tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174554912024-02-06T21:02:13.830-08:00Michael Berry's BlogMichael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.comBlogger326125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-50221255347550250372020-01-11T10:08:00.003-08:002020-01-11T10:21:35.974-08:00Hip-hop pedagogy as anti-racist pedagogy, part IIIIn <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2020/01/hip-hop-pedagogy-as-anti-racist.html" target="_blank">part I</a> and <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2020/01/hip-hop-pedagogy-as-anti-racist_9.html" target="_blank">part II</a> of this series, I talked about the importance of <i>actually talking </i>about race in the classroom. I also discussed the importance of counter-storytelling and provided some examples of how it can be used in the classroom. Both are anti-racist <i>content</i>. In this post, we'll see what an anti-racist <i>pedagogy</i>--a way of teaching that content--might look like.<br />
<br />
I want to take a moment to acknowledge one aspect of teaching hip-hop classes--particularly those that aim to do anti-racist work--that often goes unremarked, and that is considering the demographics of the student body. Conversations about race, equity, and social justice tend to go one way at a predominantly white institution (PWI; that is, a school where the majority of the students are white), and they tend to go very differently at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI; a school where the majority of students are not white). I'll have much more to say about this down the road, but at this stage of my exposition, it's important to note that not only must our pedagogy take this audience (i.e., the student body) into consideration, but our research--and the ways in which we read the research of others--must take it into account as well.<br />
<br />
PWIs exist in large part because their chief role has been to uphold the value of whiteness. <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=927850" target="_blank">Cheryl Harris's work on whiteness as property</a> provides a convenient lens through which to explore this. Harris argues that whiteness is more than a racial category; it is inextricably bound up with ideas about property. Not only has it determined who can <i>own</i> property (as in the case of, say, <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants.htm" target="_blank">racial restrictive covenants</a>), but it has become a property all its own: those who possess the property of whiteness are entitled to do things that those who do not possess the property cannot. And, conveniently, those who possess the property of whiteness also get to determine who else does or does not possess the property, and they get to make the rules that govern those who do not possess the property of whiteness.<br />
<br />
Whiteness is thus defined by <i>exclusion</i>, and the more exclusive it is, the higher its value. Excluding people requires erecting barriers or borders and implementing methods for enforcing them. Some of these borders and barriers are apparent: we have immigration laws and trespassing laws, for instance. Others are less apparent (more on this momentarily). These barriers regularly shift: in the early 20th century, <a href="https://www.theroot.com/when-the-irish-weren-t-white-1793358754" target="_blank">Irish</a> and Italian immigrants were not considered white, but at some point, they were assimilated into whiteness. Such advances typically only occur when those in power realize that it is in their best interest to include other groups. Today, white supremacy encompasses not only those who are phenotypically white, but anyone whose actions uphold the values of whiteness. <br />
<br />
In an article that laid the groundwork for the field of Critical Race Theory, Derrick Bell proposes the theory of interest convergence, which suggests that advances in civil rights only take place when the interests of marginalized communities align with the interests of white America. The inclusion of people of color into the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (to borrow bell hooks’ formulation) allows those in power to dodge accusations of racism. Robin James proposes the acronym MrWASP--Multi-racial White Supremacist Patriarchy--to represent this new formulation. She notes the “Mr.” highlights the patriarchy, and “WASP” echoes its earlier use when it stood for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.” Arguably, the fact that hip-hop studies has managed to enter the academy is an example of Bell’s interest convergence hypothesis, or perhaps MrWASP, in action. Its inclusion naturally raises the question, “If hip hop is being taught in universities, who is benefitting from its inclusion and how?”<br />
<br />
In their important article “Decolonization is not a Metaphor,” Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang claim that the purpose of a liberal arts education is to convince the settler that they are indigenous, that their culture and history is the only culture and history. This is a primary way that the educational system upholds the value of whiteness. Consider how many of our courses and degree programs are named: music theory, music history, music composition, music performance. These labels have long implied that the music we analyze, contextualize, compose, and play is most likely Western art music. Furthermore, Western art music is largely composed by white men: the programs and courses are in some sense doubly exclusive. Diversifying the canon of Western art music is certainly important work, but we need to consider the ways in which our curricula exclude music that does not conform to the ideals of Western art music (consider the work that the term “non-Western music” does in this regard). The disciplines and their pedagogies have roots that are patriarchal, capitalist, imperialist, and racist. Because whiteness has operated silently in the background for so long it is important to name it whenever possible: a popular meme suggests that white supremacy isn’t the shark, it’s the water.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-57561917907473815452020-01-09T12:02:00.001-08:002020-01-09T13:03:19.114-08:00Hip-hop Pedagogy as Anti-Racist Pedagogy, part III have two more counter-storytelling exercises that I like, and they're a bit of a deeper dive than those in <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2020/01/hip-hop-pedagogy-as-anti-racist.html" target="_blank">part I of this series</a>.<br />
<br />
I often introduce my students to the Black Panther Party at some point in my rap classes. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afeni_Shakur" target="_blank">Tupac's mother</a> and other family members were active members of the party, and its influence looms large in the lives of other artists as well. One of Tupac's first songs, released before <i>2pacalypse Now</i>, was called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFrIl2yPRSo" target="_blank">Panther Power.</a>" Typically, we watch these two clips (clip 1 and clip 2) from <i>Eyes on the Prize</i>. In other classes, I've shown <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/the-black-panthers-vanguard-of-the-revolution/" target="_blank">Stanley Nelson's <i>Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution</i></a> or had them read <a href="https://therevolutionhascome.com/" target="_blank">Robyn Spencer's <i>The Revolution has Come.</i></a><i> </i>I ask them to complete the following sentence: "Although J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI at the time, called the Black Panthers 'the single greatest threat to the internal security of our nation,' the Panthers were really..." <br />
<br />
Another challenging counter-storytelling activity involves hip-hop's own origin story. Typically, the story goes something like this: hip-hop started in the South Bronx in the 1970s as a combination of graffiti, breakdancing, MCing, and DJing. Some discussion of Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa usually follows before moving on to "Rapper's Delight" and the Sugar Hill Gang. But what are some ways we can challenge this narrative? Joe Schloss examines the origins of breakdancing in some depth, suggesting that there was similar dancing going on elsewhere at the time. Before TAKI 183 in New York, Cornbread and Cool Earl were writing graffiti in Philadelphia. What about <a href="https://youtu.be/ojQqAnlrW_M" target="_blank">Fatback's "King Tim III,"</a> which was released <i>before </i>"Rapper's Delight?" Jennifer Lynn Stoever writes about the <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190281090.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190281090-e-1" target="_blank">important role that women played in the early days of hip-hop</a>, and <a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/3144" target="_blank">Juan Flores and others</a> were writing about the erasure of Latino contributions to hip-hop as early as the 1990s. What would a revised history of hip-hop's origins look like, given what we now know?<br />
<br />
Rap music also has a habit of telling its own story: listen to the stories that unfold in the "Bridge Wars," which involved MC Shan and KRS-One, or Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R.," Cypress Hill's "Kronologik," and more. What motivations to these artists have for documenting their own histories?<br />
<br />
In the next post, I'll move on to the second part of Kishimoto's approach to pedagogy, creating an anti-racist teaching environment.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-12164362823922897442020-01-07T13:24:00.000-08:002020-01-07T13:24:57.826-08:00Hip-hop pedagogy as anti-racist pedagogy, part IIn her opening remarks to one of the hip-hop sessions at the 2018 joint meeting of the American Musicological Society (AMS) and the Society for Music Theory (SMT), Lauron Kehrer asked the audience to think about what it means for there to be a session on hip hop in which all of the presenters (and most of the audience) were white at the AMS in 2018. The question stuck with me, and it is similar to those I wrestle with on a regular basis, as a white cis-het man who has taught rap classes for nearly ten years, and who has a textbook published that surveys rap music from a number of different perspectives. Why am I teaching hip hop classes? What do I stand to gain from teaching this material? What do my students stand to gain from me teaching this material? I trust that most hip-hop scholars teach the material because they have a genuine love and appreciation for it, and, like scholars of anything, we believe that we found some interesting things about our subject and we want to share them with others. But could we--as white scholars of hip hop--be accused of cultural appropriation? Of profiting from the suffering of others? Of perpetuating the systems of oppression that gave rise to hip-hop culture in the first place? <br />
<br />
In this series of posts, I argue that being a responsible white hip-hop scholar means using our privileges to dismantle both the racism on which the academy is built and the systems of oppression that it continues to perpetuate: in short, responsible hip-hop pedagogy is necessarily anti-racist pedagogy. Anti-racism involves not just acknowledging our complicity in the structures that uphold white privilege but working actively to dismantle them. In academia these structures range from the lack of diverse representation in our curricula to attracting and supporting students and faculty of color to removing institutional barriers that disproportionately affect people of color.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1174985" target="_blank">Kyoko Kishimoto</a> outlines three phases of an anti-racist approach to teaching:<br />
<ol>
<li>Incorporating the topics of race and inequality into course content; </li>
<li>Teaching from an anti-racist pedagogical approach; </li>
<li>Anti-racist organizing within the campus and linking our efforts to the surrounding community. </li>
</ol>
Those of us teaching hip hop classes are no doubt well on the way to incorporating issues of race and inequality into the curriculum. But only the first of Kishimoto’s three tenets has to do with <i>what</i> is being taught: the other two deal with <i>how</i> that material is being taught. This is the line between diversity--simply including rap music (or other music by marginalized groups) into your classroom--and anti-racism, seeking to dismantle the systems that uphold whiteness in order to provide equal access for all.<br />
<br />
