically left hand) with right hand accompaniment as in the piano part of Schubert's "Erlkonig". Drones are not necessarily always in the bass or left hand. They can occur on the top of the musical texture in the right hand. Some pieces require your hands to cross back and forth. Let's become ambidextrous in basketball and in music. (And let's make it OK to enjoy sports and music.)

Informal Notes On Music, Kindness, Honesty, Respect, Dignity, Care

(These thoughts are indebted to Jesus, Kurt Cobain, Bob Dylan, Martha Mosher, Edna Thoreson, Barack Obama, AGT, American Idol, the Academy, the Music Industry, and more.)

This post may be my downfall, and if so, I'll trust God for my next step.

I recall being read a story when I was a child called "The Emporer's New Clothes". If you've not read this, I recommend you do. The story makes the point that we, as humans, cowtow to people with power, wealth, and authority in dishonest ways in order to maintain or increase our own authority through essentially sucking up to them. We lie and manipulate them, and perhaps they don't know that some of the time, and perhaps other times they do and seem not only to be OK with it, but perhaps enjoy the flattery in that it inflates their ego and gives them a dopamine rush that makes them feel good about themselves.

This entry may sound like a "No offense, but...." moment. I actually do not mean it that way. Hopefully, you will believe that. You may not. In the spirit of Jesus, it is my aim to love every person the way He did (and does). I offer these words in a spirit of kindness, honesty, respect, dignity, and care. And I point the finger at myself as much as to anyone for whom the shoe fits.

In music, I've encountered this in two spheres—academic and commercial. Within academia, common advice is that as a new(er) faculty member, you should say nothing. Don't put yourself out there because there are those with higher rank that can knock you down if they don't like what your thoughts are. By reverse design, we also tend to create an atmosphere in which if you've been there too long, you are old news. The young, new, fresh graduates are the ones on the cutting edge of the field. If you've not already made your contribution(s), it's time to hang your hat. As Kurt Cobain sings, "take your time, hurry up". In the commercial music world, I watch AGT or American Idol and sit there thinking that there should be so many more people out there making music for us, not only the winners of the show. Could you imagine the amazing diverse music and creativity we might have, but instead lop off? Do we in other professions say "Close the gates. We've got enough of those. Tell your kids to dream about something else because this field is over-saturated." Maybe that's what I should be telling my kids—maybe not. Also within the commercial music world, I get the sense that you should not offer any advice to music stars. You'll appear an upstart. You don't have anything to say. If they don't like what you say, they'll cut you right out of the equation. OK, welcome to the recording studio. Welcome to the team. I think we can do better. I know we can. At least, I personally am going to try to do better. What if instead we actually tried living into and creating a world that reflected what currently we often see as the empty platitudes of choosing kindness and giving respect and dignity to all people. What if we listened and spoke to one another with generous hearts and hearts full of care for everyone. I'm reminded of a news article I read once (and I hope I get the details right) in which Bob Dylan was invited to play and sing for Barack Obama. The article stated that Dylan graciously accepted the invitation, did not grovel in front of Obama, but treated him with respect just like he would any other human being. I respect that, and both of them, and everyone. Instead of playing the flattery game, let's honor everyone and give dignity and care to all people.

Informal Notes On Some Rhythm And Meter Concepts

(These thoughts are indebted to Zoe Comley, Logan Brown, Jaiden Ejan, Andy Lopez, Merlin Pfeiffer, Charlie Kachlic, Rob Schultz, Brent Auerbach, Timothy Koozin, Gary S. Karpinski, and more.)

The following document was born out of a conversation in our graduate aural skills class and a follow-up conversation with a previous aural skills student. Here is what those conversations generated.

Intervallic Measurement=Temporal Measurement=Physical Distance Measurement

(These thoughts are indebted to The Time Of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies by Jonathan D. Kramer, Timothy Koozin, Hearing In Time by Justin London, Rob Schultz, Rothko Chapel by Morton Feldman, Timothy Johnson, John Adams, Craig Sikes, and more.)

(handwritten graphic score of "Intervallic Measurement=Temporal Measurement=Physical Distance Measurement"; use

descriptors from this entry to determine how to perform it)

This is an audio version of the piece created in Logic. This performance uses four iterations with the default settings in Logic. In a live performance, the performers could choose to change articulations, dynamics, add various uses of vibrato, senza vibrato, pitch bends, use extended techniques, and other creative interpretations at their liberty.

Intervallic Measurement=Temporal Measurement=Physical Distance Measurement 3

00:00 / 01:45

.eceip eht no noitairav nuf A—As a fun experiment or variation on a live performance of the piece, after the performers finish, everyone will clap. Now play it in "negative time" or "reverse time". Have everyone in the audience clap again. Then bow. Then perform the piece from right to left as many times as you wish and with the articulations and dynamics, etc. that you wish until you feel satisfied. Then walk backwards to the backstage area as people clap. Then people should file out of the concert hall walking backwards and hand their programs to the ushers. Then go plant a tree.

Informal Notes On Abstract And Particular

(These thoughts are indebted to Joshua Longbrook, Plato, Aunt Linda, Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher, Zachary Mosher, Jace Mosher, Gail Anne Mosher Romo, Karen Thoreson, the imago Dei, "Right Hand Man" from Something Rotten by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick (book) and Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick (music and lyrics), Hebrews 1:1-2 NRSVUE, Proverbs 8:27–31 NRSVUE, 1 Corinthians 1:24b NRSVUE, John 3:16 NRSVUE, Proverbs 8:1 NLT, Proverbs 1:20–21 NLT, Isaiah 11:12 ESV, Revelation 7:1 ESV, Hosea 11:3–4 NRSVUE, Matthew 23:37 NLT, Luke 13:34 NLT, Job 38:28–29 NLT, Galatians 3:28 NRSVUE, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Teaching Approaches In Music Theory: An Overview Of Pedagogical Philosophies by Michael R. Rogers, Sarah Weber, and more.)

In music theory, we often look for patterns, structures, regularities, that can be extracted from the particulars of a given musical context. We might look at a given musical passage, take a note inventory, reorganize the notes into adjacencies based upon the way those notes are used within that passage, and have a scale which we understand that passage to be derived from. Let's say it is using the C major scale as the sonic palette for the passage. In saying it is a C major scale, we are also making note of a pattern of whole and half steps that, beginning on C, follow a particular sequence of intervals: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. We then might look at a different passage within a different piece of music and follow that same process, coming to the conclusion that it is in Gb major. In comparing these two ordered note collections (scales), we realize that there are only two notes in common between these seven-note collections. And, in fact, the way these notes function in these two keys is not the same. They share the notes B (called C-flat in the Gb major scale context) and F. The B in C major is scale-degree 7 in that context, while its C-flat counterpart in Gb major is scale-degree 4 in that context; the F in Cmajor is scale-degree 4 in that context, while in Gb major it is scale-degree 7. Despite the only two notes in common that they have and those two notes' distinct functions within those scale formations, they do have an important structural feature in common—they are both major scale structures. From their given starting notes, C and Gb, both follow exactly the same sequence of intervals from those starting notes (WWHWWWH). That intervallic structure is indeed what makes them both major scales. The particular scales of C major and Gb major have only two notes in common (with distinct functions in each scale), but their underlying structures are identical—they are both major scale structures.

The interesting thing about the concept of a major scale is that it is abstract. You can't actually play a major scale. You always have to choose a particular major scale to play as an example of a major scale. If I said "Play me a major scale." You might play E major for me. "No, I don't want to hear E major in particular. I want to just hear a major scale." You try Bb major. But I didn't want to hear Bb major in particular, I wanted to just hear a major scale. You get the idea to play all of the major scales available on the piano keyboard for me. But I'm still not satisfied because all that I heard were twelve particular major scales back-to-back. I want to just hear a major scale, not twelve particular examples of a major scale.

The concepts here are the particular and the abstract. You can start singing "Happy Birthday" beginning on any pitch (including perhaps one that exists between the discrete pitches of the piano keyboard) and we will all intuitively recognize its abstract intervallic structure and join in singing the rest of it with you, but we didn't sing an abstract "Happy Birthday"; we sang a particular one. It just may not have been the same particular one we sang last time or the same particular one we will next time.

The particular and the abstract are in an interesting relationship. Comparing the particular may yield quite little in common. Comparing the abstract may yield everything in common, but you can't play an abstract. You always must play particular examples of the abstract. We need both.

Informal Notes On Priorities In Music Education

(These thoughts are indebted to Graduate Review Of Tonal Theory: A Recasting Of Common-Practice Harmony, Form, And Counterpoint by Steven G. Laitz and Christopher Bartlette, Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston, Edna Thoreson, John 21:25 NRSVUE, and more.)

