It was great! I attended a morning seminar on ethnomusicology, which was basically a discussion session based on readings given by the professor (my mentor). It was actually also the 1st lesson for the semester, so it was an introductory session to ethnomusicology (definitions). Good thing I covered a little of that in my NAFA module, so I wasn't that lost. But it was definitely more in-depth and interactive where we were to analyse & interpret the readings, giving our opinions on it. Of course, I didn't have time to read the readings beforehand. But it was a good session. It really fired up my interest and had me wondering on how my librarian work can actually work around this discipline. I don't think I can actually survive the whole module if I were to study it, but it did make me miss school a little. Look forward to next week's class! Here's a shot of the music dept at Emory University where I'm having my classes.
After the class, my mentor & I grabbed a quick bite and we went to look at a venue where his gamelan group will be performing in 3 weeks time. Following which, the evening was a session of gamelan playing. It's different from what I've done so far, which was Central Java gamelan, but this was West Java (Sudanese). The methods, beats and rules have changed and I admit I had a hard time following for some pieces. Trying to memorise & play at the same time.
So that marked the end of today. I'm fully convinced I chose the right mentor, who's really knowledgeable and a really nice person. His classes though taxing, are quite "fun" actually. Hopefully I am up to expectations.
Tomorrow will be a long day, with lessons from 2-9pm. Got to try to cover the readings for tomorrow first in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment