Today I had a bizarre conversation with a student as we were leaving class. Stan had just taught an Ives song with some terrific syncopated rhythms (General Booth Enters Into Heaven - one of the best). I was humming the easy, diatonic part:

Her: Oh, you can sing it?
Me: Oh, well, I was just humming the easy part.
Her: Ah. Are you in the jazz program?
Me (surprised): Uh, no, I'm in theory all the way.
Her: Really?? ...Did you ever study jazz at any point?
Me: Well, not really.

I suppose I just look like a guy who'd know jazz. Well, you live and you learn.

Anyway, quick update on my classes. The first is a complete joke. I actually learned a few things today. Not much, though. At least we're beyond learning to search the IU library catalog (mostly).
The other class is Renaissance music. I've already taken a Medieval and Renaissance class at Kenyon, but it's always nice to have a second time around on something you really enjoy and really want to learn. I'm trying to really carefully read the book this time, to remind myself of a bit more detail in the lives of important composers as well as to remind myself (period) of some of the ones I didn't really remember. And when the professor confessed that she's not really into the theory as much as the culture/sociology, that went on my list to learn, too. But today was pretty painful. The first 10 minutes of class were wasted trying to discuss the ratios of the note values in a certain manuscript to the note values in a modern edition of the same piece. She kept tripping over which level of pulse was the tempus (the measure level, basically) and which was the prolation (the level below that). And then about 5 of those minutes were filled with her trying to both remember and demonstrate how the breve related to the semibreve related to the minim in this particular tempus/prolation. Now, obviously, considering that most of you probably have no idea what any of that means, this is kind of esoteric stuff. But she's teaching the course. It really was painful to sit there while she stuttered and made mistakes. I know that can be painful from a teacher's point of view, but it really felt like she hadn't prepared very well.
Anyway, this is still a chance for me to spend more time with the Renaissance book and get credit for it. And who knows? Maybe things will look up as we really get into our subjects.

I'm off to New York City this weekend! That'll be fun. I'll try to remember my camera so that I can post some pictures (of Sherry and I in the rain) and hopefully some actually exciting news afterwards.