Captured Thought: Music Theory

           One of these ideas of a "now I get it!" moment don't come by thinking about it, but come spontaneously. So asking to come up with a moment like that with a 3 day notice is a bit unrealistic. There have not been any recent thoughts I have had that included a moment of realization. Of course these moments are constantly happening, but they are difficult to recall unless you are looking out for them.

            I could lie to you to simply follow the prompt and say that just last week I had a great idea and a moment of complete realization, but that would do me no good to reflect upon it. Although this is not recent, I can still recall a specific time where I had an extreme realization. Of course just like half the things I write about this moment was in choir sophomore year when I had a moment where I understood music theory. It had always seemed to be a foreign language to me even though we had always been tested on it; but I just let the theory of music pass me by. These were simple ideas too, like rhythmic ideas and counting and identifying key signatures and what not. It didn't really apply to anything I did because I tended to follow along with what the rest of the choir sang and not really pay much attention to the notes on the page. 

           One day in choir we were given a work sheet and asked to write down the note's value and the beat it got. (1&2&3&4& in a 4/4 measure for example). I was completely confused and although I understood values of each note, the page looked foreign. I decided to seek help and sat down with Elyse to see if she could teach me. What a great decision. She explained in a way that was more clear than I had ever heard before. I finally understood the entirety of note values and key signatures. It was such a moment of realization and totally a "wow" moment. I was getting these on my own and understanding the music. This wasn't that spontaneous but after thinking about it for a while, without knowing it I would have never gotten by being in Solace and Chambers because of how much more independent I need to be. In smaller groups when I am singing a part on my own, I need to know the values of notes. Without an early understanding this would have been such a struggle for me.