Any responsible study of hip-hop must acknowledge issues of race and inequity, and incorporate them into the curriculum. In order to incorporate these issues successfully, we must first get comfortable talking about race. It can be challenging for white people to talk critically about race since the systems that we are critiquing have been crafted to work in our favor. We often fail to see how they might harm others, and, because we do benefit from them, we are less likely to have a vested interest in changing them. As (predominantly white) music scholars, we may feel ill-equipped or uncomfortable having conversations about race in the classroom, particularly if those issues have not impacted our lived experience. But not talking explicitly about race also serves to uphold white supremacy. The privilege of whiteness allows us to sidestep issues of race, to “disappear,” as Kishimoto writes (543). <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691123950/colormute" target="_blank">Mica Pollack</a> uses the term “colormuteness” to describe “an unwillingness to talk about issues of race, thereby perpetuating dominant ideologies.” Whiteness has prospered for so long because it has gone relatively unchallenged from those in the unique position to dismantle it: those who own the property of whiteness. <a href="http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Hess16_3.pdf" target="_blank">Juliet Hess</a> argues that calls for “diversity” and “social justice” in the music curriculum are often euphemisms or efforts to gingerly sidestep having conversations about racism. Direct language is crucial to identifying and working to dismantle systems that uphold white supremacy in higher education.<br />
<br />
Acknowledging your positionality--making whiteness visible--is an important starting point toward building trust. I have successfully used <a href="https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf" target="_blank">Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of White Privilege”</a> in my classes. The article is fairly brief, and could easily be assigned to students in advance of the first class meeting. You could ask students to compose a list similar to the one that McIntosh developed, or to develop lists of their own. Newly developed lists could also examine privileges associated with gender, disability, and immigrant/citizen identities. It is crucial for you as a faculty member to participate in the conversation and to remark on your privileges. All professors bring with them implicit biases into the classroom, but students also have implicit biases as well. Acknowledging from the start that this culture and history is not yours--that you cannot and will not claim to know the experiences of people of color--is an important first step toward establishing trust.<br />
<br />
Rap music (and hip-hop culture more broadly) offers opportunities for counter-storytelling, a practice that involves both meaning-making and challenging dominant narratives. Here are a few examples of rap's counter-storytelling potential:<br />
<ul>
<li>Brian Turner, head of Priority Records, said of N.W.A.: "What impressed me about N.W.A. and Eazy-E was that these guys lived the things they talk about. All I was hearing on the news was the perspective of the police and outsiders—you never get the perspective of the actual guy they’re talking about. When I saw what these guys wrote, it really hit me that their side of the story was important to tell." </li>
<ul>
<li>Read chapter 3 in <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520283992/sounding-race-in-rap-songs" target="_blank">Loren Kajikawa's <i>Sounding Race in Rap Songs</i></a> and/or Robin D.G. Kelley's <a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/3144" target="_blank">"Kickin' Reality, Kickin' Ballistics" in <i>Droppin' Science</i></a></li>
<li>Listen to "Fuck the Police" and/or "Straight Outta Compton": what is N.W.A.'s side of the story? </li>
</ul>
<li>Read <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/469207?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank">Richard Shusterman's "The Fine Art of Rap."</a> What do we value in art? How does rap music either reinforce or challenge those values? </li>
<li>Listen to <a href="https://youtu.be/byV0GUg7w4U" target="_blank">Lupe Fiasco's "He say, she say."</a> Whose voice is missing? Why is it missing? Write a third verse to the song that fills the gap. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm going to stop here for today. More tomorrow, or possibly Thursday! Comments always welcome.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-34192749752584387682018-10-15T16:39:00.000-07:002018-10-15T16:39:19.089-07:00Sears and early popular musicI'm not one for big chain retail stores, malls, etc. but I was a bit sad to hear that Sears is in trouble (again). I have a presentation that I give occasionally in my history of rock class about the role Sears played in the early days of popular music (well, and continued to play until recently...). When I first prepared my history of rock class, I was surprised at how often Sears came up in the most random places among the sources I was consulting. I must apologize--I'm writing this from a seven-year old PowerPoint slide show, and (bad scholar!) many of the references are long since missing and/or forgotten.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sears was founded in 1886 when Richard Sears, a railroad agent in Minnesota, found a box of watches and started selling them to other agents. Around this time, farmers were selling their crops for cash and buying what they needed from local general stores. Sears (which became Sears, Roebuck & Co. in 1893) took advantage of the railroads and post office and leveraged their bulk buying power to save farmers money.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While Sears was initially sold only watches and jewelry, by 1895 their famous catalog was over 500 pages long, and featured clothes, shoes, wagons, appliances, furniture, firearms, and... musical instruments.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4E4HnW863TWNAIj-O5ewSeLO8diFxAtWrc6HnQhRzuzTtQ7wlrUpVbcjvmLQYjhWIDtI8o_dKHBZK7JW4OJLmI-zz1jH7oh_-bKK7A2rPkCSs9kx9g0l4JlSrcEP6OARpIiw/s1600/sears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1158" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4E4HnW863TWNAIj-O5ewSeLO8diFxAtWrc6HnQhRzuzTtQ7wlrUpVbcjvmLQYjhWIDtI8o_dKHBZK7JW4OJLmI-zz1jH7oh_-bKK7A2rPkCSs9kx9g0l4JlSrcEP6OARpIiw/s320/sears.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Muddy Waters got his start thanks to Sears: "I sold the last horse we had. Made about $15 for him, gave my grandmother $7.50. I kept $7.50 and paid about $2.50 for the guitar. It was a Stella. The people ordered them from Sears-Roebuck in Chicago."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Andy Parypa of The Sonics recalls, "We used to play in this little joint called the Red Carpet down on South Tacoma Way, and down the street, at the Tacoma Community Hall--this place'd just be jammed to the gunnels with all these young kids with their ten-dollar Sears and Roebuck guitars at what they called a 'hootenanny'" (this comes from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Boom-History-Northwest-Rock/dp/0879309466" target="_blank">Peter Blecha's great </a><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Boom-History-Northwest-Rock/dp/0879309466" target="_blank">Sonic Boom</a>)</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEketbQB_5aq_fgpw_jnEP_AwNo1BnKjNAwmJT8LhaNKnImcQR8IJg0LY-fCIIHVGbMH_D16Bf4Y8w_VIwwa5C6td4MeXrVzobLrjvQ5HdUr4cs2GkfeJyozZx6T0d89-C07Yx/s1600/sears2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1600" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEketbQB_5aq_fgpw_jnEP_AwNo1BnKjNAwmJT8LhaNKnImcQR8IJg0LY-fCIIHVGbMH_D16Bf4Y8w_VIwwa5C6td4MeXrVzobLrjvQ5HdUr4cs2GkfeJyozZx6T0d89-C07Yx/s320/sears2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The page above comes from the 1975 catalog. You could get everything you needed to get started on the guitar--instrument, case, strap, picks, and instruction book <i>with</i> record--for about $40, and it would be sent right to your house (this is like Amazon before Amazon).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sears also owned a radio station in Chicago. <a href="http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS20/" target="_blank">WLS ("World's Largest Store")</a> started broadcasting in 1924 as a service to the rural communities that Sears served. In the mornings, they'd broadcast weather and agriculture reports so the farmers knew what to expect before going out into the field. While the farmers were at work, they'd broadcast housekeeping tips for the wives that stayed back at the house. In the evenings, they'd play (live) music: the <a href="http://nationalradiohalloffame.com/national_barn_dance.htm" target="_blank">National Barn Dance</a> was for a time the most popular radio program in the midwest, and served as inspiration for what would become the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Sears sold the station in 1928, but a station with the WLS call letters still exists in Chicago today.</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-3852150469403649902018-09-03T10:15:00.002-07:002018-09-03T10:15:33.963-07:00Musings on adjunct life on Labor Day<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Labor Day, a very long post on the adjunct life...</span><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’ve been teaching for about 15 years now at the university level. I have taught at community colleges and R-1 institutions; online and in-person; graduate and undergraduate; music majors and non-majors; first-generation, honors, and adult students. At Texas Tech, I earned tenure and promotion to associate professor. I left that job for a variety of reasons and relocated to Tacoma where I began adjuncting at the University of Washington and its branch campuses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I never really wanted to be a teacher: I was hoping I could just sit around, drinking coffee all day, thinking and writing about music. Turns out there aren’t an awful lot of jobs like that (at least, that don’t involve teaching). I decided that since I was going to be a teacher, I should probably get good at it. I took a music theory pedagogy class in my graduate program (for which I’m eternally grateful) and eventually started teaching that class myself at TTU. I regularly attended events at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center to improve my teaching: eventually, I was asked to join their advisory board. After a few years of involvement with the Honors College at Texas Tech (it turns out I really liked teaching, and was trying to do more of it!) I was named Honors College Professor of the Year in 2011.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’m a pretty good teacher. Not great—I know a lot of great teachers, and will happily recognize those who outshine me—but good. I suppose it’s because I care.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I don’t make a lot of money as an adjunct. I split my time between UW Tacoma and the main campus in Seattle (about an hour’s commute one way, if I’m lucky). I typically teach two or three courses a quarter during the regular school year; two summer courses at UWT; and an early fall start class in Seattle. If I’m lucky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’ve been lucky. This teaching schedule allows me to live, earn benefits, accrue retirement, and provide for my kiddo. I have a mortgage, student loan, and credit card debt. I recognize that there are many—in academia and elsewhere—who are not as lucky as I am. I’ve managed to do okay in this business in part because I’m a white, cis-het male who enjoys the privileges that come with that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I’ve had to deal with a wide variety of circumstances in my classrooms over the last few years. I had a fight break out in my rap class several years ago (a vet with PTSD was triggered by a student comment; when another student intervened, he got hit). I had student who missed quite a few classes because he had to go to court and fight to keep his family—most of whom didn’t speak English—from being evicted. I had a student whose mom moved her and her siblings to a hotel room in the middle of the night to escape an abusive father. It pains me to hear these stories, and I do what I can to help. I’m truly touched that my students trust me enough to share these circumstances with me. One student said that I was the only professor that she thought she could trust.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
