Kearns 1

Montana Kearns
Matt Wilson
Writing 2A MW 11-12:50
7 November 2015
WP2
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do; music sometimes sounds like a foreign language! When it
comes to learning music, many people start with the basics and never continue because its either
too difficult, or they see no point in learning it past elementary school band. Sure, it may not be
considered a necessary skill in order to succeed in life, but when used to its full extent, music can
alter the entire course of someones life. Music has the potential to open multiple doors to
meeting new people, discovering new things, broadening horizons, obtaining possible jobs, and
of course is always an impressive skill to surprise people with. Music knowledge is admirable to
have, but its rather difficult and time-consuming to attain. The discourse community that is
knowledgeable about music is generally a tough group to enter; however, with practice, patience,
and following the guidelines expected by the music community, it is possible to become a
member. Like most discourse communities, the initiation into this group begins with taking the
time to learn the material, for this essay, I will use the University of California Santa Barbaras
(UCSB) Music 11: Fundamentals of Music class syllabus, class observations, and textbook,
UCSBs music department homepage, and a peer-reviewed journal on pitch. Through these, Ive
learned and will argue that music fluency is most effectively taught through the following
rhetorical practices: visual representation, aural practice, memorization, and constant repetition.
UCSBs music department describes itself as having courses designed to serve as
background for professional careers in music, as preparation for graduate studies, or as an area of

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concentration for a liberal arts education (Department of Music). Under that broad idea, Music
11 aims to give students the foundation that they need in order to meet the departments
expectations. According to the class syllabus, the class intends to teach students the basic
building blocks of music notation, describe the blocks, analyze music and explain how to
analyze it, have students know the preceding both vocally and at the piano, and teach students
how to compose, notate, and sing a musical piece of the students (Short). Music 11 claims that
it will successfully teach students the material necessary to eventually end up in a professional
career in music, prepare for graduate studies, or concentrate on for a liberal arts education;
or, in short, enter into the music discourse community (Department of Music).
There are different levels within the music discourse community. Because there are so
many concepts to build off of, these levels can consist of elementary school band, high school a
cappella choir, college classes of different degrees, and professional careers. The elementary
band skill level most likely only teaches general note names in one clef and maybe two time
signatures. Someone coming from a high school a cappella choir will probably know more about
reading music, time signatures, pitch, and piano-playing skill. College classes vary from
fundamentals all the way to complete composition of music. Professional careers then get to the
point where a person knows so much about music that they teach it and even invent new ways of
putting it together. Each group is in its own discourse community that excludes outsiders;
however, they all have enough general information on the subject in common to be considered an
overall group that people are either in or out of. When it comes to music, you either know it or
you dont, which easily excludes anyone without the knowledge. Then, soon after the in or
out is determined, those who are alike associate with each other, excluding anyone outside of
the discourse community.

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To those in this discourse community, most musical texts are predictable in their diction,
format, and commonly included conventions. When it comes to actual music notation, its pretty
straightforward in its format and markings as it is almost always in the same general form
including format, symbols, and vocabulary. Aside from the notation, there are tons of
possibilities as to how to write about music. There is a large array of musical writings varying
from textbooks all the way to peer-reviewed journals. In textbooks, the usual structure is in steps,
beginning with an introduction, then introducing new concepts to build off of. It also includes
areas to practice what was just explained as well as many diagrams that help give a visual
connection to the text. Some even include online websites that provide quizzes, flashcards, and
more examples. For evidence, the textbook uses proven musical knowledge, and then supports it
by visually and textually breaking down the steps. Another common type of musical writing is
peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are usually structured differently than textbooks,
for the reason that the authors expect their audience to have more knowledge on the subject than
that of the textbooks. The peer-reviewed journal that I read, Written vs. Sounding Pitch by
Donald Byrd, is structured with an introduction, then many subsections related to the topic (for
example, instrument specific and unrelated to clef), and a list of special circumstances; there
are also a few pictures as examples (however, they shouldn't be considered as instructional
diagrams) (Byrd). For evidence, the journal uses cited in addition to well-known evidence to
support its claims. It is common for musical writings to include sections in the text to break the
reading down into smaller chunks that are easier to understand, each having explanations and
examples of the subject area. Differences in the texts include the person they are written in
(instructing with a hint of first person -textbook, you can draw a treble clef in a single
continuous curved line; or cookbook -journal, It is generally believed that converting written

