Week 2

'Secret Language'

"The [insert composer's name]"

"[insert composer's name and symphony number]"

"[insert abbreviation for piece, album, band, orchestra, etc.]"

"the [insert piece type]"

"I'm gonna practice my [insert technique book author]"

...

I can distinctly remember conversing with one of my friends from my Catholic Men's Group about what our weekend plans were, and mentioning that hopefully I'd be able to make a concert where they were playing "Mahler 2." He paused, then looked at me quizzically and said, "what's that?" Not to belittle or condescend my friend at all, but I was properly taken aback at this, for I happened never to have said "Mahler 2" to anybody in the past without them knowing exactly what I meant.

"Gustav Mahler is a German composer from the early twentieth century, known for writing some of the greatest symphonies in all of classical music," I explained to my comrade. "And I'm gonna try and see his second symphony, which we just call Mahler 2." It's an interesting concept, because if you were to tell me you'd like to see "Rachmaninoff 2," I'd have to clarify if you meant his symphony or his piano concerto.

And how many of us have conversed with a fellow rocker and expected them to know which Pink Floyd album we meant when we said "Yeah, I like 'Dark Side' the best," or a fellow violinist to know which performer we referenced when we said, "I like the way Hilary plays it the best."

Also, who the hell other than those in the respective orchestra rehearsing and performing the exact piece could possibly know what "the Strauss" is? Who outside the jazz world knows what "the changes" are?

These are, for the most part, abbreviations and shorthand for regular classical music terminology. Yet I think they create some camaraderie between us and act as signifiers for "who's hip" in the specific music we like.


'Outsider description'

"Real major"

I think all music majors can relate to this on some level. It's the kind of term you're not sure you should take seriously or as a joke. I try to take it lightly by default, assuming it is meant as a joke. But I feel a little bad when I acknowledge that it might not have been. Most of us haven't been approached with this particular term per say, but probably with language like it. I can only think of one or two examples of "Oh you play trombone? But what's your real major?", the translation of course being that Trombone Performance is not a real major. Music is sometimes thought of as 'fun' rather than a rigorous, demanding, and competitive field of study. I don't let this get to me, really. Next time I hear someone speak in such a way, I might just invite them to a concert.