When students confide in me, I do my best to help them out. I can’t offer them a place to stay, nor can I cover their groceries for a week, or whatever. But I can—and do—listen. When UWT first offered active shooter training, I signed up right away (this was close on the heels of the rap class incident). I’ve taken CPR and first aid training (partially for just life in general, partially because I have a kiddo, and partially for teaching). I have food and housing insecurity statements on my syllabi. I do my best to care for and about my students. But it’s hard, and getting harder.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p> *******</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I was recently thumbing through Ken Bain’s <i>What the Best College Teachers Do</i>, a book that I read many years ago when I had time to read pedagogy stuff. One of the “best college teachers” spent three hours in his office with a student who claimed they didn’t understand calculus. Another created elaborate case studies which he assigned to groups and, after each group presentation, he took them all out to dinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I don’t have an office of my own: there is one shared office at UWT for all of the part-time faculty (how is this not a FERPA issue?), and I share an office with the French horn professor (and all of his students and their horns and music and tuxedos and coffeepots…) in Seattle. I have six books in there. I wish I could spend three hours explaining music theory to a student who doesn’t get it, but I have to get on the train so that I can get back to Tacoma to pick up my daughter by 6:00 so that I might get to spend some time with her that night. I’d love to take groups of my students out for dinner, but I don’t have an expense account or a six-figure salary (or the extra time…). Does this make me not a great teacher?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Put more simply, it seems that being a great teacher requires a lot of resources: resources that many teachers (and/or institutions) simply don’t have.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Lately, I’ve been feeling like my teaching has gotten a little stale. I picked up a copy of John Bean’s <i>Engaging Ideas</i>, and it’s wonderful. I’m trying some things in my classes already. I’ve been thinking lately about what a pedagogy that’s truly rooted in hip hop might look like: maybe elements of Freire’s <i>Pedagogy of the Oppressed</i>, Christopher Emdin’s <i>For White Folks who Teach in the ‘Hood</i>, and other books. But these books (and all the other ones I want to read) cost money, and it takes time to read them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
(Sure, I could get them from the library, perhaps, but then I can’t write in them, bookmark the pages, grab them off the shelf when I need them… And I do have <b>some </b>time to read, on the way to Seattle, perhaps, when I’m not prepping lessons, or when I’m done grading, which—lately—I’ve just decided to stop doing at 10:30 p.m., whether I’m done or not. I have about 100-150 students a quarter, and have to write my own lesson plans—most of which are off-the-cuff these days—and lesson plans for my TAs in Seattle.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
The more I think about it, the more I think I’m not getting paid enough to be a good teacher. I don’t have the resources I need to improve my craft, or to share with my students. So I just keep doing what’s comfortable (which, frankly, isn’t half bad at this point in my career).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Oh—I don’t really do research anymore. Staying abreast of developments in the field is important, certainly, but it’s not officially part of my job, so I don’t do it. I won’t perish if I don’t publish. More on this later.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
All of this really hit home to me when a student recently confided in me that they had for the last year been in a difficult relationship with another student who happened to be in this class, and they didn't feel comfortable attending anymore. We worked out a plan by which they could complete the course without attending the last three weeks or so (it was pretty far into the quarter, and this student had generally been pretty good). I thanked the student for confiding in me, and assured them that I wouldn’t say anything to anyone (unless I was approached as part of a formal investigation, an action they decided to pursue). I encouraged them to reach out to me and I could point them in the direction of resources on campus, if needed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
After the student left, I thought sadly, “I don’t get paid enough to deal with this.” Not long after that, another student in a different class confided in me that they had missed so many classes because they were going through a divorce. Another good student; another plan to complete the class successfully.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
As I said earlier, being a great teacher requires a lot of resources: resources that many teachers (and/or institutions) simply don’t have.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
*******</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
A few years back, I gave a presentation on form and narrative in rap music at the Texas Society for Music Theory conference. I was very pleased with the paper—even if the crowd was ready for lunch and I had to trim about 10 minutes on the fly—and spent a year turning it into an article, which I submitted to a Prestigious Journal. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Attending conferences is an important way to get your name and your work out there. At this point in my life, though, I mostly go to conferences to visit with friends and see new places. I have a pretty good acceptance rate at regional conferences; I’ve given two papers at the national Society for Music Theory conference, but have basically given up on submitting to them for a lot of reasons (which I won’t bore you with here).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Going to a conference involves flying to a city, getting a hotel room for a night or two or three, transportation, meals, conference registration, etc. In other words, it’s expensive. Many universities have some travel money to support scholars who are presenting at these conferences. Typically it doesn’t cover the full amount: for the national conference, the hotel is usually a swanky downtown Hilton at $250-300/night; conference registration is $200; etc. but it helps. These funds, though, are often unavailable to adjuncts, and typically reserved for those who are presenting, not just going to, say, plug their new rap book to anyone who will listen. All of this is to say I can’t really go to conferences that often. The last conference I went to was in Vancouver, B.C., which is right up the road from me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
At any rate, I waited a few months to hear that the article was rejected (somewhat unfairly, I think). Did I mention that a previous article on hip hop in that journal included a reference to “Tupack Shakur and Biggie Small?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
At that moment, I decided that, since research wasn’t a part of my appointment—I’m only hired to teach—I would no longer write for free. I tried to think how I could make money writing. I write for small local magazines and other outlets. Maybe I’ll write a book? An academic book won’t make a lot of money, but it will bring prestige. A textbook seemed like an ideal money-making opportunity, but when it comes to tenure and promotion, textbooks and other pedagogical materials often don’t “count” as much as journal articles or academic books.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
[A brief aside: when I was at TTU I submitted a chapter of my dissertation to a journal for publication consideration. I didn’t hear from them for <b>two years</b>, despite repeated e-mails, phone calls, getting my advisor to pull rank, and conversations with at least two presidents of the regional society. Eventually I just sent them an e-mail that said “I’m withdrawing my paper from consideration.” Good thing I wasn’t counting on that for tenure. Oh wait—I was.]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Don’t get me wrong: the textbook was hardly “all about the Benjamins,” but that was a strong motivator. When friends asked me what the title was going to be, I said half-jokingly, “Edie’s College Fund.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So I wrote a textbook, and I’m very proud of it. I wrote it while I was adjuncting full time. I had no sabbatical, no grants, no nothing. Most of the academics that I reached out to were “too busy” to offer feedback on a chapter; one offered to read a chapter if I would either pay her or list her as a co-author. This person is an assistant professor at UW Tacoma—a colleague—who has a certain amount of job security that I don’t. I understand wanting to get paid, but there was no way I was listing this person as a co-author for <b>reading </b>one chapter. I guess I just assumed this is the kind of thing colleagues did for one another…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
My book costs $65. I feel slightly bad that it’s that much, but I had nothing to do with setting the price. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, but I don’t know that I would make my students buy it. Although I did this past summer because, given the way my situation is going, I’m not sure I’ll be able to teach from it again. And I made sure that they had access to a hard copy on reserve at the library, and an electronic version through the library web site as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I guess where I’m going with all of this is: a) a research agenda requires lots of time and money; b) adjuncts are often excluded from this aspect of the game (and—let’s face it—it is a game); c) this exclusion limits their opportunities to get tenure-track jobs, most of which value teaching and research equally. Those jobs include a service component, too, which is another piece missing from many adjuncts’ CVs, although I have to say that I haven’t been to a faculty meeting in seven years and I’m totally fine with that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-40155594851811367222018-03-26T11:07:00.001-07:002018-03-26T11:07:42.889-07:00Music in the Aftermath 6Some thoughts on trauma:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>A traumatic event creates a rupture in our narrative. Different people experience it differently: some are more resilient; some are less resilient. Cultural conditioning plays a role in this (one author gives the example of the death of a child in a country that has a high infant mortality rate).</li>
<li>The symptoms of trauma are often presented as avoidance (or constriction), intrusion, and hyperarousal. Avoidance leads the victim to avoid things that might cause them to reenact the traumatic experience: they will stay away from the site of the traumatic event, not talk to people, maybe even stay in their house. Intrusion is the reliving of the trauma, when traumatic memories reappear without context or warning--flashbacks. Hyperarousal is an increased vigilance, an effort by the body and mind to prevent being re-traumatized.</li>
<li>Trauma and disability often co-present. Freud, for instance observed that when a wound accompanies the accident, the traumatic neurosis tends to be lessened. I think this observation has strong implications for a discussion of the mind/body relationship, but I need to think that through.</li>
<li>Trauma is often rendered as a series of paradoxes: it is unspeakable, but the victim needs to retell the story. It is unknowable (and this takes several forms--unknowable, at least at first, to the victim; unknowable to those asked to listen to the stories; forgotten) but known (remembered). It is a moment in time, and a moment out of time.</li>
<li>Trauma and PTSD are not the same thing. PTSD is a codification of traumatic symptoms that emerged around WWII, and whose definition was periodically revisited (it appeared in the DSM-I, but not the DSM-II; it appeared in the DSM-III in part thanks to the lobbying efforts of Vietnam Veterans advocacy groups; it was revised for the DSM-IV and reclassified in the DSM-V). This codification allows PTSD to be measured, diagnosed, cured, medicated, grant-funded, and all kinds of other things: it has become, in a sense, a commodity. Trauma and its effects (as per point #1 above) are dealt with differently by different people from different backgrounds and cultures.</li>
</ol>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-61216993788199854742018-03-25T16:13:00.003-07:002018-03-25T16:13:47.399-07:00Music in the Aftermath 5Some thoughts on repetition:<br />
<ol>
