I walked into James Heiner's Theory and Musicianship course at Los Positas Junior College in the fall of 1996. Not counting cramped guitar lesson studios, I'd never actually studied in a music classroom before this. I'd been involved with the visual arts from a young age, but hadn't started playing the guitar until I was a sophomore in high school. Working through various rock, jazz, and classical lessons, I practiced like crazy and subsequently helped start a band later in high school. Though the project never got very far, it nonetheless consumed my life for a couple of years, and it was in the context of this group that I was first forced to figure out the basics of creating and assembling music.
I had little larger life direction when I graduated from high school. Las Positas Junior College sits right next to my home town and was a convenient and obvious choice. Attending community college, I could easily study full time, work nearly full time, and still leave plenty of space for the guitar. Nothing else really seemed that important or interesting. Though I'd done fine in high school, I hadn't bothered to take my SATs as I had no deep desire to go anywhere in particular. Music was the only thing I really enjoyed doing, though I nonetheless still couldn't envision pursuing it as a career. Given all this, my plan was simply to tread water while I searched for the thing that I wanted to engage "seriously."
Within this process, it made sense to fulfill some general credits while seeking an attractive path of study. I also reasoned that enrolling in a few basic music theory courses would both fulfill humanities credits while simultaneously helping me to develop as a songwriter. As I noticed no indication otherwise, I incorrectly assumed that both of the music courses for which I'd signed up were oriented toward novices, and I was therefore utterly unprepared for James Heiner's opening speech to the class that fall. Among other things, Heiner explained that those in the course needed to know how to read music notation, and that everyone in the past who'd remained for the entire year had ultimately opted to major in Music. Hearing this, I knew immediately that it would be my last day in Theory and Musicianship.
A number of us all went up to James Heiner after that first class. I explained to him that I'd made a mistake, that I didn't belong here, that I couldn't read music, and that I would never be a Music major. He simply smiled and replied, "stick around." Within the year, my band had fallen apart and I'd declared my degree, transferring to UC Santa Barbara to complete a concentration in Music Composition a few years later. Looking back, I cannot now imagine my life being about anything else. I have been very privileged to study under a number of remarkable teachers over the years. Nonetheless, James Heiner literally changed everything for me.
