woot! Grad School!
YAY yesterday was my first day of grad school!! It was also a very LONG day. Hopefully not all Mondays will be like that, but they might.
I woke up at 6:30 to workout and stuff. I wanted to practice a bit before I left for LB because my first class was orchestra. I had to leave early as I had to stop by work and drop off the recording equipment and let my boss know which files he needed to burn. As I was getting ready for class, my advisor for this semester called (my advisor is on sabbatical, so I won't see her until Fall) and told me the results of my placement exam. Apparently they want me to take the last undergraduate theory class to freshen up my theory skills. I looked online, but that class isn't offered this semester. >_< I figured I'd take care of it once I got on campus.
I got to campus around 12:30 and went to the music office to see the course listings. Nope, it wasn't there. As I turned around my advisor was coming down the hall, so I told him the problem. He told me to email the teacher of the class and find out what he wants me to do. I'm still waiting to hear back from him (this class isn't until Thursday, anyway, so it's not a huge deal right now.)
Then I walked around until orchestra at 1:30. There's no real seating for orchestra, which kind of perturbs me, but we'll see how it goes. I'm on the last stand of firsts anyway. It's not a big deal, but you'd think they'd want to put the grad student closer to the front. And yes, I know he probably put me back there in order to lead from the back. It's just annoying. :P
The orchestra is going to attempt Tchaik 4, which has me excited and nervous. But hell, if UCI is going to attempt Strauss' Death and Transfiguration I'm sure LB can try Tchaik 4. And they're both pieces I've yet to play, which makes me happy. Learning new music is SO much better than playing the same thing over and over and OVER.
After orchestra I met up with a violinist who was in my quartet in Saratoga back in 2000. It was weird. She's a senior at LB, I think. Iiiinteresting.
I wound up going to a class called Music Forum which I later discovered I'm not supposed to take, lol. They just had up signs everywhere that said "Music Forum TODAY" and anyone I asked said all music students need to attend. Turns out it's just the undergrads. Anywho, after Music Forum I walked with two members of orchestra, Adrian and Kim, to start the process of getting a practice room key. This involves going to the music office, filling out a form, bringing said form to main campus (about a 15 minute walk) to get it stamped and to pay, then going back to the music center to present it at a window where I guess they assign you a key. This window is only open until 2 pm (it was 4:30), so I can't get a practice room key yet. Hopefully I'll get one tomorrow.
Needless to say, I had 2 1/2 hours to kill before my class at 7, and there's nothing around the UMC. I walked to main campus to explore for a bit, but it's creepy in the dark and there's a history of bad things happening at night on campus, so I really don't want to push my luck. I wound up back at the UMC and sat down to look over my Bach, since I couldn't practice. Oh yeah, I should mention that all the hallways and entrances to classrooms and stuff are OUTSIDE. It was a little too chilly to start playing my 'lin outside, and the lighting wasn't so great anyway. I made a few phone calls and chat with people until 6:45. Then I found the classroom and found other grad students (YAY!).
So, my Monday night class is titled "Seminar in 20th Century Music". Sounds blah, right? Well, the teacher decided our class is going to be devoted to analyzing the use of music in movies throughout the 20th century, so its real title is "International Film Music". This means our homework each week is to watch a movie and be prepared to discuss the elements of the music and other elements of the movie. We're going chronologically, too, so this week's movie choices are from the 1930s. It's pretty cool. Not bad for a three hour class which will satisfy my history requirement. ^^v Of course, there's a paper at the end. I think I'll do it on Princess Mononoke and how the music is all symphonic and European but the movie takes place in pre-Industrial Japan. Or maybe I'll use The Red Violin and find all the instances of the violin's theme throughout the movie, though I think that topic is a bit weaker, and it's difficult to find The Red Violin on dvd.
Tonight's class is Musical Instruments of the World. Hopefully it'll be as interesting as International Film Music. I'm actually leaving in a few minutes to go to campus, since there's a master class at 4 with a string quartet. Then I'll head to main campus and see if I can find out what my campus email is so I can join the LB facebook (is it sad that THAT's the reason I want to know my campus email?) and I'll wander around the union a bit 'cause it's HUGE, then go to class from 7-9:45. If I'm not too tired when I get home, I'll update on class. If not, I'm not sure when I'll update because tomorrow's another busy day.