There's so much to learn. We'll never reach the end of it. I actually find that invigorating. You never run out of new things to learn. You can always continue to make new discoveries. The depths of knowledge in any and all fields (I would argue that the concept of a field in the sense of closing off information outside it is a type of construct.) continue to grow and be refined.

This morning I was reviewing for class and saw cues in a score that indicated a particular realization of a figured bass example we were looking at. It made me realize how helpful those cues were. I don't realize figured bass at a harpsichord the way Handel's contemporaries would have. I am more accustomed to reading from sheet music, a lead sheet, or chord chart. Handel's contemporaries would not have read from a chord chart or lead sheet. I do, however, gain much from knowing how to read a figured bass and how I could realize one. I use them in music analysis and they are helpful in looking at period music that does use them. Contemporary performers who play harpsichord in ensembles that play music of the period for our enjoyment read with excellence in real time from them. I recall around 2009 or 2010 listening to DJs on the radio discussing the problem of texting and the framing of it was such that it was something of the teenaged generation. It was discussed in terms of words per minute and mosquito ring tones and the problem it was in class. It had a semi- "this is a teen thing" type of vibe to it. Now the whole world texts without batting an eye. In fact, we often use it in place of phone calls. I recall that my maternal grandmother was for a time a high school shorthand teacher. This was considered very valuable until it wasn't. She said the curriculum did away with it. We asked her to teach us a little from a textbook of it that she still had. I wished I had known it for college note-taking. Cursive and coding. The list could go on and on. The point is that we can never learn everything, but everything is valuable. With each passing day there is so much more that we know. What do we teach and to whom do we teach it? And how do we ourselves stay up to date and on what specifically? We are curators no matter what the specifics of our field. We need to be constantly evaluating our curation and adapting and readapting as we continue to grow in knowledge. Put a different way, we are necessarily selective in what we curate of the vast array of knowledge that is out there. In so doing, as educators, we should be very intentional about why we present what we do and how we present it. Curation should certainly not limit us from access to learning those things that our classes don't permit time for or our (or our students') awareness of their existence, but rather admittedly selective within whole group instruction when we decide what to curate in class. Within class piano, for example, there are certain basic skill sets that all of our music majors should have; however, some degree specializations would benefit from deeper knowledge and abilities in particular areas. For example, accompanists need extra work on sight-reading. Music industry students need extra work with chord charts and lead sheets. Future ensemble directors (choir, band, orchestra) and composers need to be good with transposition and clef reading in vocal tenor clef and moveable C-clefs (with more emphasis on alto and tenor clefs). Let's continue to learn and grow. Let's continue to evaluate and re-evaluate our curation as we do continue to learn and grow.

Informal Notes On ii(7)/X In Ethiopian Jazz Music (Ethio Jazz)

(These thoughts are indebted to Eyobed (Eyo) Tadesse, and more. *When I looked up Ethiopian Jazz on Google, it also calls it Ethio-Jazz and on Spotify, it is called Ethio Jazz.)

In an informal conversation with a former student of mine, I learned that in Ethiopian jazz, ii(7)/X is a very common harmonic structure. Below, one can see the possibilities in C major. (The document below assumes I understood what he was saying correctly.) :)

Informal Notes On Cross-Disciplinary Experiences

(These thoughts are indebted to Cruisin' World video arcade game, Matrix treadmill, Lee U Rec, an informal conversation with John Wykoff, Athology for Sight-Singing by Gary S. Karpinski and Richard Kram example #360, Justin London's work on entrainment, a paper I heard once at ICMPC in Seoul, South Korea on the effects of musical tempo on people's general tendencies to entrain to it via their exercise pacing (unfortunately, I don't recall the author's name), and more.)

Oh my goodness! I just had the coolest experience! For those of you that may already have experienced this, you may think I am slightly over-elated. Nonetheless, it has got to have been one of the coolest things I've experienced. I came in to work today and decided to work out before jumping into the day's schedule. I go up to the aerobic exercise area and choose a treadmill. The treadmill was a black treadmill with yellow stripes/accents and the name Matrix on the side. (I don't know the model and this is not a plug for a particular treadmill necessarily as the features I'm about to describe may be more common than I know as I am not currently researching the 2026 treadmill market.) As I step on the treadmill, the screen in front of me asks me to log in or to continue as a guest. I choose "guest". It then prompts me to select a destination for my run. What?!? I am looking at a globe and particular destinations on that globe highlighted as possible locations for my morning run. What?!? This reminds me of the pre-game options on the video game Cruisin' World that my kids and I like to play where your car (that you design) drops itself into a race in the locale of your choosing. So cool! Only this time I get to go for a run and exercise my body at that destination. I chose Acadia National Park. My brother's family and my family both visited Acadia together a few years back. It is stunning! I wish I had time to go back and explore it a bit longer. So when the "game" or screen loads, I am dumbfounded to see that this is not a synthetic rendering (from what I can tell) of Acadia, it is actual video footage of Acadia! It's like I am virtually running trails in Acadia National Park! What?!? What?!? So as I'm getting a hold of myself (which didn't really happen for the entire run and I'm still flabbergasted to be honest), I start noticing more and more features. There are other people on the trail—actual people (I think). I lean in to see if it might be some people that I know who live near enough to Acadia that it might actually be them! (I don't know how that feature works in terms of permissions for that footage, but nonetheless, incredibly cool feature.) The people are also somehow aware I'm running down the trail so when I get close, they move to the side of the running path. What?!? Incredible! Again, as I keep running, I'm noticing more and more features. I notice that I seem to be passing by trees and rocks and terrain at a faster rate on screen than I would be if I were actually running at my 3.2mph to 3.9mph pace. I wonder if that feature is designed to (and has the psychological features to) make your body feel light and inspire you to run even faster and longer, forgetting the amount of time you are running and losing yourself in the landscape and experience. I then also notice that it feels like I am floating. This is because in real life I would be seeing a little bouncing up and down with my gait which I am not experiencing on screen. The screen floats smoothly as if I were a low-flying bird. It causes you to feel like you are floating smoothly rather than plodding along. Perhaps this also has the effects of (a) getting you to feel the sense that this is easy and so motivate you to keep going and (b) to avoid the feeling of nausea from a screen bouncing up and down which may not be perfectly in sync with your gait and jars with the outside world that is stable to your vision since your peripheral vision is still very much in the world outside of the screen. Then I begin to run up rock stairs. As I do so, I feel the treadmill increase its incline to give the sensation that you are indeed moving at an upwardly-angled direction. So cool! Another item which perhaps I was grateful for was the lack of realistic sensation on the bottoms of my feet. For example, the trail was rocky; the beach was sandy and grainy; the muddy beach would have felt harder to lift your legs in; the water would have cooled me and also given me a sensation of it gracefully hitting from right to left. (Now, I say I am grateful for this. Let me temper that with the fact that I would much rather have been there experiencing the realities of all of those things—including smells in the air and hearing the breeze and birds and leaves in the trees and people talking as I run by. I also would have loved the reality of the sensations of all of the above with the exception of rocks hitting the bottorms of my feet awkwardly. So, amazing virtual experience—absolutely amazing! But still never a replacement for the amazing sensorial experience of reality!)

As a musician, what I yearned for was headphones that would take me there sonically. I wanted echolocation. I wanted to hear the seagulls as they flew by. I wanted to hear the ocean waves roll gently in. Perhaps I even wanted composed music that changed with the setting, time of day, beach or forest trail, etc.

One other feature I should not forget to mention is that periodically facts about the location would pop up on the screen for a few moments. You could learn a little bit about the history of the place you were. Which brings me to the cross-disciplinary aspect of all of this (the title of this entry). In going to work out I experienced:

-physical exercise: the treadmill

-travel: the virtual trip to Acadia National Park

-geography: knowledge on the globe of a particular place in our world

-videography: the actual footage of that place, including "floating on-the-ground" video and drone footage from above

-technology: in all parts of this (from the electricity set up to run everything, to the footage taken, to the treadmill itself, and on and on)

-history: information about the location you are running

-(potentially) music: a soundscape and soundworld that fits this experience

-(potential "4-D" elements): breeze, seaspray, grains of sand between toes, amount of heat or cool, visual immersion via VR goggles (*have to be careful with this one given you are on a treadmill?), clothing for the person to wear that would go with the seasonal temperature of the place you are running, and essential oils that would give scents to the air and trees and other flora and saltwater as you are running by)

What if we could craft more and more immersive experiences like this that just encapsulate you in an experience that allows you to learn from all kinds of disciplines at once? This is a great example, I think, that we totally can. We should do more of this! Way more of this!

