After all that mental effort

[ajunegloombaby]

You should never speak too soon...

I am rethinking have reconsidered my recent change in major (fortunately it was never official). I've concluded that it is too broad for my specific desires, and thus might be more appropriate to explore on the side with no degree attached. After all, I would hate to go down the road only to find later that I've

Comments

[charm_deceives]

That's cool. I'm glad you're liking your class. I should probably refresh some of skills as well :) I haven't needed to play for a while and even when I was playing a lot it didn't require reading. We are kind of opposite though. I always cheated in my lessons by site reading everything and never practicing. I could read really well so I would just site read everything and not practice stuff which isn't good because then when I didn't have something to read I struggled with coming up with stuff on my own.

[ajunegloombaby]

Did you take piano? Or you mean guitar?

The thing that I struggle with isn't so much reading either treble or bass clef alone - it's putting them together with melody and rhythm, including complex meters other than common time. Rhythm by itself I can do pretty well; melody is a little more difficult. And of course the thing about piano music is that it combines everything together, which is why it's a great foundational instrument to learn.

[charm_deceives]

On the piano I've only worked with chords. I can read a little bit of stuff but it takes a while to put stuff together in my head in regards to that instrument. I have had any piano training and I don't really play stuff by ear.

I was talking about the guitar. I took guitar lessons for about 5 or 6 years so I was at a pretty high level of reading a lot of different stuff. My teacher would write songs that contained chords and melodies and such for me to somewhat be a one woman band. If I had practiced during those years I would be better off these days. I'm just not very good at practicing :)

[ajunegloombaby]

coulda-woulda-shoulda... that's the story of my life so far, haha. Luckily we are still young.

[growingwings]

when i was at state, i was in a program for recording. it wasn't an official minor, but i was very involved and got to know a lot of people in the music department. there's good and bad things about the music dept at state. there's a ton of talent and cool people and awesome professors like the one i had for 4 semesters (seriously the class was so awesome, we had the same 20 people for 4 consecutive semesters and became like a mini family). i also hear that the program is outdated in terms of what's applicable to the real world now. i'm not an expert.. just repeating what i heard from my friends and professor. i definitely recommend the recording program though... it's half technical, the recording side, and half creative because you compose your own pieces and perform them at the end of the year. here's the website one of the students created... i have no idea if it is up to date or not: http://www.sdsumusic.com/... )

[growingwings]

nevermind, i don't know how to read. i thought you said you were cheating by sight-reading. i guess i have that in common with chelsea!

[jazzhands4jesus]

I used to be able to read music. But yeah, I would practice more than read so I'm pathetically rusty now.

General ed is good! I'm pretty sure it was you and I that talked about how the vast majority of people end up doing work that has little or nothing to do with the major. Employers mainly want to see that you can finish something. But I understand that its nerve-racking to think you could lost your 'fire" in the middle of heading toward a degree.

[ajunegloombaby]

well, I also don't want to do general ed (aka, liberal studies) The reason for that is because I am aiming to go for a teaching credential. Liberal studies is really for those who desire to teach elementary school - I want to teach either jr. high or high school, and in that case, you need to have a one subject focus.

Also, I am the type of person who dabbles in so many things - I really want to commit to one focus, which is why it's very important that I pick something where I won't lose my fire for