This was an unusual week for me - hard in some ways, and unstressful in others. Sunday last I edited a video that turned out rather well.
And also this week I went above and beyond the call, to give teachers as much support as I could with their summer school students, using networked Chromebooks and Moodle. It was hard - getting 210 some odd students to navigate wireless network login, Chromebook login, and Moodle login is hard. Also, I had to set up the Moodle course and copy it out into sections for individual teachers.
So it was a busy week, but I'm feeling twice as good about my job as I was earlier, for several reasons: 1) working hard is an antidote to worry; 2) working hard makes me feel valuable, and makes me feel less disposable; and 3) giving service to teachers and students directly is very rewarding. Being in the same room with the people I serve is wonderful (most of the time :). Also, I learn so much from the successes and failures in the classroom. Usually I'm far away, in my little office, and things that seem simple in my office can wind up being really hard in the classroom, when unforeseen problems happen.
And this coming week, I'm helping out at a special summer program where kids put together Raspberry Pi computers and do projects with them. That should be fun. And, I'm responsible for audio & video at a teachers' event with a really good presenter. I have to handle sound reinforcement, shoot a video, and capture digital audio for the video. That should be fun.
And I'm going to become a Canvas admin. I need to move quickly on that.
It's nice to not think so much about scary things, like being unemployed, and more about how I can help people at my job.
Also, my wife is recovering nicely from having fractured her ankle. She's improving every day. No surgery necessary, thank God...
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
4 against 1, 2 against 2, and improvisation
My work on this book details four-note chords, and by detailing omissions, there are notes that can be freely played by the other hand. So, a right-hand four-note chord could be supported by a bass line, or a melody in the upper register. Or a left-hand four-note chord could be accompanied by a melody above or below, as many of the left-hand chords are playable quite high up on the neck. Once a player becomes familiar with this method of play, improvisation is natural.
But what intrigues me more is 2 notes against 2 notes. The possibilities for four-part counterpoint really shine there. I think that will be the core of my third book. (The second book will be three-note chords with approach tones, dissonance handling, and such, and should take a year to write). The Bach chorales sound right for this kind of play, but especially the chorale melodies with figured bass. Those have soprano and bass, with figured bass instead of tenor and alto parts, which would give the maximum freedom to a Chapman Stickist to supply moving voices, as the layout on Stick is quite different from a keyboard.
Ultimately, I want linear improvisation a la Lennie Tristano, with a style, a method, and a core of study. It doesn't have to be blues-based, although that is probably a good idea.
This is rest-of-my-life stuff.
Why, you ask, why don't you just play and compose? There are so many reasons. 1) I can't stand the idea of playing dumb, of just letting my fingers do stuff, although that can be wonderful; I need that mental superstructure - that or silence. It's just my personality. 2) Practicing around my family is difficult, and I don't like using headphones. I often play my Stick with no amp, which is extremely soft, and only works because I'm doing this very early in the morning; 3) I need a method, and although there are many fine Stickists out there who teach, I'm instinctively distrustful of anything too simple (thank you music school, for ruining my sensibilities :), and much of what they do is quite simple. Ironically, the man who plays the most complex harmonies is the inventor, Emmett Chapman, the one with little time to play, because he's so busy running his business and working on Sticks.
So, there are so many Stickists who can do what I cannot. I just want my little corner of the world where I do things they cannot. Ego? Yes, yes. My ego is getting battered everywhere else. I can wear a crown in this little area.
People may buy my book and outstrip me quickly. That's OK - that's a victory condition.
I worked on the book today. It's amazing how many errors there are - chords are described, and the wrong chords are put down. Synonyms are detailed, and they are wrong. Chords are outlined and voiced, and there are already synonyms written down and fingered elsewhere in my work. Often I just put a mark on the wrong place for an intended note.
This is no different than the many math errors I made in high school. I was only a B student - never got an A from my favorite teacher, Andre Cloutre. Wow that man could teach. I got more from him than my grades ever reflected. Also, he was my homeroom teacher for four years. Lucky me, as a friend of mine is fond of saying.
Before I go, one more thing. I've been working on my first book since Thanksgiving, and multiplication problems are becoming easier to visualize. I'm solving problems in what seem like a very short time to other people, but it's easy for me, because I can "see" the solution. I'm no idiot savant, at least not yet. I'm waiting for that blow to the skull to set me free...
But what intrigues me more is 2 notes against 2 notes. The possibilities for four-part counterpoint really shine there. I think that will be the core of my third book. (The second book will be three-note chords with approach tones, dissonance handling, and such, and should take a year to write). The Bach chorales sound right for this kind of play, but especially the chorale melodies with figured bass. Those have soprano and bass, with figured bass instead of tenor and alto parts, which would give the maximum freedom to a Chapman Stickist to supply moving voices, as the layout on Stick is quite different from a keyboard.
Ultimately, I want linear improvisation a la Lennie Tristano, with a style, a method, and a core of study. It doesn't have to be blues-based, although that is probably a good idea.
This is rest-of-my-life stuff.
Why, you ask, why don't you just play and compose? There are so many reasons. 1) I can't stand the idea of playing dumb, of just letting my fingers do stuff, although that can be wonderful; I need that mental superstructure - that or silence. It's just my personality. 2) Practicing around my family is difficult, and I don't like using headphones. I often play my Stick with no amp, which is extremely soft, and only works because I'm doing this very early in the morning; 3) I need a method, and although there are many fine Stickists out there who teach, I'm instinctively distrustful of anything too simple (thank you music school, for ruining my sensibilities :), and much of what they do is quite simple. Ironically, the man who plays the most complex harmonies is the inventor, Emmett Chapman, the one with little time to play, because he's so busy running his business and working on Sticks.
So, there are so many Stickists who can do what I cannot. I just want my little corner of the world where I do things they cannot. Ego? Yes, yes. My ego is getting battered everywhere else. I can wear a crown in this little area.
People may buy my book and outstrip me quickly. That's OK - that's a victory condition.
I worked on the book today. It's amazing how many errors there are - chords are described, and the wrong chords are put down. Synonyms are detailed, and they are wrong. Chords are outlined and voiced, and there are already synonyms written down and fingered elsewhere in my work. Often I just put a mark on the wrong place for an intended note.
This is no different than the many math errors I made in high school. I was only a B student - never got an A from my favorite teacher, Andre Cloutre. Wow that man could teach. I got more from him than my grades ever reflected. Also, he was my homeroom teacher for four years. Lucky me, as a friend of mine is fond of saying.
Before I go, one more thing. I've been working on my first book since Thanksgiving, and multiplication problems are becoming easier to visualize. I'm solving problems in what seem like a very short time to other people, but it's easy for me, because I can "see" the solution. I'm no idiot savant, at least not yet. I'm waiting for that blow to the skull to set me free...
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