Throughout the year, we offer participatory musical experiences with the musicians that perform as part of our Performing Arts Series, Summer Music Festival and other events. Sometimes these experiences take the form of workshops, master classes or Q&As.

2011 Spring Semester Education Extras:

Offered in cooperation with Five Town CSD Adult Education/Continuing Education. To register, click here.

Music Appreciation - Understanding Western Musical Styles
Instructor: Glenn Jenks
Tuition $140, minimum 10 students.
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Would you like to gain some skill at telling one musical period from another, just by listening to the music?   This 6 week course is an improbably broad survey of Western music from the Renaissance to the turn of the last Century, focusing on the evolution of musical style.  The emergence of tonality, the concepts of musical form and texture, and the tell-tale characteristics of the period of common practice ( ca. 1700 – 1900)will be examined by listening to the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and many others.
 
Six classes, 1 1/2 hours each, materials will be provided.
2/9/11 “Coming into the Renaissance”
2/16/11 “The Baroque period and J.S. Bach”
3/2/11 “Mozart and musical classicism”
3/9/11 “The wonder of Beethoven”
3/16/11 “The early romantics: Chopin and Schubert”
3/23/11 “Late Romanticism”

Introduction to Reading Music
Instructor: Mary Anne Driscoll
Tuition: $140, minimum 5 students.
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

This course is offered for music lovers and performers who are rusty or unfamiliar with reading conventional notation.  Learn how notes are translated into music.  Each class includes lecture, written and workshop exercises, question period and study guides that develop skills for reading music in treble and bass clefs.  Materials provided.

Six classes, 1 1/2 hours each
3/3      Introduction to rhythm, pitch; musical alphabet, manuscript
3/10    Rhythm: duration of pitches, how beats are organized, reading, counting, playing
3/17    Pitch: the look and sound of a melody
3/24    Notation in different clefs, moving from one note to another
3/31    Scales: how and why they assist in reading accidentals: how to "listen" for and understand changes in written music
4/7      Expression, tempo, jargon, identifying common forms and symbols in music

Music Composition: How To Create Melody and Rhythm From Spoken Words
Instructor: Malcolm Brooks
Tuition $140, minimum 10 students.
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

A course in composing music collaboratively in a small class, using experiences and memories to inspire melodies and rhythms.

Six classes, 1 1/2 hours each
Classes meet on 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, and 4/7.

"With each run through, words and phrases were shaped or deleted, verses formed, and a melody and chorus began to emerge. It was captivating, and I lost myself in the process, such that the audience faded."  Marieke Slovin, Gustavus, Alaska

“I was awestruck by the intimacy, power and sheer humanity of the process, and very impressed with the actual results as a musical piece as well.”  Mary Whitney, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“The process of having her simply talk...and this drawing out a song where she would not be able to draw one...was a beautiful and non-intrusive way to work.” Nicole Apelian, Portland, Oregon

How the class works:

A member of the small class recounts an experience or memory. She is called the “starter” of the process. The instructor types her recollections verbatim, creating a short ethnography.  The instructor and the class then shape the story into poetic free verse by pressing the return key and dividing the text into lines and phrases.

The starter then reads the words aloud to notice the pulse and the rhythm that she hears.  Reading aloud reveals the basic tempo and rhythmic feeling of the song.  Some words will tend to be read at a higher volume or pitch. These accents and changes in pitch will reveal a possible melodic arc of the song beginning to be born.

The starter, or any other member of the small group, then begins to sing, in a casual, extemporaneous way, the lines of the free verse.
Some lines may feel stiff to sing, but others will be easy. These more comfortable lines will emerge as the key lines of the song and may become parts of a chorus.

Once the chorus emerges, the instructor and the class will begin sorting the rest of the words into verses.  From repeated singing of these words, a consistent melody tends to emerge.  Small ideas in word changes also occur, smoothing out the overall piece.

Observers in class may begin singing the song as well.  The final product is an original song that the community sings and that expresses a personal, true experience of one of its members.

This process is not new; it is simply out of fashion. This ethnography-into-song approach owes its origins to a pre-twentieth century tradition in which people gathered after an event to compose and sing verses about the event. In this way, wisdom and experience were passed on with the impact of emotion and music.

For this class, experience in composition is not required, nor is proficiency on an instrument. Participants will work under the guidance of a trained instructor who has worked with people with varying experience.

Additional Comments on the Process:

“It was a glimpse into real human experience and emotion, unfettered by script and censorship. It was one of the precious moments in life that I truly felt I was witnessing (and a part of) something real.” Rich Lewis, Prescott, Arizona

“This process was one of healing...healing through the telling of a story, through bearing witness to that story and sharing it with others and giving it shape in the form of song. ...If every person could be so deeply honored through their education in this way...dreams would start taking shape everywhere.”  Rosemary Logan, Flagstaff, Arizona

“It was transformational for both the participant, but most surprisingly, it was transformational for the audience. It is my belief that more so than the actual story/song that was being composed, the actual process was most meaningful and impressive to me. In addition, I observed that others were crying, chuckling (quietly) and completely "in the moment.” Faith Neilson, Nashville, Tennessee

“Professionals from academia and fields as diverse as psychology and anthropology to musicology and performance art could take away new and valuable insights and techniques to benefit their work.” Richard Pritzlaff, Annapolis, Maryland

“We need 10 or 100 of Malcolm Brooks traveling around inviting others to tell their stories in this manner.  This would not only have a profound effect on this population in individual terms but also offer the community ways to connect to the commonalities among their stories.” Rick Medrick, Boulder, Colorado