The Armchair Musicologist
Who are you?
My name is Ed. I'm a formerly burnt-out educator/mediocre band director. I have a Bachelor's of Music Education from the Florida State University that I no longer actually use for anything except this blog and the occasional lesson/clinic work. I have over 6 years experience as a music educator, specifically in the area of high school band, but I now am a theatre manager for a local high school. It's a moderately long story.
Over my time in the band room I taught band, jazz band, AP music theory, guitar, piano, music appreciation, and of course, marching band. I have performed professionally on trombone and euphonium and have studied tuba and electric bass. Over my tenure as an educator I always tried to inject some professional modeling into my lessons with examples of quality literature played by fine musicians. Listening Friday was a byproduct of that desire. You can read more about that here.
What are you doing?
Mostly just listening to music, talking about personal experiences as well as relating it to whatever research I can uncover about a particular work. Sometimes we'll have a series that explores specific genres or time periods, but mostly I'll exhibit pieces that I've found to be interesting or unique in some way. I'll try to be funny, but sometimes it's hit-or-miss.
Why are you doing this?
I enjoy writing. I enjoy listening to and performing music. I enjoy sharing both of those things with people. The blog seemed to be a natural progression for the concept.
What do you know about music?
I'll be the first to admit, my research is several rungs below exhaustive when it comes down to it. I don't claim to be the final authoritative word on musicology or music history, but I do enjoy learning about it. One of the best things I learned from teaching was that by teaching something you become better at it. Want to play tennis better? Teach someone how to swing a racket. Obviously this only applies to areas where you already have some degree of knowledge, but it doesn't have to be complicated.
You cite Wikipedia more than a high-schooler doing a term paper at 3am.
I don't have too much time to spend on the blog weekly, so you will notice many of my sources come from online materials (or from days I was awake in my 8am Music History classes back in the day). I do like to give credit where credit is due, so if you see something on here uncited (usually an image) please notify me! So, no, this isn't going to be a well-cited dissertation, but it is the best armchair musicology that's priced to move online.
I want you to listen to a piece I wrote/found/discovered.
You can email me at ED@listeningfriday.com and I will look into it. I can't guarantee that I will use whatever you submit. Also, I'm not really in the business of promoting music so don't think of me as a vehicle to help out your band. No one really reads this site anyways, so you'd be better off leaving flyers on city buses. If you want to increase your chances of getting submitted, include a YouTube video of your suggestion. Quality matters.
