Week 1
I am on top of Mount Idiot.
After graduating, I hoped I knew everything I would need to know, but alas I was on top of Mount Idiot. I didn’t know how much I didn’t know. To say I was confident would be hyperbole, however, a little arrogant would be appropriate. It happens to everyone.
The real wake up call was when I was reading a book of writings from Schoenberg, in which he says, and I’m paraphrasing it here, “Musician nowadays does not ‘know’ their music anymore”. I scoffed and then thought about it, thought about it, and thought about it. About a week later it was on my mind still, so I tested myself. I sang a piece I listened to often and then listened to the piece back, only to discover how wildly inaccurate I was in this music I loved. I vowed to know the music I work with from now on.
Then I found the podcast “Sticky Notes” (I highly recommend it even if you don’t have a music degree!) and I listened to the host analyze and break down famous works of the twentieth century. Through this, I learned how haphazard I am with my music. How I thoughtlessly walked from one phrase to the next, how I gave the music no thought.
Among these things and others, I decided that right now a master’s program is not for me, for I am on top of Mount Idiot. I am pursuing a teaching certificate in Ohio, to climb from Mount Idiot and safely travel to the Valley of the Humbled and to start the long climb to conquer Mountain of Knowledge.
Sincerely yours, broadcasting from the top of Mount Idiot
I am on top of Mount Idiot.
After graduating, I hoped I knew everything I would need to know, but alas I was on top of Mount Idiot. I didn’t know how much I didn’t know. To say I was confident would be hyperbole, however, a little arrogant would be appropriate. It happens to everyone.
The real wake up call was when I was reading a book of writings from Schoenberg, in which he says, and I’m paraphrasing it here, “Musician nowadays does not ‘know’ their music anymore”. I scoffed and then thought about it, thought about it, and thought about it. About a week later it was on my mind still, so I tested myself. I sang a piece I listened to often and then listened to the piece back, only to discover how wildly inaccurate I was in this music I loved. I vowed to know the music I work with from now on.
Then I found the podcast “Sticky Notes” (I highly recommend it even if you don’t have a music degree!) and I listened to the host analyze and break down famous works of the twentieth century. Through this, I learned how haphazard I am with my music. How I thoughtlessly walked from one phrase to the next, how I gave the music no thought.
Among these things and others, I decided that right now a master’s program is not for me, for I am on top of Mount Idiot. I am pursuing a teaching certificate in Ohio, to climb from Mount Idiot and safely travel to the Valley of the Humbled and to start the long climb to conquer Mountain of Knowledge.
Sincerely yours, broadcasting from the top of Mount Idiot
Me.
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