Back in the day, when I was but a wee lass and my father had dreams that one of his daughters would go into music because that translated to being good at math (he, an accountant, had dreams that one of his daughters would, at least, be able to balance a checkbook. alas) he forced me to take piano lessons from a con man who insisted that my fingers were the perfect shape, size, and had just the right amount of curve to be a prodigy. In retrospect, the man was something of a con. I have embarrassingly short fingers and could barely play a scale. I'm also tone deaf. I can demonstrate with my sad attempt at song.
So, reading Elbow's article was something of a horrified memory of music lessons being attempted to be translated into something else. Maybe I have this mental block, but anything with music makes me shut down immediately. Too many hours sitting frustrated at a piano pounding away at the keys and shivering at the dissonance. Except that there wasn't any satisfaction at the end, as Elbow says. Because I had to do it again tomorrow! Gods! And I have no rhythm! I can dance or write a poem to demonstrate my lack of ability there.
so I'm actually more interested in the block that I feel when I approach this subject, and wonder if that's how my students feel when they approach writing (probably) and heck, even reading (still, probably). Can I translate music and movies into words that make sense to them and will influence their own writing? I don't know. sometimes things make innate sense to the reader and they are the hardest to explain to someone else. Gah, now I'm thinking too much.
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