*Some additional thoughts on making this type of thing even more immersive, interactive, cross-disciplinary, and educational:

-360º rotating platform: What if the treadmill were on a rotating platform that could follow the turns in the road with you as you navigate those turns onscreen? Also, when you run, you typically have to loop around to where you started so this would be really helpful.

-terrain sensitivity: What if you could actually run barefoot or have shoes whose soles could simulate the terrain you are looking at because they are paired with the onscreen system? You could select which terrains you wanted to interact with in that way since when a terrain is overly-rocky, I might prefer to only feel the "sand between my toes" terrain instead.

-decline feature: As you run outdoors, terrain doesn't just remain flat or incline. It can also decline. What if there were a treadmill decline feature? (*safety features would need consideration here)

-time of day: You could select the time of day you are running with footage that reflected the sun's positioning at that time on a given date you would also select.

-weather: You could select partly cloudy, foggy, mostly sunny, sunny, snowing, amount of wind speed and directions, etc.

-humidity: Your running suit paired to the system could simulate humidity conditions

-amount of rainfall: the onscreen conditions could reflect the amount of rainfall that would produce the kind, amount, and color of the vegetation you were seeing on screen (also based upon the date you select)

-onscreen identifiers of flora,fauna, and minerals: as you pass flora and fauna and rock and ground formations, you can click on the screen to have them identified for you

-overlaid temporal projections: You could have projections overlaid on the terrain that transform the landscape based upon our best current evidence-based thoughts around what the land looked like at a given date in time, etc. (including species that were around then that have gone extinct, those that have since moved into the area if you pick a date nearer to our own, still present in our area if you pick a date "near" to today. You could also have information about predator-prey relations in the ecosystem pop up on screen or accessible as a linked screen to see those at a given point in time.)

-sci-fi: You might also be able to take footage and images we have of other stellar bodies like the moon and Mars and allow us to "visit" them as we go for a run on their surface. Facts about the moon and Mars and other potential locations could assist the runner in learning about what is fact and fiction in those settings. For example, issues of gravity differences, and atmospheric differences, and other important distinctions would need to be made clear to the runner, but it would allow for "visits" in a way that otherwise would prove impossible for most of us as of today.

-music, tempo, entrainment, and walking-jogging-running pace: We could create (as composers) and select (as people using the treadmill) music that corresponded musical beats per minute with miles per hour. The bpm would be based upon a salient pulse stream within the temporal perception window. It could be used to set an initial pace, tempo modulate (and/or perhaps modulate the piece of music) based upon the user's speed and/or changing speed. In pre-programmed workout settings it could modulate based upon the type of "interval training" that one is doing (gradually increasing pace and musical tempo, fast-slow-fast-slow pace and musical tempo or any shape like this we want). Music that fits well within the temporal perception window has been shown to create a strong potential for entrainment (where the body seeks to adapt itself to the salient pulse stream in the music—hand clapping, foot tapping, and in this case walking-jogging-running, so this internal human desire to entrain to music can be used to our advantage to assist us in creating solid workouts for ourselves.).

Informal Notes On Finding Joy And Meaning In Flow State Practice And Process In Music

(These thoughts are indebted to Elizabeth Wallace, Dr. Harnsberger, Kay Dick, Stephen Goacher, a book I read a while back on Wu-wei (often translated as "effortless action", Christina Omari, Christina Omari's spouse, articles I've read on flow state, articles I've read on flow state and jazz improvisation, Thinking In Jazz by Paul F. Berliner, the art of Kintsugi which I learned about through Culture Care by Makoto Fujimura, Artmaking, Play, and Meaning Making by Sydney Walker, Five Star Theatre Program in Reading, MA; RMHS Arts, RMHS, RPS, South Hadley High School Theatre Program in South Hadley, MA; North Shore Children's Theatre in Swampscott, MA; SMS Theatre in Swampscott, MA; SMS Chorus in Swampscott, MA; SMS Band in Swampscott, MA; Hadley Elementary School (now Swampscott Elementary School) musical productions, Swampscott, MA; Littleville Elementary School in Huntington, MA; Sqwalking Heads Productions in Signal Mountain, TN; CCS Summer Theatre Camp in Chattanooga, TN; SMMHS Theatre in Signal Mountain, TN; SMMHS Choir in Signal Mountain, TN, SMBC Summer VBS musical productions in Signal Mountain, TN; and more.)

As an undergraduate piano major, I recall "getting lost" in the practice room. I loved practicing. I loved the music. I loved the process. I loved the sense of immersion of saturating myself in a sonic landscape that took me into that musical space in some sort of holistic sense. I would lose track of my surroundings. I would lose track of the room. I would lose track of the awareness of my peripheral vision. I would tune out any other sounds outside of the music I was completely focused on. I lost track of time. This was actually a regular daily occurrence—most times I was in the practice room. To make a point of the extent to which I lost track of time, I would go practice after lunch and completely miss an ensemble rehearsal I had in the afternoon because I had been so completely absorbed in the musical experience of practicing that I completely forgot that I had a class, let alone what time that class was. This happened on multiple occasions. When I began dating my now wife, Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher (Gonzales only at the time), we were in an afternoon ensemble together and when this happened during that ensemble, she would ask the director to be excused so she could go get me out of the practice room because she knew that's where I was—and she was right.

As perhaps odd as this may sound to many, I suppose I just enjoy the process—deeply enjoy the process. There are several things I relate to the above scenario. Firstly, I recall as a high schooler, a piano tuner would come to the house about every 6 months. I would ask him if he minded me sitting and listening and watching him as he tuned. The first reaction I got was surprise followed by a complete willingness to let me watch him tune the piano and even to talk me through what he was doing and listening for in particular. He imparted to me that though most people are annoyed by the striking and re-striking of a piano key, the piano tuner needs to enjoy sitting with and listening deeply to the beauty of the tone. You strike the tone and listen for "beats" in which unisons of a given key can be heard on the multiple strings being struck by pressing that key. He would then have me listen for how he would pull two strings into alignment so that the two strings "fused" into a single unified sound without "beats". If you let it be, it is an incredibly beautiful and satisfying process. (Aside: While I have tuned pianos in the past, I do not consider myself an expert in this area. A piano tuner may perhaps even be a little unsatisfied with the explanation that I just gave, but that description is to my best current understanding.) Related to this, another way we can love the sound is not to rush it. My undergraduate piano teacher noticed that when I played whole notes or longer at the piano, I seemed uncomfortable with them and because of this, rushed them. I didn't have the patience to wait for them to finish. In fact, related to that fact, I didn't enjoy listening to the tone while I was playing it. She encouraged me to sit with the sound and not only count until it was over to accurately go to the next note, but to really hear that sound, sit with it, and enjoy it in the moment for the length it was there. And this may have inspired me to yet another tangent practice, the "chord of the day". I've done this intermittently for years. I will choose a "chord of the day" as a harmonic structure to simply enjoy for the day and I'll play it periodically throughout the day. At times, I've invited others to join me in this. For example, on Monday, I might find a voicing of a Mm7#11, 13 that I like and play it as my chord of the day when I walk by a piano. On Tuesday it might be a particular voicing of a mm7,9,11 chord, etc. Love the sound. Enjoy the sound. Sit with the sound. Let it be something God uses to bless you each day.