Wow, actual content in my lj...for a public post, lol. Awesome.
I woke up at 6:30 to workout and stuff. I wanted to practice a bit before I left for LB because my first class was orchestra. I had to leave early as I had to stop by work and drop off the recording equipment and let my boss know which files he needed to burn. As I was getting ready for class, my advisor for this semester called (my advisor is on sabbatical, so I won't see her until Fall) and told me the results of my placement exam. Apparently they want me to take the last undergraduate theory class to freshen up my theory skills. I looked online, but that class isn't offered this semester. >_< I figured I'd take care of it once I got on campus.
I got to campus around 12:30 and went to the music office to see the course listings. Nope, it wasn't there. As I turned around my advisor was coming down the hall, so I told him the problem. He told me to email the teacher of the class and find out what he wants me to do. I'm still waiting to hear back from him (this class isn't until Thursday, anyway, so it's not a huge deal right now.)
Then I walked around until orchestra at 1:30. There's no real seating for orchestra, which kind of perturbs me, but we'll see how it goes. I'm on the last stand of firsts anyway. It's not a big deal, but you'd think they'd want to put the grad student closer to the front. And yes, I know he probably put me back there in order to lead from the back. It's just annoying. :P
The orchestra is going to attempt Tchaik 4, which has me excited and nervous. But hell, if UCI is going to attempt Strauss' Death and Transfiguration I'm sure LB can try Tchaik 4. And they're both pieces I've yet to play, which makes me happy. Learning new music is SO much better than playing the same thing over and over and OVER.
After orchestra I met up with a violinist who was in my quartet in Saratoga back in 2000. It was weird. She's a senior at LB, I think. Iiiinteresting.
I wound up going to a class called Music Forum which I later discovered I'm not supposed to take, lol. They just had up signs everywhere that said "Music Forum TODAY" and anyone I asked said all music students need to attend. Turns out it's just the undergrads. Anywho, after Music Forum I walked with two members of orchestra, Adrian and Kim, to start the process of getting a practice room key. This involves going to the music office, filling out a form, bringing said form to main campus (about a 15 minute walk) to get it stamped and to pay, then going back to the music center to present it at a window where I guess they assign you a key. This window is only open until 2 pm (it was 4:30), so I can't get a practice room key yet. Hopefully I'll get one tomorrow.
Needless to say, I had 2 1/2 hours to kill before my class at 7, and there's nothing around the UMC. I walked to main campus to explore for a bit, but it's creepy in the dark and there's a history of bad things happening at night on campus, so I really don't want to push my luck. I wound up back at the UMC and sat down to look over my Bach, since I couldn't practice. Oh yeah, I should mention that all the hallways and entrances to classrooms and stuff are OUTSIDE. It was a little too chilly to start playing my 'lin outside, and the lighting wasn't so great anyway. I made a few phone calls and chat with people until 6:45. Then I found the classroom and found other grad students (YAY!).
So, my Monday night class is titled "Seminar in 20th Century Music". Sounds blah, right? Well, the teacher decided our class is going to be devoted to analyzing the use of music in movies throughout the 20th century, so its real title is "International Film Music". This means our homework each week is to watch a movie and be prepared to discuss the elements of the music and other elements of the movie. We're going chronologically, too, so this week's movie choices are from the 1930s. It's pretty cool. Not bad for a three hour class which will satisfy my history requirement. ^^v Of course, there's a paper at the end. I think I'll do it on Princess Mononoke and how the music is all symphonic and European but the movie takes place in pre-Industrial Japan. Or maybe I'll use The Red Violin and find all the instances of the violin's theme throughout the movie, though I think that topic is a bit weaker, and it's difficult to find The Red Violin on dvd.
Tonight's class is Musical Instruments of the World. Hopefully it'll be as interesting as International Film Music. I'm actually leaving in a few minutes to go to campus, since there's a master class at 4 with a string quartet. Then I'll head to main campus and see if I can find out what my campus email is so I can join the LB facebook (is it sad that THAT's the reason I want to know my campus email?) and I'll wander around the union a bit 'cause it's HUGE, then go to class from 7-9:45. If I'm not too tired when I get home, I'll update on class. If not, I'm not sure when I'll update because tomorrow's another busy day.
Wow, actual content in my lj...for a public post, lol. Awesome.