<li>As mentioned in the last post, repetition brings structure and predictability to our lives.</li>
<li>Repetition leads to "masterplots."</li>
<li>Repetition is characteristic of language and music. Elizabeth Margulis writes about how music tends to be more repetitive than language, since music is an "information-poor" system and language is "information-rich."</li>
<li>Repetition operates in music in many respects: tonality, form, genre, etc.</li>
<li>Repetition can also be seen as shaping time in a non-linear way. I'm thinking of, for instance, the modularity of the days of the week, or months of the year. Seven days after today, it will be Sunday again; twelve months from today, it will be March again. But, next Sunday will be April 1 (not March 25), and next March will be March 2019, not March 2018.</li>
<li>Traumatic memories are repeated, adding to the perception of them as "out of time."</li>
</ol>
<div>
The musical <i>RENT</i> comes to mind here as a way in to talking about repetition and time. The show takes place over the course of a year, and time plays a very important part in the drama. The narrative moves from Christmas to Christmas, and encompasses several major holidays along the way. The AZT alarm structures Roger's life, and eventually brings he and Mimi closer. The most famous musical number, "Seasons of Love," reflects this obsession with time: "five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes--how do you measure a year..." The song appears after intermission at the beginning of act two by the whole cast: it does not advance the plot--it is a moment out of time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The title of Paul Monette's <i>Borrowed Time </i>also indicates the importance of time in structuring our lives. I think it would be interesting to juxtapose the stories of both of these (perhaps alongside other prominent AIDS stories like the movie <i>Philadelphia</i> or <i>And the Band Played On</i>).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But here, too, it is important to think about these masterplots: how might queer conceptions of time influence our interpretations of these works? (I know there's been work done on queering time, that it relates to the dominant thinking about time is reflective of the importance of procreation, which is mainly a cis- heterosexual concern; I don't have the citations handy at the moment but will add them later).</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-404431010535793992018-03-25T15:34:00.000-07:002018-03-25T15:58:37.995-07:00Music in the Aftermath 4<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Some assorted thoughts on narrative:</div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Narratives of “overcoming” pervade our conversations about disability: a disability is something that must be overcome, such that the disabled person can be a member of “normal” society. These narratives make us feel good, particularly in cases of spectacular overcoming: Beethoven overcame his deafness to become one of the greatest composers of western classical music, for instance. Or recall the story of Oscar Pistorious, the South African runner who competed in the Olympics on two prosthetic legs (leaving aside his subsequent murder trial).</li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Narratives of overcoming also pervade hip hop. On the one hand, disability is not what’s overcome here; rather, it’s the vestiges of slavery, Jim Crow, the War on Drugs, and mass incarceration. Cobb highlights the “Malcolm X formula” that underlies many rap autobiographies: birth-dissolution of family-experience of poverty-hustling-incarceration-redemption. Rappers like Jay-Z, Eminem, and 50 Cent have built their careers on this overcoming narrative.</li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The "overcoming" narrative could be seen as a kind of "masterplot": there are many, many variations on this one theme that have been passed down from generation to generation, and new versions continue to emerge. Such masterplots are important not only because they provide us with a way to group similar stories, but they also reveal to us something about our cultural values. This I think is an important point to keep in mind in this particular project, given that many of the crises I've had in mind deal with politicized subjects like AIDS and race relations. How we talk about AIDS, or the queer community, or the black community tells us a lot about how we--perhaps subconsciously or unknowingly--perceive them. Their narratives tell us a lot about how they view themselves. The conflicts between these narratives (say, between the mainstream media's narratives about black men vs. the narratives about black men in rap music, or the narratives in mainstream US media about 9/11 vs. the narratives in foreign media) are also revealing.</li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Building on the work of C.M. Parkes, Ronnie Janoff-Bulman talks about "the assumptive world": we exist in a world that is largely predictable as a result of our repeated interactions with it. The sun comes up every morning, we eat breakfast, we go to work, etc. Repetition is related to predictability, and predictability leads to security. This repetition--the assumptive world--is a narrative: it is the stories we tell.</li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A traumatic event is one that overwhelms our body's (and mind's) ability to adapt. Trauma theorists beginning with Freud and others, have remarked on the importance of the element of surprise in understanding traumatic events. Traumatic events are often described as "a moment out of time." If our interactions with the world are structured by narrative, and narrative arranges events in time, a traumatic event is a disruption in our narrative(s). The even could disrupt our own personal narrative, it could rupture community narratives, or narratives on the largest of scales (i.e., 9/11 I would say was a rupture in the narrative of American history and culture, and--of course--its consequences were felt around the world).</li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Traumatic memories are non-narrative: they are intrusive, and occur at random. They are often unconscious memories (which is to say they appear as dreams). Part of the task of recovery involves integrating the traumatic memory into one's personal narrative; to do so imposes a kind of narrative on the otherwise non-narrative traumatic memory: Freud writes in <i>Beyond the Pleasure Principle</i>:<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> "He [the victim] is obliged rather
to repeat as a current experience what is repressed, instead
of, as the physician would prefer to see him do, recollecting
it as a fragment of the past."</span></li>
</ol>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-57860478679402812592018-03-24T08:52:00.000-07:002018-03-24T08:52:25.287-07:00Music in the aftermath 3<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
When I wrote my rap textbook, I had a general structure in mind. I saw somewhere that an average textbook is 120,000 words. I came up with twelve chapter headings, figuring 10,000 words per chapter. I divided each chapter into four subheadings, each 2,500 words. This was mainly in response to a criticism I had of the other rap textbook on the market: that it felt very unbalanced: some ideas got a paragraph; others, ten pages.</div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
I’ve been trying to map this book out that way, and it’s not working. It doesn’t quite seem to know what it wants to be just yet. I read (in the same place, I think) that the typical scholarly monograph is 80-100,000 words. Eight chapters at 10,000 words each? That’s like eight journal articles, which doesn’t seem too bad.</div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
But maybe it wants to be different, like one of those books with lots of little chapters. That idea led me to work through things on this blog. I’m not even sure what the chapters are going to be, much less the subheadings: I just have piles and piles of stuff—reasonably tiny piles at this point—and maybe by looking at the bits and pieces, the bigger picture will emerge. The rap book was definitely top-down; I think this one wants to be bottom-up.</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-42639265688352524712018-03-21T14:14:00.001-07:002018-03-21T14:14:22.478-07:00Music in the Aftermath 2In his book <i>To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip-Hop Aesthetic</i>, William Jelani Cobb writes: "The telling of one's tale is a human rite. And in the end, we are simply the stories we tell" (137). Cobb is among many who believe that narrative--in this case, autobiography--defines who we are.<br />
<br />
Narratives range from the simple and intimate ("I went home") to the complex and overarching (narrative archetypes, or master plots). The smaller micro-narratives can intersect or overlap; they can be bundled together to create master narratives. Narratives appear in our everyday conversations, in works of art, in politics, and in the news.<br />
<br />
The play on "human rite/human right" should not go unremarked. The word "rite" implies repetition: ritual is often characterized as a repeated practice, and these repetitions give structure to our lives, often in the form of tradition. They are predictable, and that predictability is comforting. H. Porter Abbott writes that "we engage in narrative so often and with such unconscious ease that the gift for it would seem to be everyone's birthright" (1).<br />
<br />
Abbott also draws a connection between narrative and memory, saying that it shows up in children around three or four years old, around the time they start putting subjects and verbs together linguistically. Lacan talks about the mirror stage--that point at which a toddler sees itself in the mirror and develops an image of itself, an image toward which it will strive for the rest of its life.<br />
<br />
What about the mirror stage and the origins of language? Lacan writes that the mirror stage comes to an end when the <i>I</i> becomes social. Is language a prerequisite for that social? I've read some of "The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis," I think that might offer some answers to the question.<br />
<br />
Narrative can be chronological, but does not have to be. Furthermore, it does not rely on clock time (although it may and often does): narrative allows "events themselves to create the order of time" (Abbott 4). Music, too, is very good at creating chronology independent of clock time: music can be fast or slow--more accurately, it can <i>feel </i>fast or slow, or anything in between. It can speed up or slow down, it can refer back to an earlier moment or foreshadow what's to come.<br />
<br />
In future posts, I want to consider the "overcoming" narrative in terms of both disability and hypermasculinity; narratives of HIV and AIDS; ruptures in narratives and their consequences.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-34461278419580822282018-03-21T14:03:00.002-07:002018-03-21T14:03:33.406-07:00Music in the Aftermath 1I think I need a smallish canvas to work out my ideas for this next project. For years, I've had this interest in the intersection of music and trauma. You can find my earliest musings on the topic <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2009/03/graduate-classes-of-future.html?q=crisis" target="_blank">here,</a> <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2010/07/music-and-crisis.html?q=crisis" target="_blank">here,</a> and <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2010/07/music-and-crisis-addendum.html?q=crisis" target="_blank">here</a>. I had the good fortune to teach this class a few times, and it <a href="https://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2013/12/music-and-crisis-20.html?q=crisis" target="_blank">changed shape</a> (as classes often do). It got to a point where I put my thoughts on the subject together into a book proposal. A Major Press was very interested in it: I got one "yes," one "revise and resubmit," one "no" (to this day, I don't think that person read the proposal--it was a "this isn't the book I would've written" kind of response, and rather condescending), and one "regrettably, no, but here are lots of important ways to fix it."<br />
<br />
I very much appreciated the thoughtful comments of the last reviewer. I put the project aside (and wasn't slated to teach the course for a few years), and got distracted with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Listening-to-Rap-An-Introduction/Berry/p/book/9781138231153" target="_blank">other projects</a>. Now I'm back at it, and trying to think about what this revised project looks like. The old project was organized according to specific crises. The book's table of contents looked something like this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Defining trauma and crisis</li>
