Return to Teaching Theory

After what seems like forever (eight months) since I last taught my Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (ASYO) music theory class, I'm finally back at it as of this afternoon. See, if last year had gone as planned, my break from the class would have only been about half as long, as I was supposed to teach the class for Spring semester as well as Fall, but there were some scheduling conflicts, and the class was canceled. Still, being my favorite (and best-paying) gig and all, I was super-happy to be back at it again today.

At first, we were a little afraid we wouldn't have much of a class to work with, but as it turns out, we had six students today and might have one or two more the next time we meet. One of the unfortunate results of the whole scheduling conflict situation from last semester is that our class this year has essentially been cut to less than 50% of what it once was: in addition to cutting class times by 30 minutes (down from 90 minutes), we've also made a schedule that only allows for half as many classes per semester, leaving me only teaching the class an average of twice a month. It's a bummer, but again, I love teaching theory, so it's no problem.

Today we covered introductory topics such as the value of learning music theory and whether or not this class will be enough to prepare someone for the AP Theory exam (it won't...at least not unless they work their asses off to get really good at ear training), and we moved on to all 15 major scales via the circle of fifths and the pattern for the placement of sharps or flats with progressive keys on the circle (7362514 for sharp keys, the reverse for flat keys).

Anyway, glad to be back. I wish (both financially and just for the pure sake of enjoying this class) that it were more regular, but I'll take what I can get.