new year.
happy new year to all of the two or three people that might read this journal. i'm happy that you do. actually, it's not really important that not so many people read it, since it's more of an activity to take up some time while i'm on a break. on the other hand, i actually can work some things out by writing, when i take the time to do it.
speaking of, it's time for me to be thinking about graduate school. i think i want to go to grad school for music theory, and it's taken forever, it seems like, for me to reach that conclusion. the problem with picking a major in college, and choosing a career thereafter, has been that it requires specialization of my learning, which has never been something i could anticipate with any satisfaction. some people, and in fact quite a few people that attend my school, are quite happy with this prospect because it allows them to pursue whatever musical goals they have, be it performance, education, or composition. most or all of these people have waited most of their life for the opportunity to no longer be required to have general education requirements, and they complain about the ones they have in college. i don't blame them: i envy them (to a degree.)
my passion, instead, has always been for learning itself. this sounds trite, but it's true. i enjoy learning about all kinds of different things, all the time. one of my favorite things to do as a kid was to visit the smithsonian institute in d.c., precisely for this reason. that collection of museums is amazing because there are such diverse things to learn from all the various museums. i told that to jocie and she thought it was kind of strange, and it probably is.
so, then, why music theory? well, first of all i think that i'm not exactly cut out to be a performer, at least not naturally. i've taught myself to enjoy it, but my personality type is in conflict with having that kind of career. my passion for learning has always drawn me, naturally, to scholarship. high school, and international baccalaureate in particular, were great for be because cross-disciplinary thinking was encouraged, especially in Theory of Knowledge (ToK), probably my favorite course of all time. at the same time that i love scholarship, i realize that a degree of specialization is required: i can't get by making a career as some kind of modern day renaissance man. the united states doesn't work that way. the enlightenment is over. engineers reign supreme in this country, and they've taken over the university system, or at least its pedagogy. so music theory it is, because i have consistently found that i like music because it evokes both an intellecual and an emotional reaction from listeners and scholars alike. when my IQ was tested in my kindergarten year, the psychologists found that my verbal and mathematic skills were separated only by a couple of points. while i don't place much stock in the ability of IQ tests to evaluate intelligence extrinsicaly, but intrinsically they might say something valuable, and the result of that test suggested even that early that i would have a difficult time specializing.
the wonderful thing about music theory is that it can combine science and art. i believe in the continuity of human knowledge: while there might be different categories of knowledge, i think that knowledge comprises one continuous spectrum, not distinct subjects. as such, music theory is really cool to me, because it allows me to bring the tools that science provides to the art of music. i don't view this as degrading to music at all. i think the art can be made more beautiful though a fuller understanding of how it is structured. science, and by extension the 'scientific method', by the way, has been the most successful model humans have ever run across for evaluating and organizing knowledge. and there's a lot more left to say about what music has to offer.
so...with all of that said, i need to be thinking about schools, future professors, and if i ever get around to it, a possible subject that i'd like to explore in graduate school. this is going to take some doing, for sure, and i'm not going to figure it out right now. my current idea is to sort of review and expand on what i've learned in survey m.theory courses over the past five semesters, starting with reading at least some of rameau's treatise on harmony. we'll see how that goes and go from there. perhaps i should read some schenker stuff, since it appears that a lot of theory departments use his theories extensively.
but as i said, i'm not going to figure this all out tonight.
speaking of, it's time for me to be thinking about graduate school. i think i want to go to grad school for music theory, and it's taken forever, it seems like, for me to reach that conclusion. the problem with picking a major in college, and choosing a career thereafter, has been that it requires specialization of my learning, which has never been something i could anticipate with any satisfaction. some people, and in fact quite a few people that attend my school, are quite happy with this prospect because it allows them to pursue whatever musical goals they have, be it performance, education, or composition. most or all of these people have waited most of their life for the opportunity to no longer be required to have general education requirements, and they complain about the ones they have in college. i don't blame them: i envy them (to a degree.)
my passion, instead, has always been for learning itself. this sounds trite, but it's true. i enjoy learning about all kinds of different things, all the time. one of my favorite things to do as a kid was to visit the smithsonian institute in d.c., precisely for this reason. that collection of museums is amazing because there are such diverse things to learn from all the various museums. i told that to jocie and she thought it was kind of strange, and it probably is.
so, then, why music theory? well, first of all i think that i'm not exactly cut out to be a performer, at least not naturally. i've taught myself to enjoy it, but my personality type is in conflict with having that kind of career. my passion for learning has always drawn me, naturally, to scholarship. high school, and international baccalaureate in particular, were great for be because cross-disciplinary thinking was encouraged, especially in Theory of Knowledge (ToK), probably my favorite course of all time. at the same time that i love scholarship, i realize that a degree of specialization is required: i can't get by making a career as some kind of modern day renaissance man. the united states doesn't work that way. the enlightenment is over. engineers reign supreme in this country, and they've taken over the university system, or at least its pedagogy. so music theory it is, because i have consistently found that i like music because it evokes both an intellecual and an emotional reaction from listeners and scholars alike. when my IQ was tested in my kindergarten year, the psychologists found that my verbal and mathematic skills were separated only by a couple of points. while i don't place much stock in the ability of IQ tests to evaluate intelligence extrinsicaly, but intrinsically they might say something valuable, and the result of that test suggested even that early that i would have a difficult time specializing.
the wonderful thing about music theory is that it can combine science and art. i believe in the continuity of human knowledge: while there might be different categories of knowledge, i think that knowledge comprises one continuous spectrum, not distinct subjects. as such, music theory is really cool to me, because it allows me to bring the tools that science provides to the art of music. i don't view this as degrading to music at all. i think the art can be made more beautiful though a fuller understanding of how it is structured. science, and by extension the 'scientific method', by the way, has been the most successful model humans have ever run across for evaluating and organizing knowledge. and there's a lot more left to say about what music has to offer.
so...with all of that said, i need to be thinking about schools, future professors, and if i ever get around to it, a possible subject that i'd like to explore in graduate school. this is going to take some doing, for sure, and i'm not going to figure it out right now. my current idea is to sort of review and expand on what i've learned in survey m.theory courses over the past five semesters, starting with reading at least some of rameau's treatise on harmony. we'll see how that goes and go from there. perhaps i should read some schenker stuff, since it appears that a lot of theory departments use his theories extensively.
but as i said, i'm not going to figure this all out tonight.