<li>How music can help</li>
<li>9/11</li>
<li>AIDS</li>
<li>George Rochberg</li>
<li>Hurricane Katrina</li>
<li>Hip hop</li>
</ol>
<div>
I thought that I want to organize it in terms of traumatic symptoms. There still needs to be some kind of overview. The specific crises will still loom large throughout (I've spent a lot of time studying them), but I don't want them to be limiting. One of the interesting things about this project (as you may have inferred from the table of contents) is the idea's ability to span different styles and genres.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've wrestled with what the new organization will look like, considering topics like conceptual metaphors, repetition, root shock, historical/intergenerational trauma, etc. I've been reading Freud, Lacan, Caruth, and other trauma theorists along with books on Rochberg, Metallica, etc. (Oddly enough, the original text relied quite heavily on the work of Abraham Maslow, which made a lot of sense at the time for some reason, but makes not very much sense now. I do, however, believe that his work is due for reappraisal because he has a lot of interesting ideas that I think advances in both cognitive neuroscience and cultural studies could help bear out).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I think, though, that narrative is the thread that ties all of these things together in the way that I want to tie them together. Trauma is a rupture in the narrative. It's important to look at the kinds of stories we tell--on the large and small scales, and everywhere in between--the ways in which they intersect, overlap, and combine. And I think those are the ideas that I want to--need to--work out here. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks for reading; stay tuned; comments always welcome!</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-27704825721786602822017-09-16T11:27:00.002-07:002017-09-17T08:34:18.680-07:00On the Juggalo march<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="77kf-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="77kf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="77kf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>[updated]</b> I said I'd have more to say on the Juggalo march...</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="eltcp-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="eltcp-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="eltcp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="c6a0s-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c6a0s-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="c6a0s-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Juggalos are fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse. As a group, many of them self-identify as outcasts and have suffered some sort of abuse or trauma in their lives. Most are white, live near or below the poverty line, and may be homeless. They are more prone to drug use and violent behavior, and more likely to be suicidal than non-Juggalo-identifying youth. (Petering, et al., "Violence, Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among Homeless Youth Juggalos," Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 2016).</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="17nvr-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="17nvr-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="17nvr-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="1nerf-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1nerf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="1nerf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">In 2011, the FBI labeled the Juggalos a gang, despite the fact that most law enforcement officers don't see Juggalo violence as a serious problem. Are there Juggalos who have committed violent acts? Of course. Are they as a community violent? By most all accounts, no. Together with the ACLU, the Insane Clown Posse sued the FBI, but lost.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="2us88-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2us88-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="2us88-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="e8cqi-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e8cqi-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="e8cqi-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The Juggalo March is an effort to call attention to the adverse affects that the gang label has had on the members. Per the event's website: "the FBI’s inclusion of Juggalos as a 'gang' has resulted in hundreds if not thousands of people subjected to various forms of discrimination, harassment, and profiling simply for identifying as a Juggalo. Over the past five years, our legal team has heard testimonies and reports from Juggalos all over the nation who have lost custody of their children, been fired from jobs, denied access into the armed forces, and the most common consequence — being officially labeled as a gang member by law enforcement agencies for wearing Juggalo related clothing or brandishing one or more Juggalo tattoos."</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="6udi1-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6udi1-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="6udi1-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="8i92h-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8i92h-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="8i92h-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Now I'm not trying to draw any kind of equivalence between what the Juggalos are facing and other forms of systemic oppression (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.). Being a Juggalo is a choice: unlike people of color, Juggalos can remove their face paint and reap the benefits of white privilege. People join gangs to experience a sense of belonging and security in the face of a system that has failed them (I might go so far as to say, in the case of the Juggalos, a system that they *believe* has failed them). </span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="9kp74-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9kp74-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="9kp74-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="b00ml-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b00ml-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="b00ml-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I got to thinking about the Juggalo march again when I read about the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/house-passes-bill-targeting-gang-members-deportation-49851053" target="_blank">Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act,</a> which would make gang membership grounds for deportation. The bill allows DHS "to designate a group of five or more people as a criminal gang. Those immigrants determined to have participated in the gang or have furthered its illegal activity can be detained and deported." </span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="6o63b-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6o63b-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="6o63b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="8g8mi-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gYMkEMCHtJ4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gYMkEMCHtJ4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8g8mi-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="8g8mi-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="a7la9-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a7la9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="a7la9-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"We're down with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five!"</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="2jc02-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2jc02-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="2jc02-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"What is that--a gang?"</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="797p3-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="797p3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="797p3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="8bfc0-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8bfc0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="8bfc0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">This bill unquestionably has roots in racist and xenophobic thought, and seems to be directed primarily at the MS-13 gang, which "is Trump’s perfect villain," <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/06/trump-ms-13/528453/" target="_blank">writes J. Weston Phippen</a>. "It’s exclusively Latino and recruits in heavily migrant neighborhoods, its members known for their face tattoos and savagery." Phippen argues that MS-13 and other gangs like it are *American* gangs and that changes to immigration law and accelerated deportations will do little to fix the problem. Laws like this highlight a pervasive and dangerous conflation of ideas: the "gang" label is typically affixed to communities of color; the label is almost always synonymous with violent behavior (which reinforces the perception that people of color are violent); and in the case of Latino gangs, becomes tangled up with the idea of the "illegal immigrant."</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="bf8ok-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf8ok-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="bf8ok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dgj3b" data-offset-key="ebamm-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'SF Optimized', system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, '.SFNSText-Regular', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.11999999731779099px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ebamm-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="ebamm-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The ease with which the Juggalos were labeled a gang--and the prospect that *any* group of five or more people could be called a gang--coupled with the passage of a bill that effectively makes membership in a group a deportable offense is a scary prospect.</span></div>
</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-19230322945534754592016-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:002016-04-03T20:51:21.483-07:00On being out of tuneI saw on Twitter a few days ago--I can't remember who posted it--something to the effect of "Florence and the Machine make such powerful music." I really want to like that band, but to me, Florence sings so badly out of tune that I can't bear to listen for even an entire song. Their performance on <i>Saturday Night Live</i> a few years ago sealed the deal for me:<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UtnxsIBVm5s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
I understand that live performances often reveal the amount of technology that is involved in the recording process--pitch correction software is very sophisticated these days--but their latest studio album has her singing very out of tune as well, and I personally find it very distracting.
<p>
Having said all of that, I'm a big Sleater-Kinney fan, and nearly everything about them is <i>way</i> out of tune:
<p><blockquote>
An accidental choice cemented Sleater-Kinney’s sound. In her previous band, the guitar-and-drums duo Heavens to Betsy, Ms. Tucker had only tuned her guitar to itself. When she joined Ms. Brownstein in Sleater-Kinney, they ascertained that Ms. Tucker’s guitar was tuned with its lowest string at C-sharp, not the standard E. They decided to both keep that tuning, which happens to push Ms. Tucker toward the topmost part of her voice. (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/arts/music/sleater-kinney-reunites.html?_r=0">Jon Pareles in the <i>New York Times</i></a>)
</blockquote><p>
Furthermore, Corin Tucker doesn't really sing in tune either:<p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FbmZi_VS4ZM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
In the classical realm, of course, it's all about playing in tune: you basically can't get a job if your intonation is bad. Poor intonation is one of the reasons that Florence Foster Jenkins is so amusing to us:
<p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V6ubiUIxbWE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
(Perhaps it's something with the name Florence?)
