Drop the Needle!

The dreaded “Drop the Needle” test was an important part of my final doctoral oral exam at Peabody (and LP records really were used). I was prepared, primarily because I took three courses with Dr. E. Ray Sprenkle. Although the courses were categorized as “music history,” Dr. Sprenkle always ran class with music scores photocopied and handed out to each student, whether it was a Strauss tone poem, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, or the Webern Variations for Piano. (One—and only one—time when the photocopier was non-functional, we came to class and found Dr. Sprenkle unnerved; he explained that without the score, the class would be so diminished that he felt he must cancel, and we were dismissed.)

Searching for Ray Sprenkle now, I was delighted to find evidence that he’s well, and that others had been similarly touched by his penetrating teaching. I couldn’t say it better than Jon L. Albee, quoted online: “[Sprenkle] taught me to listen to Brahms and Dvorak with my soul, to understand sonata form, to peel music back like layers of an onion. Not only did I become able to experience things I never could before, I became able to experience things I never knew existed.”

Fortunately, the purpose of Drop the Needle tests was to intelligently describe what’s happening in a work and to date it approximately in music history based on multiple criteria. Dr. Sprenkle guided us to listen by giving us tools to connect various parameters of music and composition to discern what’s going on, and wrote the following on the chalkboard: MHRCTF (Melody/Harmony/Rhythm/Counterpoint/Timbre/Form). I’ve continued to use these criteria with my students, ever since.

Recently, I’ve been playing Drop the Needle with my smart speaker. “Shuffling songs by the Vienna Philharmonic” provides a ready-made opportunity to challenge my ears and analytical skills. And I’m discovering that if I ask for the Dallas Symphony, Imani Winds, or Gabriela Montero, I get treated to terrific performances of non-standard literature which piques my interest and often feeds my soul.