Matthew Lares

Professor Dakon
MEMT 160
2 September 2015
Dispositions
Having two different directors in high school for different choirs, both were
completely different women. They had contrasting dispositions, with both having their
own strong points. The regular choir director had an obvious collection of knowledge and
had a very clear intellectual disposition. She gave background on the pieces the choir was
performing in order to grasp the songs we would then perform as a group. There was a
nonstop flow to her classes and she seemed to have everything planned out to the end,
always continuing to better her choir. When it came to our modern show choir director,
she modeled a great moral disposition. When solo and ensemble came around, she
thought that having a male vocal coach would help me more than my two female
directors. She then helped raise the funds to pay for one after I wouldnt have been able
to pay for it myself. Although she seems like a moody woman, my show choir director
truly does care about her students. At the time, I didnt see any of these dispositions in the
two, but looking back it is getting clearer that they changed my life. The disposition that I
feel as though Id have trouble developing is the intellectual disposition. Personally, I am
not the greatest musician when it comes to the technical side that includes music theory. I
have learned bits and pieces, but the pedagogy is slightly worrying. I occasionally lose
focus on what Im doing and get scatterbrained. Although speaking in front of a group
isnt a problem for me, I know that my speech could be worked on. Although dispositions

arent always the easiest to master, it is encouraging knowing that not everyone has
always been a master at these. As Ive always been told by all of my past teachers practice makes perfect.