Secondly, along these lines, I recall a couple of statements from my undergraduate jazz band director. I will be paraphrasing these statements. I believe the context was some personal frustration and nerves I was experiencing when he would put me on the spot to solo. Here's a paraphrase of his first statement: You are only a half-step away from a "right note". He would explain that if it sounded to me like I was playing a wrong note in my solo, that I should resolve that note upward or downward by a half-step and treat it as though it were an "approach tone" to the note I wanted rather than getting all hung up about my bad note and having that anxiety cripple the remainder of my solo. Here's a paraphrase of his second statement: If it sounded to you like you made a mistake, do it again. Repetition can signal intentionality. Jazz is interested in new sounds, in finding a novel color tone in a particular musical context. Playing something new can sound wrong because perhaps no one has heard that before, but if you yourself present it as though you are convinced of it, the audience may go with you. And if you then repeat the lick and lay into that same note a second time, it signals you meant that. It takes a lot of bravery to "put yourself out there" for a solo (which is perhaps why (citation needed) we clap after solos in jazz. It's a way of encouraging each performer for having the guts to go for it. It reminds them that the community is for them, each of them, as each person solos.) This performer-audience camaraderie gives performers an emotional and psychological boost so that next time they may not be so afraid to get out there and share music from their heart. It may be important here to note that musical performance anxiety is an incredibly common phenomenon. There is a lot of literature out there on the topic, quite possibly because it is so prevalent. I have perhaps a couple of thoughts about this at the moment: 1. Perhaps breaking down the performer-audience barrier and associated thoughts may assist with this. What I mean is that we may come into a performance primarily concerned that the audience is in part there to judge us. "How good is this performer?" "Oh, I know this piece. I wonder if they'll play it as well as performer so and so. They probably can't live up to that performance of this piece." "I heard that mistake." "I heard those mistakes." "That's what I thought. Good thing I only paid $X for this ticket because that performance I give a 4.5 out of 10." These are the types of thoughts that go through performers' heads. (Unless I'm only speaking for myself. Which admittedly, I only can speak for myself, but my gut tells me I'm not alone in this type of thinking.) What if, to borrow from a practice I first saw in particular student theatre programs, we could send "grams" or encouraging notes perhaps even prior to a performance, but also at intermission. In my older son's first experience with a summer theatre program, the teen counselors literally made a tunnel for each participant and chanted their name with enthusiasm as they exited the backstage area. What if we created this kind of overwhelming support for each performer always—and made sure we were genuine and creative in doing so. I'll tell you as a parent watching what I just described first-hand, this lit my older son up and fanned the flame for theatre in him because he felt loved, seen, supported, and a completely valued and integral part of the team. His confidence soared. It was amazing. I want to see more of that in the world. And by the way, after a theatre practice every weekday from 9 AM to 1 PM (4 hours of practice), guess what he wanted to do when he got home? We literally had to feed him lunch as quickly as possible because he wanted to go practice his lines and his songs. You had to stop him from practicing so that he could re-engage with us. (Which, by the way, is important to do. I am not suggesting here that we should spend our entire lives in the practice rooms. Balance is incredibly important, but the point here is that there was a drive and a passion for his art. Since this above-described experience, I have had the incredible joy of getting to see my younger son perform with my older son together in musical theatre productions. They both take to this art form like fish to water. And my wife and I could not be more grateful that they have been extended these opportunities.)

Thirdly, (and these thoughts are not necessarily in a particular order), I think of the power of reference recordings. If you are working on particular repertoire, go find as many audio (and perhaps video as well) interpretations of your repertoire as possible. You want to immerse yourself in the ways that the music you are working to interpret have been interpreted by those before you. One may be at a faster tempo, another may interpret staccato with a different length of attack, one may phrase differently, another may use lead-in gestures in a particular way, one may interpret formal arrival points one way while another approaches that differently, etc. Hearing these interpretations is so valuable in crafting for yourself the way you will choose to interpret the piece; not who you will copy, but how you will interpret it for yourself. (You also get the added benefit of drilling down your memory of the piece itself so you may be able to perform it better by memory.) I will note here that active listening like this is practice. As a pianist, notes on the keys is one of many ways to practice. Aurally knowing your piece as I've described is another. In taking time away from the keys, you may help your body by not overtiring fingers wrists, forearms, shoulders, neck, back, etc. (it's all connected).

Fourthly, take advantage of the power of visualization. Go do some score study away from the keys. This too can take on a variety of forms. My undergraduate piano teacher instructed me to sit away from the piano and stare at the score until I could picture it totally and completely in my mind. For example, let's say we can take in 2 beats of music at a time. Stare at the image. Really see what it looks like. Take a mental picture of it. How do the note shapes of that chord fit on the staff? What does the font look like? What does the left hand play for those two beats? Widen your gaze and take in both hands for those two beats. Now close your eyes. Can you see it? Is it a little hazy? Open your eyes and look at it again. Get every detail. You think you've got it? Awesome. Close your eyes again. Do you see it more clearly? Once you've gotten every detail of those two beats—What does it look like for your hands to play them. Mentally play them. What does it feel like for your hands to play them. How far apart does each digit on your hand need to be to play that left hand interval, that right hand chord? How far apart are your arms from one another when you play that? Where do your shoulders sit when you do? How does it sound when you play them? Can you hear yourself play those two bars? Really listen. Can you? Hear it as clearly as you can. OK. Now repeat this process for the next two beats. You may not be able to take in a whole lot in one sitting. That's ok. Go back to the keyboard now and work on your piece in that way. Or use your music theory chops and do some analysis to understand how the piece itself is put together. What is the key, the flow of chord progressions, the phrasing, the formal arrangement of the sections, where and at what levels and in what ways to I see repetition and variation put to use, what motives bind the piece together, etc.? Chew it up and digest it. It will taste so good.

Fifthly, when you are practicing at your instrument (As my writing may indicate I am writing from the vantage point of playing the piano, but I believe these concepts can be effectively transferred to any instrument (including voice).), you will perhaps take your hands to land on a particular sonority. Sometimes you won't land on the written sonority. Oops. Now, you don't always necessarily want to do what I am about to describe when this happens or you will perhaps never find that you can keep working on the actual piece that you are working on, but there have been times when I have been pleasantly surprised at the accidental sound I landed upon. I don't remember where I heard this term, but I have heard it called a "happy accident". An accidental discovery. Not what you meant to do, but because music might not do what you just did, you may not have heard that sound before and it sounds really intriguing and perhaps you could intentionally do something with it. If this is the case, you may decide to start playful experimentation and composing with it. Follow that sound. Play with that sound. Analyze the structure of that sound. Make other sounds like it on purpose or that are near to it in structure to see if they will "go" with it, etc. And write a piece, something new, something different, something fresh, something creative. Scientists sometimes speak of how the brain learns from mistakes. Here is a great example in art.

Sixthly, I've been focusing a lot on the love of the music, the craft, the art, and the process. This, too, is related to that. Don't be driven by fear. Not by fear of your teacher, fear of the lesson and how it will or won't go, fear of playing in master class this week, fear of performing in Recital Hour, fear of your Senior Recital, fear of performing in that concert hall, etc. Fear can drive you; this is a true statement. But it is a terrible way to live. And it is a terrible way to operate as a musician. I instead advocate for what I've been saying all along in this entry, instead let love of the gift of the art be in the driver's seat. It will transform your journey in unbelievably positive ways.

Seventhly, Wu-wei. Again, as I've said many times, there are so many areas in which I am not an expert. Wu-wei is definitely one of these areas. Several years ago, I read a book that talked about Wu-wei. I found what it said fascinating. Here is my elementary explanation (which comes from reflecting on that book, how I could use principles from it that I thought applied well to music, and a refresher of the contents of that book that I got from a Google summary). The principles come from a story called "Butcher Ding Cuts Up An Ox". Here is a summary of the story from my Google search: "In the story, King Wenhui watches his cook, Butcher Ding, slice meat with mesmerizing grace. The butcher's movements are perfectly rhythmic, like a beautiful dance, and his blade never hits a bone or hacks choppily at the meat. When the astonished king asks how he achieved such masterclass skill, Butcher Ding explains that it is not about technique, but the Dao (the Way): Seeing the structure: Average butchers hack away blindly and must change their blades monthly because they constantly smash into bone. Moving through the spaces: Instead of forcing his way through the carcass, Ding relies on a deep, intuitive understanding of the ox's natural anatomy. He finds the empty spaces between the joints where there is no resistance, allowing his blade to glide smoothly without ever getting dull. Slowing down for complexity: When he encounters a highly complicated joint, he doesn't use more force. Instead, he slows down, focuses completely on the present moment, and moves with extreme subtlety until the meat effortlessly falls apart." "In modern psychology, this state of unselfconscious, peak performance is exactly what we call "flow state"." In music practice, I take this image and imagine myself moving through the complexity of a piece or pieces of music I'm working on in much the same way. This shapes my bodily movements smoothly. Initially, I may gauge distances from one sonority to the next in incredibly slow Tai Chi-like smooth and slow ways, focusing on what shape it takes and how it feels to get from point A to point B. Then from point B to point C. Then from point A to point B to point C, etc. That way practice, in and of itself, becomes an art, becomes in fact, a dance. You can enjoy and fully put your entire body and self into this process. As you know these shapes slowly, you increase tempo and are accurate at full tempo because you enjoyed the process and taught your body and mind and ear from each stage and speed of motion. This also will create the "effortless" aspect that we see in performances that sound insanely complex, but the performer seems to perform such passages with complete ease and connection to the music.

Eighthly, what if performance anxiety were lowered tremendously because performance was seen as an invitation to share what you are working on with others who are for you? What if you got to the point in your practicing that you felt sufficiently confident that you could share your musical practice with a friend and you both would be blessed by it and it could honor God? What if you felt like your practicing got to the point that you invited the studio that you are a part of to listen to your practice session in masterclass because they also were for you? What if public performances of musical repertoire were similarly understood as inviting people who are for us to share in the joy of listening to us practice our musical repertoire in media res, knowing that no performance is "perfect" even as we aim toward it? In other words, musical practice and musical performance experience a type of sameness. We just invite others who care about us and want the best for us to join us in the gift of making music as performers and as active caring listeners.