<p>
It's interesting to think how attention to intonation might be characteristic of a musical style or genre. I suppose one could make an argument that Florence and the Machine should be forgiven the singer's poor intonation because it's part of the aesthetic they're after, but it doesn't sound <i>right</i> to me in the same way that Sleater-Kinney's intonation does. And Florence Foster Jenkin's intonation, while quite bad, is more likely to induce laughter than revulsion, I think, perhaps because it's so diametrically opposed to the aesthetic of classical music.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-73402015968540296822016-02-15T08:02:00.004-08:002016-02-15T08:02:51.549-08:00Crazy gig storyJason Heath has a bunch of <a href="http://doublebassblog.org/2016/01/crazy-gig-stories.html" target="_blank">really great Crazy Gig Stories</a>, and while this one doesn't compare to any of his, I was reminded of it yesterday on my way to a gig and it made me laugh.<br />
<br />
When I lived in Lubbock, I used to play with an orchestra in Big Spring, TX. Big Spring was a small town about two hours south of Lubbock, and the orchestra I truly believe was their pride and joy. (It was in Big Spring where I first heard a very young <a href="http://stage.opus3artists.com/artists/peng-peng-gong" target="_blank">Peng Peng Gong</a> play in maybe 2006.) Many of the musicians in the orchestra were imported from Lubbock: we'd drive down for a Friday night rehearsal, Saturday morning rehearsal, and Saturday concert. They'd put us up in a hotel overnight.<br />
<br />
Since so many came from Lubbock, we'd often carpool. One time, I found myself riding with a husband and wife. Alas, I don't remember their names, so we'll call them Carl and Sally. They arrived to pick me up in what had to be a mid-1980s Dodge Caravan (this was probably in 2008); I think it had 450,000 miles on it. Carl was a regional manager for O'Reilly Auto Parts by day and freelanced as a violist. He never bought new cars, he told me, just took good care of the old ones.<br />
<br />
We decided to stop at McDonalds for a quick bite to eat before we got on the highway--it was a two-hour straight shot to Big Spring with practically nothing in between. As we were pulling out of the drive-through, the van stopped running. Carl leaps out, checks under the hood, and calls the closest O'Reilly's. After rattling off some part numbers and hanging up, he told us that help was on the way. An employee of the store arrived in about 15 minutes and helped him install the parts. We were off and running again, and made it to rehearsal on time, despite the minor setback.<br />
<br />
Since I carpooled with them, I was reliant on them for transportation once we got to town. We had to check out of the hotel by 2:00 p.m. (they gave us late check-out, which was nice), so we decided to go get something to eat before the concert. I had already changed into my tuxedo at the hotel; Carl and Sally were still in their "civvies." The hall wasn't yet open, and we didn't have access to the hotel, so Carl pulls up to the only O'Reilly Auto Parts shop in Big Spring, introduces himself as the regional manager, etc., looks over the store, offers a few compliments, and says that he and his wife need to use the back room to get changed into their concert attire. The guy behind the counter seemed a bit confused, but let them use the room.<br />
<br />
Only in West Texas!Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-82456427182824471692016-01-10T08:15:00.001-08:002016-01-10T08:15:28.522-08:00The small thingsAs a classically-trained performing musician, I've always felt very comfortable teaching classical music theory. I believe that by continuing to perform--which I love to do; it's why I got into this business in the first place--I can continue to provide my students with real-world examples of music theory in action. I played <i>Rigoletto</i> a month or so ago, and faced a few passages in D-flat minor! I brought the parts in and we looked at them, tried to figure out what the key was, which notes were non-diatonic, etc. We talked about why D-flat minor and not the more manageable (!) C# minor. I talked about my experience playing the <a href="http://ttutheory.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-i-learned-playing-joe-b-mauldin.html" target="_blank">Buddy Holly show</a>, and so on.<br />
<br />
I've always felt a pang of guilt teaching my hip hop class, which I've done pretty regularly for about five years now, because I don't <i>make</i> hip hop. I read Mark Katz's fine book, <i><a href="http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195331127/" target="_blank">Groove music</a>, </i>and thought if he (a classically trained violinist) can get a set of turntables and learn how to scratch, well then I can too. So I bought some turntables and a mixer and a half a dozen records--some <a href="https://youtu.be/AMNize7s8nc" target="_blank">classic</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/TcQYgrm6Vv0" target="_blank">hip hop</a> breaks along with the "do-it-yourself" version of Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" and got to work.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Kurtis_Blow_-_The_Breaks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Kurtis_Blow_-_The_Breaks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I found a great series of YouTube videos on the basics of turntable technique that were made by <a href="https://youtu.be/rM8q1bWcEbg?list=PLEFE36CF3A920C471" target="_blank">DJ Angelo.</a> In one of the videos, he talks about <a href="https://youtu.be/H4Yu5WvnB6o?t=1m15s" target="_blank">finding a sound on the record that you want to scratch</a> and offers some guidelines for what that should be--"a single word or a single drum hit." I sat down and I listened to my records in a very new way, listening for that one single drum hit or horn section hit. It was a very micro-kind of listening, one that I'm not accustomed to. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Around the same time that I was doing this, Jon Caramanica published <a href="https://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201510&id=56229" target="_blank">this piece in art forum</a> (which, sadly, isn't free anymore) on the best sounds of 2015. He isolated sounds from about a dozen records--things like <a href="https://youtu.be/QPLUL-Ra_jk?t=3m48s" target="_blank">Lana Del Rey sighing "soft ice cream"</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/ZNJOUIA_rDI?t=21s" target="_blank">Waxahatchee's "Maybe."</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I think we're so fixated (at least in classical music) on large-scale architecture and goals and phrases that we might miss the little things. I suspect that the classical world's preoccupation with "the notes on the page" also cloud our vision (as it were): these "small things" are features of performances, not scores. Having said that, I do have some favorite moments among my classical recordings that I think fit in here:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/HZN0j57si9w?t=3m4s" target="_blank">Beethoven, symphony no. 7, II</a> (Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony). There's a glorious portamento in the violins at 3:08, and it happens again around 3:26)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/7Oy24SIvesg?t=6m59s" target="_blank">Sibelius, violin concerto, I</a> (Ginette Neveu). The huge leap at the beginning of this cadenza to me always sounded like a tear in the sky--so bold.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The other bit I was unable to find on YouTube, but there's a recording of the Philadelphia Orchestra with Ormandy playing Strauss's <i>Also Sprach</i>: at the climax of "Von dem Hinterwelten," the violins have a heavenly portamento--"sol---mi!" </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
(I'm sure there's something to be said about bias and I'm a string player and these are both string moments, etc. etc. I don't care. I like them.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What are your favorite small things? (<a href="https://youtu.be/9Ht5RZpzPqw" target="_blank">Blink-182</a> doesn't count...)</div>
<br />Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-15673829780674457342015-11-02T20:46:00.000-08:002015-11-02T20:46:51.758-08:00Quite possibly the worst music theory-related video I've ever seen.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/71zPhkwrOq0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
I'm not even sure where to begin. Here are some problems (or highlights, if you prefer):<br />
<ul>
<li>Pneumatics? </li>
<li>This is a completely a-contextual, unmusical approach to learning intervals. This method basically teaches to the test--a test which, in my opinion, is pedagogially unsound.</li>
<li>What if a student hasn't seen <i>Jaws</i> or <i>Star Wars</i>? </li>
<li>re: Major second: it's confusing to say that a major second is "do-re" and the first two notes of "Happy Birthday," which in solfege would be "sol-la."</li>
<li>HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU NOT FIND AN EXAMPLE WITH A MAJOR THIRD?!? IT'S LIKE THE BUILDING BLOCK OF TONALITY....</li>
<li>Fourths and fifths are perfect; never major (or minor), as he indicates. (Notice that he starts by saying that their are no major or minor fourths, only perfect, and then abandons it).</li>
<li>There is no song for the tritone ("Maria?" "The Simpsons?"; admittedly, both of those have problems because they're non-diatonic tritones)</li>
<li>How did you miss the main theme of <i>Star Wars</i> for the perfect fifth? Tron? Really?</li>
<li>The minor sixth as "empowering sadness" is hilarious</li>
<li>"If it's north of a <i>Star Wars </i>girl and needs to resolve up..."</li>
</ul>
This video has nearly 117,000 views. That is to say there are 117,000 or so people who think that this has something to do with music theory. That's the biggest problem in my opinion. No wonder people are scared of theory--when it's presented like this, it does seem impenetrable. Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-33549808204470988852015-10-07T20:47:00.001-07:002015-10-07T20:47:46.432-07:00Playing "new" musicAs I alluded to in my previous post, I recently performed Walter Piston's <i>Serenata</i>, a nice little work--very Piston--with changing time signatures, rhythmic vitality, and tonal-ish feel to it. Also on that concert: Prokofiev's "Classical" symphony, Bach's Brandenburg concerto no. 3, and Wieniawski's second violin concerto.<br />
<br />
The orchestra is located in a community that sits halfway between Seattle and Tacoma. The audience is small but loyal, and I suspect would much prefer Bach (and Mozart and Beethoven) to Piston and Prokofiev. (We're doing Stravinsky's <i>Dumbarton Oaks</i> on a forthcoming concert--I'll let you know how that goes). The conductor likes to talk before each piece. A lot. We started with the Bach and followed it with the Piston. Before the Piston, the gist of his comments were "You're not going to like this piece, but here's why you should like it." This bothers me for two reasons. First, he assumes that everyone in the audience is opposed to "new" (that is, 60-year-old) music.Even if they're not, he basically predisposes them not to like it before they ever hear it. Second, he implied that if, after hearing it, you <i>still</i> don't like it, then there must be something wrong with you.<br />
<br />
I'm not a huge fan of conductors talking before pieces, except on rare occasions. Both times I saw Messiaen's <i>Turangalila </i>live, the conductor gave a brief talk, asking the pianist, orchestra, and ondes martenot player to demonstrate a few things, talking about Messiaen's unique aesthetic, and so on. I think that's the kind of piece that benefits from a little explanation and (perhaps more importantly) demonstration. The second performance, which I saw last year in Seattle, was outstanding, and received an ovation like I haven't seen in a while. (I saw it in Philadelphia probably 15 years ago and don't remember too much about that performance).<br />
<br />
Now it could be that everyone in a packed Benaroya Hall was there because they knew and loved Messiaen and/or <i>Turangalilia</i>. I suspect that the demonstration and explanation helped those less familiar with the piece. But the real key was that <b><i>the orchestra sold the piece</i>. </b>I think the ovation would have been equally as enthusiastic if there had been no explanation beforehand.<br />
<br />
Here's the thing:: I think we <i>sold</i> the Piston--the slow movement in particular was gorgeous. Had the conductor not said a word beforehand, I think the audience would have embraced the piece. (Perhaps he was using reverse psychology?)<br />
<br />
I played another concert (on the same day as the Piston concert) with another orchestra: Tchaik violin concerto, Wagner prelude to act 3 of <i>Lohengrin</i>, and Waldteufel's <i>Skater's Waltz</i>--all warhorses, the kinds of pieces audiences love to see/hear. Also on the program: Hindemith's <i>Symphonic Metamorphosis</i>, another "modern" piece. The conductor of this ensemble told us in rehearsal that they had received calls asking that the orchestra not play "modern" music like Hindemith. His charge to us: sell the piece--if we look like we're in to it and enjoying it, the audience will too.<br />
<br />
I love contemporary music: I'd sooner listen to Webern (I know--not really contemporary anymore, but I would argue, more challenging to listen to than a lot of actual contemporary composers) than Vivaldi.* I don't care what you like or don't like. If you leave the concert and don't like Piston, or Tchaikovsky, or Hindemith, or Waldteufel, I don't care. Come with an open mind, give it a chance--give the orchestra a chance to sell it--and make your decision afterward.<br />
<br />
(A brief aside: when I was young, I used to like to go to clubs where they played <a href="https://youtu.be/0utAzwzXVRU" target="_blank">"industrial" music</a>. I had a great time dancing, hanging out, being with my friends, etc. I bought some CDs of that music, and it was terrible to listen to. There was something about the <i>experience</i> that made me enjoy the music more. I think a live performance of a piece by Piston might end up being more enjoyable to some music fans than listening to a recording at home.)<br />
<br />
*I do enjoy <a href="https://youtu.be/FKjqXOHw7fg" target="_blank">Giuliano Carmignola's</a> performances of Vivaldi because I think he really sells them.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-90544490734278387302015-09-28T22:14:00.001-07:002016-03-05T17:54:17.344-08:00Practicing away from your instrumentI have a few gigs coming up with a stack of rather difficult music among them. One piece that I'm working on is Walter Piston's <i>Serenata. </i>It's a nice little piece comprising three short movements for orchestra. The notes aren't hard, per se--nothing a high school bassist couldn't play--and there are no real "licks" in it. The real challenge comes from the meter changes, which occur almost every measure in the first movement. The changes from 5/8 to 6/8 (with occasional 2/4 and 3/8 measures for, well, good measure) make the counting the trickiest aspect of this piece. On top of this, sometimes the 5/8 bars are 2+3; other times they're 3+2. Many times the 6/8 bars are better understood as 3/4 (i.e., 2+2+2).<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I happen to have a recording of the piece (on the same disc as his fourth symphony, which I've played and like a lot), so I've spent most of my practice time as follows:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, I just listened to the piece a few times and followed my part.</div>
<div>
Second, I practiced conducting the most difficult excerpts (there are about four of them). Once I had done this a few times, I tried conducting along with the recording.</div>
<div>
Third, I practiced speaking the rhythm in my part while conducting. Once I got good at this, I tried counting and conducting along with the recording.</div>
<div>
Finally, I went to my bass. With a firm understanding of the meter and rhythm issues, the part came together quickly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So far, I've spent much more time working on this piece <i>away</i> from my bass than I have actually "practicing" it in the conventional sense--probably 80%/20%. (Part of this, I'm sure, stems from my belief that it's more important for bass players to play in time than in tune. Rest assured: my intonation is pretty good, otherwise I wouldn't be getting gigs....)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I did this same thing with two other pieces that I recall: Bartok's <i>Dance Suite </i>and Stravinsky's <i>Rite of Spring. </i>In both cases, the notes are easy--rhythm and meter are what cause the problems.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's important to show up to rehearsal knowing your part. That means not just the notes, but also how what you're playing fits in with everything else. Listen to recordings, follow your part and, if available, follow the score. Listen to a few different recordings so that you don't get locked onto one particular interpretation. Figure out what the flute is playing when you have eight measures of rest, or who is playing the same line as you. Sometimes your most important preparation is done away from your instrument.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And the best thing about this kind of practice is that you can do it just about anytime, anywhere! </div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-40716816708980814422015-07-01T20:03:00.000-07:002015-07-01T20:03:41.232-07:00PlagiarismOver the last few quarters, I've seen a rather dramatic uptick in plagiarism. (I have a feeling I know what's behind it, and there are a few issues). In an effort to nip things in the bud this quarter, I made this video (feel free to share and use as you see fit):
<p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AqY_WK57MWU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
I've embedded the video in my syllabus on Canvas (our LMS). I played the video for the students on the first day of class, then set up a simple ten-question, true-false quiz in Canvas for the students to take. They can take the quiz as often as they like, and they can use any materials at their disposal, but they must score 10/10. By scoring 10/10, I've told them that any plagiarized work that comes in will be deemed willful and will result in disciplinary action. The burden will be on them to demonstrate to me that they've written the paper.
