Update Update

[bisontuba]

Actually, the post office is busy on Sundays. I have seen them of late delivering stuff from their trucks on Sundays and asked a driver about it while walking the dog....they 'won' the Amazon Prime delivery contract, which has put some post office workers doing delivery of packages on Sundays....

[Dan Schultz]

I about pooped! We had 800 square of new Vinyl plank floating flooring installed Monday and Tuesday. Of course, that meant a solid week of boxing all the 'small stuff' up and moving it to other rooms. The floor guys took care of moving the furniture, fridge, stove, washer, dryer, etc. but that still meant that all of the 'small stuff' had to be moved back after they were finished. The last couple of days have been spent putting down new baseboard in four rooms, two bathrooms, and a closet. Not quite finished yet but this is the 'most finished' this house has been since 1974!

Maybe the paving guys will show up next week. I've been waiting five years for the blacktop guys to work me in to their schedule!

[roweenie]

I sort of miss the bench seats and shift on the column, in my old Plymouth, but if I remember right the automatic would have been "push button", which would have been sweet.

Geez, push button transmissions always remind me of my grandmother's 1962 pink Rambler station wagon......

Speaking of transmissions, I've rebuilt more than a couple of these -



Even though I've had several of them apart, I still don't understand how the reverse gear works....

[Three Valves]

Someone should tell John Packer to leave their White Angst at the door.

I have.

https://www.facebook.com/johnpackerltd/" target="_blank

As they link to the following story;

Music education is now only for the white and the wealthy

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... te-wealthy" target="_blank

[Three Valves]

Of course, if, in the UK, non whites are prohibited from owning musical instruments or receiving a musical education as the Guardian headline no doubt accurately describes, than something must be done!!

A hashtag??

A Facebook frame??

My virtue demands to be signaled!!

[Three Valves]

I can say no more...

[Donn]

While getting your feathers all up over someone espousing egalitarian principles, it looks like you guys dropped out half way and missed the part that would be of some musical interest. The second half of that article proposes that a significant number of musically talented people are however unable to read musical notation well, and therefore shut out of music that depends on written music.

- How true is it? About like the percentage who don't read written language easily, because of dyslexia etc.? But probably more fatal, inasmuch as with written language there's every incentive to forge ahead anyway and overcome it. Where when written music proves to be a big problem, it just means you escape from a life of poverty as a musician.

- How necessary is music notation? The author complains about choirs that explicitly require that you be able to read musical notation - which to me implies that there are choirs where people can't read musical notation. In a brass band, in contrast, I think reading would be taken for granted, though I'm sure we all know someone who's managed to get by to some degree without. In the larger picture, though, there are plenty of types of music that don't use musical notation so much, and in fact the tables are turned as some musicians are not so easily able to pick up tunes by ear. (Seriously, I briefly played with someone who claimed that he just couldn't play by ear and had managed to exempt himself from that while graduating from Berklee.) For me, it's the greatest shame that music education steers around authentic musical traditions like that, to instead herd kids through somewhat pointless school bands and choirs.

- How necessary is musicianship? The author obviously feels that music education should insist on some degree of success with each person who has some desire and ability to make music, and I'm sure a lot of music educators would agree. On the other hand, given how much music performance we see in the adult population, one could argue that it's very nearly a waste of time anyway and the public schools certainly shouldn't bother with students who are not fully able to deal with school band & choir.

[Three Valves]

While getting your feathers all up over someone espousing egalitarian principles...

No, I was getting my feathers up over someone espousing their own White Angst, or worse, projecting their privilege, or worse, racism, onto the rest of us with a false and misleading headline that otherwise obscured a somewhat though provoking article.

It's a shame what they did.

I'm sure we agree again!!

[Three Valves]

- How necessary is music notation? The author complains about choirs that explicitly require that you be able to read musical notation - which to me implies that there are choirs where people can't read musical notation. In a brass band, in contrast, I think reading would be taken for granted, though I'm sure we all know someone who's managed to get by to some degree without. In the larger picture, though, there are plenty of types of music that don't use musical notation so much, and in fact the tables are turned as some musicians are not so easily able to pick up tunes by ear. (Seriously, I briefly played with someone who claimed that he just couldn't play by ear and had managed to exempt himself from that while graduating from Berklee.) For me, it's the greatest shame that music education steers around authentic musical traditions like that, to instead herd kids through somewhat pointless school bands and choirs.

