Written Theory @ MindSay

Spreading wild across the land
You can call it love or call it wisdom
To be not savin' a drowning man...

It is interesting to look back over all of these many years and watch how my means of communication has changed...

At the beginning of my history, I would only express myself in non-verbal terms possibly only a cry was all I could manage at the very beginning, but that was soon to change...

Then I advanced up the evolutionary ladder to the point where I could produce sounds and make gestures and some people began to understand the message that I was trying to convey. I was so very primitive, so very pre-historical...

After a great deal of effort and much trial and error, I began to use words that were understandable. These fundamental changes lead to the downfall of many of the means of non-verbal communication that I had relied upon up to this point in my life. This giant leap for my self is the beginning of my existence as a Homo sapien sapien and I could never return to my lower formers for time can never be stopped, and we just keep moving forward until we can no longer move...

Than came the written word. I no longer had to communicate verbally; I could tap straight into my thoughts to control a device that allows the universe to know all that is contained within. At first this device was primitive having its roots in devices created by my long dead ancestors. Now the device of choice operates much like my brain where interaction sends electrical signals to the nerve center that processes the signal and converts it into some meaningful form that others will read and possibly understand...

Maybe one day in some far distant future I will evolve beyond the need to transform my thoughts into another form, but rather directly transfer my thoughts to all those who wish to hear though I do not believe humans have evolved enough to handle all the ramifications of this form of communication. But this is the next step that must be taken. When will we be physically and mentally mature enough to take this step? Will we even be brave enough to take this step?

I wonder about some much that I can never truly explain, but I do think that I have run across the answer to one of my many questions that I find myself asking. Quite a few people have expressed that they enjoy the way that I write and some have even asked how I can just babble for quite a while in a written format, which seems to cause others a great deal of difficulty (sorry, but this is like boredom, I just don't truly understand the concept). I do believe I have may have uncovered the answer to why I can use the written form of the language with little or no difficulty, and the answer to this great mystery may lay in the fact that when I was young and learning the spoken word, I had a few problems that caused me to not be understood in the pronunciation of individual and groups of letters. This fact caused me to undergo a couple years of speech therapy and near the end of this therapy I suffered a neck injury that led to many weeks of being alone with nothing to do other than thinking. It may be possible that these factors compounded causing my brain to wire itself in a manner that the written form of the language is as easy if not easier than the spoken word. It's an interesting theory that I will keep until a time comes when I discover a new and better one to replace it...

And it is written that I Babylon and on and such is the fate that this life has dealt me and I know no other way to live. What other great mysteries will I discover as journey through this existence? Will I ever discover the answers to all the questions that I have asked my self over these many long years in the desert? Will I ever find the common thread that runs through all mankind so that everyone will know and understand all that I need to say?

Go ye now in peace, my friends...

This is the Word of the AntiCrust...

Praise be ye who Read the Word for ye are blessed amongst humans...

I do an unfortunate amount of supplementing for my written and aural theory classes.  My "philosophy" about textbooks is this - they should be useful for instruction and learning.  Students should be able to turn to their textbooks outside of class to learn MORE than what was given to them in class.  Music theory textbooks should have lots of exercises that trigger, enhance, and synthesize kinesthetic, aural, and visual learning patterns.  Well, I could go on and on . . . on this tangent . . . so I'll get to my point.

 

Music Theory Texbooks I like:

• Kostka & Payne - Tonal Harmony:  We used this at Rice University, and it served me well as a student.  It continues to serve me well as a teacher.
• Roig-Francoli - Harmony in Context:  If you prefer to teach music theory from a "historical" pedagogical perspective, this is the book you should use!  Contact McGraw-Hill for a review copy (sorry students, you cannot apply for a review copy).
• Benjamin, Horvit, Nelson - Music for Analysis:  Most textbooks only provide 4-8 measure "snippets" of literature examples.  Most students need to see more of the musical example for the concepts to make sense.  (I don't like the accompanying CD for this book because individual examples don't always get their own "track".)

Aural Theory/Perception Texbooks I like:

• Krueger - Progressive Sight Singing:  The title is inaccurate . . . this is much more than a sight singing book.  This is a very good aural theory/perception textbook, and I will likely make it mandatory for my section of aural perception next year.
• Kazez - Rhythm Reading:  Because if you don't get rhythm . . . you won't get music!
• Other books I turn to less frequently include Benward & Kolosick's Ear Training: A Technique for Listening (which is not useful for self-study) and Mayfield's Theory Essentials, vol. 1.

If anyone reading this has recommendations, please leave a comment!  I'm a new textbook junkie.