Ali Hersi

Professor Steegmann

English 210

19, May 2019

 

Musical Students at CCNY

 

1. ENTERING THE FIELD
2. Interviewing Informant and transcript
3. Observation
4. Self-Assessment Essay
5. Outside Sources

 

 

 

 

Entering the Field

 

When the field study was assigned my mind went blank when thinking of a topic to study. I then had a flashback.  In elementary school I participated in the orchestra as a cellist. I developed a strong bond with this instrument. My middle and high school didn’t have an orchestra and I don’t play outside of school because my parents decided to not pay for music classes outside of school so I slowly lost affection for it. This led me to focusing on the musicians at CCNY. It also helps to have a friend from a different CCNY class that is a part of this group. I plan on observing and interviewing some musicians, including the conductor of the band. Questions I plan to ask pertain to their experiences in the music class, how they started playing their respective instrument and how they were able to continue, how they fit practicing and playing an instrument and how they were able to continue, how they fit practicing and playing an instrument into their school and life schedule and if there is a future within the music industry. This topic should help me rediscover my love and passion for this type of music.

Interview

 

[Transcript}

1. When did you start playing your instrument?
2. Why did you start playing?

“I started playing the violin around the age of six because my family is very musical and growing up in that environment after trying many instruments I liked the violin the best.”

1. Did you ever consider quitting your musical hobby? If so, why?
2. Did you always go to schools that provided music classes?

“I actually did consider quitting once. I think there comes a time when you’re playing an instrument where the demand to sound better than you are requires a lot of work and that’s usually the time where people give up the instrument”

“I always was lucky to go to schools with good music programs.”

 

As I entered Sheperd Hall I looked at the wooden benches to my left and saw Aaron Bernstein whom I am friends with from our Humanities class waiting patiently for me. We greeted by shakings hands and as I sat down next to him I took out my phone, notebook and pen to record my results. Aaron is a junior at CCNY. He is a white Caucasian male with a thick frame standing at 5’10 and brown hair and eyes. His sideburns are visible but his routinely shaves his beard. Aaron is an easy person to recognize due to his handlebar moustache.

Aaron began to play the violin at the age of six because he grew up in a family that heavily valued music. He chose to focus on the violin after trying many instruments. As he answered this question a reflective look smeared his face. I then asked about

He started to really fall in love with the violin when he was able to play songs he’d dream of playing but was never able to. Aaron’s arms began to twitch demonstrating the power his violin gave him when he achieved playing the songs he initially could not play. He is so confident that he believes anything that comes to mind can be played on his violin. Aaron’s deep love for music has led him to pursue a music career and dedicate his life to it. “I fully intend to make music my whole life and career”.

 

 

 

Field Notes/Observation

 

Was there a hobby you enjoyed at a young age that slowly evaporated? Your love and passion for it didn’t decrease but it didn’t feel the same as you aged. For me this was music, musical instruments that is. I played the cello in elementary school and loved every second of it. It was hard to continue playing in middle and high school because my school did not have an orchestra and my parents were not willing to pay for music classes. I slowly forgot about those experiences until this assignment came up. This observation allows me to revisit my past through the actions of music students at CCNY.

I walked through Shepherd Hall towards room 190 as my mind wandered, thinking about how the music classroom looks and what to expect during class. I knew I was early so I sat on the brown wooden bench in front of room 190. The brown, blue and green walls provided a dark and gloomy scene. Some students approached the bench with instruments in a case wrapped around their necks. I looked at my phone and the time read “1:56”. I got up and opened the wooden door to enter the classroom. As I placed my hand on the doorknob I had a sudden flashback to the doorknob I’d always open on the 3^rd floor of my elementary school when entering my orchestra class. I walk in and see some students chatting cleaning the violin’s and violas on their laps. I look up to view the walls and construction of the classroom. It is a medium sized amphitheater looking room, with a large wooden floor and steps with chairs to sit and watch the floor which is where the band is set up. I turned around and greeted my friend Aaron with his trademark twisted moustache, who helped orchestrate (no pun intended) this observation.

I continued to get a glimpse of the classroom and locked my eyes on the drum set in the back next to a grand piano. The guitarists and brass are in front of the piano and the saxophone section is in the very front. My eyes continue to wander and notice that only two of the four walls have windows looking out at the park. I asked Aaron what the foam was used for pointing at the ceiling and walls. He said it is soundproofing with a confident grin on his face. The door opens, and the air is sucked out of the room. I looked in that direction and saw Professor Holober, he is tall with straight black hair and a full moustache. His black glasses have a rectangular frame. As Holober walks toward the center of the room I take a seat in the middle of the floor to get a bird’s eye view of the students and teacher. As the class settles down, I estimate the gender ratio as they hold their instruments and look at their notes. 60 to 65 percent were male and 35 to 40 percent were female. Unlike my previous classroom observation there weren’t a lot of students with dyed hair. Also, about 60-70 people were in the classroom. Both genders were diverse in terms of ethnicity

There were a handful of instruments used by students including violins, violas, cellos, basses, saxophones, guitars and a piano. All the students and Professor Holober were wearing a variety of sweaters during class. Everyone was upbeat all throughout class. I never got the intention that the students didn’t want to be there. Professor Holober doesn’t speak much during class. He mainly communicates with his hands when the students are performing much like my conductor in elementary school teacher, Mr. Tech did. Holober’s hands go up, sideways, up, down and up again. This cycle continues all throughout class. The students don’t pay much attention to me and don’t question why I am there. They’re probably used to being observed as they are during live performances. I looked at Aaron a few times comparing Aaron the humanities student to Aaron the musician. His facial expressions stay the same per usual. The space outside of room 190 is dark and gloomy but when you enter the classroom the lights and fresh air quickly changes the mood.