I spent 5-9th grade playing upright double bass in an orchestra driven program. I was a better tuba player and had more fun with it so that kept up thru college (marching band)

I could never improvise on bass, my friends played in R&B or Rock groups and I could never catch on.

Last year I bought an electric bass guitar, and a three part method book including tab. I discovered that I spent all that time learning only the first of three parts.

In the second part it started with movable boxes and scales. I cursed and said "why did no one tell me how these two basic principles worked??"

Oh well. At least I know my Rossini!!

[Donn]

OK, so a fourth question to the three I posed -- what is the point of public school music education?

I would have thought we could rule out anything to do with getting a job playing music. The farthest thing from a 4th grade gym instructor's mind, is his kids' potential pro basketball etc. careers, am I right? and basketball would probably be a better financial bet than music - even if you don't make it to the pros, there are scholarships. Teaching a kid to look forward to a music career is just mean.

From a needed skills perspective, you're saying band and choir are somewhat like team sports, mainly good for civilizing the little monsters (and maybe giving them something to do that brightens the day a little.) But I suppose the gym instructor would argue that the team sports players go on to enjoy better physical health, too (assuming not too many blows to the head.) Can the music teacher say kids benefit, directly, from music performance? I sort of hope so, from the perspective that music is a really universal heritage of humans. (I blame 3rd grade music teacher for my problems, after she got me kicked out of flute-o-phone class.) If so, then what about kids who struggle with musical notation (which sure is not any universal heritage of our species), it's a shame to shut them out, no?

[Donn]

I always say, there's two kinds of people - the people who believe there are two kinds of people, and the people who don't believe there are two kinds of people.

I would have thought approximately everyone understands that kids get valuable social skills benefits from engaging in team or group activities. As I'm sure everyone understands that the self discipline etc. that comes with pursuit of excellence is a good thing.

But any thoughts about music, specifically?

[Three Valves]

... what about kids who struggle with musical notation (which sure is not any universal heritage of our species), it's a shame to shut them out, no?

The world needs ditch diggers too!!

And rhythm guitar players...

They aren't "shut out" they just aren't going to play in the school band or orchestra.

And probably be far more popular and cooler than any of us band nerds.

[Donn]

Well, as a "kind of people" regarding music instruction -- sadly, after my expulsion from flute-o-phone class in the 3rd grade, I never really came to personally appreciate the value of music education per se, have more or less managed without it. And taking adult music performance as a measure of success of general music education, it's open to question whether there's any value in it - adults in the US don't just make music poorly, they don't make it at all, by and large. But I know plenty of us have more optimistic and supportive views of music education, where my perspective is kind of an outsider's and naturally limited.

[alfredr]

It was certainly entertaining the way "making music" first was done in "The Music Man." What was Professor Harold Hill's method called? The Think Method?

If it wasn't for TubaChristmas, I probably would not make much music as an adult.

[alfredr]

A generation (or two) ago, every Mexican could play guitar, because they made their own entertainment. How many of them could read music? Nowadays, it is hard to find a young one who can play, because pre-packaged entertainment ( radio, TV, digital stuff) has arrived everywhere. Nobody has to entertain themselves anymore.

[Biggs]

How did this guy manage to play a brass instrument (a "melody" instrument, no less) without being able to read music?

oh...and he also did play a chord instrument (piano)...and was a composer...

The fact that he managed to do anything with that haircut is nothing short of a miracle.

[Three Valves]

Chicks dig the Shemp look; "Hold hands you lovebirds!!"

[bort]

Last few nights I've been going to sleep around 4am, up at 6:30am. It's okay to burn both ends of the candle, but you run out of wax faster.

[Ace]

Last few nights I've been going to sleep around 4am, up at 6:30am. It's okay to burn both ends of the candle, but you run out of wax faster.

Ha. Brings back memories of when I was a student at University of California-Berkeley. Of the fourteen libraries on campus, my favorite was the Biology Library which was open until midnight. Got back home at 12:30 am and studied more until about 4:00 am. Then up at 7:30 am to make the 8:00 am class. It's easier when you are young and determined. -Ace

[Dan Schultz]

I just went to Ebay to find out what sousaphones are selling for these days. It's very interesting what you get when searching for "38K"!