<p>
This scared some students (which didn't surprise me, I guess). We spent some time discussing issues with TurnItIn, which I've used on occasion, but don't like because a) it seems like I don't trust them right off the bat--it's a "gotcha" tool; and b) it keeps any papers that are submitted through the site (I understand there might be ways around this). A few students remarked that they didn't see TurnItIn as a "gotcha" at all; rather, they valued the reports that it generated for them.
<p>
I'll let you know how things go. Your feedback, as always, is welcome.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-24827214887826326502015-07-01T19:43:00.001-07:002015-07-03T08:18:59.935-07:00What I learned playing Joe B. MauldinI recently finished up a gig that was unusual for me--that's most of the reason I took it in the first place (it didn't pay terribly well...). I played Joe B. Mauldin, bass player for the Crickets in <i>Buddy! The Buddy Holly Story</i><b>. </b>A local community theatre contacted me and said they needed an upright bass player for the show. What I did not realize at the time was that this would be my first foray into acting. I learned a lot on this gig that made me rethink a bit about what I do in the classroom (and as a bassist).<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, the musical parts were really, really bad. I'm used to playing from those terrible handwritten parts that accompany most musicals. These, though, were computer generated and despite that, riddled with errors. Also, for some reason, I only got the first page of about half a dozen songs.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I downloaded a recording of the original London cast performance and learned most of them by ear (I was going to have to memorize about half the tunes anyway). Aural skills helped me twice here: I realized that there were errors (E-B-B-E-E in "Not fade away" instead of E-A-A-E-E; an open repeat with no close repeat in "Chantilly Lace"--different from what was in the score) and I was able to listen to the music and figure it out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To aid in memorizing the music, I drew up charts. Most songs were 12-bar blues in A (which in and of itself simplified things quite a bit) with a "middle 8." Rather than learn note by note by note, I learned the charts, and indicated whether it was a walking or "country" bass line (1-5-1-5) and just improvised. Some of you might say "No big deal--jazz players do this all the time." But I'm a classical player, married to the "notes on the page."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm also not a rock player. Our Buddy was a good singer and guitarist and had just come off another run of Buddy elsewhere, so he had his parts down. Our drummer was also quite good (he and I were both about 20 years older than the parts we were playing... Suspend your disbelief). Rock musicians communicate very differently from classical musicians, so I had to pick up on that. (It's been years since I've played in a rock band. To their credit, the directors found time for the Crickets to rehearse together as a band before we started worrying about lines and blocking, etc. This proved to be a good strategy.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've never acted before (save for the time I played third orphan for the left in a fourth-grade production of <i>Nicolas Nickleby) </i>so I was faced with the challenge of learning lines, blocking, etc. I made index cards with my lines and the cue--the line before mine. I figured if I can rely on cues for entrances in orchestral playing, a similar strategy might work in this setting as well. (I didn't have all that many lines. I couldn't figure out if the part was written for an actor who couldn't play bass, a bass player who couldn't act, or both). I marked up my script a lot, and spent plenty of time studying not only my lines, but entrances, movement, and exits.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally, clothes make the man (or woman). More accurately: <i>costumes</i> make him or her. It wasn't until I donned my purple tuxedo for the Apollo Theatre scene that I really felt like I was a different person. The Apollo costume change was a rough one--I had about a minute to change from a button-down shirt and jeans into a tuxedo before I had to pick up my bass, play "Shout" backstage, and then get ready to enter and act.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl_49ECnQ0RL7eBTTPQ0UGfjheA6B4ufa_Kq0idNR_gxMH22yxMW25q_wc74HpMiZW8wpuScglUfam_7W1TGsqBPm-26YB9IUj4cuvCIwyKpy3j2qaAng6JxjMnv7vo-zPqlR/s1600/IMG_0775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl_49ECnQ0RL7eBTTPQ0UGfjheA6B4ufa_Kq0idNR_gxMH22yxMW25q_wc74HpMiZW8wpuScglUfam_7W1TGsqBPm-26YB9IUj4cuvCIwyKpy3j2qaAng6JxjMnv7vo-zPqlR/s320/IMG_0775.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
I learned a lot during this show, and have newfound respect for my musical theatre colleagues. Having played in many, many pit orchestras, it was interesting to see and be a part of what happens above ground--it really never stops and is quite a rush. I'm not sure I'm going to act (if you could call it that) again, but I'm grateful for the opportunity.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As far as teaching, I had plenty to share with my history of rock and roll course (several of whom attended a performance), and I talked with my theory classes about the ways I which I used the things I was teaching them to help me learn the music efficiently. The gig world is a'changing and this opportunity set into sharp relief the kinds of skills and versatility that we need to teach our students.</div>
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-11212038814311879802015-03-19T11:37:00.001-07:002015-03-19T11:38:03.987-07:00How ya like me now?I wrote this in anticipation of the Legends of Hip Hop show that was going to play at the ShoWare center in Kent, but was canceled due to lack of ticket sales. It was to appear in Seattle Weekly, but (for obvious reasons) got cut. I like the piece a lot, and so here it is:
<p>
How ya like me now?
<p>
Harry Allen, Public Enemy's former Minister of Information, likened the history of hip hop to the Big Bang: four interdependent elements--MCing, DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing--split apart and expanded in all directions at the speed of sound. By the early 1990s, these elements had completely dis-integrated and rap music, the most visible and commercially successful of the elements, exhibited a remarkable diversity. The Legends of Hip Hop Tour, which stops at the ShoWare Center on March 14, provides a snapshot of that Golden Age of hip hop.
<p>
Fly girls Salt-n-Pepa championed female sexuality with songs like "Push It" and unusually frank "Let's Talk About Sex," a song whose message was so timely that it became a public service announcement ("Let's Talk About AIDS") at the height of the AIDS crisis in the US. Monie Love was "born in L-O-N-D-O-N" but "sounds American." She broke in to the US hip hop scene in 1989 with a verse on Queen Latifah's hit "Ladies First," and released a pair of Grammy-nominated albums. Her Sirius XM show, Ladies First, continues to empower a new generation of female hip hop artists.
<p>
Kool Moe Dee, whose legendary 1981 battle with champion party MC Chief Rocker Busy Bee almost single-handedly changed the way MCs write rhymes, was none the less critical of the new generation of rappers (LL Cool J in particular) for forgetting their roots—a problem that continues to plague mainstream rap. His success with albums like 1987’s How Ya Like Me Now led to him being the first rapper to perform on the Grammys in 1989.
<p>
Artists like Kwamé and Chubb Rock provided the yin to Moe Dee’s yang. Kwamé’s trademark polka-dot motif provided the backdrop for a string of danceable hits like “The Rhythm.” His recent production work has supported Christina Aguilera and Will Smith, among others. Chubb Rock’s deep baritone and verbal dexterity were showcased on classic hits like “Treat ‘em Right” and “Just the Two of Us.”
