If you don’t study music here on our great, ever-singing campus, you may be confused by some of the terms that float around from the music department. What is a Vox? Who is Solomama? Why did that guy just tell me to stay warm and well fed?

If this is you, look no further. I, the most esteemed sophomore piano major in the Goshen College Music Department, am here to give you the rundown on some common terms you may hear from us, and what they actually mean.

Vox/Voices 

1] The wonderful bass and treble choirs, respectively, where you learn fun things about the usefulness of ovaries and how to count using pizza toppings. 

Chamber 

1] See above, but make it Gucci™

Noon Recital

1] A wonderful recital hour that takes place in Reith or Sauder every Friday at … can you guess?? Noon! There you can watch students suffer through the agony of performing repertoire that they were likely forced to memorize against their will on stage in front of all their musical peers. Also, donuts! (Thanks, Dr. Hill!)

Master Class

1] Noon recital except your prof roasts you afterwards. Also, no donuts.

Aural Skills

1] A class that keeps the hymnal industry in business.

Keyboard Lab

1] Pro-piano studio propaganda. Also, songs about potatoes!

Concerto-Aria

1] A contest to enter if you enjoy performing and are excited by the award of performing with the orchestra … or if your music lessons prof tells you that you have to (it’s the second one).

Solomia aka Solomama

1] The almighty.

Mus 201

1] Music theory for dummies (it’s you) (you’re the dummy).

Brian

1] He is simply a teddy bear with a pointy stick. 

Dr. Hill

1] I’m like 43% positive his laugh is fake but I don’t know how to prove it.

Dustin

1] He knows everything about you. You don’t even have to be a music student. He knows what you did. 

Scott

1] He tried to recruit you for choir, didn’t he?

Roz

1] If a marshmallow were a human and had great fashion sense.

Kickadilly

1] Kickball, ice cream, a golden music stand and the sweet, sweet aroma of orchestra nerds losing. IYKYK.

Fosse

1] The music department mascot and, directly related, my best friend.

Festival of Carols

1] A wholesome time full of Christmas music and a title with unfortunate initials. 

Earthtones

1] A concert where you have no idea what we’re saying, but you’re totally vibing with it. 

“Stay warm and well fed.”

1] A farewell that I honestly have nothing satirical to say about. It’s just nice, and makes walking out of a terrible performance feel not as agonizing. 

Hopefully, this cheat sheet will help guide you through your time on campus as you inevitably find ways to become more involved with our side of campus. Because let’s face it: we’re really annoying and hard to ignore.

Be sure to follow @gcmusicmemes on Instagram and @gcmusictweets on Twitter for more serious, completely not sarcastic music department content!