I was (am?) a very, very classically trained violinist. I am now a patron of pop culture and am almost completely removed from the classical music network. I guess you can take the girl out of the classical training, but you can't take the training out of the girl. For example, I'll be listening to Janet Jackson and think, "Man, I love that hemiola right there." Or I'll hear any kind of melodic line and automatically try every fingering and every position on my imaginary fingerboard until it's just right. (Ok, I realize that if you're not a violinist, that just sounds dirty) Or I'll admire the way Alicia Keyes just nails that descending minor sixth. (or is it diminished? Crap, this brings me to my next point).
Much more often, I realize how much I've forgotten. I played a gig a little while ago and it took me a week to remember that "2nd violin-I" means 2nd violin, first stand. I kept thinking, "I? What the heck is I?" This past year, the National Spelling Bee champion's winning word was appoggiatura (and I did have to look up that spelling). When I heard that, I immediately thought, "Oh, I know what that is!............or, wait....do I?" I did end up remembering, but I had to dig deep. But nothing is as funny as a couple of years ago, as I was going through some old school stuff and I found my Tonal Theory II keyboard audit book. I must have looked like Justin Timberlake watching the famous Britney-Madonna kiss as I stared down at my own handwriting on the page. I used to be a genius!!
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