<p>
There was room for fun and social awareness, male and female, domestic and foreign during the Golden Age. By the late 1990s, money--the greatest of gravitational forces--hastened the collapse of the hip hop universe. Despite the fact that rap music has a much larger market share today, the universe has contracted so much that the diversity has been all but squeezed out--much of it forced to the periphery; the black hole of the underground. Mainstream rap is now home to a small cast of stock characters, the gangsta/pimp/ho trinity that hip hop scholar Tricia Rose discusses, with the roles played by an endlessly rotating cast. The Legends of Hip Hop Tour offers us a nostalgic glimpse into the universe's past while offering hope that, given the right conditions, such a diverse roster of artists could one day come into being again.
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-87248853442465398072015-01-06T11:20:00.001-08:002015-01-06T11:21:02.614-08:00Why my class policies are the way they are (or, how to make a living as a freelance musician)I recently played a gig over the holidays for a very large local church. The gig comprised 16 services: two rehearsals and 14 performances. I got the gig because a colleague of mine gave my name along with a few others to a local contractor, and I was the first one to respond to his e-mail. I showed up to the rehearsal to find the music on my stand (read: no time to practice prior to rehearsal); it was pretty easy holiday stuff, very much in the vein of a musical (read: lots of key and tempo changes, dialogue cues, etc.). I had to find a sub for two services (I was nearly triple-booked one weekend--a good problem to have). I made sure to recommend a sub that I knew would make me look good, and I meticulously marked the parts, knowing that he would be stepping in to perform without the benefit of even one rehearsal.
<p>
After the run of the show, the contractor (who I had only met as a result of this gig) came up and thanked me for my good playing and said that he'd like to call me again: the church has a few big productions every year for which they tend to hire an orchestra. It got me to thinking about what causes a contractor to give a musician a <strong>second</strong> call. The first call is often the result of a resume submission, a referral from a friend, or perhaps an audition (that may or may not have gone the way you wanted it to--I've ended up on sub lists because I placed second or third). It occurred to me that these attributes were the kinds of values I tried to instill in my students and reinforce in my class. Rather than just tell my students this in syllabus-ese, I thought it would be interesting to ask a few folks who have called me a second time (and who are in a position to hire my students even now) to see what <i>they</i> valued in their musicians. Here are two responses, made anonymous.
<p>
<blockquote>
My first contact with a musician is their 'first impression.' A quick reply to an invitation, even if it's a 'no,' and timely submission of paperwork tells me they are serious about their career and respectful of employers. Following that, it's important that musicians are organized, conscientious, punctual, prepared and respectful of others. Someone who strives to work with the orchestra as a whole, follows through on their responsibilities and is fully present will be called back before someone who has a great talent but displays a diva attitude, i.e. 'I expect', 'I want', complaining, excuse for everything, etc." --Executive Director, local symphony
</blockquote>
<p>
<blockquote>
In summary, the consideration that will motivate me to hire someone rests on the simple question, will this person make my job easier or more difficult? My goal is no secret, I want to assemble the best orchestra in the world--an orchestra that will show up early, be performance ready at the first rehearsal, and have no need to rehearse.
<p>
1. Politics have no place in my decision, I am not seeking friends nor hiring them. I may involve friends or make them but that is secondary.
[...]<br>
4. Attitude will then determine if they get a call back<br>
5. Dependability is essential or they have no value to me. If I can't count on them I have to do my job over and won't set myself for that. [...]<br>
6. Answering the phone and promptly responding to E-mail is directly related to attitude. If I am left hanging, I will move on and perhaps never return. Again, no response shows no respect, works me hard, leaves me stressed and weakens my position to hire another as I wait. I find this the biggest problem hiring musicians, delayed or no responses. The easiest way a musician can get hired is to answer the phone and the easiest way to not get hired is to not answer.
<p>
If someone answers the phone, says yes, comes on time and does their job well without an attitude, I will hire them every time I can and try to pay them as much as I can. I will want them happy and to love being there. --Seattle-area contractor
</blockquote>
I've included these in my Canvas site, front and center, with the hope that students will realize that being on time, being prepared, responding promptly, etc. are not just my values, but the kinds of things that will get them working in music. I think, too, that this kind of knowledge is important in a world where "winning the big audition" is fast becoming a thing of the past.
Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-56142874646176053342014-12-19T08:15:00.000-08:002014-12-19T08:15:37.703-08:00Seeing what we want to seeThis post is only remotely music-related, but it's a story I tell over and over again.
<p>
A few years ago, I went to get a replacement bass wheel: mine had worn through and would no longer hold air after about 10 years of faithful service. (For those who may not know, this is what I'm talking about)
<p>
<img src="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/images/accessories/wheels/Luft-6.jpg">
<p>
After some Googling, it turns out that the rather unusual tire size is <a href="http://www.topmobility.com/tires-&-tubes-c357.htm">quite common for medical equipment (like mobility scooters).</a> So I went to the local medical supply store to see if I could save the wait/shipping costs/etc. of ordering online. I brought my old wheel with me just in case.
<p>
I asked the guy behind the counter at the medical supply store if he carried wheels like this--the size, etc. that I needed--and I showed him my wheel. He asked what it was for, and I did my best to explain that it was for transporting a musical instrument, like a big cello. His response, "Well, we do have wheels like that, but they're for medical equipment." I asked if I could see one of them, and he was hesitant, as if he couldn't understand why I was pursuing this further. After a minute, he went into the back and emerged a few minutes later with exactly what I was looking for--the right size and style, and it was a solid wheel, to boot. Perfect!
<p>
"But we only sell medical equipment."
<p>
"It's a wheel, and it's the exact thing I need. I'll take it."
<p>
"But it's not for medical use."
<p>
"It's a wheel."
<p>
Finally, he agreed to sell me the wheel. (Mind you, he was never gruff or irritated or anything throughout all of this: just perplexed.) I pulled out my debit card to pay for it...
<p>
"Do you have Medicare or Medicaid, or some other insurance we can bill?"
<p>
"Um, no. It's for a musical instrument. Can I just pay for it?" (I may have even brought cash along--something I don't typically do--anticipating some such issue.)
<p>
"Well, I'm going to have to call our billing department so that they can take your credit card information because we can't do that here."
<p>
It took three employees (including the person they called) and me about half an hour to resolve this transaction. The reason I like telling the story is because it's a great example of only being able to see (or hear) what you want to hear, what you're trained to hear. Seems to me a bit like a case of the <a href="http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/worlds-best-duck-rabbit-illusion/">duck-rabbit illusion</a> in which someone can only see the duck.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-43169433896295284142014-10-14T10:56:00.001-07:002014-10-14T10:56:53.903-07:00Timed quizzesIt's about that time of year where I start to give my first-year students timed quizzes on fundamentals: key signatures (major and minor), intervals, and triads (all identification--not spelling). The conventional wisdom is that these quizzes build speed and increase recognition. My rationale is that if you're taking ten minutes to identify a key signature, ten minutes to figure out how to spell a minor sixth, and ten minutes to identify a D-major triad, then part writing is going to be a nightmare for you. Kris Shaffer posted <a href="http://krisshaffer.withknown.com/2014/what-do-timed-quizzes-actually-assess">this</a> yesterday morning, which prompted a robust discussion on Twitter among he, I, and a number of other theory professors.
<p>
After a good deal of back-and-forth, and a discussion with my class, we're going to try the following new and improved version. On Friday, during their quiz sections, I'm going to give them a sheet that contains a whole pile of key signatures and features the following instructions:
<p>
<blockquote>
Identify the <strong>major</strong> key associated with each key signature below.
<p>
This quiz will be timed: your instructor will tell you when to start, and it is up to you to complete the quiz as quickly and accurately as possible. When you have finished, please bring the quiz to your instructor, who will note your finishing time in the space provided.
<p>
To pass this quiz on the first attempt, you need to achieve 90% accuracy in two minutes or less. If you do not meet this standard, you will have additional attempts to re-take the quiz during future quiz sections. I would ask you to make a note of your improvement goal (time and accuracy) for the next attempt in the space provided, and to indicate steps that you will take between now and then to improve your score.
<p>
If you do not pass on the first attempt, you will need to improve to 90% accuracy and less than two minutes, or a 50% reduction in both time and errors--whichever is lowest--over subsequent attempts.
<p>
A score below 30% accuracy and/or longer than 10 minutes will result in the attempt not being counted toward improvement: you'll need to re-take the quiz as though it was a first attempt.
<p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Notes on each paragraph:
<ul>
<li>I'm envisioning about 30 key signatures (I know there are only 15 possible).</li>
<li>Having the instructor note the time will minimize students self-reporting falsely short times and will give him/her a chance to look at the work.</li>
<li>Students are forced to reflect on their performance and start thinking ahead to how they might succeed in future attempts.</li>
<li>The two possibilities here account for students who come in at 89% or 2:10</li>
<li>This prevents students from "gaming the system" and deliberately doing poorly on the first attempt so that the required improvement is minimal.
</ul>
<p>
Thoughts? Comments? Feel free to post below or find me on Twitter (@professor_berry).Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17455491.post-36450654078868852332014-08-01T11:05:00.002-07:002014-08-01T11:05:30.011-07:00Further to the introspective turn in hip hopI've been thinking more about this over the last few days. Here are a few of my thoughts--questions, mostly:<p>
<ul>
<li>Is it a by-product of more educated rappers? There are many more now than in the early days of hip hop. They've read books, had academic dialogues, studied "the great works..."</li>
<li>Is it a result of the shift from crews (i.e., Wu Tang, Public Enemy, Run D.M.C., Tribe Called Quest, etc., etc.) to individual artists (i.e., DJ Khaled feat. Ludacris, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, and T-Pain)? Even the crews associated with record labels don't seem as tight-knit as original hip hop crews.</li>
<li>Is it representative of a shift in thinking about masculinity? Acknowledgement that being a vulnerable man is OK?</li>
</ul>
<p>
I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this later--maybe a good paper. I have to listen to some music and read some books, I think.
<p>
Comments are always welcome.Michael Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451453242779620184noreply@blogger.com0