Seriously, Stop Singing...

Week Eight - In the upper floor of a university hall, adjacent to a major stairwell, lay a small collection of seats and tables. This is an area is perfect for a moments rest between classes, a short period of study, or a small gathering of students partaking in a noon lunch.

This week the majority of the university’s music majors have returned from their trop to the Broncos Stadium, in Denver. However, despite their return the hall has not yet returned to its previous state, especially today. The students who frequent this hall have yet to reclaim their places on the couches in the alcove. Instead, a new mixture of students tend to be found in this area, namely the vocal music majors. These students seem to be far more outgoing then the instrumental music majors who sat before them, in not only charisma, but body language, oral filters, and appearance. These students openly discuss illicit activities, and tend not to monitor the volume of their own voices. In addition to this, the students will openly practice their vocal assignments in the middle of the alcove. As a product of this, the once peaceful alcove study area has since been turned into a loud, crowded mess.

A difference that I noted from these students when compared to the instrumental music students, is that these students will come to the alcove with a great amount of time to spare before their next class. In the morning hours, these students may even come a full hour early to the university in order to converse in this area. The instrumental students tended to only stay in this area for a few minutes before classes or during lunch/snack hours.

These vocal music majors, possibly as an attribute of a personality that coincides with the category, do not rely on electronic media as much as was observed with the past group of students. Instead, they seem to cater to their own individual stories and devices as a means of personal and mutual entertainment. This week has been the first week in which I have observed so many choir students, as I have only seen them in small practice groups before, namely right before midterms. As a whole, this group of students can be taxing, not only on the ears, but also on the nerves. A greater level of immaturity can be attributed to this group, and as such I did not particularly enjoy observing them in this area. With enough information gathered, or perhaps as much information as I could stand gathered, from these individuals, I bid the music hall adieu and ended my eighth week of field notes notes.