Carter Floering has been playing the piano since he was a young boy.
Courtesy | Carter Floering
Carter Floering is a senior double majoring in Math and Music from Traverse City, Michigan. He is the first Music major with a focus on jazz piano at the College.
How and why did you first become passionate about music?
My parents. My mom is a classical pianist, and my dad is a jazz trumpet player. Around the house growing up, my mom would play classical pieces, and I would use my ear to imitate them to play myself. And as far as style of music, my dad would always be playing jazz. So, it was a combination of ear training and that interest in jazz that came together as a love for the music.”
What has your experience with the music department been?
Amazing! The opportunities here, especially for it being a small school, are incredible. I never expected to see the Harry James Orchestra three times or work with Mike Williams, who’s a trumpet player for the Basse Band, or Dan Miller, a trumpet player from New York. Definitely way better than I expected for a small school.
Favorite professor and class?
The four-hundred-level Music Theory course. I liked that it connected to jazz and gave me tools I could apply to my jazz music even though it was more classically oriented. As far as professors, I really enjoyed Dr. Church for philosophy, and Dr. Brandon for theater history.
What are your plans for after graduation?
I’m looking at software development in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I will also be doing jazz piano gigs. My music will always continue even if I do go more of the mathematics route.
How has music helped you develop character?
Sitting in a practice room takes a lot of patience to actually learn the pieces that you don’t know, and that can be a struggle. I’ve seen so many jokes and memes of musicians hitting the same note over and over again just to get it right, and that’s really how it is sometimes, and can be so aggravating. It takes a lot of patience and performing takes a lot of courage.
What does doing music in your free time look like?
In college, it’s always practicing. Whether that be for a gig or a recital or taking things that I’ve learned in lessons into practice. For example, if I learn improvisational techniques in a lesson, then I can pick a song that I want to learn in my free time and start to apply that technique to the song.
How has math helped with music?
The way you have to think in mathematics is similar to the way that I have to think with my jazz sometimes. In math, you have to try to discover the solution to equations through utilizing different formulas, which is similar to sitting down in a practice room with nothing by chords, trying to throw everything that you’ve learned at a piece to make sense of it.
How have you promoted yourself and gotten your name out there?
I have been in jazz groups since I’ve gotten here. I play piano in the jazz band here, I play tenor saxophone in the jazz combo, and I recently played piano for The Ambassadors at CHP Showdown. I also will have a trio with myself, Dan Palmer, the guitar instructor here, who plays bass, as well as a drummer from Detroit for my senior recital.
Floering’s senior recital will take place on April 28 at 8 p.m. in Plaster Auditorium.
