[Menvi-discuss] Suggestions for expediting assignments.

[Brandon Keith Biggs]

Hello,
I'm learning OK, just not all the time. I have a tutor and Bettie is 
transcribing my assignments. The problems are the 2 hours in class...
I suggested to him that instead of analyzing other composers we write 
something and ask questions that way. The problem is that the other kids 
seem to be at a loss to figure out what to do. This is not a conservatory, 
it is a community college, so my teacher is not the top of the line. He does 
play the music somewhat, but not in a very descriptive fission. He's one of 
those teachers who rambles on and doesn't stop till the class is at the end. 
I have no idea how he keeps enough energy to ramble for 2 hours strait, but 
he does. I've been getting an A by just going to class and guessing what all 
the theory is from the basic instructions are in the assignments, but I feel 
like I could be learning so much more
The music book they are using isn't Brailed and I've had some difficulty 
trying to get the right book on the computer... They do have modules online 
that give websites that have all the instructions for the concepts they are 
teaching though. The online stuff is for the online class, so perhaps I can 
consider taking just the online class if this teacher doesn't start becoming 
more creative. We do have two teachers in this class, the lab teacher is 
really good, her 1 hour lab seems like 5 minutes so if I did the online 
section I wouldn't want to miss that...
I'm just wondering what other teachers do? I'm pretty sure they don't sit at 
the piano and board going note by note through 6 Bach corrals in one day. 
I'd say that analyzing a piece is cool, but 6 pieces is a little much in 2 
hours. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I am getting the feeling that 
he is starting to get the message that things are really boring, but this is 
his first year teaching theory, so I think he is just not brimming with 
ideas to make his class interesting. Composing in class is cool, but what 
else could he do? He plays guitar pieces and some piano pieces, but he does 
jump through every kind of music without any kind of restraint... He doesn't 
get why parallel 5ths were considered bad and he goes from talking Bach to 
talking beetles in the same sentence. In something like this it is the 
teacher's job to teach ideals and it is up to the students to break them. 
This might just be my opinion, but I don't want to be given a very loose 
etheric set of rules when I'm trying to prepare for conservatory. He said: 
"My teacher made us rays our hand and promise that 'the seventh must resolve 
down.' I still don't see why people thought that way because to me the 7th 
sounds just fine moving up, but that is what I was taught."
I get the idea that music is all in the ears of the beholder, but that 
doesn't tell me what the classical ear wants.
Am I mistaken to expect a second quarter first year theory class to 
establish firm rules and only go over exceptions later in the second two 
years? I know Bartok, Bach and Beethoven didn't follow very many rules, but 
when the teacher goes off and starts to talk about the Blues or Jazz, he's 
talking about a whole new set of ideas. Jazz is somewhat close, but Blues 
and rock are two vastly different ideas. A rock song usually has 4 chords, 
but then my teacher will talk about something like Dark Side of the Moon or 
some other artist that was popular in the 70s...
I've only been in theory for one and a half quarters and I haven't been 
exposed to any other theory teachers.
What else could I suggest to accelerate the class for me while still keeping 
the sighted students happy and while not swamping the teacher with loads of 
extra assignments to keep track of.
Thank you,

Brandon Keith Biggs
-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Smart
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 10:47 AM
To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Suggestions for expediting assignments.

yes, you need to have a serious talk with your teacher! He needs to
either give you a copy of his notes you can access before or after
class, or adapt his teaching style so he is verbalizing more of
what is going on. Also, playing all examples on the piano or
similar instrument.

If he doesn't seem receptive to this at all, go to your college's
disability services people. If they give you the brush off, go to
the Dean of the music department. Go as high as you need to up the
chain of command, until someone takes you seriously and is willing
to fight for you.

Chris
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