arrange • compose • conduct
Jazz chord symbols and nomenclature developed as a shorthand, like figured bass before it. Well-executed, it enables an interpreter to play a piece without needing to read a densely notated score. They also allow players to freely improvise and create within rhythmic, melodic, and voicing frameworks. Because it’s so freeform, […]
Alice Parker describes two silences: first, the inchoate silence, the preparatory silence before music begins; and second, the silence of completion, after the music ends. One of the most intriguing dances of creation is the dance with inchoate silence. I am composing a set of canons right now; and I […]
I memorized pi to a couple of hundred digits in high school. I did it by repeatedly typing it into my calculator during math class, after I’d finished the assigned problems. An informational poster about pi, with a border comprising about 300 digits, was my source. There is no particular […]
There are some works of art – nonfiction in this case – that stick with you and affect your thinking deeply. Here are three of mine. (They all happen to be from The New Yorker.) Late Bloomers (Malcolm Gladwell). Gladwell differentiates early-bloomers, like Picasso, with late-bloomers, like Cézanne. Why do […]
I hope this year wasn’t too traumatic for you. I hope you found a way to make a little music, consume a little art, practice a little self-care. One year on, I am reflecting on the clarification of my values that the COVID-19 pandemic has given me. I know my […]
As my daughter is getting ready to head to the bus stop in the morning, here’s the questions I ask: Do you have your mask? Yes.Do you have your water bottle? Yes.Do you have your computer? Yes.Do you have your lunch? Yes.Shoes? Snow pants? Coat? Yes. Yes. Yes. Sounds like […]
Adam Grant: I have noticed, over the last couple of years, that you seem to really enjoy contradicting yourself. Malcolm Gladwell: I do! AG: Why? MG: Well, I’m more worried about not contradicting myself. So, I would be very concerned if I was still saying the same things today as […]
Trust is only valuable when it’s in action. Theoretical trust – what does that even mean? One of my favorite ways of practicing trust in action is with a subito fortissimo. Because the truth is that if you don’t trust the choir around you, you are going to sing mezzo […]
Most creative projects have two distinct phases: Make it. On your own. Share it. With the world. The bridge between phase 1 and 2 is a tiny, gigantic step: showing it to someone. Showing the creative work to one person can be scarier than going from that person to an […]
Sometimes Sir Ken Robinson’s passionate, funny, brilliant keynote speeches (there are many) move me to tears. Here’s an extended quote from one he gave a few years ago at the California Teachers Summit. [The quote begins just before 9:00 in] In it, he differentiates three related terms: learning, education, and […]