Date for Entry: (Saturday 4th August, 2018)
Actual Date of Online
Entry: (Thursday
27th January 2022)
Dear Diary,
Today I woke at six in the morning to prepare to go to a new church. I
was going to attend a song writing workshop. The amazing feeling of the church
was nothing I’d feel like before. It gave me the feeling of life and that the
environment around me was real. It is not something that I might be able to experience
at Aramalaya but it was amazing. The feeling had me take an extremely slow walk
up the aisle in the empty building to take it in. Even the rising sun through the
front of the sanctuary’s glass was calling.
The class was not big. I went there as a person trying to learn some
concept but I told myself to take it as a fun experience. I was right when the
class began with the seven of us. Listening to way the everyone spoke in their
introduction and looking at the way they were in class, I realised and felt
like I was outnumbered. I was a musician, yes, but in their space, it was a completely
different type of art within their music. In addition to them, it felt as if
they had a particular gift that I was not given.
We were given these nice red folders with the handouts and notes for the
class. I made sure to write down the things I did not know. It was twice I tested
the teacher in two questions. I did not think that she was a musician. The
moment the wonderful grade one music theory was introduced I was very concerned
with the way the lady taught it. I did not remember her name.
There was supposed to be a Mr. Reuel Lynch who was supposed to come and
do the music aspect but he ended up coming later in the afternoon. One thing
that stuck with me was the way he said, “There was one rare occasion where I
saw four [in the time of] six-four.” I sat quietly on my chair and tried to
figure out exactly what he meant by that. Just by the instant hearing of it, my
body and ear did not want to agree for some reason. Up to now, I still don’t
understand what he meant.
I sat next to a gentleman named Jason Haynes and we worked on music for
the class. We were given an assignment to work on a piece of music after all the
talking that the lady did for the class. He saw what I had written down and then
build from what I had. I also walked with my laptop that day to the workshop
just in case I had to write out music notation. It came in good because I was
able to get a beautiful harp piece going. He ended up singing what he build from
some of my words as the music played.
Again, in the way the lady taught the music theory, it was not so well
done. They were throwing time signatures at us but you need several classes to
go through all of it instead of one day. I knew the idea he was telling me to
do and I could not explain it to him in that short space of time. I also could
not comment because everyone might have watched me strange as it usually happens.
He wanted to do a six-four. The issue I knew was going to happen had happened
in the presentation. The time required to do it also would be a lot to figure
it out. I did email him the music I did towards the end of the class. I hope
that it works well if he decides to use it.
Link(s):
Printed Handouts.**
Recording of Workshop Exercise to Jason.**