Ninthly, I would like to note that I believe the type of motivation I have been here describing has significant overlap in jazz sit-ins and popular music "garage" bands. In a jazz context, it was (is?) common to watch a jazz ensemble perform a set and then after the set was over one could sit in with a master performer at your instrument in order to learn from them in an informal jam session. The mentor musician would play and teach simultaneously as the less-experienced learner-musicians honed their skills by jamming with the more experienced musicians. Also within music education, it was common for students to hang around after school in the band room and informally put together their own ensembles and jam, which was active learning of their art form. In a popular music context I think of "garage" bands or musicians who self-organize, find a place to practice and jam out, learning and growing together until they feel ready to share the music they've been working on with hopefully an audience that supports them. These ways of practicing are motivating, and the motivation of each person in the group mutually reinforces each person's motivation as well as the collective group motivation.

Lastly, if one wants to see it this way, the entire process I have here described can be offered up to Jesus as worship. Gratitude for the gift of music. Gratitude for the sounds. Gratitude for the way it makes you feel. Gratitude for the body in space as it creates those sounds. Gratitude for the slow, the medium, the fast. Gratitude for ease. Gratitude for community. Gratitude for speaking to us through the entire musical experiential process.

Some Examples Of Meter As Rhythm

(These thoughts are indebted to google.com, wikipedia.com, Timothy Koozin's Pop And Jazz Analysis course, Kari Francis, Charley Kachlic, Sam Hunt, a previous discussion on Rhythm and Meter in a Music Theory 1 class, Gary S. Karpinski's Manual For Ear Training And Sight Singing, musical examples from a Spotify playlist entitled Chinese Jazz Fusion, and more.)

Informal Notes On Music And The Concept Of "Deeper Than Words Can Adequately Convey"

(These thoughts are indebted to "Listen to Our Hearts" by Geoff Moore And The Distance, SMBC, people, family, people=family, "Unsustainable" by Muse, Robin Williams' rendering of the character Mr. Keating in Dead Poets' Society, Song of Myself by Walt Whitman, Israel Houghton and New Breed's worship session during COVID entitled Feels Like Home: A Live Worship Experience, Romans 8:26-27 NLT, Romans 8:22 NLT, and soooo many more—all of you, in fact.)

This past weekend, I was at a retreat with our local family of Jesus followers (a subset of our family—if you are reading this, I consider you family). During our final sharing time, I found that my heart was positively overwhelmed with what I could not begin to find words for. I did (to my own surprise) share a little during that time, but it was so limited in comparison to what I would have hoped to be able to convey of my love and care for everyone. Music helps in these situations. I feel that in some manner, at least to a much better extent, I am able to express more of the holistic experience of what I am feeling, even as those expressions may not have verbal expression. I don't think I'm alone in this, though as I'm often reminded, in some way I can really only speak for myself, but I hope that in some way someone else may relate to this experience. I think of the following examples:

-in Muse's song "Unsustainable", the only vocals that are sung are a sung cry without text (my interpretation following) as the singer yearns beyond words, but not beyond feeling, for a humanity that cares about the renewal of the planet

-popularized even more by Robin Williams' character Mr. Keating's sharing of this text, Walt Whitman uses the phrase "barbaric yawp" in his poetry (my interpretation follows), expressing the human urge to express what words fall short in expressing of the human experience

-melismas and improvisatory non-texted phrases sung by Israel Houghton in the worship session they released during COVID

-Holy Spirit groanings as in Romans 8:26 NLT

-the groanings of all creation as in Romans 8:22 NLT

Informal Notes On Music And "Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts"

(These thoughts are indebted to Claudia Alta Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson, "Surface Pressure" from Encanto by Lin Manuel-Miranda, the concept of "microagression" (whether intentional or subconscious), masterclass and/or studio class, Proverbs 27:17 NLT, The Will To Power by Friedrich Nietsche, Christopher Hitchins, how to have a conversation on any topic without many times walking away feeling guilty for something upon further reflection, and more.)

Unity is hard. Attributed to Lady Bird Johnson is the following statement, "The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom." We want freedom and we want unity. I think deep down we don't want to fight with each other, but we also don't want our freedom to think for ourselves taken away from us. I can't even begin to count the number of conversations I've been in where the speaker states her position and concludes with a seemingly tossed off addendum..."you know?" Adding a phrase like "you know?" to the end of a statement creates a social pressure to conform with the idea just stated. I mean if you don't want to be rude, then of course you will respond "Ya." Now the original speaker's point of view has been validated by those who are listening because the listeners didn't want to upset the apple cart. I know. I've been there a bazillion times (Yes, a bazillion, you know?). So part of the reason I agree in situations like this is because I want to be agreeable, but later, I reflect on the conversation and beat myself up for it because I say to myself something to the effect of "Well, great. Now that person thinks we are in total agreement on this issue, and if I choose to express an even slightly nuanced or perhaps strikingly different point of view, it is going to look like I'm a liar because after all, I said "Ya." or "Uh huh." or "mm" or whatever. Unfortunately, to me, It seems so many times, we do not have (or make) the time to stop and think and consider and examine something from this angle, that angle, another angle, ask different questions, come back to a topic, etc. We want a quick answer that is two-dimensional and is packaged neatly with a bow and a lot of gusto to put a stamp on it with no room for disagreement by the commercial break (and preferably sooner). "Do I desire unity?" I ask myself when I find myself mentally dissenting to something at some level seemingly nearly constantly. "Or am I just stubborn?" (I think there is some of that.) But I would like to think that I do indeed desire unity, greatly. However, unity at the expense of freedom of thought is inauthentic. And that does not sit well with me. Unity without freedom of thought is simply conformity because of power of some sort or another exerting pressure on you that you cave to in the name of being nice. I will add to this that I absolutely hate confrontation. I avoid it like the plague. Probably again, because I don't really want to fight others. I do indeed want unity. But my personal experience has found that debate and argumentation is typically not an "iron sharpening iron" situation in which two brothers or sisters are both on the same team trying to help one another consider the whole picture, but rather an exercise in shutting another person down so that your "will to power" wins out. It's looking at the other person as an opponent and cutting one another with words—"death by a thousand paper cuts". I also will say that uncertainty about anything is an uncomfortable place to be. We don't like it. That's why, unfortunately, I think too often we settle for quick overly-simplistic answers because then we can just go on about our day and not let that particular topic gnaw at us. As gnawing as various topics may be, two-dimensional quick overly-simplistic answers to tough questions that everyone simply acquiesces to because an alpha personality said so, will not get us where we want to be as individuals, a community, or a society. We need to see each other as on the same team, searching for real answers to tough questions that take real time, thought, dare I say prayer, and energy. It takes returning to these issues as new information or evidence about various related topics comes to light. And returning again as we discover more, etc. This is hard, but it is healthy. And I am in as much need of practicing this (if not more) than the next person.

How does any of this have to do with music? In music, we strive to make our pieces excellent. We come back to the same passages, listening for nuance, shaping phrases, having others listen and give kind (hopefully) and constructive critical (meaning necessary to improvement) feedback. We consider various feedback from various listeners and return to practice and shape the piece further. We further refine it. We further craft it. We keep making it better. If all of this is done from a place of kindness and a desire to improve the music, it is a joy. If feedback from ourselves and others is not done from such a place, it can feel like "death by a thousand paper cuts" as people (including ourselves) tell us what is wrong with every little thing in how we are playing our piece. Or if no feedback is ever given at all except "Awesome!" (including our own thoughts about our piece), we will never improve. We need "iron sharpening iron". We need to be on the same team, operating from a place of care that is actually care and not just purporting to be care, and then we help each other make our pieces better and better.

Informal Notes On iiº, iiø7 (ii7b5), and iiº7

(These thoughts are indebted to undergraduate music theory textbooks, Eyobed (Eyo) Tadesse, Felipe Salles, an SMT Jazz Interest Group question in a thread in their Humanities Commons email, Tim Koozin, Brent Auerbach, Thomas Christensen, and more.)

With complete respect, and just as food for thought as we continue to teach clearly to our students and ourselves, iiº in root position is said by some to be "not ok" to use in the minor mode because it creates a harmonic º5 between the bass voice and another voice. Perhaps what is really at play here is the notion of a iiº serving as plagal motion. I-IV-I is sometimes (even root position to root position to root position) explained away as simply tonic expansion, but even though ii or iiº can serve as a substitute for IV or iv or vice versa (as in I-ii-V7-I or I-IV-V7-I), the iiº in root position is said to be not ok. If it is really the º5 at play here, why do we allow a viiº65, which would also have a º5 between the bass and an upper voice involved?

