Day 070: Music theory, in German
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
70 — Music theory, in German
11-October-1971
(Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
Registered at school.
Much better than usual horn lesson—maybe the first
sign of improvement. I doubt it.
Had my first theory class—unbelievable. It’s
elementary theory, and I think the theory will be
extremely easy. However, the teacher was speaking a
mile-a-minute in German, usually $50 words and
everything else. It all went over my head and even
though the music might be easy, the understanding is
going to be rough. Obviously, without complete
understanding, I’ll never learn as much. But I hope I
get my money’s worth.
Starting [to] write down my ideas for my
opera—“Johnny.” (?) I wonder, if it will really ever
get done. I like some of my thoughts though.
Also wrote the words for another song, which I would
like to send to Anjali.
REFLECTIONS
I think my writing is becoming more casual and less
correct. Believe me, I never thought anyone would be
reading this. Perhaps, that’s what makes it a bit
interesting.
I’m
in school. Yes, I
registered for school. That means they let me in.
What would have happened if they didn’t?
A good lesson. See, there
is some improvement in my 2nd horn lesson. Yes. I’m
certain that “real change” will take a reasonable
amount of time. I’m a little bit cynical. Of course,
my playing will go up and down.
Music
theory class, in German. Oh boy,
today I’m learning that I may be in trouble. Music is
the universal language—notes are notes. I understand
the music theory, it’s even easy (Day 1). The only
issue—I
can’t understand what the professor is
saying! He’s
speaking in German. Very fast. With words I don’t
understand. What was I expecting? This is Vienna.
What am I going to do?
Notice my literary technique: using italics to create
emphasis, fragmenting the sentences, chopping up
ideas, using short bursts, hammering exclamation
points, and ending with a question mark? Drama.
Tension and excitement builds.
Grammar girl
(link)
would be proud of me for the effect, but not for
the grammar.
After that day, I wasn’t sure what was going to
happen. We’ll see, soon enough. My conversational
German was fine but not sufficient to get me through
a college class. This wasn’t Music Theory 101 for
Foreign Students, this was Music Theory.
Learning
as a foreign student. Reading
this journal reminded me of how difficult it is for
foreign students to study and learn when they are
learning a foreign language and sitting in
classrooms. What I’ll tell you is, put
yourself
in that
person's position. In my theory class they gave me a
book written in German, filled with words I did not
know. I listened to the professor, hearing many words
I did not understand. Vocabulary, grammar, and
comprehension were the issues.
From
ESL to Chaucer. Again, put
yourself in a similar position. It is not easy to be
in any classroom where you truly don’t know the
language. As an example, my two stepsons came to this
country without knowing any English. They had
difficulty in the beginning and then they both were
fine in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes.
Their biggest difficulty came when they were taken
out of ESL and placed in standard classes. For
example, the students got a very thick book of
English literature. Throughout the year, the students
were asked to read, discuss, write about, evaluate,
and ponder such things as Elizabethan poetry and
old-English writers—Chaucer, Poe, Shakespeare, and
others—as well as many other literary challenges. How
would you do with a Russian, Chinese, Italian, or
Spanish book in front of you? I felt bad for my kids.
Going from ESL to evaluating Elizabethan poetry is a
bit much. I wish that the ESL path could be adjusted
in such cases. Just a thought.
I don’t want to put a damper on studying overseas,
and in fact, still recommend it if you will be able
to handle the language issue. I ended up having a
great year, learned more German, and feel today that
it was all worth it. I would do it all again. I would
study German for much longer before leaving.
An
opera and a song. I don’t
remember anything at all about my multimedia opera,
“Johnny.” Certainly, it was never done. Now, I’m
curious. I wonder what I was thinking. Too bad I
didn’t take down more notes. 
Then I write some lyrics for a new song for Anjali.
Yes, I still miss her. Again, I don’t write about it
but I must be thinking about her.
Take
notes. Nowadays,
I would advise people to keep notebooks and take
notes of things they want to do. Note taking helps to
crystallize your thoughts. It also helps you sleep
better by getting things off of your mind. For the
last several years, I have been writing down notes
for ideas and projects that I might want to do. My
advice, keep a notebook to jot down thoughts.
Leonardo da Vinci did it, and he was no slouch.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
John
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