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pitch to sounding pitch in conventional music notation is always a straightforward process),
long or short paragraphs, paragraph or bullet point structure, many citations and a wide range of
outside examples or few with little range, and the general methods of the text (the journal
explains something and then explains an example regarding the concept, while the textbook
explains something then has the reader attempt it on their own) (Clendinning, Marvin, Phillips)
(Byrd). All writings classified as being a part of the music discourse community are usually
known to have definitions, examples, the same general diction, and similar formats.
After analyzing the texts, I needed to understand the rhetorical conventions of the music
department, and in order to do so, I sat in my Music 11 class, observed what was going on, and
recorded notes over the span of two classes (about two hours total). From this, I learned that the
music community is very go with the flow in terms of how they approach their teaching style,
as they allow open discussion, modify the schedule as needed, and are very conversational. There
is a general procedure that is loosely followed; for example, where/when the homework is turned
in, the amount of time taken on a certain subject varies depending on what is needed, etc. The
instructor stands at the front of the classroom and talks for the majority of the fifty minutes with
some class participation; she uses the piano, slides, and various types of music to demonstrate
the concepts she is explaining. Her tone is generally didactic unless asked a personal question
where she takes on a more conversational tone. Logos is mainly utilized in teaching music as the
instructor does her best to explain the concepts logically, show why things are the way they are,
and make connections with logical occurrences. The main rhetorical conventions used in Music
11 are powerpoint slides that visually show the concepts, musical examples, and short practices.
The whole point of using rhetoric is to persuade, whether it be through speaking or
writing. Music 11s class syllabus states that it will approach the material persuade the class

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that the material is true through weekly reading and listening assignments, practicing
musicianship skills in M-W-F class and in piano lab, online tests and fluency drills, various
smaller assignments, and a composition project (Short). The class instructor, Short, follows her
syllabus to a tee as she cycles through each item listed for every chapter-correlated lecture.
Concepts are explained on slides then played in some way for students to make aural
connections; soon after, students practice the concept on paper in small groups in order to help
each other out and see other perspectives on the material. Short constantly stops to ask if there
are any questions to make sure the students are following her and will often ask for class
participation to verify that the class understands what they are doing as well as why. Along with
the class, the textbook prefaces that in addition to describing the material, it will also include
key concept and summary boxes, try-it exercises, end every chapter with a list of terms
[students] should know, questions for review, and a reading review, apply-it activities,
workbook assignments, and aural skills assignments (Clendinning, Marvin, Phillips) to help
students persuade them to learn the material. A chapter will usually include a short
introduction, then brief summaries of each part of the concept, and includes examples along with
opportunities for students to practice the concept, and a short quiz at the end. Both Short and the
textbook persuade students through explaining steps and showing visual examples to back up
concepts.
Music is a language of its own, with unique expectations of itself, certain ways of doing
things when it comes to writing, and rhetorical devices that it uses to persuade people of its
truths. The music department at UCSB aims to prepare students for a life related to music,
starting this journey with its most basic beginning class, Music 11: Fundamentals of Music, a
class determined to teach students the basics that they will need to build with later. In teaching

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these skills, instructors use the most effective approaches, which seem to be visual displays, aural
examples, and constant practice. Then, as more people learn this music knowledge, they add to
the growing discourse community that will continue to exclude anyone lacking skill in their
language. Considering the amount of people that are knowledgeable about music, the discourse
community does a very good job of persuading the ideals of its discipline.

Works Cited

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Bryd, Donald. "Written vs. Sounding Pitch." EBSCOhost. Music Library Association Inc., 1
Sept. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=43381548&site=ehost-live>.
Clendinning, Jane, Elizabeth Marvin, and Joel Phillips. "Sign In." Login or Create New Account.
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://wwnorton.com/college/
music/fundamentals2/ch/01/ebook.aspx>.
"Department of Music - UC Santa Barbara." About the Music Department. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.music.ucsb.edu/about>.
Short, Rachel. "The New GauchoSpace." : Log in to the Site. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. <https://
gauchospace.ucsb.edu/courses/mod/lesson/view.php?
id=420647&pageid=8775m>.