In an expanded view of tonal literature, jazz iiº (or iiø7) in root position is totally typical. Jazz practitioners would also explain that an alternate view of the viiø7 or viiº7 is that they are potentially seen as rootless V7,9 or V7,b9, respectively. Hence they all function as dominant sonorities. *Also, see previous notes on ii(7)/X, which I might guess would apply to iiø7 in minor mode contexts, but to be sure, I would have to ask Eyo Tadesse or others more familiar with Ethio-Jazz.

Informal Notes On Compositional Thoughts Around The Subdominant

(These thoughts are indebted to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Brent Auerbach, Rob Schultz, Gary S. Karpinski, and more.)

Based upon reflecting on various implications of the entry entitled "Informal Notes On iiº, iiø7 (ii7b5), and iiº7", particularly on the portion that states "I-IV-I may sometimes be described as a plagal motion, but may also, even in root position, sometimes be described as only a tonic expansion (scale-degree 1 is indeed held in common)." and "I-V-I as a harmonic progression is typically considered the foundational harmonic structure of tonal music. (Note that both chords hold scale-degree 5 in common. Note that both harmonic motions here are shown as a bassline moving a P4 in a direction from the tonic (either up or down). Both progressions contain a tone that moves a half-step away and back and another tone that moves a whole-step away and back.)", I have fleshed out some compositional thoughts around the subdominant which are normally applied to the dominant. The ideas below are those I've had regarding this notion thus far. Perhaps in thinking along these lines, similar lines of thought may emerge.

-What if we wrote pieces whose B sections culminate with a subdominant prolongation that returns to a momentous tonic arrival corresponding to the return of the A' section?

-What if we wrote chord progressions that concluded phrases on a "sub-half cadence" (X-IV)? This type of cadence could serve as a complement to X-V, the traditional half cadence? (We may already do this, as in the pop chord progression V-I-IV harmonic motion. Let's write more like this intentionally and naming and analyzing it as this.)

-What if we wrote chord progressions that we intended to intensify the motion to the subdominant? Here are some examples (again, some of which we do,

some of which I'm not sure if we do, and some which I don't think we typically do):

-V7/IV to IV (iv)

-viiø7/IV to IV (iv)

-viiº7/IV to IV (iv)

-+6th to sd4 (se in the lower voice and mi in the upper voice expanding outward to fa (scale-degree 4) (I am using do-based relative solmization syllables

to describe these motions along with their corresponding scale-degrees.)

-Middle Earth +6 to IV (iv): I am defining this as the above-mentioned +6 with te (scale-degree ↓7) as an additional color tone (comparable to the It+6).

-Perelandra +6 to IV (iv): I am defining this as the above-mentioned +6 with te (scale-degree↓7) and do (scale-degree 1) as the additional color tones

(comparable to the Fr+6).

-Atlantis +6 to (iv/iv to) iv: I am defining this as the above-mentioned +6 with te (scale-degree↓7) and ra (scale-degree↓2) as the additional color tones

(comparable to the Ger+6).

-Enharmonic Atlantis +6 to (IV/IV to) IV: I am defining this as the above-mentioned +6 with te (scale-degree↓7) and di (scale-degree ↑1)as the additional

color tones (comparable to the Enh Ger+6).

connected to the vine

Composer Notes:

(The following piece is indebted to prayerful mindfulness practices submitted to the headship of Jesus in my life.)

Orchestration: Any and all instruments which wish to participate.

Instructions: All performers sit in a circle. Choose a first leader. The first leader stands, cues the beginning of the piece, and joins in performing the piece. Upon the leader's cue, all participants play a concert C. Each performer choose the register in which they wish to play concert C. The C is sustained throughout the performance of the piece. For wind instruments (including voice, which can articulate an "aah" sound), breathe and re-articulate your long tone as needed. For percussion instruments, re-strike when decay makes your note inaudible to you. The leader is also playing C. Everyone should fix their thoughts on the love of Jesus. The leader will play any chromatic pitch (and in this piece, by chromatic, I mean any non-C pitch-class) any time a thought deemed by the leader as unpleasing to Jesus arises. These "non-C" tones will be played in staccato. After the leader refocuses on the love of Jesus, the leader returns to the long tone on concert C. The piece continues in this manner until the leader states "Amen". The next person who wishes to lead, stands. If multiple people stand simultaneously, that is ok. They may lead collectively as above described and state "Amen" in their own timing. Performers may decide they are finished with their participation in that particular performance of the piece as they desire. The particular performance of the piece concludes when the last person remaining says "Amen".

Informal Notes On Production As Artistry

(These thoughts are indebted to Zachary Mosher, Olivia Rodrigo's "Serena Joy" accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9M1JeWrsjs&list=RDr9M1JeWrsjs&start_radio=1, The College Of Saint Rose Recording Studio, The Lee University Recording Studio, Aural Skills Acquisition by Gary S. Karpinski, reading I have done about the production aspects of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", Timothy Koozin's Pop And Jazz Analysis course (including articles we read on microtiming analysis, class presentations that used this type of analysis as an analytical tool, my own presentation in that class using this type of analysis), Audacity online software, Logic, ProTools, a presentation I heard at SMT a few years ago on "Positional Listening", UMass–Amherst's New Music Concert, and more.)

(No commercial products listed herein should be understood as endorsements of those particular products. I am simply using what I know as exaEmples of production as artistry.)

Now I may simply be out of the "loop", but I would love for more analytical attention to be paid to production as artistry. As I was commuting to work this morning, I was listening to Olivia Rodrigo's "Serena Joy". Among many things, it got me thinking about production as artistry. (In the following, I am going to list a few items I'm hearing. I may be mishearing what I state, but this is the best way I currently know how to express what I think I'm hearing. In addition, I will only be listing a few things I'm hearing as production takes deep listening and listening again and listening again. It takes positional listening (focusing in on a particular instrument and hearing the rest of the instrumentation in relation to it. Then re-listening and coming from the vantage point of another instrument. It takes thinking about echolocation and the virtual stage. Where do the sounds I hear appear to be coming from as if I were in the room listening to them live? Is the drum set in front of me? Is the vocalist in front of that? Are the keys to my left? Is bass to my right? Is guitar closer and further to the right than the bass? And these are only a small smattering of ways to listen and re-listen.)

(1) Unison vocals thickened by duplicating, triplicating, etc. the original vocal and offsetting each by microtiming levels of temporal magnitude (likely measured to the millisecond level), but audible to the human ear as distinct timings creating an intentional effect.

(2) The vocalist harmonizing with herself in multiple parts.

(3) The choice of how to balance those multiple parts I am referring to in item 2.

(4) Echolocation in the sense of creating a virtual sonic spatialization (referred to above in the description of our ears hearing a virtual location for

each instrument (including voice as an instrument)) within the overall sonic landscape.

(4a) How far "forward" or "up close" the vocals feel to the listener. (It is interesting on this topic that the vocals in the song state, "Come in close, come in close, come a little bit closer." (My interpretation: in the sense of Let's see what's really going on here instead of sticking our heads in the ground like ostriches.))

(4b) The choice of room and surface materials for the recording of each track within the composite sound. Are there a lot of deadening or dampening materials so as to effectively eliminate sonic bounce or echo, a "dry" room? Or is it a more "live" or "wet" sonic space in which you do hear the shape of that sound a little more in the room as it bounces off hard physical surfaces in the recording space? At 2:17 on the YouTube track that I've linked above, you can hear a change to more of this "wet" room effect on the vocals as opposed to the more "dry" room approach prior to that point in the song.

(4c) Choice in distance from microphone. Referencing the above comments at 4b, the vocalist is much closer to the microphone in the "dry" room recording space. The vocalist is further away from her mic in the "wet" room recording effect used at 2:17.

(4d) Choice of microphone. Our voices sound different on different microphones. It may be (though I am uncertain) that the microphone used prior to the 2:17 distinct recording space moment is also a different microphone being used to add to the color distinction of the contrasting effects.

There should be (and again, I may just be out of the "loop" on all of this) advanced aural skills courses that focus their attention on musical aspects that we can hear and develop our awareness in beyond just pitch and rhythm-and-meter. I believe the above shows incredibly artistic reason for why developing these skills are highly practical in developing our musical artistry. And it should also be noted that with many of the aural skills being acquired that I am describing, we are not looking at a traditional score in so doing.