I looked down at my phone and the time read “3:34”. Despite class not being over I had seen enough and enjoyed this therapeutic observation. My stomach let out a light grumble and although I was hungry for food, my hunger to rekindle some of the lost love of musical instruments was served.

 

 

 

 

• Record: Middle of the classroom.

Respond:  Do these students notice that I’m not a part of this class?

 

• Record: Observing the students, there are more males than females. I don’t see any friends in the area.

 

Respond: Is there a mystery friend hiding in plain sight?

 

• Record: Professor Holober points at a student for about 10s

Respond:  What does that mean? Is that a common symbol?

 

 

• Record: A student walks in at about 3:00 and people don’t react.

 

Respond:  Is it normal for students to come an hour late?

 

 

• Record: A student sneezes.

Respond:  Should I yell out “bless you”?

 

• Record: I exit the class at about 3:40 and some students wave at me.

Respond:  Why are they so friendly?

 

 

 

Self-Assessment Essay

 

I entered this class feeling secure about my writing, especially my ability to write quality papers after a semester of seasoning in college and years of high school work. However, the lessons from the pink workbook and feedback from my papers in this class proved otherwise.  Unnecessary words were littered in my work, my punctuation was spotty, and I did a bad job of constantly switching back and forth between present and past tense. There were past instances where I day-dreamed about improving my writing and displaying a sophisticated tone in my work. Thanks to the pink workbook and verbal lessons in class I now have the map I’ve long searched for to enhance my writing. This class helped me develop good habits such as submitting my assignments the day before or the morning of the deadline as opposed to waiting until the last minute to improvise and submit my work. The course learning objectives provided a series of checkpoints to keep track of in terms of learning in this class and finding my perception of writing and defining what writing is.

When it comes to achieving the course learning objectives, some were met more than others. For instance, I enhanced strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing and self-assessment to a large extent. The constant announcements from Professor Steegmann to edit and revise my work greatly influenced this learning outcome. Now editing, drafting and revising my work has become a staple thanks to the repeated reminders. Negotiating my own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium and rhetorical situation was somewhat met because my writing audience is usually based on the prompt and what point I am trying to get across. Some of my writing is flexible to the audience in terms of understanding my work but sometimes I neglect certain audience members with my writing style. I did a good job of developing and engaging in the social and collaborative aspects of writing processes by way of my field study. The required interview and observation formulated my writing. Formulating and articulating a stance through and in my writing was successful by picking a side in my writing and sticking with it despite the temptation to include the other side. Furthermore, I accomplished using various library resources, online databases, and the internet to locate sources appropriate to my writing projects with the CCNY online library for my field study. I used that website to find sources that supported my music field study. I also strengthened my source use by citing the sources from the online library into my field study. Also, as stated above my observation, interview and notes for my field study allowed me to practice field research strategies. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish engaging in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts and beyond and acknowledging the linguistic differences of myself and others as resources and draw on those resources to develop rhetorical sensibility.

Prior to taking this class my perception of writing was mixed. I think of people writing papers in school and journals/diaries at home. I haven’t written much unless it’s required but I plan to write more to get my thoughts out and to improve my writing so to that it translates to my schoolwork. Writing to me is a therapeutic activity and skill developed over time with repetition. When your writing is not required via submission your thoughts can freely float around and there isn’t a clock or deadline to worry about. For instance, I remember a writing assignment or two in class that allowed us to free write. The only problem was the 15-minute deadline but activities such as that enables students to express themselves without caution, especially when we’re not required to share our writing. My perception of writing evolved throughout this class by writing based on how I’m feeling as opposed to feeling contained and writing through a rubric.

This semester has enabled me to think critically in terms of reading and define what makes writing unique and useful. The field study greatly influenced the extent of achieving the course learning objectives, but I still have a few to accomplish. All in all, I’ve learned a lot and hope to learn more.

 

Outside Sources

Rawlings, Jared R, and Sarah A Stoddard. “Peer Connectedness in the Middle School Band Program.” Research Studies in Music Education 39.1 (2017): 121-35. Web.

 

Gomez, Nielsen, Studer, Hildebrandt, Klumb, Nater, Wild, and Danuser. “Prolonged Performance-related Neuroendocrine Activation and Perseverative Cognition in Low- and High-anxious University Music Students.” Psychoneuroendocrinology 95 (2018): 18-27. Web.