*Relatedly, we can create sounds in which we perceive distances, directionality, and speed of directionality (as in Dolby Digital Surround Sound, IMAX, 4-D experiences, I recall attending a New Music Concert at UMass, Amherst in which one composer presented a composition that sounded like flying cars coming at a variety of speeds and changing non-discrete pitches all around the room at different heights. They were above us, at our level, coming from all directions, changing directions, some of them felt like they moved literally through us, moving away from us in 360 degrees, etc. (I think he was a composer from Princeton or Yale, but I think it more likely he was from Princeton.). We should make more music that advances these aspects of musical spatialization.

**Also relatedly, the repeater effect on Olivia Rodrigo's vocals at the end of the piece keeps time with a pulse stream in the music, and the section I referred to above beginning at 2:17 also uses a reverb effect.

Informal Notes On The Sub-Neapolitan

(These thoughts are indebted to the Neapolitan chord, the tritone sub for V7, the tritone sub for IV7, the tritone sub for V7/X, the trtone sub for IV7/X, Felipe Salles, and more.)

Explanatory verbiage will go here.

an experiment in musical stylistic fusions

(This piece is indebted to the same sources that inspired the Informal Notes On The Sub-Neapolitan entry above and more. I will need to add more info and attributions here when I get a moment.

Informal Notes On Anachronistic Usage In Music

(These thoughts are indebted to figured bass usage, chord theory (including chord inversions), Jean-Philippe Rameau, harmonic extensions in jazz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Steven G. Laitz and Christopher Bartlette, Gary S. Karpinski, a session at SMT in which I recall someone of a jazz background commenting on a reading of a piece from that lens with a response that it could not be seen that way because it was anachronistic, Andrew Davis, David Huron, Stefan Caris Love, and more.)

In music theory, at times I feel that we are OK with the use of anachronisms and at other times we are not. Showing my own ignorance, I must confess I don't quite understand how we are selecting in which cases we are fine with anachronisms and in other cases we seem not to be. (Unfortunately, I am speaking in generalities as I use the term "we", which I typically don't care for because it lumps everyone into the same boat without allowing for the fact that each person has their own brain, and therefore, thoughts about any particular given topic that will be unique to them—hopefully. What I mean I guess is something akin to "I get the vibe that the majority of our discipline or perhaps the lead voices say that we as a discipline are OK with or not OK with given anachronisms in music theory.".

Here are some thoughts. We put figured bass and chord theory together and talk about chordal inversions (which are different from melodic inversions; I've heard them called chordal rotations but without much of a following on this term, but there could be—like modal rotations in seconds, this is rotation in a triadic tertian formation.) We are fine with and encourage anachronism when it comes to pairing figured bass as chordal inversion alongside Roman numerals which historically came later from chord theory. In fact, these two in combination is typically how we do analysis of CPWAM literature because we deem it helpful. However, we don't often do the same thing with jazz harmonic extensions in much CPWAM music. The excuse I've heard is they wouldn't have thought of it that way at the point in history that the particular CPWAM piece we are looking at comes from. It is an anachronism to say this is a 9th or a b9th or a 13th chord. Instead, these typically get treated as some type of NCT and then explained as though they just dissolve into the actual chord. I would say, however, that we still can use this terminology precisely because our ears have heard these sounds. Our contemporary ears are full of these types of sounds (depending upon our personal biographical listening histories). In fact, we may listen to so much music with harmonic extensions or add notes that this is how these sounds first strike our ears. I think it is OK for us to apply this as a nod to our own hearing of the piece, which is absolutely informed by our current contemporary musical context as well as understanding the historical move into hearing such sounds in this way. Just like we understand a Baroque–era continuo player thought in one way about realization of the figures while at the same time we recognize it is helpful to us to apply later chord theory in addition to those figures in analysis of these works and relate the figures to inversions related to the roots of later chord theory. We are not incapable of making those distinctions and perhaps may find it more helpful to acknowledge both our modern hearing of it and recognize it as such as well as taking important notice of how ears at the time might have heard it as best we can.

As an example, consider the Menuetto from Beethoven's Piano Sonata in Bb major, op. 22. In m. 5, I hear a V9 chord. In m. 6, there is a V7↓9 (which in this case, is indeed a flat; notice also the cross-relation in the right hand where a G-natural is sounded against it). In m. 7, b. 3, there is a V9 again. (If we wanted to look at the figuration in this light as well, m. 5 also has the sounds of a V7,9,#11,13 within the melodic turn, but at a minimum, the V9 in this measure appears pretty prominently to me). Focusing on the 9th in m. 5 in particular, I can say that in most cases I could hear music theoretical explanations that prefer the 9th explained away as an escape tone. The ↓9 in m. 6 could be explained away as an appoggiatura. The 9th in m. 7 on b. 3 could be explained away as an escape tone. In this view only the V7 is accepted as a harmonic entity and the harmonic extension is explained away as I have just described. Why not only allow for triads and similarly explain away 7ths? Why not accept only the outer voice counterpoint and explain away chords themselves as simply filler? A second and similar example can be found in the Rondo from Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata, op.13. In m. 7 on b. 2 when you take the right and left hand sounds together, I hear a V7↓13. It resolves to a i (minor tonic triad). Explained away, the Eb could potentially be called an escape tone or a harmonic anticipation that gets a register transfer to the lower register.

Perhaps we could reconsider our own capacity to acknowledge our own abilities to hear and honor our own biographical listening histories— how sounds strike us right now and at the same time honor what we know and see of music history that gives us our best window into the ways in which the contemporaries of the composer may have heard these sounds.

selected compositions (traditional scores)

Peregrination

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Cruciatu animi

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rain

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a little-known way through the forest (woodwind trio—full score)

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a little-Known way through the forest (woodwind trio-flute part)

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a little-Known way through the forest (woodwind trio—clarinet in B-flat part)

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a Little-known way through the forest (woodwind trio—bassoon part)

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do not be conformed (SATB choral score)

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quest (string duo)

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quest (string duo—violin part)

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quest (string duo—cello part)

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heroic (brass quartet)

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elsewhere (Trio-Flute, Viola, double bass)

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cello and piano duo

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light (SATB Brief choral warm up)

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emergence (piano)

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chorale prelude

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figurated prelude

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fugue

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too deep for words (two sopranos and piano)

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Invention

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minuet

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three-voice counterpoint (trio sonata style)

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triple invertible counterpoint

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Grief

(features a variety of emphases on the minor tonic triad and minor subdominant triad and their harmonic relationship including various approaches to the minor subdominant triad)

'Neath the highlands o' dragon's mist

This piece was inspired by attending my son Jace Mosher's Nolan Elementary School Renaissance Festival (Signal Mountain, TN) with my family, The Mutton And Mead Renaissance Festival (Western MA), Something Rotten as performed by RMHS (Reading, MA), How To Train Your Dragon, Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, GA), the Student Composers' Forum at Lee University (Cleveland, TN), The Highlands At Dearborn (Peabody, MA), and more.

'Neath The Highlands O' Dragon's Mist

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at the very center of life

This piece is dedicated to my children, Zachary and Jace Mosher, and by extension, to all children everywhere of every age.

Glory fall (Soli Deo Gloria)

(This is my transcription of a piece I originally wrote via MIDI keyboard input into Logic. I used a Logic drum loop as a basic groove to write the rest of the parts from.)

The following text may be read atop the performance of this piece (and as a part of the performance of this piece). The following text comes from my reflection on the Message's paraphrase-translation of The Lord's Prayer as found in the book of Matthew. This text may be read in a heartfelt expressive manner with pacing and tone that appropriately correspond to that state of being. It may be translated into any and all other languages and read in those languages instead of in English or in combination with English as the reader(s) feel so artistically and prayerfully inclined.

Daddy—our Daddy in heaven.

Reveal who You are.

Set the world right.

You know what's best for us. Do it.

Use us as Your willing conduits

To allow Earth to be just as You want it to be

In the same way that heaven is just as You want it to be.

We trust You to provide everything we need for today.

Thank You for being Forgiveness embodied.

May we embody forgiveness like You do.

Be our Safety. Keep us from any and all evil that would attempt to harm us.

You're in charge!

You're in charge right here, right now, and from now through forever.

You are a blazing fire of beauty.

Let things be this way.

We welcome You.

May Your glory fall.

Let Your glory fall.

Glory fall.

Let Your glory fall on all of Your creation now through forever.

We submit to Your glory falling on this creation.

Let Your glory fall.

Your glory fall.

Glory fall.

señora

(This piece is dedicated to my wife, Reneé Kathleen Gonzales Mosher.)

Arrangements

Honoring the chippewa

My wife and I are humbled to honor the Chippewa by arranging a traditional Chippewa lullaby. As the aural referent for the melody and round, we listened to the version presented by Quaver Music.

There are two versions of the arrangement. The first one uses no sharps or flats in the key signature as G major pentatonic does not use any sharps or flats. The second version uses the key signature for G major even though there are no F#s making such a designation moot. Additionally, to my current understanding, the Chippewa musical tradition is an aural tradition and perhaps uses a different tuning system than is indicated by the scores below. (Consulting with the Chippewa would assist me in knowing whether what I am stating here is correct and/or where I may need to alter these statements to better accurately reflect their understanding of the music that they create.)

In a music educational setting, the director may divide the class into two vocal groups and two instrumental groups. At Rehearsal A, both vocal groups may sing together. At Rehearsal B, one of the vocal groups sings the "Voice 1" part while the other vocal group sings the "Voice 2" part. At Rehearsal C, there are four options for lyrics. You may (a) decide which lyrics your students perform or (b) you may allow your students to vote on which lyrics they prefer or (c) you may as a class decide to perform Rehearsal C with any combination of these lyrics or (d) create your own lyrics. Be creative. Your instruments are divided into two groups. I have labeled them as "metallophones" and "(bass) xylophones". You may feel free to substitute out other pitched (or non-pitched) instruments per the needs and/or preferences of your ensemble. It is also labeled as a piano part. You may have someone play on piano doubling these instruments or perhaps have more than one student use the piano together to play the composite piano part. Be creative, and enjoy!

LYRIC SHEETS

"Hadley Elementary School Song"

Hadley Elementary School Song by Principal Ilana Bebchik, Renee Kathleen Gonzales Mosher, David Mosher

We are one big happy family

One big Hadley family

One big happy family are we!

At Hadley we are learning by the sea

Where we can share in the community

We are one big happy family

One big Hadley family

One big happy family are we!

Your teachers and your friends are here with you

To help you learn and grow in all you do

We are one big happy family

One big Hadley family

One big happy family are we!

Your family's here to help and root and cheer, Hooray!

Your family's here to share throughout the year

We are one big happy family

One big Hadley family

One big happy family are we

Are WE!

Selected Compositions (charts)

Anthem of hope

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My savior-shepherd-king

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12-Bar Blues class composition assignment
"I Got The Almost There Blues"

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Broadway class composition assignment
"a wolf is quite the breed"

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country class composition assignment
"It's gonna be a real good day"

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jazz composition assignment
"stay"

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latin class composition assignment
"senora"

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rock class composition assignment
("I Make it real")

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R&B class composition assignment
"Our love is off the ground"

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"pop" class composition assignment
"You're the journey. You're the goal."

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gamelan class assignment

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gamelan fusion composition assignment

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Music theory paper idea to further flesh out
"Some aspects of music which translate across cultural, stylistic, and historical boundaries"-david Mosher

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Latin Jazz composition

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world music: Irish vernacular
"An irish blessing" (a musical setting)

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world music: guzheng fusion
"drink the sunshine"

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t0ward a creative Temporal experiment

A sloth experiences the first four bars of J.S. Bach's Prelude in C major, WTC Bk. 1, prelude 1 (on vibraphone, 8vb)
16th note approx. 5bpm

Sloth Speed WTC Bk 1 Prelude 1 - 4_22_26, 12.03 PM

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A peregrin falcon experiences the first four bars of J.S. Bach's Prelude in C major, WTC Bk. 1, prelude 1 (on celtic tin whistle, 8va)
16th note approx. 3,960bpm

Peregrin Falcon WTC Bk 1, Prelude 1

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Low-to-High pitch discrimination thresholds
(wide-to-narrow-to same note)

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equal-tempered microtonal scales

quarter-tone scale (c3 to C4) (Interval class 0.5)

relative solmization syllables for quarter tones are not standardized.
Some use "oo" in reference to raised tones and "uh" in reference to lowered tones. I will use "oo" to mean quarter tone sharp, "Ah" (as in "apple") to mean three-quarter tone sharp, "ih" (as in "igloo"") to mean quarter tone flat, and "uuH" (as in "book") to mean three-quarter tone flat.

quarter-tone scale (c3 to C4) (Interval class 0.5)

C3 ("do")

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C Half-sharp 3 ("Doo" or "Ruuh")

C half-sharp 3

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C sharp 3 ("Di" or "ra")

C sharp 3

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D half-flat 3 ("DAh" or "Rih")

D half-flat 3

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D3 ("re")

00:00 / 00:04

D half-sharp 3 ("Roo" or "MuuH")

D half-sharp 3

00:00 / 00:05

D sharp 3 ("Ri" or "Me")

D sharp 3

F sharp 3

00:00 / 00:04

G half-flat 3 ("FAH" or SiH")

G half-flat 3

00:00 / 00:04

G3 ("Sol")

00:00 / 00:04

G half-sharp 3 ("Soo" or "Luuh")

G half-sharp 3

00:00 / 00:04

G sharp 3 ("Si" or "Le")

beat divides evenly in two parts (50 : 50) (as in even eighth notes in a 4/4 meter)
Example:

choose some examples of particular amounts of swing between a 50 ; 50 divided beat and a 67 : 33 divided beat

beat divided approx 67 : 33 (as in a quarter note followed by an eighth note in a 12/8 meter)
Example

choose some examples that move toward the beat dividing 75 : 25 as in a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth note in a 4/4 meter

THEORY

UNPUBLISHED//THEORY

PUBLISHED//THEORY

Embodied Meaning In John Adams' El Niño

Curriculum//Ear-Training

first semester ear-training (student version)

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 1–7

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 8–14

first semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 15–21

First Semester Ear-Training (Instructor Version)

second semester ear-training (student version)

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 1–7

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 8–14

second semester ear-training (audio)

Homeworks 15–21

second Semester Ear-Training (Instructor Version)

Music Theory ideas in incubation (informal notes)

Sym Exp-Cont HexA (0,1) Attempt 1.0.org.com.pdf.rock.paper.scissors

connected to the vine

Informal Notes On Production As Artistry

Informal Notes On The Sub-Neapolitan

an experiment in musical stylistic fusions

Informal Notes On Anachronistic Usage In Music

selected compositions (traditional scores)

Peregrination

Application is no longer available.

Cruciatu animi

Application is no longer available.

rain

Application is no longer available.

a little-known way through the forest (woodwind trio—full score)

Application is no longer available.

a little-Known way through the forest (woodwind trio-flute part)

Application is no longer available.

a little-Known way through the forest (woodwind trio—clarinet in B-flat part)

Application is no longer available.

a Little-known way through the forest (woodwind trio—bassoon part)

Application is no longer available.

do not be conformed (SATB choral score)

Application is no longer available.

quest (string duo)

Application is no longer available.

quest (string duo—violin part)

Application is no longer available.

quest (string duo—cello part)

Application is no longer available.

heroic (brass quartet)

Application is no longer available.

elsewhere (Trio-Flute, Viola, double bass)

Application is no longer available.

cello and piano duo

Application is no longer available.

light (SATB Brief choral warm up)

Application is no longer available.

emergence (piano)

Application is no longer available.

chorale prelude

Application is no longer available.

figurated prelude

Application is no longer available.

fugue

Application is no longer available.

too deep for words (two sopranos and piano)

Application is no longer available.

Invention

Application is no longer available.

minuet

Application is no longer available.

three-voice counterpoint (trio sonata style)

Application is no longer available.

triple invertible counterpoint

Application is no longer available.

Grief (features a variety of emphases on the minor tonic triad and minor subdominant triad and their harmonic relationship including various approaches to the minor subdominant triad)

'Neath the highlands o' dragon's mist

at the very center of life

Grief

(features a variety of emphases on the minor tonic triad and minor subdominant triad and their harmonic relationship including various approaches to the minor subdominant triad)

Arrangements

Honoring the chippewa

12-Bar Blues class composition assignment
"I Got The Almost There Blues"

Broadway class composition assignment
"a wolf is quite the breed"

country class composition assignment
"It's gonna be a real good day"

jazz composition assignment
"stay"

latin class composition assignment
"senora"

rock class composition assignment
("I Make it real")

R&B class composition assignment
"Our love is off the ground"

"pop" class composition assignment
"You're the journey. You're the goal."

Music theory paper idea to further flesh out
"Some aspects of music which translate across cultural, stylistic, and historical boundaries"-david Mosher

world music: Irish vernacular
"An irish blessing" (a musical setting)

world music: guzheng fusion
"drink the sunshine"

A sloth experiences the first four bars of J.S. Bach's Prelude in C major, WTC Bk. 1, prelude 1 (on vibraphone, 8vb)
16th note approx. 5bpm

A peregrin falcon experiences the first four bars of J.S. Bach's Prelude in C major, WTC Bk. 1, prelude 1 (on celtic tin whistle, 8va)
16th note approx. 3,960bpm

Low-to-High pitch discrimination thresholds
(wide-to-narrow-to same note)